Shadrack Wanjohi, Author at Alex Birkett https://www.alexbirkett.com/author/shadrack/ Organic Growth & Revenue Leader Mon, 30 Dec 2024 16:44:02 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.5 https://i2.wp.com/www.alexbirkett.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/cropped-mustache-.png?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 Shadrack Wanjohi, Author at Alex Birkett https://www.alexbirkett.com/author/shadrack/ 32 32 The 9 Best Business Automation Software Tools in 2025 https://www.alexbirkett.com/business-automation-software/ Thu, 16 Sep 2021 14:35:01 +0000 https://www.alexbirkett.com/?p=2507 In addition to getting rid of repetitive tasks through automation, customer and employee needs are evolving, leading to an increase in the adoption of business automation software. Some companies are looking to use one automation platform to improve the efficiency of their business processes. Others are looking for business automation software that will help them ... Read more

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In addition to getting rid of repetitive tasks through automation, customer and employee needs are evolving, leading to an increase in the adoption of business automation software.

Some companies are looking to use one automation platform to improve the efficiency of their business processes. Others are looking for business automation software that will help them improve the customer experience while others want to improve employee experience.

To achieve each of these goals, here’s how different departments in companies have adopted business automation software in the past 12 months:

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The rate of adoption differs between different departments, depending on the priorities that each company has.

So, whatever objectives you want to achieve using business automation software, you’re in the right place because In this post, we’re going to talk about eight of the best business automation software and tools. They will help streamline your operations, improve your business processes, and deliver business results.

But first…

What is business automation software?

Business automation software is a set of tools that help you automate recurring business activities, streamline your workflows, and improve the efficiency of your business processes.

Business automation software can either be an all-in-one platform that helps you automate different business operations from one place or a standalone automation solution that is dedicated to automating a specific business operation.

And if you’re like most marketers, you have automated a business process or two at work.

It could be email automation to support your marketing activities, chatbot software for customer onboarding, or using your favorite market research tools for market research to support product development.

Even though automation helps you get rid of repetitive tasks, 40% of automations today still lack structure because businesses aren’t allocating enough money to spend on business automation software.

This means that most automations are misaligned with what employees and customers need and expect, making it difficult to deliver the business results you’re looking for.

And if you want to scale your business operations, improve employee productivity, or deliver better buying experiences, you’ll need to go beyond basic automation and think of automating workflows. And if you want to level up, consider using an automation tool that relies on artificial intelligence.

Editor’s note: I’m going to use some affiliate links when possible to try to earn some revenue from my content. These don’t change the opinions espoused in the content nor the style in which they are written. If I think a product sucks, I’m not going to say otherwise. This is just a bonus and a way to fund the whole operation. Anyway, enjoy the article!

The 9 Best Business Automation Software Tools

That said, here are the nine best business automation tools you need:

  1. Make
  2. Workato
  3. Zapier
  4. SendInBlue
  5. ActiveCampaign
  6. HubSpot
  7. HootSuite
  8. Google Data Studio
  9. Airtable

1. Make (Formerly Integromat)

I’ve done all the shopping around.

I’ve been a power user of Zapier. I’ve built advanced multi-chain branching logic in Workato. I used to use Automate.io before they got acquired by Notion.

But my favorite for all purpose integration and automation? Make.

Why?

First off, price. They start out for free up to 1000 operations, which is substantial. The next level after that is only $9/month.

This is miraculous when you compare this to enterprise solutions like Tray.io, Mulesoft, or Workato (though clearly there is value beyond price in these solutions).

Next, usually with low price, you trade power for affordability. Not with Make.

I’ve used it to automate SEO reporting data and blend it with Google Analytics data in a Data Studio dashboard. I’ve integrated pre and post-signup data to inform the entire customer journey and funnel. I’ve used it for simple stuff, like emailing me when someone tweets with a specific keyword.

It’s awesome. Easy to use for a non-coder, but customizable and powerful if you know how to sling a little code.

One thing I particularly like about Make is they are inherently integration focused. This prevents major problems that occur with purely automation platforms like Zapier, which can break often. It also enables a broader swatch of integrations and automations across your entire tech stack, something that all-in-one software like Sendinblue and HubSpot suffer from.

