Best Marketing Automation Software For Your Business

Automating marketing services is a critical point in scaling your business and generating more revenue. And with a huge number of marketing automation options out there, automating your marketing strategies has never been this easier.

Best marketing automation software helps you in increasing sales productivity, reducing overheads, and scaling your business with fewer resources.

According to figures from Marketo, 76% of companies that implement marketing automation generate a return on their investment within the first year. Not only that, but 44% of them see a return within just six months.

Additionally, 80% of companies saw an increase in leads thanks to marketing automation according to Invespcro.

But with so many options out there, how do you find out the top marketing automation solution that is ideal for your business?

In this article, we will be reviewing the best marketing automation solutions available right now, so you can easily choose the ideal marketing software for your business.

5 Best Marketing Automation Software

Here are the 5 top marketing automation solutions that can help in automating your marketing strategies and upscaling your business:

• HubSpot Marketing Hub: Best for sales, customer service, marketing automation
  
  
• ActiveCampaign: Best for Email Marketing Automation
  
  
• Klaviyo: Best for e-commerce businesses
  
  
• Pardot by Salesforce: Best for B2B companies
  
  
• ManyChat: Best for Chat marketing automation

About HubSpot Marketing Hub

HubSpot Marketing Hub is an all-in-one marketing solution that covers several marketing features and capabilities. It can be used to track and measure all online activities related to marketing such as blogging, email marketing, and social media marketing. HubSpot Marketing Hub can also be used to create engaging landing pages and calls-to-action, as well as provide users with SEO tips as they type.

With Marketing Hub, all your marketing utilities are available on a robust and unified platform, allowing you to save valuable time. It also provides you with all the context you need for a personalized experience that attracts and converts the right customers at scale. Also, users can keep relevant data in the middle of everything they do because Marketing Hub is built as part of the HubSpot CRM platform.

Trusted by brand leaders like VMware and Subaru, HubSpot Marketing Hub has been serving more than 121,000 companies in over 120 countries. That is why HubSpot is one of the best marketing automation solutions out there.

HubSpot Marketing Benefits

Do more with SEO

Build your search authority and outrank competitors with tools that help you plan your content strategy and optimize your content as you type.

Robust Social Media Management

Stop letting important interactions go unnoticed. Monitor and prioritize conversations, and publish to social networks with the same tool you use to create campaigns.

Seamless Video Management

Enhance the impact of your content through the power of video. Host and manage files right inside HubSpot, and easily embed them in social media, web pages, and blog posts.

Ad Tracking & Management

Stop struggling to justify your ad spend. Manage Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Google ads right inside HubSpot, and track which ads are turning prospects into customers.

HubSpot Marketing Features

• Personalized Emails
• Outbound Emails
• Automated Email Responses
• Online Marketing
• Landing Pages and Forms
• Mobile-Optimized
• Search Tracking and Optimization
• Marketing Lead Database
• Data Quality Management
• Lead Nurturing
• Online Behavior Tracking
• Web Analytics

HubSpot Marketing Pros & Cons

HubSpot Marketing Pricing

HubSpot Marketing Hub offers 3 different subscription plans for various business needs:

• Starter: $45/month for aspiring businesses needing basic marketing support
• Professional: $800 each month for additional marketing features required by professionals
• Enterprise: $3,200 per month for advanced marketing support and features for established businesses

Technical Details

About ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign is an email marketing solution that helps businesses connect and engage with their contacts through robust, yet easy-to-use email marketing and contact management. It allows you to build newsletters, send triggered campaigns, and create personalized messages targeted to each contact’s interests.

ActiveCampaign allows you to remove the silos between data sources, communication channels as well as teams, and helps businesses scale their 1-1 personal customer relationships through connected experiences that span the customer lifecycle. This enables businesses to automate a truly personalized experience that feels authentic, so their customer relationships can scale, no matter how large that business grows.

With over 130 thousand businesses as proud clients across the globe, ActiveCampaign is surely one of the top marketing solutions available right now.

ActiveCampaign Benefits

Send exactly what your contacts want

With ActiveCampaign’s personalized email marketing, you send your clients exactly what they want. Beautiful email marketing is only the beginning, as it also allows you to send newsletters and messages targeted to each contact’s interests, and make every campaign you send feel personal.

Save time with robust marketing automation

ActiveCampaign also offers marketing automation which gives back your time and makes it easy to run your marketing. Set up a welcome series with email automation, segment your contacts, or use simple workflows to automate the marketing no one has time for.

