The quintessential aim of any business is to maximize sales, accelerate ROI, and strengthen customer relationships. It is an undeniable fact that a business can grow and expand only if the sales goals are achieved, and for that, marketing efforts should be highly effective. Marketers need to have knowledge of the changing trends in the market and act accordingly to ensure that the business is being promoted in a result-oriented manner.
The successful marketing process of an organization includes the collective use of email marketing, social media optimization, digital marketing, website promotion, and other multiple activities that can engage new audiences and retain the present ones. Practically, when we put all these marketing efforts together, the need to automate them arises to save time and improve accuracy. Investing in powerful marketing automation software will help carry out your marketing functions efficiently while keeping the audiences engaged.
What is Marketing Automation Software?
Marketing automation software makes selling effective by focusing on defining, segmenting, scheduling, tracking, and analyzing marketing campaigns. It improves the efficiency of marketing campaigns by replacing slow manual processes with quickly automated processes, ensuring scalability and higher returns. Whether it is to streamline the email marketing campaign or schedule social media posts, the marketing automation platform ensures a seamless flow of these tasks. With the integration of technologies like AI and machine learning, marketing automation software can personalize marketing campaigns and help in better targeting.
Standard Features of Marketing Automation Software
While looking out for marketing automation tools, ensure that you select one with the below-mentioned standard features –
Lead Nurturing & Filtering
The marketing automation software should be able to recognize leads based on prospective customers' behavior, demographics, past purchases, etc. This helps businesses strengthen their relationships with their clients and make informed decisions.
Campaign Management
Managing campaigns in such a way that the right message reaches the right audience at the right time is the goal of ideal marketing automation platforms. Campaign management includes planning, execution, and analysis of the different campaigns running for your business promotion.
Customer Information Capturing
When a visitor on the website fills up the information on the landing page, that information is captured and passed on to the sales and marketing team through software. Access to data helps in strategizing future marketing campaigns.
Landing Page
Many marketing automation systems have landing page-building features that help organizations build attractive landing pages with an alluring call to action to generate maximum leads.
Lead Management
Managing leads through the entire sales funnel is the most important feature ideal marketing automation tools should possess. This capability of the software allows companies to recognize the leads and convert them effectively.
Tracking Visitors
Your website visitors are tracked based on their IP, and their behavior is traced so that the required action can be taken to gain high conversions. One of the most fundamental features of marketing automation software helps in segmenting visitors based on their interests, understanding their preferences, and thus targeting them with offers becomes easy.
Reporting and Analytics
Analytical reports help managers easily predict the future and make informed decisions to launch successful marketing campaigns in the future. It becomes important for the marketing automation system to possess quality reporting and analysis features to lead businesses toward undeniable success. Intuitive and easy to interpret dashboards are even better to have.
Mobile-Friendly
In this modern era, when all tasks are done through the mobile phone, the same goes for the marketing automation software.The software should be mobile-friendly so that the managers can access information on the go.
The Significance of Marketing Automation Software
When it comes to business promotion in an effective manner, the marketing automation system plays a significant role. As per a recent study, 4 out of 5 users experienced an increase in leads by using marketing automation platforms. Also, 77% of marketing automation tools users observed increased conversions.
If you are currently not using marketing automation software to promote your business, you probably will have to very shortly. The major reason behind that is the increasing competition in all sectors day by day. The business capable of accomplishing marketing efforts quickly and effectively enough to attract the right audience at the right time would win the race. Best marketing automation software can help you win that race and achieve your sales targets.
Here, we have compared manual and automated marketing processes, which shows that automated marketing processes can deliver better results while consuming less time and cost.
Types of Marketing Automation Software
For small businesses, investing in marketing automation software is a crucial decision. There are different types of marketing automation systems available -
Open-Source Marketing Automation Softwarecan be modified and customized as per the business needs. You can have better control over the functionality if you are using open source-marketing automation software. It also provides better stability and security compared to proprietary software.
Cloud-Based Marketing Automation Platforms is based on the concept of Software as a Service (SaaS) which allows users to access the application running on a shared server. The information is stored on virtual servers which can be accessed from anywhere using the internet.
Both of the above types of marketing automation tools can be free or paid. Some paid software provides a free trial period, which can help you explore its features and determine whether the software suits your business.
Investing in the wrong software might not only result in monetary losses but also can have a severe impact on the success of the marketing campaigns. This is the worst thing you may imagine to happen, especially if you are on a limited investment budget.
Thus, before you consider buying marketing automation tools, here are some factors which you need to consider –
Shortlist Software Based on Features
After reviewing the different marketing automation software listed in this article, shortlist the features you require for automating marketing campaigns for your business.
