Regardless of the industry, market, or size, any business can gain advantages from employing marketing automation software solutions. The process of selecting the appropriate vendor and solution can be intricate, particularly for small businesses where budget and functionalities are of utmost importance. In light of this, we have compiled a list of highly rated marketing automation software options for small businesses and teams to contemplate incorporating into their operations.
The Best Marketing Automation Software for Small Businesses
ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign offers businesses a platform called customer experience automation (CXA) to automate and personalize their marketing strategies. The platform includes features such as automated email follow-ups, tracking engagement with contacts, custom fields, performance reports, and more. Businesses can test ActiveCampaign’s marketing automation platform through a free trial and then switch to one of the paid models (Lite, Plus, Professional, and Enterprise) when they want to enhance their marketing automation efforts.
GetResponse
GetResponse is a software platform for marketing that is intended to assist entrepreneurs, online marketers, marketing managers, and companies in creating content, boosting sales, and enhancing traffic. It offers marketing automation features such as pre-built workflows, email automation, contact segmentation, behavioral targeting, and additional tools. GetResponse offers four pricing options—Basic, Plus, Professional, and MAX—and provides a free 30-day trial, making it suitable for businesses with different sizes and budgets.
HubSpot
Hubspot Marketing Hub is suitable for both enterprises and SMBs. The platform’s marketing automation features are designed to assist companies in attracting their target audience, converting visitors into customers, and efficiently managing inbound marketing campaigns from a single, user-friendly interface. HubSpot Marketing Hub is also scalable for small businesses as it provides various free tools that can be upgraded and supplemented with the Starter, Professional, or Enterprise packages. While Marketing Hub can be purchased separately, SMBs may benefit from considering HubSpot’s CRM, which is available in free and affordable versions and includes additional functions for sales, marketing, operations, and service.
Keap
Keap offers CRM and marketing automation options for small businesses. By utilizing Keap’s sales and marketing automation solutions, SMBs can enhance lead conversion through personalized and automated follow-up messages, track lead behavior, and boost engagement. Moreover, Keap’s marketing automation features can be seamlessly integrated with third-party applications to generate more sales opportunities. The company’s pricing plans, namely Lite, Pro, and Max, can be adjusted according to the number of users within a company’s system.
Klaviyo
Klaviyo offers an effective marketing automation platform for e-commerce brands that are focused on growth. This platform assists in boosting sales through targeted and relevant email, Facebook, and Instagram marketing campaigns. It includes various features such as segmentation, web tracking, autoresponders, automated email flows, reporting, AB testing, email content creation, and more. Additionally, Klaviyo seamlessly integrates with popular e-commerce platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, and Magento to track important data. The pricing models provided by Klaviyo are flexible and do not require annual contracts, allowing companies to only pay for the specific tools and features they utilize.
MailChimp
MailChimp is a marketing and commerce platform that provides a range of features for audience management, analytics, marketing automation, and creative tools. Keap’s marketing automation features can be used by companies to create customized workflows, trigger-based messaging, scheduling tools, pre-built automation, visual journeys, custom triggers, and e-commerce automation. This can be achieved by integrating Keap with other platforms such as WooCommerce, ShopSync, BigCommerce, and others. MailChimp offers different versions of its platform (Free, Essentials, Standard, and Premium) to cater to companies of all sizes, allowing them to choose the solution that best meets their needs in terms of capabilities.
Omnisend
The Omnisend platform is designed to meet a company’s needs in e-commerce, email marketing, SMS, and automation. Iterable’s centralized marketing platform and automation tools are used by companies to create omnichannel workflows, pre-built messages, conduct A/B tests, track success with reporting tools, and utilize over fifty integrations. Omnisend provides a free version of its platform for companies to begin with email marketing. The Standard package includes marketing automation, pre-built workflows, the ability to send 15,000 emails per month, and additional features.
Sendinblue
SendinBlue is a marketing platform that offers small businesses the opportunity to expand by providing email marketing, SMS marketing, CRM, and marketing automation. By utilizing its marketing automation features, SMBs can customize each stage of the customer experience, create outreach strategies that span multiple channels, and convert website visitors into customers. These features consist of transactional email tools, audience segmentation, integration with CRM systems, SMS marketing, web chats, landing pages, signup forms, Facebook advertisements, email marketing, and various other tools.
SharpSpring
SharpSpring’s sales and marketing automation platforms are well-suited for SMBs, enterprises, and agencies. The platform incorporates a behavioral-based tracking tool, enabling companies to gain insights into customer motivations. This tracking tool can be utilized across all of SharpSpring’s marketing automation services. SharpSpring allows users to create automation tasks, enhance workflows with branching logic, establish nurturing campaigns that respond to lead behavior, and easily customize buyer personas to optimize segmentation. The Small Business pricing model is available in both annual and monthly versions and provides complete access to the growth marketing platform.
