Top 20 Digital Marketing Automation Tools: An Overview

I think we can all agree that digital marketing has become this complex web of moving parts… Today’s digital marketers are juggling multiple social media accounts, growing subscriber lists and email campaigns, content creation and management, user behaviour tracking and mobile marketing efforts. And it doesn’t stop there…

Once they’ve reached their target audience via these channels, then it’s time to analyse the performance of their efforts, so that they can be sure what they are doing is indeed effective. A lot of times the tasks within a campaign are repetitive and mundane for the digital marketer. For example, publishing tweets or sending out follow up emails for a campaign. However, this process is no longer necessary, as sales and marketing activities can now easily be streamlined using what are called digital marketing automation tools.

In this article we will analyse 20 digital marketing automation tools that you might want to try out if you’re looking for new, easy ways to streamline digital marketing efforts.

What is Digital Marketing Automation?

Digital marketing automation has become big business in recent years, especially as the amount of marketing technologies on the market continue to rise.



By definition, digital marketing automation refers to software platforms and technologies designed for marketing departments and organisations to more effectively market on multiple channels online (such as email, social media, websites, etc.) and automate repetitive tasks.

These types of tools allow marketers to automate and simplify client communication by managing complex omni-channel marketing strategies from a single tool. Marketing Automation tools assist digital marketers in areas such as Lead Generation, Segmentation, Lead nurturing and lead scoring, Relationship marketing, Cross-sell and upsell, Retention, Marketing ROI measurement.

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Benefits of Digital Marketing Automation Tools

There are several company-wide benefits to using a marketing tool including:

• Reduced staffing costs. You won’t need as many employees on staff helping out with marketing activities if everything can be managed from one platform.
• Better ROI. Marketing automation tools are capable of automating cross-sells, upsells and follow ups which can boost revenue and deal size.
• Clearly defines processes and points out bottlenecks. Having all of your processes clearly laid out makes it easier for marketing and sales teams to hold each other accountable for specific tasks.
• Boosts effectiveness. Marketing automation saves you a lot of time that would otherwise be spent doing mundane tasks.
• More room for creativity. Because you no longer have to repeatedly do the same manual tasks, your time is freed up to work on more varied creative work.

Convinced of the value of digital marketing automation tools? Let’s take a look at some options you have to choose from:

1. Marketo

Marketo is a well known digital marketing automation tool that ‘covers any channel and every engagement’. Recently acquired by Adobe, this tool has since been incorporated into their enterprise marketing cloud. One of the more mature tools on the market, Marketo includes a full suite of tools including email marketing, social marketing, budget management, lead nurturing, website personalisation and more. Users can easily link up their existing tools with Marketo via the Marketo marketplace, LaunchPoint.

Pricing: Upon request.

Website: www.marketo.com

2. HubSpot

Although it is primarily an ‘inbound marketing software’, HubSpot also offers a great digital marketing automation tool. On its own, this marketing automation tools offers an easy-to-use visual board that can be used to craft conditional workflows. The learning curve for this tool is a bit, however if you use HubSpot Academy, you can pick it up a little faster. Bottom line, if you’re looking for an “all-in-one” tool that gives you the very basic functionality of several different marketing systems, HubSpot is a good option for you.

Pricing: Ranges from $70 – $4,400+ per month, based on features and scale.

Website: www.hubspot.com

3. Customer.io

Customer.io is one of the more ‘flexible’ digital marketing automation tools out there. This tool aims to strengthen the relationship between businesses and their customers by sending meaningful messages at times when they’re most likely to be engaged. You can set Customer.io to send a specific emails, which are automatically triggered whenever the software recognises certain customer behaviours. This tool is great for companies looking to get started with marketing automation and want a lightweight user interface.

Pricing: Ranges from $150 – $1,000+ per month, based on features and support.

Website: www.customer.io

4. Pardot

Pardot is a B2B digital marketing automation software by Salesforce, which supports B2B analytics and account-based marketing solutions. It also offers CRM integration, email marketing, lead scoring and lead nurturing functionalities. Users can track almost all interactions on the website and build predictive lead scores, using set parameters. This tool may not be quite as affordable for smaller businesses.

