12 Marketing Automation Examples That Drive Results

Why Marketing Automation Examples Matter

The data shows that companies using marketing automation see an average 14.5% increase in sales productivity and a 12.2% reduction in marketing overhead. But knowing automation works and knowing exactly what to automate are two different challenges.

Based on our analysis of hundreds of automation workflows across the best marketing automation platforms, we've identified 12 examples that consistently deliver measurable results. Each example below includes the specific use case, recommended tools, and the outcomes you can realistically expect.

1. Welcome Email Series

The Setup: A 3-5 email sequence triggered when someone subscribes, signs up for a free trial, or creates an account.

How It Works:

• Email 1 (Immediate): Welcome message with key value proposition and quick-start guide
• Email 2 (Day 2): Educational content addressing the most common new-user question
• Email 3 (Day 4): Social proof — case study or customer success story
• Email 4 (Day 7): Feature highlight with actionable tip
• Email 5 (Day 10): Soft CTA for upgrade, demo, or deeper engagement

Expected Results: Welcome emails generate 4x more opens and 5x more clicks than standard campaigns. Based on our analysis, brands with automated welcome series see 33% higher long-term engagement.

Best Tools: ActiveCampaign for advanced conditional logic, Mailchimp for simplicity

2. Abandoned Cart Recovery

The Setup: A multi-touch sequence triggered when a shopper adds items to their cart but doesn't complete checkout.

How It Works:

• Email 1 (1 hour): Gentle reminder with cart contents and images
• Email 2 (24 hours): Address common objections (shipping, returns, security)
• Email 3 (72 hours): Urgency or small incentive (free shipping, 5-10% discount)

Expected Results: The data shows abandoned cart emails recover 5-15% of lost sales. For a store with $100K monthly revenue and 70% cart abandonment, that's $5K-$15K recovered monthly.

Best Tools: Klaviyo for e-commerce, Drip for smaller stores

3. Lead Scoring Automation

The Setup: Automatically assign point values to contacts based on their behavior and demographics, then route high-scoring leads to sales.

How It Works:

• +10 points: Visits pricing page
• +5 points: Opens email
• +15 points: Downloads whitepaper
• +20 points: Requests demo
• +10 points: Matches ideal company size
• -5 points: No activity in 30 days
• Threshold (50+ points): Auto-notify sales team

Expected Results: Based on our analysis, companies with lead scoring see 77% higher lead generation ROI compared to those without. Sales teams spend time on qualified prospects instead of cold leads.

Best Tools: HubSpot Marketing Hub for native CRM integration, ActiveCampaign for affordability

4. Re-Engagement Campaign

The Setup: A targeted sequence for contacts who haven't interacted with your brand in 60-90 days.

How It Works:

• Email 1: "We miss you" message with a compelling reason to return
• Email 2 (5 days later): Highlight what's new since they last engaged
• Email 3 (10 days later): Exclusive offer or content only for returning users
• If no engagement after all 3: Move to suppression list

Expected Results: The data shows re-engagement campaigns win back 5-12% of dormant contacts. More importantly, suppressing truly inactive contacts improves overall deliverability by 10-20%.

Best Tools: ActiveCampaign for engagement scoring, Mailchimp for list management

5. Post-Purchase Upsell Sequence

The Setup: Automated recommendations triggered after a customer completes a purchase, timed based on the product lifecycle.

How It Works:

• Email 1 (Day 3): Order confirmation + usage tips
• Email 2 (Day 7): Complementary product recommendation based on purchase
• Email 3 (Day 14): Customer review request
• Email 4 (Day 30): Replenishment reminder or upgrade offer

Expected Results: Based on our analysis, post-purchase upsell sequences increase customer lifetime value by 15-25%. Product recommendation emails drive 31% of e-commerce site revenue.

Best Tools: Klaviyo for product recommendation AI, Drip for visual workflow building

6. Event-Based Trigger Campaigns

The Setup: Messages triggered by specific user actions on your website, app, or product.

Trigger Examples:

• User views pricing page 3+ times: Send case study with ROI data
• User starts but doesn't finish onboarding: Send helpful walkthrough
• User hits usage limit: Send upgrade notification
• User's subscription renewal is approaching: Send renewal reminder with loyalty offer

Expected Results: The data shows behavioral triggers achieve 3x higher conversion rates compared to scheduled campaigns because they're contextually relevant.

Best Tools: HubSpot Marketing Hub for website tracking, ActiveCampaign for event API integration

7. Webinar and Event Follow-Up

The Setup: Segmented follow-up sequences based on webinar registration and attendance status.