Identify Marketing Requirements
The free software you would like to opt for can have certain limitations in terms of features. For example, Mailchimp’s free plan facilitates 1,000 emails per month, whereas Mautic allows unlimited emails. Based on your marketing requirements, you need to choose the right software.
Evaluate the Cost of Upgrading
Of course, free versions of all software have some limitations. If you are planning to upgrade after using the free version, consider the cost of upgrading and
shortlist the software that fits into your budget.
Marketing Automation Trends
Implementing the best marketing automation platform may not be enough, users need to be trained to use the software to their maximum potential. There are several marketing automation trends to know about before selecting appropriate software. Knowing the current trends in marketing automation and using most of the features of the software can help you stay on track and improve business performance.
We recommend trying free marketing automation solutions initially and then purchasing the solution if it seems right for your business.
Here, we have compiled a list of the top 6 free and open source marketing automation software, which can help you in shaping the future of your business without burning a hole in your pocket.
Mautic
Mautic is versatile open source marketing automation software that helps businesses understand, streamline, and effectively expand their business. This powerful marketing tool includes a social media marketing feature that allows organizations to reach their target audience and interact with them seamlessly.
Mautic allows you to create attractive landing pages, personalized emails, and interactive workflows for wonderful customer experiences. It can also track your marketing activities, help you measure results, and make informed decisions for the future.
Dashboard
As soon as you log in to Mautic, you can view vital information about customers and sales. You can also customize the Dashboard based on your business logic by arranging the graphs according to your unique needs.
(Source: mautic)
Mautic Features
Using Mautic, you can automate the process of capturing and nurturing leads generated from inquiry forms, landing pages, and submissions of a call to action. The automated system then handles that valuable information and sends out emails, text messages, and web notifications to visitors to increase conversions. Additionally, Mautic can monitor social media efforts and integrate them with business CRM and other API tools.
Keeping Track of Your Customers
Mautic can create customers’ profiles, helping you efficiently track new leads and prospects.
Streamlined Campaign & Email Workflow
Whether it is about creating an email or social media campaign, Mautic helps create a systematic workflow that can be modified at any level of completion.
Social Media Integration
Mautic’s API functionality enables it to integrate business social media accounts, helping to build better relationships with prospects and customers.
Landing Pages Creation
Even if you do not possess the technical know-how, you can create landing pages with simple drag and drop and improve conversions.
Bottom line
Mautic is a free open-source marketing automation tool that performs like a CRM contributing to enhance relationships with the customers and at the same time provides feedback enabling improvement in marketing efforts consistently.
If you have already used Mautic, please feel free to share your reviews here.
MailChimp
Email marketing plays a major role in promoting a business or brand. For every $1 spent, email marketing generates $36 ROI. Compared to other promotional channels, email marketing has been successful in generating the highest ROI for marketers.
However, email marketing today is different from a decade ago. Technology has transformed the way customers interact with businesses. Customers’ expectations have increased because innovative products and services are introduced, and competition is getting fiercer every day.
In this scenario, MailChimp has played an incredible role by facilitating businesses with customized automated email marketing options. It has helped organizations to create, execute, and analyze email campaigns. You can also manage your email subscribers, track emails, and measure results in terms of email open rate and click-through rate.
Moreover, creating appealing email templates is no longer a time-consuming job. MailChimp has ready-made templates that you can use to create professionally designed personalized emails for your customers.
MailChimp Features
The free version of MailChimp allows 1000 emails/month for a maximum of 500 contacts. Here are some of the best features that Mailchimp offers –
Create Campaigns
MailChimp offers a wide range of ready-made design templates that simplify the creation of emails, landing pages, Google remarketing ads, Facebook and Instagram ads, Postcards, and Signup forms. Mailchimp offers options to create effective omnichannel marketing campaigns to reach a wider audience.
Integrate Applications and Web Services
Integrate MailChimp with other applications and web services to accomplish unique tasks. For example, integrating your MailChimp account with your Shopify store can help you collect information about visitors to your store and send personalized emails to them, resulting in better conversions. With features like content optimization and creative assistants, marketers can improve audience engagement. Mailchimp also leverages technologies like generative AI to create unique and compelling content.
Set Up Automation
MailChimp can schedule your emails and newsletters so that your audience gets the message at the right time and you can focus on your core business. Whether you are sending a birthday message or a product recommendation, you can schedule it using MailChimp and automate the entire process. It comes with robust tools to support retargeting and personalized ads to attract audiences.
Audience Optimization
MailChimp helps you segment your audience based on their journey, geographical location, and other preferences. Understanding your audience well makes your marketing campaign successful. It is also designed to assist you to conduct surveys and collect data from signup forms to understand the audience better. Understanding the behavioral data and audience preferences helps create personalized marketing campaigns.