Effective Messaging

ActiveCampaign helps you make meaningful connections with your customers. Answer questions, recommend products, offer sales, or ask for feedback at the exact moment they’re most engaged.

ActiveCampaign Features

• A/B Testing
• Analytics/ROI Tracking
• Auto-Responders
• Calendar/Reminder System
• Campaign Analytics
• Campaign Planning
• CAN-SPAM Compliance
• Content Management
• Customizable CTAs
• Drip Campaigns
• Email Marketing
• Event-Triggered Actions
• Landing Pages/Web Forms

ActiveCampaign Pros & Cons

ActiveCampaign Pricing

ActiveCampaign offers 4 different subscription plans for the various business requirements:

• Lite: $18.75 per month for basic marketing support and features
• Plus: $36.75 each month for standard marketing requirements of mid-sized businesses
• Professional: $96.75 every month for professional marketing support and features
• Enterprise: $171.75/month for advanced marketing needs of professional enterprises

Technical Details

About Klaviyo

Klaviyo is the world’s leading marketing platform known for accelerating revenue for online businesses using the channels they own like email, SMS, in-app notifications, and web. Klaviyo enables companies to leverage these owned marketing channels and makes it easy to store, access, analyze and use transactional and behavioural data to power highly-targeted customer and prospect communications.

With Klaviyo, end users can measure the performance of their marketing campaigns easily by facilitating reporting and meaningful analysis with key metrics. From the Klaviyo dashboard, users can compare current and past campaign performance, view real-time activity streams and add, edit or remove other metric charts. Klaviyo’s metrics grant users the flexibility to analyze trends in orders, see shifts in customer behavior as well as track the growth of lists and segments.

With popular brands like Huckberry, Nomad and Unilever, Klaviyo is serving 50,000 innovative companies across the globe and is definitely one of the best market automation software available on the market.

Klaviyo Benefits

Efficient Business Management

You’re ready to launch your business or take your brand to the next level. Grow your contact list and create email and mobile experiences that build valuable relationships.

Get started in minutes with native integrations

Klaviyo offers robust, ready-to-go integrations that pull in all your data from top eCommerce platforms and marketing tools. And you don’t hold back: With Klaviyo, you can integrate as much data as you want, with no limitations or hidden fees.

Effective Reporting

Explore real-time activity feeds for up-to-date customer information. Report on revenue and things that matter most to your business.

Robust Segmentation

Worry less about manually maintaining lists since segments update automatically. Spend more time on new ideas to grow your business.

Klaviyo Features

• 2-Way Messaging
• A/B Testing
• Analytics/ROI Tracking
• Auto-Responders
• Campaign Management
• CAN-SPAM Compliance
• Contact Management
• Customizable CTAs
• Drip Campaigns
• Email Marketing
• Event-Triggered Actions
• Image Library
• Landing Pages/Web Forms
• List Management

Klaviyo Pros & Cons

Klaviyo Pricing

Klaviyo’s pricing is based on the number of contacts and number of SMS messages sent. Email pricing starts from $20/month for 251+ contacts, as the first 250 contacts are free.

Technical Details

About Pardot

Meet Pardot: B2B marketing automation on the world’s #1 CRM. Pardot empowers marketing and sales teams to work together to find and nurture leads, close more deals, and maximize return on investment.

Pardot’s lead management features CRM integration, email marketing, lead nurturing, lead scoring, and ROI reporting to help marketing and sales teams work together to generate and qualify sales leads, shorten sales cycles, and track marketing ROI.

Pardot Benefits

Streamlined Lead Management

Increase engagement and sell faster by reaching the right customers at the right time.. Automatically send emails based on triggers including time, interactions and other custom parameters.

Effective E-mail Marketing

You connect with your customers through email, so make sure you’re getting the most out of your efforts. With its Intuitive Email Builder, Build professional emails quickly using our easy, visual editor.

Seamless Sales Alignment

One team, one dream. When marketing and sales are in sync, you can sell more effectively. Empower sales to send marketing-approved mini-campaigns to their customers. Track interaction with messages sent through Gmail.

Do more with Artificial Intelligence

With Pardot Einstein, marketing and sales have access to the full power of AI, allowing them to reach out to the right lead at exactly the right time.

