Marketing automation is software that triggers marketing actions (emails, notifications, ad audience updates) automatically based on user behavior or predefined rules, without manual execution each time.
The distinction from a plain CRM or email tool is the trigger-based, rules-driven journey logic — "if a user abandons a cart, wait 2 hours, then send this email; if they still haven't purchased after 24 hours, send a discount code" is marketing automation. Sending the same newsletter to everyone on a schedule is not, even if the sending itself is automated.
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