Pricing: $1,250 (Growth) / $2,500 (Plus) / $4,000 (Advanced)

Website: www.pardot.com

5. Sendinblue

Sendinblue, which started out as a digital agency, has turned into a great digital marketing automation tool that focuses on email marketing and email services utility. With this tool you can easily create engaging emails using drag-and-drop or via one of the mobile-friendly templates. Users can also generate an Automated Workflow channel with SendinBlue that allow them to create multi-step and multi-channel campaigns in just a few minutes with unlimited variables. Whether you need to manage email campaigns, send text messages, or save time with automation, Sendinblue can help you do it efficiently, on-budget, and in your language.

Pricing: Free / $25 (Lite) / $39 (Essential) / $66 (Premium) / Custom (Enterprise)

Website: www.sendinblue.com

6. Oracle Eloqua

Oracle Eloqua is a digital marketing automation solution to monitor clients through all stages of the purchasing process. Cater to B2B and B2C marketers, this tool lets marketers plan automated campaigns while simultaneously personalising them. Like Marketo, Eloqua also has a great marketplace with plenty of integrations with third party services, meaning it can make every step of your marketing process more personalised and streamlined. The campaign management within Eloqua is very easy and intuitive, used for sending out simple, as well as sophisticated email campaigns. All assets (emails, forms, landing pages, etc.) can be integrated into the campaign, which makes the reporting easy and thorough.

Pricing: Upon request.

Website: www.oracle.com

7. Exponea

Exponea, a customer data platform, unites customer data from multiple online and offline sources. The data is centralised in a customer data platform, wrangled and enriched so other 3rd party tools can understand and utilise them for marketing campaigns, custom analytics, and other needs.

Pricing: Upon request.

Website: www.exponea.com

8. LeadSquared

LeadSquared is a cloud-based CRM and digital marketing automation tool designed to help move leads through the funnel faster. With this tool, users can capture leads via inbound email, online campaigns, website, chat and more. Additionally, users can set triggers, conditions and actions to automate their drip marketing. LeadSquared also offers reporting and analytics and a number of integrations with tools such as LiveChat, Olark Connector, Zopim, GoToWebinar and more.

Pricing: $150 (Essential) / $400 (Basic) / $1,200 (Standard) / $2,500 (Enterprise)

Website: www.leadsquared.com

9. SalesFusion

SalesFusion is a sophisticated digital marketing automation solution that offers a comprehensive and flexible feature set for automating lead collection, creating campaigns and more. The Marketing Automation module is available on a standalone basis (unless of course, you want to make use of their Sales Automation and Customer Service & Support modules as well). Within the Marketing Automation module, you can employ tools such as lead scoring & nuruting, marketing analytics, media planning, and marketing resource management.

Pricing: Contact Salesfusion for pricing information.

Website: www.salesfushion.com

10. Ontraport

Ontraport is an all-in-one business and digital marketing automation solution made for entrepreneurs, solopreneurs and small businesses. With built-in tools such as lead scoring, lead nurturing, email marketing, lead gen, task management and more, Ontraport is a very well-rounded solution. This tool also offers an interesting range of ecommerce features such as automatic credit card payment collection, upsell/cross-sell capabilities, card abandonment and more.

Pricing: $79 (Basic) / $147 (Plus) / $297 (Pro) / $497 (Enterprise)

Website: www.ontraport.com

11. ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign is a three-in-one tool, complete with email marketing, digital marketing automation and small business CRM. Through ActiveCampaign, you’ll be able to map out exactly what’s happening in your automation via a powerful visual automation editor. Here you can build email workflows. Note: if you’re planning to use ActiveCampaign for any affiliate marketing purposes, you may have to think twice as they have a pretty strict policy on excessively advertising emails that connect straight to affiliate products.

Pricing: $15 (Lite) / $70 (Plus) / $159 (Professional) / $279 (Enterprise)

Website: www.activecampaign.com

12. Autopilot

Autopilot automates the entire customer journey its visual and easy-to-use digital marketing automation software. Users can apply this tool to various marketing channels including email, in-app, SMS, online and snail-mail communications. It’s also got some great features such as the Activity Streams, Multi-Channel Journey Setup, Performance Tracking and more!

Pricing: $49 (Silver) / $149 (Gold) / $249 (Platinum)

Website: www.autopilothq.com

13. GreenRope

GreenRope is a complete CRM and digital marketing automation tool, offering all the characteristics that a company would need to consolidate, streamline and develop at any subscription rate. This tool’s dashboard customisation allows users to customise colours, icons, and sizes of items in their dashboard which can improve their creativity and productivity. With GreenRope, you can manage operations, sales, and marketing all from one dashboard that will help you visualise your performance and make key business decisions.