Thryv
Thryv is a customer experience platform designed for small businesses aiming to expand their customer base, increase engagement, and enhance revenue. It offers a comprehensive range of marketing automation tools specifically tailored for small businesses. These tools enable users to set up trigger-based campaigns, send automated messages utilizing pre-designed templates, monitor engagement through analytics, and more. Thryv’s pricing structure is determined by the number of users, additional features, and various configurations.
Marketo
Marketo is widely recognized as one of the top marketing automation tools for a valid reason. It stands out as one of the most established tools, offering a comprehensive range of features that not only facilitate the management of email campaigns for marketers but also offer exceptional tools for sales teams. Additionally, Marketo possesses a marketplace named LaunchPoint, which boasts numerous integrations.
The intended audience for this is:
If companies plan to utilize the various features offered by Marketo that go beyond basic marketing automation, it is a great tool for them. While it is not the most expensive option available, it is not the cheapest either. If one does not intend to use the advanced functions of the system, similar results can be achieved with a more affordable tool. However, starting with a tool like Marketo, which allows users to begin with the basics and then progress to more advanced features in the future, could be beneficial. This way, there is no need to transfer all data and campaigns later on. Additionally, we appreciate Marketo’s extensive and active knowledge base, which is an excellent resource for new users.
The pricing begins at:
The monthly cost is $1,195.
Eloqua
Eloqua can be compared to a Ferrari in the field of marketing automation due to its comprehensive features, exceptional service, and high price. One of the key factors that sets Eloqua apart is their dedication to educate and support customers in maximizing the product’s capabilities. Similar to Marketo, Eloqua also offers a diverse range of integrations with third-party services through their extensive marketplace.
Who is it intended for:
If you’re not seriously considering enterprise-level software or have the budget for it, there’s no need to look at Eloqua. However, if you do have these considerations, Eloqua is an excellent choice, particularly if you appreciate substantial guidance from your technology vendors. Additionally, if tight CRM integration is a priority for you, Eloqua should be taken into consideration.
Pricing begins at:
A monthly income of two thousand dollars.
Customer.io
The main reason why we love Customer.io is because of its flexibility. This tool allows you to truly achieve your desired outcomes. While it may require some developer time, you can genuinely customize your Customer.io experience. Additionally, this tool has a lightweight UI and provides fast, personal customer support. Customer.io is a relatively new player in the industry but is growing rapidly and should be closely observed. Unlike many older tools, Customer.io is designed to send emails based on events rather than just pageviews.
For whom it is intended:
Customer.io is suitable for two types of users: 1. Companies who want to begin using marketing automation and prefer a user-friendly interface that is not typical of enterprise software. 2. Companies who want more advanced features that offer flexibility and customization, and are ready to allocate developer resources for its implementation.
The pricing begins at:
They provide a free plan in addition to a monthly subscription fee of $75.
Constant Contact
Constant Contact is a popular email marketing tool among small businesses due to its ability to offer essential features in a user-friendly manner, making it accessible even to those without technical expertise. Its main advantages lie in its affordability and simplicity.
For whom is it intended?
Constant Contact is an ideal option for small business owners who want to easily begin organized email marketing without advanced features. If you meet this description, the tool is a great fit for you. However, if you have plans to enhance your marketing automation in the upcoming future, this tool is not suitable.
The starting point of the pricing is as follows:
The monthly cost is $15.
ExactTarget/Pardot
During the Dreamforce event, the ExactTarget demo impressed us greatly, especially considering that the company has recently been acquired by salesforce.com. One notable aspect of ExactTarget is its capability to direct communications across various channels. Unlike most marketing automation tools that concentrate solely on emails, ExactTarget goes further by allowing targeting of mobile app notifications and even messages to the dashboard of a customer’s car, applicable to car manufacturers, for instance.
If you are curious about the distinction between ExactTarget and Pardot (which was acquired by ExactTarget), it is that ExactTarget is intended for B2C companies, whereas Pardot is specifically tailored for B2B companies.
Who is it for:
ExactTarget is designed for companies that have the aspiration and the means to exceed expectations with their marketing automation efforts. It is for companies that have a genuine interest in the future of marketing automation and aim to engage with their customers through multiple channels.
The pricing begins at:
Get in touch with their sales team.
Userfox
Userfox, a new player in the marketing automation space, has recently been acquired by AdRoll. We have high expectations for the future of their product, as we believe the collaboration between AdRoll and Userfox teams will bring about exciting developments.
The intended recipients of this are:
Userfox primarily works with tech companies, so if you work in the industry, you’ll be in good company. Similar to Customer.io, userfox has a user-friendly interface and is specifically designed to send emails based on events, not just pageviews. If this is important to you, userfox is an excellent option. Additionally, if you are already using AdRoll, considering userfox would be wise as the acquisition suggests a strong integration between the two products in the future.
The starting point for pricing is:
The cost per month is $49.