So all in – price, power, ease – I’ll take Make.

Also, very important side note: I’ve found Make to be the best tool for AI workflows and agentic processes. So learn this one if you want to be future prepped.

G2 Score: 4.8/5

2. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Workato

In their report, Future of B2B Buying Journey, Brent and Nick make the following observation;

“The typical buying group for a complex B2B solution involves six to 10 decision makers, each armed with four or five pieces of information they’ve gathered independently and must deconflict with the group. At the same time, the set of options and solutions buying groups can consider is expanding as new technologies, products, suppliers and services emerge.’’

Nurturing prospects in such an environment feels like jumping through hoops.

Their buying journey isn’t linear but you still want to be present during critical touch points without forcing them down a specific path since you will be pushing them away.

So, how do you make sure that your prospects and leads have relevant information when they need it as they prepare to meet other decision makers on time?

Enter Workato, a tool that uses AI for business automation.

In this case, the lead routing feature comes in handy to help you automate assigning leads and prospects to the right sales reps for nurturing.

Once a prospect or lead enters their information on one of the forms on your website, Workato’s LeadBot analyzes it and then uses it to automatically assign it to the right sales rep. Your sales reps receive a notification inside Slack where they can either accept or reject the lead (depending on their workload).

That way, your reps take action immediately and make sure that your leads have the right sales enablement content they need to make a case for your product. Here’s a short video of lead routing in action using the LeadBot:

And that’s not all.

Workato also provides you with a library of more than 400,000 automation recipe templates to help you explore different automation options. The recipes are two-fold:

Community recipes: Each app comes with its set of recipes that you can use to automate your business processes.

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Search for an app you’d like to use and see the different recipes Workato provides for that app.

Recipe collections: A list of pre-made recipes for common automated processes for different apps.

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So whether you’re in finance, human resources, higher education, or IT and are looking for an advanced and intelligent automation tool you will find a relevant recipe in one of Workato’’s collection of automation recipes.

Ideal for: Medium and Enterprise level users looking for an AI powered business process management software.

G2 Score: 4.7 / 5.0

3. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Zapier

In a typical workday, you’ll update a few projects you’re working on, process data, or even move information from one tool to another. Some of these tasks take a few minutes and others longer depending on what you’re working on.

However, these simple tasks add up and you find yourself spending more time each day on non-essential tasks leaving you rushing to beat critical deadlines for your projects.

And for 54% of employees, automation could save them more than 20 hours a week.

And what tool would you need to save more than 20 hours every week through business process automation? Zapier

It comes with Zaps that you can set up to trigger specific actions in your workflow so you’ll no longer struggle to get back to a state of flow after taking a break to update projects or process data.

To get started, create an account and install the Chrome add on. Once you click on the add-on, you’ll receive automation suggestions depending on the webpage you’re on. Take a look at the Zap suggestions that I receive once I open Omniscient Digital:

You also get suggestions on other Zaps you can create depending on your browsing history. If you’re a frequent Gmail user, then you will get suggestions on what Zaps you can set up.

While the Zaps and suggestions make it easier to automate simple tasks, Zapier also helps you build workflows and connect apps that don’t have a two-way integration.

To see this in action, select your role and the tools you already have in your tech stack from the list provided. Zapier then provides you with workflow automation templates depending on your selection. In this case, a HR professional would want to see the Zap templates that would work with BambooHR for a better employee onboarding process:

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Zapier also allows you to create custom logic paths and use filters to keep your data clean and avoid having to clean things up after the Zaps run. With custom logic paths, your workflow only runs if it meets the conditions you’ve set:

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Filters allow your Zaps only if the information for what you’ve set as a filter;

So if you’re looking to supercharge your workflows through filters, conditional logic, webhooks, and multi step Zaps, then go for Zapier.

Ideal for: Small, Medium, and Enterprise level users in all industries who need a tool to automate their workflows.

G2 Score: 4.5 / 5.0

4. ​​​​​​​ActiveCampaign

The tools you use to drive awareness, nurture, and convert your leads need to help you deliver a unified customer experience.

Most companies think that they’re doing a stellar job at delivering a unified experience but research from Salesforce paints a different picture.

