13 Best Marketing Automation Tools for Startups
Executing a digital marketing campaign by hand can be a time-consuming task, particularly for startups operating on a limited budget and with a small team. Investing in marketing automation tools can yield significant results, especially if you lack a dedicated marketing team. We have compiled a list of the top marketing automation tools for startups, enabling you to expand your business, reach a wider customer base, and optimize your time.
ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is a comprehensive platform for customer experience and marketing automation. It integrates email marketing, marketing automation, and CRM to enable effective segmentation and personalization across social media, email, and live chat channels. This software facilitates audience engagement and allows you to identify your most active contacts. It also provides the ability to create and compare multiple versions of email marketing campaigns to determine the most effective approach.
Key Features
Email marketing automation, contact and lead management, CRM and sales automation, marketing and sales analytics, campaign tracking and reportingPricing
From $9 per month
ClickFunnels
ClickFunnels is an automation platform designed for small businesses to build sales funnels. It assists in guiding website visitors through the customer journey. With ClickFunnels, you can easily create website pages using a drag-and-drop editor. It allows you to add CTA buttons and sign-up forms to generate leads. By sending targeted emails, you can convert these leads into paying customers.
Key Features
Drag-and-drop funnel builder, landing page and sales page creation, A/B testing and split testing. order forms and checkout pages, email marketing automation, membership site creationPricing
14-day free trial of the product. Premium pricing starts with the Basic plan at $147/month
HubSpot Marketing Hub
HubSpot Marketing Hub is a comprehensive inbound marketing solution that enables efficient monitoring and evaluation of online marketing efforts, including blogging, email, and social media marketing. Additionally, this software facilitates the creation of conversion-focused landing pages to effectively convert website visitors into customers. It also offers automation capabilities for tasks like email sending and meeting scheduling with both new and existing customers. Furthermore, HubSpot aids in ad spend tracking and the management of ad campaigns on various social media platforms. Custom reports can be generated to assess the overall performance of your marketing campaigns.
Key Features
Email marketing, social media management. lead generation and capture, landing page creation and optimization, marketing automation, CRM integration, lead nurturing and segmentationPricing
Free with limited functionality; Paid plans start from $45 per month
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is a marketing automation tool for creating, sending, and analyzing email and ad campaigns. It provides campaign transparency, email tracking, success metrics, and custom reports. The software also assists in subscriber management and segmentation based on interests, geography, and buyer journey stage. It offers customizable templates and automates campaign emails, customer follow-ups, and subscriber notifications.
Key Features
Email campaign creation and management, contact list management and segmentation, automation and workflow builder, A/B testing for email campaigns, landing page and form builder, reporting and analytics, integration with e-commerce platformsPricing
Free for up to 10,000 emails a month. After that, prices start at $11 per month..png)
Brew (Formerly Sendinblue)
Brevo, previously known as Sendinblue, is an excellent tool for email marketing and SMS marketing. It offers a wide range of customizable email templates for creating effective email marketing campaigns. With Brevo, you can easily create automated workflows that send out emails automatically. You can also utilize your website visitors' behavior to trigger specific emails. For example, if a customer adds items to their basket but doesn't complete the checkout process, you can set up an automated email using Brevo
Key Features
Email marketing automation, SMS marketing, contact and subscriber management, landing page and form builder, marketing automation workflowsPricing
Free for up to 300 emails per day; Paind plands start at $25 per month
OptinMonster
OptinMonster, the leading conversion optimization software, excels in converting website visitors into subscribers and customers effortlessly. With its seamless integration of lightbox popups, slide-in forms, welcome mats, coupon wheels, landing pages, and other features, OptinMonster stands out as the ultimate solution. Moreover, OptinMonster seamlessly integrates with all major email marketing services, enabling you to rapidly expand your subscriber base.
Key Features
Exit-intent technology, A/B testing and analytics, personalization and targeting options, integration with popular email marketing platforms, customizable design templates, behavior automation triggers, campaign scheduling and targetingPricing
From $16 per month
Zapier
Zapier is a user-friendly tool that enables you to integrate various apps, offering a wide selection. It simplifies the process of transferring content from one platform to another. For example, you can create a Zap to automatically generate a new story on Medium whenever you publish a new post on WordPress. Moreover, Zapier allows you to automate numerous marketing activities such as sharing fresh content on social media, adding new leads to a spreadsheet or database, or generating a Trello card when a new WooCommerce order is received.