Reports and Analysis
After launching a landing page or an email marketing campaign, if you are not aware of its success or failure, all your efforts can be in vain. MailChimp helps you identify the results of your marketing campaigns and plan future strategies. Features like A/B testing are crucial to implementing an efficient campaign.
(Source: mailchimp)
Bottom Line
MailChimp is free and easy to use. These two qualities make it preferable for marketers to engage their audience and ultimately grow their business.
If you have already used MailChimp, please feel free to share your reviews here.
OpenEMM
OpenEMM is a free, open source web-based enterprise application for email and marketing automation. From creating and sending emails to evaluating results, this software offers comprehensive functionality and features to launch successful email marketing campaigns.
This automated email marketing software also helps you schedule emails for any future date or event so that you can focus on other business-oriented tasks. You can even organize and manage your leads using its easy to use interface, which is available in various languages, such as English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, and Portuguese.
OpenEMM, having a content management extension, can also manage HTML mail templates, content modules, and module types.
(Source: agnitas)
Furthermore, the versatile features of OpenEMM include –
- Intuitive and self-explanatory user Interface
- Prefabricated and interactive templates and forms
- Automatic bounce management
- Campaign manager
- Template-based mailing creation
- Revision-proof user activity log
- Campaign calendar with the option to comment
- Unlimited user profiles and recipients
- Extensive search functions
- Mail opening and link tracking
- Real-time statistics in the form of graphics
- Content management system
- Audience segmentation based on behavior
- In-built plug-ins help in customizing campaigns
Bottom Line
OpenEMM is well-documented software that can help you send personalized promotional emails without any limits on subscribers, mailing lists, or the number of emails.
If you have already used OpenEMM, please feel free to share your reviews here.
SalesAutopilot
SalesAutopilot is a well-known software for automating sales and business processes without any coding involved. It can automatically capture inquiries, leads, and orders from the website. With its landing page editor, SalesAutopilot can help organizations design appealing landing pages that encourage high conversions.
SalesAutopilot allows people to fill up the forms on the website using their Facebook login details. It can also help companies in accep payments on their website through credit/debit cards, which means you can set up a quick payment system without coding knowledge.
It can integrate with the billing software you are using, which makes it easier for you to maintain accounts. It takes away all the stress involved in manually sending invoices to customers. Its integration with the billing software helps automate the task of sending invoices instantly.
SalesAutopilot has an in-built sales CRM and so can segment customers based on their geographical location and buying behavior. Sending personalized texts to customers becomes easy due to the segmentation capability of this software.
(Source: salesautopilot)
SalesAutopilot Features
- Get started with email marketing instantly with this software. (Free trial consists of 400 emails per month).
- Includes Marketing Robot Pilot where you can have the facility to tell the platform what should be done based on the behavior of the subscribers.
- It facilitates communication across multiple channels, such as direct messages, SMS, phone calls, etc. Communication on these channels can be segmented and scheduled for an excellent marketing process.
- Integration with eCommerce stores helps in automating upselling, reselling, shipping, delivery, payment processing, and invoicing.
- SalesAutopilot’s CRM system is highly flexible, helping the sales team uniquely approach untouched leads and improving sales within the business.
- SalesAutopilot has a built-in affiliate marketing system that enables you to increase your target audience and gain high conversions.
- All the relevant sales and marketing information about your company is available with your customer support team helping them to take care of the customers efficiently without wasting time shuffling for customers’ information everywhere.
Bottom Line
Using SalesAutopilot, marketers can streamline almost everything, from sales and marketing to communication. With easy integrations and the facility of exporting databases, you get jaw-dropping results in terms of sales and productivity.
If you have already used SalesAutopilot, please feel free to share your reviews here.
Drip
Drip is an eCommerce marketing software that helps you connect, engage, and approach customers in a personalized manner. It has different plans with advanced features, but you can start with its free 14-day trial and start a successful marketing campaign for your online store.
Drip allows multiple integrations and is flexible enough to fit into any marketing strategy suitable for your business. It never lets you forget important information about your customers and thus helps you provide the experience your customers deserve.
Engage your customers with your brand by automatically sending them abandoned cart emails using Drip so that you can focus on improving your products and services. This will make the entire selling process seamless, delight your customers, and improve conversions—the fundamental goal of launching an online store.
(Source: drip)
Drip Features
- Drip helps you build attractive email templates and launch successful email marketing templates. It also automates workflows and processes so that you don’t miss sending important information to your customers.
- Drip specializes in multi-channel marketing. It can create Customized Facebook ads, personalized landing pages, text messages, and more to market your store.
- Drip enables you to track your customers' complete journeys and access comprehensive insights into their behavior. This can help you take action to enhance the experience and ultimately improve sales.
- Send personalized recommendations to your customers based on their browsing and purchasing history. With better content customization and visitor segmentation, Drip helps you reach the right audience and delight customers, enhancing the conversion rate.