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The more tools you have, the more disconnected your customers feel from your brands.

To avoid dropping the ball and losing your leads and customers in the process due to a disconnected customer experience, consider using ActiveCampaign for marketing automation.

To get started, use the drag and drop builder to build your workflows, whether that’s for welcome emails or cart abandonment recovery.

Set goals for the automation campaigns you’re running and use the advanced analytics from ActiveCampaign to track them and see how your campaigns are performing.

ActiveCampaign also comes with an attribution feature to help you see what channels are driving more conversions for your site. If you’re not sure which channel to focus your efforts and resources on, use the A/B testing feature to identify the channel with more conversions.

Once you’ve set all this up, it’s time to use ActiveCampaign to deliver a unified customer experience. Start by integrating it with any tool you have in your tech stack.

Lets say, for instance you’re dealing with refund requests from customers after a flash sale and you want to make sure that you approve them without unnecessary delays.

So, if you’re using a tool like Freshdesk as your CRM and ActiveCampaign for lead nurturing, an integration between the two tools will provide you with a single source of truth about the customer’s information to help you process the refund fast. Your support team won’t have to keep asking customers to explain their issues all over again inorder to verify and approve the refund request. Besides, with this information in one place, you’ll have an easier time addressing such an issue to avoid a repeat of the same in future promotions.

Ideal for: Small and Medium level businesses in tech, ecommerce, higher Learning, real estate, and nonprofits.

G2 Score: 4.6 / 5.0

5. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​HubSpot‌

Using different tools to manage your business operations comes with its own challenges. You will have to pay for each tool separately. Besides, the bigger your team, the more money you’ll have to pay for a seat in each of these tools.

Your team members also have to learn how each of these tools work. Over time, these costs add up making it difficult to run a sustainable business automation program. If working with several tools to automate your business feels like a chore, consider HubSpot.

While most know it as an all in one marketing platform, it also doubles as a business process automation software for teams looking to automate all their workflows and processes in one place.

With Hubspot, you get the Marketing, Sales and Service hubs, which all integrate and align all your marketing, customer support and sales teams.

Build your workflows and sequences from scratch or use the templates to streamline your business process and pass information about leads with teams from other departments:

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When creating your workflows from scratch, use Javascript to create a custom and programmable automation for each of your business processes for more efficiency.

Ideal for: Startups looking for an all in one enterprise level business automation software.

G2 Score: 4.4 / 5.0

6. ​​​​​​​SendInBlue

If you’re a small business owner with a large email list, you’re likely to lean towards a tool like Sendinblue that allows you to pay depending on the number of emails you send per month.

After all, this model makes sense in the long run, especially if you’re in ecommerce and have to send a different number of emails per month depending on the season.

Even with their flexible pricing model, Sendinblue doesn’t skimp on features that make business process automation easier.

Using their user friendly drag and drop builder, visualize your workflows and see exactly what will happen when nurturing leads, reengaging subscribers, or even running a seasonal promotion.

Sendinble also allows you to run A/B tests on your marketing automation workflows to help you optimize and use the most effective workflow.

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If you’re looking to create custom workflows for your welcome emails, upsells, and cross sells, pick an entry point, identify different actions that will trigger the workflow and the conditions that need to be in place before the workflow runs.

Sendinblue also allows you to build advanced automation workflows by installing a plugin to track the behavior of your web visitors on your website to allow you to send targeted communications. This saves you time as you will remain in contact with visitors whenever they need you.

G2 Score: 4.6 / 5.0

7. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Hootsuite

In addition to increasing the efficiency of your social media marketing activities through scheduling posts and helping you track analytics, Hootsuite comes in handy with its integrations to other tools that support your social media marketing efforts.

For example, Canva’s integration with Hootsuite allows you to save time as you create social media visuals using Canva without leaving Hootsuite:

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Once your visuals are ready, schedule or post them on different social media channels and monitor the performance of your content without leaving Hootsuite.

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And when it comes to managing customer complaints and feedback from different social media channels, Hootsuite’s integration with Zendesk makes it easier for you to merge all customer feedback and complaints and address them without having to move from one channel to another without leaving Hootsuite.

