Marketing automation is the process of using software to automate repetitive and time-consuming marketing tasks, such as email marketing, social media marketing, lead generation, lead nurturing, and more. Marketing automation can help you save time, increase efficiency, personalize your campaigns, and measure your results.
However, with so many marketing automation tools available in the market, how do you choose the best one for your business? In this article, we will review 10 of the best marketing automation tools that you need to try right now, and compare their features, benefits, pricing, and customer reviews.
What is Marketing Automation and Why Do You Need It?
Before we dive into the list of the best marketing automation tools, let’s first define what marketing automation is and why you need it.
Marketing automation is the use of software to automate, streamline, and optimize your marketing processes across multiple channels and platforms. Marketing automation can help you:
- Save time and resources by automating repetitive and manual tasks, such as sending emails, posting on social media, updating your CRM, and more.
- Increase efficiency and productivity by reducing human errors, improving workflow management, and enabling collaboration among your team members.
- Personalize your campaigns by segmenting your audience, targeting them with relevant and timely messages, and delivering a consistent and engaging customer experience across all touchpoints.
- Measure your results and optimize your strategy by tracking and analyzing your marketing performance, identifying your strengths and weaknesses, and testing and improving your campaigns.
Selecting the Optimal Marketing Automation Tool for Your Business
Choosing the best marketing automation tool for your business depends on various factors, such as your business size, industry, goals, budget, and preferences. However, there are some general criteria that you can use to evaluate and compare different marketing automation tools, such as:
- Features and functionality. You want a marketing automation tool that offers the features and functionality that you need for your marketing strategy, such as email marketing, social media marketing, landing page creation, lead generation, lead scoring, lead nurturing, CRM integration, analytics, and more.
- Ease of use and user interface. You want a marketing automation tool that is easy to use and has a user-friendly and intuitive interface, so that you can set up, manage, and monitor your campaigns without any hassle or confusion.
- Integration and compatibility. You want a marketing automation tool that integrates and works well with your existing tools and platforms, such as your website, CRM, email service provider, social media accounts, and more.
- Pricing and plans. You want a marketing automation tool that fits your budget and offers flexible and transparent pricing and plans, so that you can choose the best option for your business needs and scale up or down as you grow.
- Customer support and reviews. You want a marketing automation tool that provides reliable and responsive customer support and has positive and trustworthy customer reviews, so that you can get the help and feedback you need when you encounter any issues or problems.
10 Best Marketing Automation Tools to Try Right Now
Now that you know what marketing automation is, why you need it, and how to choose the best tool for your business, let’s take a look at 10 of the best marketing automation tools that you need to try right now.
1. HubSpot Marketing Hub
HubSpot Marketing Hub is one of the most popular and comprehensive marketing automation platforms in the market. It offers a full suite of features and functionality to help you create, launch, and manage your marketing campaigns across multiple channels and platforms, such as email, web, social, blog, and more.
Some of the key features of HubSpot Marketing Hub include:
- Email marketing. You can create, send, and track personalized and responsive email campaigns with drag-and-drop templates, dynamic content, A/B testing, and analytics.
- Landing pages. You can create, publish, and optimize landing pages with drag-and-drop templates, forms, CTAs, and analytics.
- Lead generation. You can generate more leads with pop-up forms, live chat, chatbots, and Facebook Messenger.
- Lead management. You can manage and segment your leads with lead scoring, lead nurturing, and CRM integration.
- Marketing analytics. You can measure and analyze your marketing performance with dashboards, reports, and attribution.
2. Mailchimp
Mailchimp is one of the most popular and widely used email marketing tools in the market. It helps you create, send, and track email campaigns with beautiful templates, dynamic content, and analytics. However, Mailchimp extends beyond being merely an email marketing tool. It also offers features and functionality to help you with other aspects of your marketing strategy, such as landing pages, forms, surveys, social media, ads, and more.
Some of the key features of Mailchimp include:
- Email marketing. You can create, send, and track email campaigns with drag-and-drop templates, dynamic content, A/B testing, and analytics.
- Landing pages. You can create, publish, and optimize landing pages with drag-and-drop templates, forms, CTAs, and analytics.
- Forms and surveys. You can create, embed, and collect feedback from your audience with forms and surveys.
- Social media. You can create, schedule, and monitor your social media posts with Mailchimp’s social media tools.
- Ads. You can create, run, and track ads on Facebook, Instagram, and Google with Mailchimp’s ad tools.
3. ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is one of the most powerful and flexible marketing automation tools in the market. It helps you create, launch, and manage personalized and automated campaigns across multiple channels and platforms, such as email, web, SMS, chat, and more.
Some of the key features of ActiveCampaign include:
- Email marketing. You can create, send, and track personalized and responsive email campaigns with drag-and-drop templates, dynamic content, A/B testing, and analytics.
- Marketing automation. You can create, launch, and manage automated campaigns with workflows, triggers, actions, and conditions.
- CRM and sales automation. You can manage and nurture your leads and customers with contact management, deal tracking, lead scoring, and sales automation.
- Messaging. You can communicate and engage with your audience with SMS, chat, and conversational marketing.
- Attribution. You can measure and optimize your marketing performance with attribution, reporting, and analytics.
4. Marketo Engage
Marketo Engage is one of the most advanced and sophisticated marketing automation platforms in the market. It helps you create, launch, and manage personalized and scalable campaigns across multiple channels and platforms, such as email, web, mobile, social, and more.
Some of the key features of Marketo Engage include:
- Email marketing. You can create, send, and track personalized and responsive email campaigns with drag-and-drop templates, dynamic content, A/B testing, and analytics.
- Marketing automation. You can create, launch, and manage automated campaigns with workflows, triggers, actions, and conditions.