How It Works:

• Registered + Attended: Thank you + recording + exclusive resource + CTA
• Registered + No-Show: "Sorry we missed you" + recording link + alternative time
• Attended but didn't convert: Additional content addressing questions raised

Expected Results: Segmented webinar follow-ups convert at 20-40% higher rates than generic "thanks for attending" emails. The data shows the no-show segment is often the largest opportunity.

Best Tools: HubSpot Marketing Hub for native webinar integration, ActiveCampaign with Zoom integration

8. Birthday and Anniversary Campaigns

The Setup: Automated messages on customer birthdays, account anniversaries, or purchase milestones.

How It Works:

• Trigger date minus 1 day: Send early birthday/anniversary greeting
• Include personalized offer (discount code, free gift, exclusive access)
• Follow up 3 days later if offer unused

Expected Results: Based on our analysis, birthday emails generate 342% higher revenue per email than standard promotional campaigns. They also score the highest engagement rates of any automated email type.

Best Tools: Klaviyo for date-based triggers, Mailchimp for simple date automations

9. Customer Onboarding Drip

The Setup: A guided sequence that walks new customers through product setup, key features, and first wins.

How It Works:

• Day 1: Account setup checklist
• Day 3: First key feature tutorial
• Day 5: Integration setup guide
• Day 7: Advanced feature introduction
• Day 10: Success checkpoint — "Have you achieved X yet?"
• Day 14: Check-in with support offer

Expected Results: The data shows that automated onboarding sequences reduce churn by 25-40% in the first 90 days. Users who complete onboarding are 3.5x more likely to convert to paid plans.

Best Tools: ActiveCampaign for conditional branching, HubSpot Marketing Hub for CRM-linked sequences

10. NPS and Feedback Automation

The Setup: Automated survey triggers at key moments in the customer lifecycle, with different follow-up paths based on the score.

How It Works:

• Trigger NPS survey at Day 30, Day 90, and Day 365
• Score 9-10 (Promoters): Thank you + referral program invite + review request
• Score 7-8 (Passives): Ask what would make it a 10 + feature highlight
• Score 0-6 (Detractors): Escalate to customer success + personal outreach

Expected Results: Based on our analysis, automated NPS workflows improve response rates by 40% over manual surveys. The segmented follow-up increases promoter referral conversion by 25%.

Best Tools: HubSpot Marketing Hub for built-in surveys, Drip with Typeform integration

11. Content-Based Lead Nurturing

The Setup: A long-term nurture sequence that delivers educational content based on the topic a lead first engaged with.

How It Works:

• Lead downloads "Guide to Email Marketing" — Tag as "interested in email"
• Week 1: Related blog post on email deliverability
• Week 2: Case study on email automation ROI
• Week 3: Comparison guide of email tools
• Week 4: Product demo invitation (soft CTA)
• If engaged: Move to sales-ready sequence
• If not engaged: Pause and try different topic track

Expected Results: The data shows nurtured leads produce a 20% increase in sales opportunities. Content-based nurturing achieves 4-10x higher response rates than generic drip campaigns.

Best Tools: ActiveCampaign for tag-based automation, Mailchimp for content journeys

For more on building effective nurture sequences, see our email automation best practices guide.

12. Win-Back Campaign for Churned Customers

The Setup: A re-acquisition sequence targeting customers who cancelled their subscription or haven't purchased in a defined period.

How It Works:

• Day 1 post-churn: "We're sorry to see you go" + quick feedback survey
• Day 7: Share product updates and new features since they left
• Day 14: Offer a comeback incentive (extended trial, discount, waived fees)
• Day 30: Final outreach with compelling case study of a customer who returned

Expected Results: Based on our analysis, win-back campaigns recover 2-8% of churned customers. The cost of winning back a customer is 5-25x less than acquiring a new one, making this one of the highest-ROI automation workflows.

Best Tools: Klaviyo for customer lifecycle tracking, ActiveCampaign for CRM integration

Getting Started With These Examples

You don't need to implement all 12 automations at once. Start with the examples that align with your biggest business challenge:

• Losing potential customers? Start with #2 (Abandoned Cart) and #4 (Re-Engagement)
• Need more qualified leads? Start with #1 (Welcome Series) and #3 (Lead Scoring)
• Want higher customer lifetime value? Start with #5 (Upsell) and #9 (Onboarding)

Explore the full range of platforms that support these workflows in our best marketing automation platforms comparison, and check our marketing automation strategy guide for the framework to tie everything together.