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You can also handover your customer requests from social media to the relevant customer support representative, and let them handle the request as soon as possible hence improving the level of customer satisfaction.

See how “Open” requests boldly stand out and you can even filter all the incoming tickets to help you know whether you missed anything, without leaving Hootsuite.

Ideal for: Small and medium level businesses looking to scale their social media activities through automation.

G2 Score: 4.1 / 5.0

8. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Google Data Studio​​​​​​​

For each tool you’re using, you’ll have a reports section and an option to export your data to an excel sheet for analysis.

Assuming you’re using more than three tools in your department, then you’re going to be analyzing three or more excel sheets every other time.

It is time consuming and difficult to identify how different trends are related. For example, if your traffic increases and there’s no change in conversions, how do you explain this if you don’t have all these metrics in a single dashboard?

Besides, among the top marketing skills that companies look for in new hires, 55.9% are looking to hire marketers who can measure and collect data.

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Why would more than half of the companies consider data collection and analysis as an essential skill?

Because tools collect data for you and provide you with insights based on their capabilities. As a marketer, your ability to tell a story with the data you analyze to help your team make decisions makes you indispensable.

And in case you missed it in our image above, SparkToro used Google Data Studio to share the results of their survey on essential marketing skills companies are looking for.

How do you use Google Data Studio to tell a story with the data you collect and analyze?

Start by creating your Google Data Studio and connect it with the tools you’re using. In the list of Google Connectors, you will find a list of tools you can use to import data and view it on a single dashboard.

Once you connect your tools, you can filter your data to find what you’re looking for, edit your reports, and even share your data with relevant stakeholders.

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That way, it’s less work for everyone. All the data is in one place and they can follow everything you’ve created for them to see in real time.

Ideal for Businesses of all sizes looking to automate how they view data.

G2 Score: 4.3 / 5.0

9. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Airtable

According to a study by SEMrush, the use of collaboration and workflow management tools increased by 8% between 2019 and 2020.

It is a small improvement, but it signals that most content teams want to improve their process management approach when it comes to content marketing by getting rid of repeatable tasks when creating content.

If you’re running a content operation, think of everytime you have to create briefs in Google Docs, send the links to writers and have a brief email exchange confirming that they received the work and they will meet the deadline.

If you’re working with one or two writers, that’s easy to manage. With multiple writers across different time zones, it’s hectic.

Also, depending on the organization you’re working with, content might need approval by the legal department or any other senior person on the content team which slows down the operation.

With Airtable, however, makes project management easier by automating your content workflow by automating some of these activities to save time and get more work done.

To see how this works, take a look at how Tommy Walker has set up his content operations inside Airtable and how each of these automations work:

It’s a solid set up, right? So if you want to have something similar for your content team, sign up for Airtable and use one of the content calendar templates provided and modify it to match with what you see in the video.

Best for: Freelancers and content teams with a small and medium level business.

G2 Score: 4.6 / 5.0

Conclusion

Before you get caught up in analysis paralysis, remember what we said at the beginning of this post: most automations are basic and lack structure.

So before you pick an automation solution you’d like to use, know whether you want to automate a whole business operation or specific elements of your business operations that are time consuming and annoying.

Knowing this will help you set the correct internal expectations as you decide to choose what tool to use and what you expect from the tools you choose to use.

Which of these business automation software would help meet your business needs?

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The 8 Best Marketing Automation Software Tools in 2024 https://www.alexbirkett.com/marketing-automation-software/ Wed, 12 May 2021 13:43:21 +0000 https://www.alexbirkett.com/?p=1684 As of 2019, the marketing automation software industry was worth $3.3 billion and by 2024, it will be worth $6.4 billion. So as you look for the best marketing automation software to use in your business, you have lots of options to choose from and as time goes by, it won’t get any easier. Your ... Read more

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As of 2019, the marketing automation software industry was worth $3.3 billion and by 2024, it will be worth $6.4 billion.

So as you look for the best marketing automation software to use in your business, you have lots of options to choose from and as time goes by, it won’t get any easier.

Your options aren’t only limited to the number of tools in the market. You’ll also have to sift through overlapping features, reviews, and pricing to decide on which software to use.

And that’s not all.

