Wasting $91K on Manual Campaigns? Automate Marketing in Odoo 18

Marketing manager spends Monday morning sending welcome emails to 47 new leads from last week. Tuesday: Manually sends follow-up emails to 23 leads who opened but didn't click. Wednesday: Reminder emails to 31 leads who clicked but didn't buy. Takes 8.7 hours weekly. Lead #12 gets accidentally emailed 3 times (same message). Lead #38 never gets follow-up (forgotten in spreadsheet). Conversion rate: 2.3%. Cost per conversion: $847.

Your marketing chaos: Manual email campaigns = 8.7 hours weekly per marketer. Leads fall through cracks (no automated follow-up). Inconsistent timing (some leads get emails instantly, others wait 4 days). No personalization at scale (same generic message to everyone). Can't track what works (email sent Monday vs Friday? After 2 days vs 7 days?). Sales team complains: "Leads are cold by the time we call them" (7-day delay from signup to sales contact).

Cost: Manual campaign management = 8.7 hours weekly × 3 marketers × 52 weeks × $67/hour = $91,052/year. Leads lost to delayed follow-up = 37% of leads × average $2,400 deal = $847,000 annual revenue missed. Poor conversion from generic messaging = 2.3% vs industry avg 8.7% = $1.2M opportunity gap. Can't scale campaigns (3 marketers maxed out, can't handle 2x lead volume). Compliance violations from manual errors (8 GDPR complaints = $24,000 fines).

Odoo 18 Marketing Automation fixes this: Visual workflow builder creates multi-step campaigns—trigger: "New lead created" → Wait 10 minutes → Send welcome email → Wait 2 days → If email opened: send demo offer, If not: send reminder. Runs 24/7 automatically. Personalized messaging (insert name, company, industry). Track performance (open rates, click rates, conversions per activity). Scale infinitely (handles 10 leads or 10,000 leads same effort). Here's how to build automated marketing workflows so you stop losing $1.2M to manual campaigns.

What Marketing Automation Does

Build multi-step automated workflows: Trigger (new lead/customer action) → Activities (send email, SMS, WhatsApp, create task, tag contact) → Conditions (if opened/if clicked/if purchased) → Branching paths. Runs 24/7 automatically.

Step 1: Access Marketing Automation Module

Install and access Marketing Automation module.

1. Go to Apps
2. Search: Marketing Automation
3. Click Install (if not already installed)
4. Wait for installation to complete
5. Access module: Marketing Automation from main menu

Marketing Automation module requires:
- Email Marketing (for email activities)
- SMS Marketing (for SMS activities - optional)
- WhatsApp (for WhatsApp activities - optional)
- CRM (for lead-based campaigns)

All dependencies auto-install when installing Marketing Automation.

Step 2: Create New Campaign

Build automated campaign from scratch or template.

Option 1: Use Pre-Built Template

1. Go to Marketing Automation → Campaigns
2. Click New
3. Popup shows templates:
   • Welcome New Customers: Onboarding email sequence
   • Abandoned Cart Recovery: E-commerce reminder emails
   • Lead Nurturing: Multi-touch lead warming
   • Re-engagement: Win back inactive customers
4. Select template → Click Create Campaign
5. Template loads with pre-configured activities
6. Customize as needed (change emails, timing, filters)

Option 2: Start from Scratch

1. Go to Marketing Automation → Campaigns
2. Click New
3. In popup, click Start from Scratch
4. Fill campaign details:
   • Campaign Name: "New Lead Welcome Sequence"
   • Target: Select model (e.g., "Lead/Opportunity", "Contact", "Sale Order")
   • Unicity Based On: Field to prevent duplicates (e.g., "Email")
   • Filter: Define target audience (e.g., "Country = USA", "Create Date = Last 30 days")
5. Click Save

Campaign Name: New Lead Welcome Sequence
Target: Lead/Opportunity (crm.lead)
Unicity Based On: Email
   → Ensures same email doesn't get campaign twice
   
Filter (Domain):
   - Create Date >= 2025-01-01
   - Country = United States
   - Stage = New
   
This targets: New US leads created since Jan 1, 2025
Prevents: Duplicate campaigns to same email address

Step 3: Add Campaign Activities

Configure multi-step workflow with emails, SMS, actions, delays.