- Lead management. You can manage and segment your leads with lead scoring, lead nurturing, and CRM integration.
- Account-based marketing. You can target and engage with your key accounts with personalized and coordinated campaigns across multiple channels and stakeholders.
- Web personalization. You can create, publish, and optimize personalized and relevant web experiences for your visitors with dynamic content, CTAs, and analytics.
5. Omnisend
Omnisend is one of the best marketing automation tools for ecommerce businesses. It helps you create, launch, and manage personalized and omnichannel campaigns across multiple channels and platforms, such as email, SMS, push notifications, web, and more.
Some of the key features of Omnisend include:
- Email marketing. You can create, send, and track personalized and responsive email campaigns with drag-and-drop templates, dynamic content, A/B testing, and analytics.
- SMS marketing. You can create, send, and track personalized and timely SMS campaigns with text messages, images, and emojis.
- Push notifications. You can create, send, and track personalized and engaging push notifications with images, CTAs, and analytics.
- Web push notifications. You can create, send, and track personalized and instant web push notifications with images, CTAs, and analytics.
- Automation workflows. You can create, launch, and manage automated campaigns with workflows, triggers, actions, and conditions.
6. GetResponse
GetResponse is one of the most affordable and easy-to-use marketing automation tools in the market. It helps you create, launch, and manage personalized and automated campaigns across multiple channels and platforms, such as email, web, social, and more.
Some of the key features of GetResponse include:
- Email marketing. You can create, send, and track personalized and responsive email campaigns with drag-and-drop templates, dynamic content, A/B testing, and analytics.
- Landing pages. You can create, publish, and optimize landing pages with drag-and-drop templates, forms, CTAs, and analytics.
- Webinars. You can create, host, and record webinars with registration pages, reminders, and replays.
- Marketing automation. You can create, launch, and manage automated campaigns with workflows, triggers, actions, and conditions.
- Conversion funnel. You can create, launch, and manage conversion funnels with landing pages, webinars, forms, sales pages, and payment gateways.
7. Sendinblue
Sendinblue is one of the best marketing automation tools for small and medium-sized businesses. It helps you create, launch, and manage personalized and multichannel campaigns across multiple channels and platforms, such as email, SMS, chat, and more.
Some of the key features of Sendinblue include:
- Email marketing. You can create, send, and track personalized and responsive email campaigns with drag-and-drop templates, dynamic content, A/B testing, and analytics.
- SMS marketing. You can create, send, and track personalized and timely SMS campaigns with text messages and analytics.
- Chat. You can create, install, and manage a chat widget on your website to communicate and engage with your visitors in real-time.
- Marketing automation. You can create, launch, and manage automated campaigns with workflows, triggers, actions, and conditions.
- CRM. You can manage and nurture your leads and customers with contact management, deal tracking, and segmentation.
8. ConvertKit
ConvertKit is one of the best marketing automation tools for creators, such as bloggers, podcasters, YouTubers, and more. It helps you create, launch, and manage personalized and automated campaigns across multiple channels and platforms, such as email, web, and more.
Some of the key features of ConvertKit include:
- Email marketing. You can create, send, and track personalized and responsive email campaigns with drag-and-drop templates, dynamic content, A/B testing, and analytics.
- Landing pages and forms. You can create, publish, and optimize landing pages and forms with drag-and-drop templates, forms, CTAs, and analytics.
- Automation workflows. You can create, launch, and manage automated campaigns with workflows, triggers, actions, and conditions.
- Commerce. You can sell your digital products and subscriptions with ConvertKit’s commerce tools, such as checkout pages, payment gateways, and recurring billing.
9. Drip
Drip is one of the best marketing automation tools for ecommerce businesses. It helps you create, launch, and manage personalized and omnichannel campaigns across multiple channels and platforms, such as email, SMS, web, and more.
Some of the key features of Drip include:
- Email marketing. You can create, send, and track personalized and responsive email campaigns with drag-and-drop templates, dynamic content, A/B testing, and analytics.
- SMS marketing. You can create, send, and track personalized and timely SMS campaigns with text messages and analytics.
- Web push notifications. You can create, send, and track personalized and instant web push notifications with images, CTAs, and analytics.
- Automation workflows. You can create, launch, and manage automated campaigns with workflows, triggers, actions, and conditions.
- Ecommerce CRM. You can manage and nurture your leads and customers with contact management, segmentation, and personalization.
10. Pardot
Pardot is one of the best marketing automation tools for B2B businesses. It helps you create, launch, and manage personalized and scalable campaigns across multiple channels and platforms, such as email, web, social, and more.
Some of the key features of Pardot include:
- Email marketing. You can create, send, and track personalized and responsive email campaigns with drag-and-drop templates, dynamic content, A/B testing, and analytics.
- Landing pages and forms. You can create, publish, and optimize landing pages and forms with drag-and-drop templates, forms, CTAs, and analytics.
- Lead generation and management. You can generate and manage your leads with lead scoring, lead nurturing, lead assignment, and CRM integration.
- Account-based marketing. You can target and engage with your key accounts with personalized and coordinated campaigns across multiple channels and stakeholders.
- Marketing analytics. You can measure and analyze your marketing performance with dashboards, reports, and attribution.
Conclusion
Marketing automation is a powerful and effective way to streamline, optimize, and personalize your marketing campaigns across multiple channels and platforms. However, choosing the best marketing automation tool for your business can be challenging, as there are many options available in the market.
If you need more help with choosing and implementing the best marketing automation tool for your business, you can contact us at OnextDigital. We are a digital marketing agency that specializes in CRM and auto marketing implement service. We can help you set up, manage, and optimize your marketing automation campaigns with the best tools and strategies. Contact us today and let us help you grow your business with marketing automation.