Marketing automation refers to software that executes marketing tasks — sending emails, triggering campaigns, scoring and routing leads — automatically, based on predefined rules and triggers, rather than requiring manual execution every time.
Marketing automation platforms (HubSpot, Marketo, and similar tools) handle the execution side of marketing: they run the workflow once it’s built. What they typically don’t handle is verification — confirming that what’s about to execute is actually correct, priced consistently, and approved. That’s a distinct problem from automation, and it’s the one release management addresses.