Marketing automation is dramatically cutting the time it takes to respond to prospects and customers. It is efficient and drives scale. It is also proving to be more effective than manual processes.  Five years ago, when marketing automation (and the inbound method) was beginning to gain traction, Nucleus Research pointed out that it was driving a 14.5% increase in sales productivity and a 12.2% reduction in marketing overhead. The gains since then have been substantial with many more companies embracing the inbound marketing methodology and automation platforms. Marketing automation is also increasing message personalization at scale. In essence, it is transforming all communication channels including direct mail which has once again become popular for its unique contribution to driving engagement despite postage costs.