Pardot Features

• A/B Testing
• Analytics/ROI Tracking
• Campaign Analytics
• Campaign Planning
• Channel Management
• Contact Database
• Customizable CTAs
• Data Import/Export
• Drip Campaigns
• Dynamic Content
• Email Marketing
• Event-Triggered Actions
• Landing Pages/Web Forms
• Lead Capture
• Lead Database Integration

Pardot Pros & Cons

Pardot Pricing

Pardot offers 4 different plans for various business requirements:

• Growth: $1,250 per month for fueling growth with smarter marketing automation
• Plus: $2,500 each month for diving deeper with marketing automation and analytics 
• Advanced: $4,000/month for power innovation with artificial intelligence and analytics 
• Premium: $15,000 monthly for enterprise-ready features with predictive analytics and support

Technical Details

About ManyChat

ManyChat is one of the best platforms for chat marketing automation. Used by hundreds of thousands of businesses worldwide for automating their Facebook Messenger Experience for their FB pages, it has the ability to send SMS and emails directly, so that businesses can create full automation sequences and reach their customers across multiple platforms.

Manychat allows you to increase product sales, generate qualified leads, and deliver instant support through personalized conversations so that you can make meaningful communication with your clients and create quality as well as engaging leads.

Trusted by more than 1 million businesses worldwide, ManyChat has been powering over 1 billion customer conversations and is definitely one of the best marketing automation software right now.

ManyChat Benefits

Expand product sales

Help customers find the right product inside Instagram DMs. Automatically answer product questions, create product quizzes, and send customers to the point of purchase.

Generate qualified leads

Save time by qualifying leads with automated conversations. Collect and store emails and phone numbers. Jump in where needed and speak with qualified leads in real-time.

Increase engagement

Boost your follower count, comments, and reactions by running messaging-powered campaigns, like giveaways, promotions, and contests. Make it really easy for customers to start conversations with you and ensure they get a response.

Deliver instant support

Increase customer satisfaction and save your team time by automating customer support answers. Respond to FAQs with pre-built answers, capture support information from customers, and notify your team to chat live if needed.

ManyChat Features

• Lead Management
• Marketing Lead Database
• Social Media Engagement
• Reporting & Analytics
• Sequencing
• Live Chat
• Customization Interface
• Channels
• Social Media management

ManyChat Pros & Cons

ManyChat Pricing

Manychat offers a free plan, as well as a paid plan which starts at $15 per month.

Technical Details

What is Marketing Automation Software?

Marketing automation software is a specialized software that automates marketing tasks such as email-marketing, social media posts, and lead generation.

Marketing Automation Software Features

The best marketing solutions offer several core features which help in marketing automation and strategies. Some of marketing automation software features include:

• Email Marketing
• Social Media Marketing
• Lead Management
• Advertising Automation
• Workflow Management
• Mobile Marketing

Email Marketing

One of the core functions of marketing automation software is the automation of email marketing. For example, once a customer signs up for your company’s newsletter, marketing automation takes over and can start sending out email marketing campaigns based on events, online activities, and lead scores.

Social Media Marketing

Marketing automation software allows businesses to automate the process of managing a social media campaign, which can increase customer engagement and visibility for your brand or product. With automation tools, you can schedule automated posts such as polls, sweepstakes, and referral programs.

Lead Management

Using marketing automation software to manage leads is one of the most effective ways to attract new customers. With lead scoring and grading features, marketing automation software can automatically qualify and score leads based on demographics, as well as prospect online behaviors like recency and frequency.

Advertising Automation

Marketing automation tools can lead customers down the sales funnel by automating when leads see certain advertisements. If customers are revisiting a product page multiple times, this triggers your marketing automation software to present the customer with product advertisements based on where they are in the sales funnel.

Workflow Management

Workflow management automates a process that typically requires intervention by several different users due to its series of steps. Administrators can write rules to determine who, and when, a user needs to complete a step.

Mobile Marketing

To supplement both email and social media marketing, marketing automation tools also have the capability of automating mobile marketing. Users can communicate with customers by sending out push notifications, wearable device notifications, or Apple Wallet and Google Pay notifications.

Why Use Marketing Automation Software?

Marketing automation tools allow you to spend more time focusing on effective solutions while increasing your close rate as well as improving the quality of your leads. This solution helps develop your business and lets you focus on more pressing aspects of day-to-day functions.

The key problems resolved with Marketing Automation Software are:

• Create more specific and well-informed content
• Provide overall message direction focused on customer data
• Customize messaging across a customer user base
• Personalize messaging with automation
• Reduce staffing and labor costs

Who Uses Marketing Automation Software?