How long will it take for you to learn how to use the software you choose so that you’re able to effectively implement your marketing automation strategy?

So if you’ve found it difficult to decide on what marketing automation software to use, you’re not alone.

In this post, we’ll talk about eight of the best marketing automation software tools today to make it easier for you to decide on the best software to use.

But first, what is marketing automation software and how do you decide on the best software to use?

What is Marketing Automation Software?

Marketing automation software is a platform that helps you deliver a consistent customer experience by improving the efficiency of your marketing processes such as lead generation, lead nurturing among others.

It also provides you with reports to help you analyze the efficiency of your marketing campaigns.

At some point, you’ve used a tool or two and realized that most marketing automation software platforms have overlapping features and functionality.

These features range from ease of use, quality of reports and analytics, customer support, number of integrations, ability to scale as your needs grow, and pricing structures.

You’re also aware of the moving parts in marketing automation and where you’re lagging so the results you’re looking for might not be what another marketer is looking for.

  • Maybe you need to improve your digital marketing strategy and streamline the execution of your automation campaigns.
  • Maybe you need to run better A/B tests to help you optimize the campaigns you’re running to get better results.
  • Or you want to start getting better reports and analytics for your campaigns to make better decisions that will help you hit your marketing metrics.

So the real question is: which is the best marketing automation solution from the list of tools available today and how can it help you improve on the results you’re getting from marketing automation?

The 8 Best Marketing Automation Software

  1. Moosend
  2. Sendinblue
  3. GetResponse
  4. Active Campaign
  5. HubSpot Marketing Automation
  6. Marketo Engage
  7. Ontraport
  8. Omnisend

1. Moosend

If you’re looking for a marketing automation tool for the first time, you’ll have to figure out a couple of things; learn how to use the tool, build your automation workflows, synchronize your customer data, and integrate the software with your tech stack.

You don’t need to dive into the deep end by trying to figure out how everything works at the same time before running your first campaign. You’ll get stuck.

That’s why Moosend makes a great choice at this stage with its intuitive user interface for a hassle-free setup, simple workflows and email marketing automation templates to get you started. It also has a simple reporting dashboard to see and understand how your campaigns are performing:

 

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And if you get stuck, they have a dedicated support team who will help you backed up with informative tutorials to help you set things up fast and get going.

The only thing you won’t like about the tool is that once you figure out the basics, you’ll want to do more with your marketing automation campaigns.

Moosend doesn’t have the capabilities that will help you build advanced automation sequences and as your tech stack grows, you might get stuck along the way due to a lack of sufficient integrations.

Want to hear what other marketing automation beginners think about the tool? Here you go: G2 score: 4.7/5

2. GetResponse

One thing that doesn’t get the attention it deserves is the amount of logical thinking and creative energy that goes into building automation workflows.

What are the possible steps a buyer will take on their journey before they buy from you? How do you design your workflow to be present without being pushy or annoying.

So the workflows you build are going to determine the quality of experience you deliver to buyers.

And if you’re still struggling with building workflows, then GetResponse has you covered.

It has nine categories of templates each with different email campaign templates to inspire your creativity and save time while building your workflows.

For example, if you’re selling online courses, you have four different templates:

  • Course promotion template
  • Basic email course template
  • Advanced on-demand course template
  • Post-course retargeting template

Here’s how the post-course retargeting template looks like:

Post-course retargeting preview shown

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So you won’t find yourself building a workflow from scratch every time and then wondering what’s next after a lead or customer takes a certain action.

That’s not all. GetResponse has a lead management feature that allows you to tag and build profiles for your contacts to help you know their level of engagement, helping you send relevant emails at the right time. It also integrates with the tools you’re already using to help you stay efficient and productive.

With all the good stuff GetResponse comes with, unlimited automation workflows are limited to higher pricing plans, and the bigger your list, the more you’ll pay.

If the pricing isn’t much of a deal-breaker, then take a look at what other users think about the tool: G2 Score: 4.1 / 5.0

3. SendInBlue

If you’re getting a consistent flow of inbound leads then you need a tool that caters to your needs with a pricing structure that allows you to grow your SaaS business.