Pricing: $200 (Starter) / $275 (Prime) / $335 (Pro) / $395 (Premium) / $465 (Powerhouse) / $595 (Supreme) / $925 (Ultimate) / Custom

Website: www.greenrope.com

14. Jumplead

Jumplead is another easy-to-use digital marketing automation solution catered towards small to medium-sized businesses and B2Bs. A noteworthy feature included in this software is the LiveChat, which enables marketers to communicate with website visitors and quickly answer any questions they have. Jumplead also has a great contact management functionality which allows users to manage contact profiles and leads with updated info collected from online forms, email campaign click-throughs and analytics tools.

Pricing: $49 (Solo) / $99 (Starter) / $199 (Pro) / $299 (Enterprise)

Website: www.jumplead.com

15. Drip

Drip is a full-featured digital marketing automation tool created for B2C companies. It’s a great tool for sending information to customers or leads at specific intervals. Some email marketing and automation features include automation workflows, multi-channel marketing, email builders, email campaigns, etc. Drip also has advanced features that let users build triggered onboarding campaigns based on actions taken in their customer dashboard.

Pricing: $49 (Basic) / $122 (Pro) / Custom (Enterprise)

Website: www.drip.com

16. Omnisend

Omnisend is an omnichannel ecommerce digital marketing automation tool that offers pre-created automation workflows, templates and powerful data capturing tools. For example, Omnisend’s intuitive content editor is a great feature that enables you to pick from a library of templates and customise your emails and newsletters. Got your email made up? Then let Omnisend help you segment your audience and target them appropriately.

Pricing: $16 (Standard) / $199 (Pro) / $2,000 (Enterprise)

Website: www.omnisend.com

17. Sendpulse

Sendpulse is a cloud-based digital marketing automation tool that is suitable for small and midsize businesses. It caters to several different channels including SMS, push notifications and email. Users can easily set up emails with the drag-and-drop editor or choose from a library of templates. You can also monitor the performance of campaigns using A/B testing.

Pricing: Pricing depends on the amount of subscribers per month. Starting from 7 Euros / month. There is also a ‘Pay as you go’ option.

Website: www.sendpulse.com

18. SharpSpring

SharpSpring is a fully integrated cloud-based digital marketing automation platform. This tool supports marketing strategies, provides helpful guidelines, case studies and on-site training for marketers. It’s ideal for companies that want to have a built-in CRM. SharpSpring includes a customizable pipeline, social CRM and actionable reports.

Pricing: $450 (1,500 contacts) / $650 (10,000 contacts) / $875 (20,000 contacts)

Website: www.sharpspring.com

19. ContactPigeon

ContactPigeon is an ecommerce integrated digital marketing automation software. With ContactPigeon’s powerful rules based engine, it’s really easy to automate personalised messages and control who gets them and when. Key features include search marketing, email marketing, lead management, and campaign management. The software tracks all activities on your websites by helping you to identify the trends, patterns and prevailing your customer behavior through each click, buy or view.

Pricing: Contact ContactPigeon for pricing information.

Website: www.contactpigeon.com

20. Wishpond

Wishpond is a lead generation and digital marketing automation solution that focuses on small and medium-sized business owners as well as marketing organisations. It includes a cool drag-and-drop landing page editor, pop-ups, social contests and forms. Users can also create segmented lists of subscribers – all based on things such as interest, activity on the web, location and more.

Pricing: Upon request

Website: www.wishpond.com

Start automating your digital marketing efforts!

Good marketing has the ability to set you apart from your competition. But it can be hard to keep up with what tactics work and which ones don’t. By using digital marketing automation tools, you can spend your time and attention focusing on other efforts that will increase your company’s success.

And keep in mind that no digital marketing automation tool is definitively the best. They all cater to different company sizes and sectors.

Looking for greater efficiency, cost savings, more insightful analytic data, improved productivity and better customer support? Then try out some of these marketing automation tools and see what fits.

Let us know which one you decide on! Why? Mopinion feedback analytics software integrates with various tools in this list, such as Marketo and Hubspot. Start capturing fresh leads in your feedback forms and link them directly to your marketing campaigns!

Doing research for your Martech stack?

Be sure to check out some of our other marketing technology tool roundups, such as the best mobile in-app feedback tools, customer journey mapping tools, usability testing tools and more.