Add First Activity (Welcome Email)

1. In campaign form, click Add New Activity
2. Fill activity details:
   • Activity Name: "Welcome Email - Day 0"
   • Activity Type: Select Email
   • Template: Select email template (or create new)
     • Click "Create and edit" to design email
     • Use drag-drop editor, add personalization {{object.name}}
   • Trigger: Set delay
     • Immediately (0 hours)
     • Or: After 10 minutes, 2 hours, 1 day, etc.
   • Expiry Duration: How long activity stays valid (e.g., 30 days)
   • Activity Filter: Additional conditions (optional)
     • Example: "Email is set" (only send if email exists)
3. Click Save or Save & New (to add next activity)

Add Second Activity (Follow-Up Email)

1. Click Add New Activity again
2. Configure follow-up:
   • Activity Name: "Follow-Up Email - Day 2"
   • Activity Type: Email
   • Template: Select/create follow-up template
   • Trigger: After 2 days (from campaign start)
   • Activity Filter: Add condition
     • "Previous email opened = True" (only send if they opened first email)
     • OR: "Previous email opened = False" (reminder for non-openers)
3. Click Save

Add Server Action Activity (Auto-Tag Leads)

1. Click Add New Activity
2. Configure:
   • Activity Name: "Tag as Marketing Qualified"
   • Activity Type: Server Action
   • Server Action: Select action (or create new)
     • Go to Settings → Technical → Server Actions → Create
     • Action: "Add tag 'MQL' to lead"
     • Model: Lead/Opportunity
     • Python Code: record.write({'tag_ids': [(4, ref('crm.tag_mql').id)]})
   • Trigger: After 5 days
   • Activity Filter: "Email clicked = True" (engaged leads only)
3. Click Save

Campaign: New Lead Welcome Sequence

Activity 1: Welcome Email
   Type: Email
   Template: "Welcome to Braincuber"
   Trigger: Immediately (0 hours)
   Filter: Email is set
   
Activity 2A: Demo Offer (Engaged Path)
   Type: Email
   Template: "Book Your Free Demo"
   Trigger: After 2 days
   Filter: Previous email opened = True
   
Activity 2B: Reminder (Non-Engaged Path)
   Type: Email
   Template: "Did You Miss Our Email?"
   Trigger: After 2 days
   Filter: Previous email opened = False
   
Activity 3: SMS Follow-Up
   Type: SMS
   Template: "Ready to talk? Call us: 555-0123"
   Trigger: After 5 days
   Filter: Email clicked = True
   
Activity 4: Create Sales Task
   Type: Server Action
   Action: Create task for sales rep
   Trigger: After 7 days
   Filter: Lead still in "New" stage

Result: Automated 7-day nurture sequence
   - Personalized based on engagement
   - Hands off to sales at right time
   - Zero manual work

Step 4: Launch Campaign

Activate campaign to start processing leads.

1. Review all activities in campaign workflow
2. Check filters and triggers are correct
3. Click Start button (top of campaign form)
4. Campaign status changes to Running
5. System begins processing matching records:
   • Finds all leads/contacts matching campaign filter
   • Enrolls them in workflow
   • Executes activities based on triggers

Step 5: Monitor Campaign Performance

Track results with real-time analytics.

View Campaign Dashboard

1. Open campaign: Marketing Automation → Campaigns → Select campaign
2. Dashboard shows:
   • Participants: Total enrolled in campaign
   • Success: Completed successfully
   • Rejected: Failed (e.g., invalid email, unsubscribed)
   • Templates: Email/SMS templates used
   • Tests: A/B test results (if configured)
3. Click Participants smart button → See list of all contacts in campaign
4. Click Templates smart button → View email performance stats

Analyze Activity Performance

1. In campaign workflow view, each activity shows metrics:
   • Sent: Number of emails/SMS sent
   • Opened: Open rate %
   • Clicked: Click-through rate %
   • Replied: Response rate %
   • Bounced: Delivery failures
2. Click activity → View detailed participant list for that step
3. Filter participants by status (Success, Rejected, Running)

Advanced Features

1. A/B Testing Email Templates

Test different subject lines, content, CTAs to optimize performance.

1. Create 2 email templates (Template A vs Template B)
2. In activity configuration, set both templates
3. Define split % (e.g., 50% get A, 50% get B)
4. Campaign sends both versions
5. Compare performance metrics → Use winner for future campaigns

2. Dynamic Audience Filters

Auto-update campaign audience as database changes.

Campaign Filter (Domain):
[
    ('create_date', '>=', '2025-01-01'),
    ('country_id.name', '=', 'United States'),
    ('stage_id.name', '=', 'New'),
    ('email_state', '!=', 'bounced')
]

This filter is DYNAMIC:
- New lead created matching criteria → Auto-enrolled
- Lead country changes to USA → Enrolled
- Lead stage changes to "Won" → Removed from campaign
- Email bounces → Excluded from future activities

No manual list management needed!

3. Multi-Channel Campaigns

Combine email, SMS, WhatsApp in single workflow for maximum reach.

Real-World Impact Examples

Example 1: SaaS Company (Lead Nurturing)

Example 2: E-commerce (Abandoned Cart)

Best Practices