Top 13 Marketing Automation Tools to Empower Your Team

Sometimes, the path of least resistance is the best one to take. Marketing is no different. Why spend countless hours breaking your back over repetitive tasks if there’s software that’ll do it for you? 

In this article, we’ll detail the reasons why you should incorporate marketing automation tools into your processes and how to choose the right ones for your business. Discover the top 12 marketing automation platforms producing the best results for companies worldwide.

How Marketing Automation Tools Streamline Operations & Power Productivity

There are several aspects of your business that can benefit from marketing automation tools. Let’s dive right into the most meaningful stats and discuss why you should use automation software in your operations.

• Merge Tools to Create Streamlined Workflows: In 2021, ZHAW School of Management and Law found that 55% of marketing professionals most value marketing automation’s ability to unite CMS, CRM, and ERP tools into singular, streamlined workflows.
  
  By bridging the gap between these tools, automation software minimizes the necessary labor involved in obtaining and sharing data, allows for uninterrupted productivity, and speeds overall task resolution.
  
• Remove Barriers between Sales & Marketing: Marketing automation tools work incredibly well in eliminating information and workflow silos between the marketing and sales departments.
  
  As these two departments are vital to your business’s bottom line, supporting their cooperation can do wonders for boosting your revenue across all channels. It guarantees a speedy return on investment with near -100% certainty.
  
• Higher Conversion Rates & Customer Satisfaction: It’s not only your employees who benefit from marketing automation. By automating certain aspects of content creation and delivery aspects, you can also treat your leads and customers to better experiences than ever before.
  
  Social media, phone, and email marketing automation help target people most likely to be receptive to your messaging with content they desire on the platforms they’re most comfortable using.

Top 13 Must-have Marketing Automation Tools to Supercharge Your Team

#1 CloudTalk | All-in-One Call Center Software

CloudTalk is a VoIP business calling solution used by customer service and sales teams. It automates workflows and gives managers the built-in analytics they need to optimize performance and increase calling efficiency.

With more than 70 features and a wide range of integrations with CRMs and helpdesk tools, CloudTalk collects, centralizes, and processes all calling data, allowing you to customize your CX to the exact specifications of your business.

Key Features:

• AI
• IVR
• ACD
• SMS
• Voicemail
• WhatsApp
• Click-to-Call
• Call Recording
• Call Monitoring
• Call Forwarding
• Real-time Analytics
• Workflow Automation
• Smart & Power Dialer
• 35+ 3rd Party Integrations
• 160+ International Numbers
• Multichannel Communication

Pricing: Starts at $25 per user/month.

#2 HubSpot Marketing Hub

With HubSpot Marketing Hub, you can drive revenue by targeting leads at the right place and time across email, landing pages, forms, and more. Manage your contacts and campaigns in one place and use automation tools to scale your efficiency. Build stronger relationships with your customers and reach better results.

We asked Tony Do, the Marketing Manager at Hubspot, if and how they use their product and what he sees as Hubspot’s biggest benefit. This is what he had to say:

“As a marketer for over 5 years,  I’ve always been a huge of HubSpot’s tools, even before I became a HubSpot employee. HubSpot’s all-in-one solution has always been the biggest value factor for me and my campaigns.

Syncing your entire business operations under a single platform is a huge benefit, especially for startups and small businesses where you don’t have as much resourcing and bandwidth. I’ve been able to build websites on the CMS, onboard customers to email and subscription lists, and provide help using the customer service ticket system. 

We can find ways to incorporate customers into our funnel, nurture leads, and develop deeper relationships with our customers. In traditional practices, it’s often that all of these processes live separately. But when you’re a one-person army, HubSpot’s marketing automation has been huge.”

Key Features:

• CRM
• Paid Ad Tracking
• List Segmentation
• Email Automation
• Workflow Automation
• Landing Page Creation
• Social Media Management
• Customizable Dashboards

Pricing: Offers a free version, paid plans start at $45 per month.

#3 Salesforce Marketing Cloud

The Salesforce Marketing Cloud is an all-encompassing CRM platform that revolutionizes customer relationship management and campaign execution. Its Journey Builder tool and seamless integration with Sales Cloud and Service Cloud allow businesses to deliver personalized experiences and streamline customer interactions. 

It offers predictive analytics for informed decision-making with integrated solutions spanning customer journey management, email marketing, mobile engagement, social media integration, web personalization, targeted advertising, content creation, and data analysis.

Key Features:

• Analytics
• Website Designer
• Behavior Tracking
• Campaign Management
• Omnichannel Communication

Pricing: Starts at $400 per month.

#4 Gong

Gong.io is a SaaS company that leverages artificial intelligence to analyze conversations and eventually enable sales departments to understand which marketing strategies are working and which aren’t.

The platform utilizes video, phone calls, and email data analysis to improve business insights. Artificial intelligence captures the trends and methods of top salespeople and helps create a training program for newer sales members to increase overall team production, lead generation, and deal closing. 