Small businesses as well as large corporations can benefit from marketing automation software. If you are a small business, you can directly benefit from marketing automation tools without having to increase your headcount, which can be especially important for companies with a small workforce and limited hiring capital.

• Marketing Teams
• Sales Teams
• Content Managers

Marketing Teams

Marketing automation tools allow marketing teams to automate tedious tasks, organize workflows, and collect more customer data. By automating marketing tasks like email marketing, lead generation, and digital advertising, marketing teams save plenty of time and are able to focus more time on analyzing their data.

Sales Teams

Marketing automation software allows sales teams to effectively use marketing data in identifying qualified leads, analyzing customer sentiment, and establishing better communication with customers. When sales teams understand what leads have expressed a major interest in the product, they can reach out to customers based on actual data and turn cold calls into warm calls. With marketing automation data, sales teams can also be notified when the best time is to reach out to their leads.

Content Managers

Content managers can use marketing automation software to automate the content publishing process. This allows content marketing teams to schedule posts for the most effective times during the day, which can drive more visibility for their content.

Types of Marketing Automation Software

While many tools provide marketing automation, these products may vary in their focus and breadth of features.Here are the various types of Marketing Automation Software:

• Inbound Marketing Automation
• Lead Management and Nurturing Automation
• Pricing Automation

Inbound Marketing Automation

Inbound marketing automation is designed for marketing teams that are specifically focused on content management. This usually translates to teams that write blogs or post social media content to attract new customers. Within inbound marketing, some examples of tasks that can be automated include marketing analytics, reputation management, social media monitoring, and sales lead generation.

Lead Management and Nurturing Automation

With lead management and nurturing automation, sales teams can automate the process of acquiring as well as qualifying leads based on which are most likely to convert. This is really useful for sales teams, as users are capable of setting parameters for what constitutes a qualified lead.

Pricing Automation

Many E-commerce websites and online retailers use pricing automation tools to close more sales. If a customer has come to your website and has been browsing a certain product multiple times, then it is very likely that they are considering to buy that product.

How to Find the Marketing Automation Software For Your Business?

Finding the best marketing automation software for your business can be tough if you don’t know what to look for.

Here’s an overview of the factors that we used to pick the options on our list. Take these into consideration when selecting the ideal solution for your business:

• Business Size
• Automation Needs
• CRM Integration
• Core Features
• Price

Business Size

Most of the marketing automation software is geared toward specific types and sizes of businesses. Generally speaking, small to mid-sized businesses and enterprises will have very different needs.

That is why you should consider the size of your business when picking the marketing automation solution of your choice.

Automation Needs

The first setup should be intuitive and easy.

Irrespective of the solution you’re using, you’ll need to create rules that will trigger a specific sequence. These are based on actions of users such as subscribing to a certain landing page, returning to your website or opening an email.

The best marketing automation tools allow you to set up advanced automation for multiple actions throughout the customer journey. The best way to figure out the required automation of your business is to get a free trial and understand the features of that tool.

CRM Integration

Not every marketing automation tool is an all-inclusive marketing solution. You need to find out if the tool you’re considering is a one-stop-shop for your requirements.

Lots of the options provide their services as double CRM software and email marketing software. So you can handle everything from a unified dashboard. However, other solutions won’t be as versatile.

Core Features

Your email automation software should be chosen according to the features that align with your goals.

Exactly what are you trying to achieve? Is it lead generation? Sales? Conversions? Is the software robust enough to scale with you as your needs change?

The best marketing automation solutions have advanced features for things like lead scoring, event tracking, sales integration, and more.

However, you won’t be needing each and every feature for your particular agenda. That is why you should understand the core features needed for your business.

Price

Generally, the cost of marketing automation software is based on the number of customers, subscribers, or leads in your contact list.

Having said that, there is a wide variety of price points in this space. Some solutions accept monthly payments while others charge annually.

In some instances, you can also save some cash by taking an annual subscription, while others might not even support yearly charges.

Conclusion

Marketing automation software can really help you streamline your marketing strategies and save valuable time.

To recap, here are the best marketing automation solutions according to their types:

• HubSpot Marketing Hub: Best for sales, customer service, marketing automation
• ActiveCampaign: Best for Email Marketing Automation
• Klaviyo: Best for e-commerce businesses
• Pardot by Salesforce: Best for B2B companies
• ManyChat: Best for Chat marketing automation

Regardless of your business size, type, or needs, you can refer to this article and find the best marketing automation software according to the requirements of your business.