Key Features
Automation of workflows and tasks, integration with over 2,000 apps and services, trigger and action-based automation, multi-step workflows and conditional logic, customizable automation rules, real-time data synchronizationPricing
Free for up to 100 tasks a months. Paind plans start from $19.99 per month, billed annually
ManyChat
ManyChat allows you to automate Facebook messages, enabling customers to make purchases directly through Facebook Messenger. The bot assists customers in selecting the right product and processing payments within Messenger itself. Furthermore, you can customize product recommendations based on conversations and customer responses. ManyChat can send customers coupons to encourage purchases. It seamlessly integrates with popular payment gateways like PayPal and Stripe, and can be connected to over 2,000 apps through Zapier.
Key Features
Chatbot creation and management, automated messaging and responses, lead generation and capture, broadcast and scheduled messaging, sequences and drip campaigns, integration with Facebook Messenger, e-commerce and payment integrationPricing
Free plan for limited functionality. Their Pro plan starts from $10 per month, for up to 500 subscribers.
Tailwind
Tailwind provides convenient scheduling tools for Pinterest and Instagram, allowing you to plan and schedule posts in advance. For Instagram, Tailwind offers hashtag suggestions to enhance your posts. With Pinterest, you can easily schedule 10 pins with just one click. Additionally, Tailwind's analytic tools enable you to monitor the effectiveness of your content and schedule it at optimal times to maximize engagement. Furthermore, Tailwind offers Power-up features that enhance your social media accounts. The SmartLoop Power-up enables you to reshare pins, including seasonal content, at the appropriate moments.
Key Features
Social media scheduling, content planning and calendar, hashtag suggestions and analytics, Instagram and Pinterest integration, auto-posting and queueing, visual planning and grid previewPricing
Free trial (no credit card required). After that, it’s $9.99 per month for each social media profile.
Hootsuite
HootSuite is a widely-used social media management platform that allows you to consolidate all your social content within a single application. It offers features such as automated post scheduling, monitoring of public and private messages, and much more. For small businesses with a social media marketing team, HootSuite provides valuable team management and permission settings. Additionally, HootSuite's analytics feature provides in-depth reports on the performance of your posts across various networks.
Key Features
Social media management, scheduling and publishing posts, multiple social media account management, social media listening and monitoring, analytics and reporting, team collaboration and approval workflowsPricing
Free plan for up to 3 social profiles and 1 user; Pain plan start at $29 per month
Buffer
Buffer is a well-established social media scheduling tool that allows you to schedule content in advance for various social networks, including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. In addition to scheduling, Buffer also provides features for planning and organizing hashtags on Instagram, evaluating content performance, and more. It offers separate 'Publish' and 'Analyze' tools (with separate billing). If you have a social media team, you can assign different individuals with different access levels and permissions
Key Features
Social media scheduling, post planning and publishing, multiple social media account management, content calendar and queue management, analytics and performance tracking, team collaboration and approval workflowsPricing
14-day free trial and then $12 per month, billed annually
Act-on
Act-on is a comprehensive marketing automation tool that caters to every phase of the sales cycle. It empowers you to craft multichannel experiences across diverse platforms and effectively engage leads at the most opportune moments.
Key Features
Email marketing automation, lead nurturing and scoring, landing page and form creation, website visitor tracking, social media management, cCRM integrationPricing
Prices start at $900 a month
Magento Engage
Marketo is a powerful marketing automation tool that empowers startups to streamline their entire marketing process. It offers features such as personalized email campaigns, efficient contact management in a comprehensive CRM, and the ability to convert warm leads into loyal customers.
Key Features
Lead management and scoring, email marketing and automation, campaign management, landing page and form builder, personalization and segmentation, analytics and reporting, account-based marketingPricing
Available upon request
edna
edna is official WhatsApp Business Platform Provider. WhatsApp Business API is a powerful tool designed for businesses to engage with customers on a large scale, WABA enables seamless two-way communication, personalized messaging, and automated workflows through WhatsApp. Ideal for automating marketing communication, driving sales, and providing timely notifications, WABA allows businesses to build trust and offer real-time assistance, all within one of the world’s most popular messaging platforms.
Key Features
Interactive marketing communication, triggered and bulk campaigns, high level of personalization, end-to-end encryption, chat botsPricing
From $49 per month
Sotrender
Sotrender is the ultimate solution for startups that want to amplify their social media impact through data-driven decisions. With cutting-edge AI-powered Ads Optimization, Sotrender fine-tunes ad settings for optimal reach and performance, ensuring every ad dollar counts. You'll also benefit from tracking your competition and automated social reports that deliver real-time performance insights across platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.