Key Features:

• AI
• ACD
• Call Monitoring
• Collaboration Tools
• Sentiment Analysis
• Video Conferencing
• Reporting & Analytics
• Employee Scheduling
• Conversation Intelligence
• Automatic Outbound Dialer

Pricing: Per request.

#5 SleekFlow

SleekFlow is a robust omnichannel communication and marketing automation platform that streamlines customer interactions across various channels, including WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and more.

It’s a top-level Flow Builder that allows setting up automation rules, personalizing marketing broadcast messages, and creating multi-step workflows with the flexibility to integrate multiple platforms. The platform seamlessly integrates with CRM and e-commerce systems, offering a conversation AI feature for quality responses and in-depth analytics for performance assessment.

Key Features:

• Streamlined omnichannel communication
• Automated chatbot and flow builder
• Marketing broadcast messages
• Instant checkouts with in-chat payment links
• Seamlessly integrated CRM and e-commerce platforms
• Conversation AI feature for quality responses

Pricing: Starts with a free Startup plan, catering to start-ups and solopreneurs with essential features, plans start at $ 79 per month.

#6 ActiveCampaign for Marketing

ActiveCampaign is an integrated platform combining email marketing, automation, sales software, and CRM capabilities into a unified solution. 

The solution empowers businesses to craft compelling email marketing campaigns and conduct web analytics to implement lead scoring and manage customer relationships.

Leveraging detailed behavior tracking and advanced marketing segmentation options, users can create highly personalized campaigns that resonate with their target audiences, driving engagement and conversion.

Key Features:

• CRM
• Split Testing
• Lead Scoring
• Email Marketing
• Site & Event Tracking
• Marketing & Sales Automation
• Dynamic Content Personalization

Pricing: Starts at $49 per month, paid annually.

#7 SendX

SendX is an email marketing platform that allows companies, regardless of industry, to create comprehensive email campaigns, build lists, and automate their marketing. 

Its automation features focus specifically on eradicating repetitive tasks, like cleaning up mailing lists, adding/removing tags, processing inbound data, and even triggering emails when a lead meets specific criteria. 

This tool was suggested by Trevor Hatfield, the Founder of Inturact, so we were curious to hear what made him choose SendX in particular. This is what he had to say:

“We use SendX as a marketing automation tool for email campaigns. It helps smooth the sales process by focusing on lead nurturing and simplifies how you engage with potential customers. I was primarily persuaded to use the tool by its affordable pricing policy, ease of use, and exceptional customer support.”

Key Features:

• Autoresponder
• Email Campaigns
• Email A/B Testing
• Email Web Forms
• Audience Segmentation

Pricing: Starts at $7.49 per month, paid annually.

#8 Brevo (Formerly Sendinblue)

Brevo presents itself as an ideal email marketing solution for small and medium-sized businesses aiming to execute effective email campaigns while working within a limited budget. Its intuitive drag-and-drop email editor allows for effortless customization of email designs with a wide selection of pre-set elements.

The platform works for email and SMS and offers many valuable features, including A/B testing, landing page creation, bounce management, dynamic reports and analytics, and more. 

Key Features:

• SMS
• Email
• Chatbot
• WhatsApp
• Facebook Ads
• Conference Calls
• Sign-Up Form Creator
• Landing Page Designer

Pricing: Offers a free version, plans start at $25 billed month.

#9 Snov.io

Snov.io is an outreach automation and CRM software designed to help businesses  manage an entire lead-obtaining journey on a centralized platform. Marketers can create personalized drip email sequences and campaigns using a drag-and-drop interface to connect with bloggers, instagram influencers, and media platforms.

The platform allows organizations to convert post-event or conference leads into clients by scheduling follow-up calls, tracking key metrics via visual statistics, and uploading email lists to verify them. 

Administrators can search for emails on multiple domains and utilize the search functionality to retrieve corporate emails based on industry, company size, name, and more. 

Key Features:

• AI
• Analytics
• Sales CRM
• Email Finder
• Email Verifier
• Email A/B Testing
• Email Drip Campaigns

Pricing: Offers free version, plans start at $30 per month.

#10 Keap

Keap is a CRM platform that combines sales and marketing automation to create a great all-in-one platform for businesses just kicking off their marketing efforts. The platform lets you capture leads from tailored landing pages, increase conversions with powerful follow-ups, and automate repetitive sales processes.

Key Features:

• CRM
• Invoicing
• Automation
• A/B Testing
• Lead Scoring
• Internal Forms
• Text Marketing
• Landing Pages
• Email Marketing
• Recurring Payments
• Reminders & Reports
• Appointment Scheduling

Pricing: Starts at $189 per month or $149 per month if paid annually.

#11 Klaviyo

Klaviyo unifies all customer data and channels in one place, delivering unprecedented speed and value. It is built to be intuitive and easy to use so that every brand can easily connect with its valued customers.

