Marketing is a process that every business needs to undertake to promote its products or services. It involves creating and executing a plan to reach out to potential customers and convert them into paying customers.
Automation software can help businesses with such marketing, allowing them to automate and streamline their marketing tasks through email marketing, social media campaigns, lead generation, and more.
From LinkedIn automation tools that help you build connections and drive leads, to market automation platforms that help you create and send email campaigns, several different software options are available.
In this article, I will rank and review the best marketing automation software options so you can make an informed decision about which one is right for your business.
Which Marketing Automation Software For Small Businesses Is The Best To Consider?
The following are the best marketing automation tools to look into.
Automate.io
Best Overall Marketing Automation
Automate.io helps you connect various cloud apps that you use to automate repetitive tasks.
If your business involves any degree of repetitiveness, then creating one-to-one automation workflows with Automate.io is a no-brainer.
You can also go as complex as needed, with the ability to create multi-step workflows involving multiple apps.
With an iPaaS model that makes the tool easy to use, this platform offers a no-code solution to business automation.
Key Features:
- Simple and intuitive digital marketing automation tools help you connect and automate tasks between various cloud apps, with the ability to create complex workflows
- 200+ connectors make it easy to find the right tool for your needs, while powerful tools offer a no-code solution to business automation.
- Sharing and collaboration features let you securely share your workflows with others while using reliable and secure tools to keep your data safe.
Pricing:
Automate.io offers these pricing plans:
All of these are billed every month.
Pardot
Best For B2B Marketing Automation
Pardot is a product that forms part of Salesforce’s Marketing Cloud. It’s been designed to help B2B companies with lead generation and management. Providing an easy-to-navigate experience, Pardot makes it simple to score, nurture and report on your leads.
Lasting relationships don’t happen by accident, and with Pardot’s various capabilities, you can keep your finger on the pulse of every opportunity.
Then, with the ability to automate journeys based on lead behavior, engagement, and through multiple channels, you can ensure that you’re always top of mind.
Key Features:
- Customize journeys with easy-to-create assets to ensure your leads are always engaged.
- Alert sales when a prospect is most engaged so that you can follow up at the right time.
- Connect your marketing tech stack for a seamless experience.
- Get started with account-based marketing to drive more revenue.
- Showcase impact on revenue with built-in reporting.
- Scale efforts with artificial intelligence for more efficient marketing.
Pricing:
Pardot offers these pricing plans:
Corporate: $12,500 per organization per month
Enterprise Plus: $65,000 per organization per month
Enterprise: $50,000 per organization per month
HubSpot
Best For Small Business Automation
HubSpot is a powerful marketing automation tool that’s particularly well suited for small businesses.
Premium software features such as automation, sales CRM, and reporting help you take your business to the next level.
Each item in the platform can do great things on its own, however, when combined together, they pack an even bigger punch.
From lead generation to various analytics and reports, Hubspot is an excellent tool for small businesses to take their marketing to the next level.
Key Features:
- Lead generation tools help attract visitors to your site and get them on your email list.
- Marketing automation enables you to automate email marketing, social media, and ad campaigns.
- Analytics tools help you track your marketing performance and ROI.
- Ad retargeting enables you to reach those who have visited your site but haven’t converted.
- Landing page reporting lets you track which pages convert the most leads.
Pricing:
HubSpot offers these starting pricing plans:
Marketo
Best For Simplifying The Buyers’ Journey
Marketo is a tool that turns a complex buyer’s journey into a simple, predictable one, ranging from the moment of lead acquisition to the brand evangelist stage.
With easy-to-use software, you can map out the buyer’s journey from start to finish and design tailored marketing programs that guide leads through each stage.
If you want to determine how your various channels are impacting your funnel, Marketo is the tool for you.
Then, you can also scale your campaigns to new heights with Marketo’s advanced marketing capabilities.
Key Features:
- Content personalization helps you create tailored material for each stage of the buyer’s journey.
- Experience automation enables you to make various tasks work in an optimal state.
- The marketing data environment gives you a single view of your marketing data.
- Cross-Channel engagement helps you reach leads across multiple channels.
Pricing:
Marketo offers these various plans and packages:
You’ll have to contact their sales team to get pricing information for each plan.
GetResponse
Best For Building Customer Relationships
GetResponse used to be a simple email marketing tool but has since transformed into a full-fledged marketing platform.
With GetResponse’s all-in-one solution, you can easily create beautiful pages, build list segmentation funnels, and automate your email marketing.
When reaching customers personally, GetResponse is hard to beat as it has tools tailored for small businesses and entrepreneurs who want to do that.
Whether you’re just starting to build out your marketing automation or looking for more advanced features, GetResponse likely has a plan that’s right for you.
Key Features:
- Engage with customers to build relationships and loyalty.
- Boost online sales with powerful ecommerce tools.
- Grow your audience with email marketing, webinars, and landing pages.