SendInBlue has four pricing tiers: Free, Lite, Premium, and Enterprise with a limit on the number of emails you can send each month.

Since the Premium plan comes with marketing automation features, sending 750,000 emails a month will cost you $499/month.

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Friendly pricing, right? But that’s not all you’re going to get when using the automation software.

It has an intuitive user interface, making it easy to set up and start creating your workflows. It also allows you to provide access to different users, and in case you get stuck, you just need to send an email or call their support team for help.

It also has a great analytics dashboard that gives you real-time reports on the performance of your campaigns.

You won’t have a ton of customer relationship management tools that integrate directly with SendInBlue so you have to use Zapier. If you have more than three users who need to use the software, then you’ll either need to pay for each additional user or upgrade to their Enterprise plan.

Here’s what SendInBlue users have to say about the tool: G2 score: 4.6/5

4. ActiveCampaign

In a B2B buying journey, a prospect will look for a solution they need, narrow it down to several viable options, and start evaluating them as they involve other decision-makers.

If this prospect is in your funnel, you want to have a tool with robust lead scoring features to help you know when they’re ready to be passed on to the sales team based on the information they provide and their actions.

And ActiveCampaign is up to the task.

Let’s say you’ve published an industry report and for your web visitors to read it, they have to fill out a form on your landing page.

If you’re using Active Campaign, you’re going to apply tags to contacts based on the fields you’ve provided. You can also segment, track, and score each of your subscribers’ actions to help you show up with the right message at the right time.

Here’s a snapshot of how that would look like when you’re setting up that workflow:

https://d226aj4ao1t61q.cloudfront.net/acmp_0f13kvn34_taggingbasedoncustomfieldsdesign.png

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Looks complicated right? Yes, but if you’re up for the challenge, why not learn how to build a complex automation workflow?

Besides, Active Campaign provides you with advanced reporting on your automated email marketing campaigns so you know what’s working and what isn’t.

And if you’re looking to level up and move from the software you’re already using, you won’t have to start from scratch. Active Campaign allows you to move with all your data, workflows, and journeys at no extra cost.

Having seen how complicated a workflow can be, you’re going to take time to learn how the tool works thanks to a steep learning curve.

One more thing you won’t like is a cluttered layout which is frustrating as you find yourself clicking a lot to make edits as you build your workflows.

Here’s what Active Campaign customers think about the tool: G2 score: 4.6/5

5. HubSpot Marketing Automation

HubSpot marketing automation is a popular tool among all types of growing startups, making it a leader in the marketing automation software space with a market share of 29.51%.

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So, why do marketing teams in small businesses love using the software for automating marketing processes?

It has an intuitive user interface meaning that anyone on your marketing team using the tool can set up the workflows they need and start running marketing campaigns, conduct A/B testing, and access all your marketing reports in one dashboard.

In case you or a team member gets stuck when using their software, HubSpot has a robust customer team with both chatbot and live chat support.

If you have a team working in different regions, you can set up the tool with different levels of access. This way, they’re able to access the information they need instead of having them sort through data from other teams and regions to find what they’re looking for.

With HubSpot’s built-in customer relationship management software, you’re able to centralize your inbound marketing tasks, nurture and track lead activity, set up triggers and relevant tasks.

Whenever a lead takes any prescribed action, your sales team knows so that they follow up with qualified leads.

The result? An aligned sales and marketing team and improved performance in sales and revenue.

Most features that HubSpot has, coupled with its ease of use outpace most marketing automation tools that we have today. However, that doesn’t mean it’s the software you need.

HubSpot’s pricing is way beyond what you’re going to pay using another software offering similar features. If you were to upgrade, you might end up with a ton of features you don’t need, meaning that for small businesses, that price point is out of reach.

Here’s what HubSpot users think about the software: G2 score: 4.4/ 5

6. Marketo Engage

Marketo Engage is part of the suite of tools offered by Adobe Experience Cloud which comes in second after HubSpot with a market share of 12.11%. It is popular among marketers in B2B SaaS looking for an enterprise solution that will help them run their automation campaigns.

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Given that B2B sales cycles are typically long, you don’t want to be absent when your prospects need you at any point in their journey. With Marketo Engage, you can automate the whole experience without losing a personal touch by creating customized workflows for each prospect.