- Having an exclusive library of integrations, Drip helps you in executing out-of-the-box marketing strategies and getting ahead of your competitors. Drip is compatible with the most popular eCommerce platforms, including Shopify, Magento, and WooCommerce.
- No more guesswork resulting in trial-and-error. Make informed decisions with the help of meaningful and realistic data captured using Drip. It provides crucial insights into essential metrics to make better strategies for growing the business.
Bottom Line
Drip is the world’s first ECRM that can help you send personalized emails to your customers, enhance their shopping experience, track their behavior, and launch successful ad campaigns to improve your online store's sales.
If you have already used Drip, please feel free to share your reviews here.
InTouchCRM
InTouchCRM is award-winning sales and marketing software that helps businesses convert their prospects into customers and then customers into referrers. It has a 14-day trial period so that you can try out the system without risking anything.
With the help of InTouchCRM, you can manage and segment your leads, and approach them with a personalized email, and text helps you to close deals and increase sales.
(Source: Intouchcrm)
InTouchCRM Features
- It manages the contacts for your team to access them from any place to facilitate easy collaboration.
- Streamline the entire sales process by managing leads and identifying prospects who are close to conversion based on behavior and journey.
- Launch successful email marketing campaigns seamlessly by designing attractive emails using InTouchCRM. Nurture the prospects with consistent communication using automated email campaigns and increase the probability of conversions. Communicate regularly with your existing and prospective customers and let them know about your new product offerings.
- InTouch’s integrated web forms allow you to capture more leads from your website and social media pages instantly and automatically.
- It has an inbuilt text message marketing software that allows you to send text messages to your prospects and customers instantly.
- Automated marketing campaigns allow you to approach cold leads, while your sales team is busy targeting hot leads.
- InTouch allows you to set up surveys that can help you in identifying the areas of improvement and requirements of your target audience. This can not only improve the conversions, but also improve customer satisfaction.
- Set up important tasks and reminders using InTouchCRM’s inbuilt calendar, so that you don’t miss out on any meetings or follow-up calls to your customers.
- Get access to detailed reporting about the areas that matter the most for the decision-making in your business. It offers deeper insights through the availability of crucial reports, from sales reports to engagement reports.
Bottom Line
InTouchCRM is an intelligent marketing automation software that helps small businesses to streamline their entire sales process and claims to increase conversions by a minimum of 30%.
If you have already used InTouchCRM, please feel free to share your reviews here.
The above-mentioned free and open source marketing software can suit the best businesses with a low investment budget. But, if budget is not a constraint for you and if you require advanced features in your marketing automation platforms, you can consider exploring SharpSpring, one of the most powerful and affordable marketing automation tools meant for small to midsize companies.
SharpSpring
SharpSpring specializes in driving more leads, converting them into customers, and optimizing your marketing efforts. It tracks customers and provides reports on the marketing sources they have visited and for how long. Using this software, you can define highly specific automation rules, enabling you to send dynamic content or target-based emails to your leads and convert them into customers, ultimately resulting in more sales and growth for the company.
(Source: sharpspring)
Key Features
- Helps in sending emails based on the behavior of the leads and customers
- Enables you to build, customize, and reorder fields using drag-and-drop editor and improve conversions with attractive email templates that are mobile-ready.
- SMS marketing to send automated texts to reach your audience. Integration of AI can help with the right text, including essential keywords.
- Seamless and simple contact management to ease the visitor segmentation.
- Provides easy access to the hottest leads, which you can convert into sales by engaging them during their unique buying journeys
- Allows you to identify 2x more visitors to your website, use tracking based on the behavior of the visitors, and act at the right time to convert better
- It can integrate with 3rd party CRM of your choice
- Helps you build powerful landing pages for better conversions
- Enables you to launch a blog for a better online presence
- Provides relevant analytical data helping you make informed decisions instead of guesswork
- It can fully integrate with different social media platforms helping you to have meaningful conversations with your potential clients
- Helps host events right from sending invites to managing every small detail.
SharpSpring is undoubtedly versatile software with a plethora of features helping you to launch a perfect marketing strategy taking your business to new heights. All you have to do is schedule a live demo, and explore its features to determine whether it will suit your business requirements or not.
If you have already used SharpSpring, please feel free to share your reviews here.
Conclusion
Thus, these were our recommendations for a marketing automation system. To widen your choice, we would also suggest you explore paid software like Hubspot CRM, ActiveCampaign, and LeadSquared having advanced features meant to achieve higher goals for the businesses.
We would also suggest you go through the complete list of marketing automation software, and select the best one for your business.
If you have used any of the marketing automation platforms mentioned above, please don’t forget to leave your valuable feedback here.
Also, if you are looking for software used in other business sectors, browse all software categories and stay tuned for updates.