- Get your business online with a professional website.
Pricing:
Customers can choose from the following plans at GetResponse:
Marketing Automation: $48.38/mo
Ecommerce Marketing: $97.58/mo
Eloqua
Best For Measuring Customer Interactions
Eloqua forms part of Oracle’s Marketing Cloud and helps marketing and sales teams manage and measure customer interactions.
With closed-loop marketing insights, you can connect the dots between your marketing and sales activities to see which campaigns are working and which ones need to improve.
Then, with its B2B marketing automation solution, you can drive more leads through the funnel and convert them into customers.
Whether you’re looking to develop dynamic campaigns or improve your lead management process, Eloqua has the tools you need to succeed.
Real-time activities can also be tracked, ensuring you’re always on top of your game.
Key Features:
- Deploy campaigns faster with Eloqua’s pre-built campaign templates.
- Expand engagement with SMS messaging, which allows you to reach contacts even when they’re not near a computer.
- Simplify campaign management with Eloqua’s drag-and-drop interface.
- Scalable segmentation helps you create targeted campaigns for different audiences.
- Data-driven targeting ensures that your campaigns are reaching the right people.
Pricing:
Request a demo to get pricing information from the Eloqua sales team.
SharpSpring
Best For Scaling Revenue
SharpSpring is an all-in-one platform to help you grow your revenue without adding headcount.
With the ability to take your entire funnel and automate it, you can nurture leads and create a highly customizable platform that fingers.
With its CRM solution that gives you a complete picture of your customers, you can provide them with a personalized experience that will keep them coming back for more.
Since SharpSpring understands that no two buyers are alike, they’ve created a highly customizable platform, which allows you to cater to the various stages of the buyer’s journey – without sacrificing quality or results.
Key Features:
- Marketing automation modules ensure that you can measure your campaigns’ success and allow you to reach out to your contacts in a personalized way.
- Social management allows you to listen to, engage with, and track social conversations.
- The landing page designer helps you create beautiful pages that convert.
- Camping analytics ensure that you can measure your campaigns’ success.
Pricing:
SharpSpring offers these pricing plans based on the number of contacts:
They also offer the Agency and Enterprise plan for those with more than the above contacts.
ActiveCampaign
Best For Business Automation Through Facebook Ads
ActiveCampaign is another platform that used to be geared towards small businesses but has since expanded to accommodate larger enterprises as well. With various CRM tools and components to choose from, you can create a solution that fits your specific needs.
For example, you can ensure that well-timed phone calls go out to the right person during their customer journey. This is done by setting up a call queue and assigning leads to specific sales reps.
Additionally, you can use ActiveCampaign’s powerful automation features to take your marketing and sales processes to the next level.
Key Features:
- ActiveCampaign’s marketing automation capabilities are some of the best in the business.
- Tracking allows you to see which events are most important to your contacts.
- Dynamic content helps you create content that’s tailored to each contact.
- Facebook custom audiences allow you to target your Facebook ads to people who have already engaged with your brand.
Pricing:
ActiveCampaign’s four pricing plans are as follows:
Features Of Marketing Automation Software
Let’s now review some of the features of the top marketing automation software.
Lead Segmentation
Lead segmentation is the process of dividing leads into different groups based on specific criteria. This might include job title, location, or even buying stage. Segmentation is a robust process, as it can help you tailor your marketing campaigns to the specific needs of each group. Segmenting your leads also makes it easier to target them with the right messages at the right time.
Lead Nurturing
This is the process of developing relationships with your leads over time. It involves sending them relevant information and building trust, so they are more likely to do business with you when they are ready to buy.
Email Marketing
This is one of the most common features of marketing automation software. It allows you to send mass emails to your list of leads and track their interactions. You can use this information to score your leads and determine which ones need more information about what you offer and which are ready to buy.
A/B Testing
This feature allows you to test different versions of your marketing campaigns to see which ones are more effective. This might include testing other subject lines, email content, or call-to-action buttons. The right A/B testing tools can help you improve your campaigns and get better results.
SMS Marketing
This relatively newer feature allows you to send text messages to your leads. This can be a great way to stay in touch with them and get them to respond to your marketing messages since you’ll be able to reach them directly on their mobile phones. While some consider SMS a form of spam, it can be an effective way to reach your leads if used correctly.
Marketing Automation Workflow
This feature allows you to really dive in and build the process your leads will go through as they interact with your business. It includes all the different stages they will go through, from being a stranger to your business to becoming a life-long customer.
Integrations
This refers to the software’s ability to connect with other systems. This might include other CRMs, accounting software, or email marketing platforms you currently use. Having integrations can make it easier to manage your business and get the most out of your marketing automation software.
FAQ
Conclusion
The above list of marketing automation software can help you take your business to the next level by automating and streamlining your marketing efforts. Many of the tools offer free trials, so you can test them out and see which one is the best fit for your business.