And since the buyer’s journey isn’t static, it allows you to track them and set up relevant triggers and tweak your messaging based on their actions.

And if a workflow worked so well, why spend time creating a new one while with Marketo Engage you can clone it and have more time to find ways through which you can optimize your conversions?

They also have a vibrant community dubbed Marketo Nation where users share their experiences and new ways of using the tool to get better results with your marketing automation activities.

Unfortunately, Marketo Engage doesn’t come with an in-built CRM software like HubSpot so you’ll have to use the Salesforce CRM integration. Also, Marketo has a steep learning curve so you need training or hire someone with developer skills to help you use the tool and enjoy all its features.

Here’s what enterprise users of the tool think: G2 score: 4.1/5

7. Ontraport

What happens if you don’t want a tool where you’ll end up paying for a ton of features you won’t use (think HubSpot) and you’re not interested in using an enterprise-level tool (think Marketo Engage) because you’re not just there yet?

You look for Ontraport because it lets SMBs have their cake and eat it.

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  • Want to set up automation campaigns and know how they’re performing? Check
  • Want to know what channels drive conversions? Check
  • Want a clean layout that allows you to work fast and stay productive? Check
  • Want to coordinate campaigns across different marketing channels? Check
  • Want a tool that makes sure your emails arrive in your prospects’ inbox? Check.

That’s not all. Ontraport has a vibrant community where you can learn from other users. They also have a dedicated customer support team that you can reach out via email and chat.

All these features and more come in four friendly pricing plans: Basic, Plus, Pro, and Enterprise.

Ontraport falls short with its steep learning curve and you won’t find most of the integrations that come with enterprise-level marketing automation platforms, so you’ll have to use Zapier.

Here’s what other users who are already enjoying the best of both worlds have to say about Ontraport: G2 score: 4.3/5

8. Omnisend

Compared to B2B, B2C customer journeys are shorter. A significant part of the journey happens online on different channels before a shopper decides to buy either from your online store or visit a retail location.

As an e-commerce store owner, you want to build long-term relationships with these shoppers by being present at each touchpoint on different channels. Omnisend comes in handy to help you build customer relationships without burning out.

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Here’s why:

Omnisend is one of the best marketing automation platforms specifically built for e-commerce owners to improve their conversions through omnichannel marketing.

It allows you to coordinate all your multichannel marketing activities from social media, email, and SMS all in one place.

The tool has an intuitive user interface that makes it easy to set up and a drag and drop builder to create your automation workflows and run your campaigns.

You can create custom landing pages for your store to boost your conversions, run A/B tests to identify your best-performing workflows, get detailed reports to see how your campaigns are performing.

Omnisend also integrates with popular e-commerce stores such as Magento, Woocommerce, Shopify, and Shopify Plus among others.

Omnisend’s SMS feature is costly compared to other marketing platforms offering the same feature and you won’t find a ton of email templates to create vibrant emails.

Curious to hear what other online store owners think about the platform? Here you go; G2 score: 4.6/5.0

Conclusion

Choosing the best marketing automation solution for your tech stack is hard. However, running successful marketing campaigns consistently is harder.

Of course, you’re not guaranteed to succeed every time.

But if you’re able to choose a tool that is: easy to use, helps you get rid of repetitive tasks, makes it easy to create workflows, integrates seamlessly with other tools you’re using, provides great reports, and comes at a price point you’re comfortable with…

Then you have a chance, just like any other marketer to prove your worth.

So the list of tools we’ve discussed is shorter than most of what you’ll come across. There are still other marketing automation platforms such as Pardot, Act-On, Mailchimp, Keap, ConvertKit, SharpSpring, Autopilot…

….the list is endless.

And to make it easier for you to call off your search and pick a tool to work with, the fewer your choices, the better. Once you know what you need, picking a tool won’t be any harder than it should be.

And if you’ve already found a tool you want to try out, good for you. If you haven’t, no need to worry. Read through the list again and see if there’s a tool that resonates with what you’re looking for.

Over to you. What tool will you pick?

The post The 8 Best Marketing Automation Software Tools in 2024 appeared first on Alex Birkett.

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