The platform allows eCommerce store owners to deliver a personalized multi-channel customer experience, send bulk email and SMS campaigns, and take full control of all their content and messaging in one place.

Key Features:

• SMS
• Email
• Reviews
• Mobile Push
• Signup Forms
• Social Media Ads
• Pre-built Templates
• Campaign Newsletters
• Ecommerce Automation

Pricing: Offers a free version, plans start at $45 per month.

#12 MailChimp

Mailchimp is an email and marketing automation platform for growing businesses. Today, it stands as one of the most popular email automation tools on the market. 

Mailchimp has a wide range of features, but most notably, it allows you to manage subscription lists, create email campaigns, automate customer journeys, and track your performance. 

Key Features:

• A/B Testing
• Email Builder
• Generative AI
• Marketing CRM
• Email Marketing
• Content Optimizer
• Campaign Manager
• Behavioral Targeting
• Smart Recommendations
• Customer Journey Builder
• Landing Page & Website Designer

Pricing: Offers a free version, plans start at $13 per month.

#13 Ortto

Ortto is, first and foremost, a Customer Data Platform (CDP) built to help you increase the impact of your campaigns and hit growth goals with real-time customer data insights. On top of that, the platform offers solutions for customer journey building, email & SMS marketing, multi-channel communication, and more. 

We asked Charlie Windschill, the Director of Growth Marketing at Orto, whether they used their own tool in their processes and what he saw as its biggest benefit. This is what he had to say:

“We use our product, Ortto (formerly: Autopilot), internally for marketing automation across the entire customer lifecycle. For example, we run integrated campaigns gathering leads via forms created in Ortto and 3rd party forms (e.g., LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms), trigger automation to keep Salesforce and the Ortto CDP updated, send emails related to the campaign plus move leads into appropriate evergreen nurture Journeys. 

We also have a product-led growth motion, so use our product to activate, engage and convert users on a free trial based on their product usage behaviors which we track with custom events set up in Ortto. 

Finally, as the head of the marketing department, I have all my reporting set up in Ortto, which I use for reporting up and across the organization on how we’re trending toward goals and why.

We think users most value the ability to access marketing automation, CDP, and analytics in one simple-to-use solution. Furthermore, Ortto leverages the power of AI to offer relevant content recommendations, helping save time.”

Key Features:

• A/B Testing
• AI Predictions
• Web Push Notifications
• Form & Pop-Up Builder
• Email & SMS Marketing
• Mobile Push Notifications
• Customer Journey Builder
• Email Delivery Optimization

Pricing: Starts at $509 per month, billed annually.

How to Choose the Right Marketing Automation Tools

If you still have no solid idea of what you need to improve and how you want to approach it, the money and effort you spend may be for nothing. To prevent that, we’ve compiled these five simple steps for choosing the right marketing automation tools for you.

• Identify Bottlenecks in Your Operations

Are you not getting the desired results from the resources you invest in a particular team or project? Do you continue to fail company KPIs or fall below industry-wide benchmarks? If so, there’s something wrong with your processes.

Most companies can’t immediately recognize what tools would be right for them because they don’t understand the root of their issues. Finding out should be your first step.

Once you figure it out, you’ll be able to ascertain what aspects of your business would benefit from marketing automation tools and which ones are the best pick. Almost.

• Determine Your Budget

The last step necessary before actually starting to look for solutions is to determine your budget. 

Start by assessing your financial resources and compare them against the initial purchase price and the expected costs of implementation, training, and long-term use of the tool. 

Don’t forget to consider scalability – you want to choose a tool that can grow alongside your business. To that end, find a solution that fits your business now as well as in the future. 

• Do Your Due Diligence

Finally, we’re moving on to actually choosing the solution in your desired niche and finding the one that fits you. Review platforms such as G2, Capterra, and TrustRadius will be your best friends during this process.

Compare the tool providers’ sales pitches with actual experiences from people in similar industries with similar needs. Remember, star ratings aren’t everything, but they’re always a good place to start when eliminating possible contenders. 

• Look for Measurability

How can you know whether the tool is doing its job if you don’t have data to evaluate it?  Providers of marketing automation platforms that are confident in their tools typically provide you with an analytics solution, so you can track your progress. 

Thus, when choosing new automation software, it’s always a good idea to look for one with strong statistics. It’ll help you gauge how well your money is being spent and immediately alert you if someone’s trying to pull the wool over your eyes. 

• Contact Sales & Try It Out for Yourself

Once you found a marketing automation tool that seems right for you, it’s time to bite the bullet and give it a try. But before you spend a cent on it, it’s always good to subscribe for a free trial and see if it fulfills your requirements. 

If there’s no free trial mentioned on the solution provider’s website, we recommend you contact their sales team and ask them to give you one anyway. Usually, they’ll be more than happy to let you experience their product. 

If not, it might be a sign that there’s something they don’t want you to see before getting your money.