Marketing automation tools are essential in today’s world. However, there are so many choices available in the market that selecting the best one for your firm becomes a challenge. Figuring out the differences between all the tools can prove to be a somewhat arduous task. However, this post is here to help you decide on the perfect marketing automation tool for you.

Here are the best marketing automation tools available today:

Marketo

Marketo is probably the simplest known marketing automation tool, and that’s not for a lack of good reason. Marketo is a great and holistic tool which comes equipped with a whole suite of features to help marketers and sales teams as well. Marketo also features a marketplace, called LaunchPoint, with dozens of integrations.

Who it’s for:

Marketo is great for companies who are looking towards making use of the tool’s many features that transcend basic marketing automation. It’s not the most expensive tool, but it’s certainly not the cheapest either. If you’re not planning to use the advanced functionality of the system, you’re better off picking up one of the less expensive tools on the market. However, if you would like to start out with the fundamentals and enter the more advanced functionality later on in the future, it might be an honest idea to start out with a tool like Marketo so that you aren’t forced to switch all of your data and campaigns down the road. Marketo features a very large and active knowledge domain, which is bound to be a great resource for new users.

Most similar product: Eloqua

Prices begin at: $1,195/month

Customer.io

Customer.io stands out from the crowd because of its incredible flexibility. This is a tool which will really allow you to get what you would like out of it. While it’s not all out of the box, if you’re willing to place in some developer time, you’ll really be able to customize your Customer.io experience. Another great point about this tool is its lightweight UI and fast, personal customer support. Customer.io is one among the newer players, but they’re growing very quickly and are definitely a marketing automation tool to observe. Unlike most of the older tools, Customer.io is made to trigger emails supported events, instead of just pageviews.

Who it’s for:

Customer.io is great for 2 sorts of uses: 1. Companies that are looking to start with marketing automation and appreciate a light-weight UI (i.e. not your typical enterprise software) and 2. Companies that are trying to find some more advanced functionality that needs flexibility and customization, and are willing to devote the developer resources required to implement it.

Most similar product: Userfox

Prices begin at $75/month (and they offer a free plan as well)

Eloqua

Eloqua can be seen as a supercar of the marketing automation world. It’s fully loaded, provides an exceptional level of service, and comes with a big price tag. One of Eloqua’s key differentiators is definitely the amount of time they spend teaching and helping their customers get the maximum output from Eloqua. Like Marketo, Eloqua also features a great marketplace with many integrations with third party services.

Who it’s for:

Don’t check out Eloqua unless you’re really going after enterprise-level software and you’ve got a large amount of funds for it. Now, if you do, Eloqua may be a great option, especially if you wish to have tons of guidance from your technology vendors. You should also consider Eloqua if tight CRM integration is vital to you.

Most similar product: Marketo

Prices begin at $2,000/month

HubSpot

The advantage and disadvantage of using HubSpot are exactly the same: the system does a small amount of everything, but doesn’t really specialise in one thing. It’s the ultimate “jack of all trades” marketing automation tool. HubSpot describes itself as an “inbound marketing software”. What that means is that HubSpot offers a spread of tools, one of the most prominent ones among that is marketing automation. This all-in-one approach can be really convenient.

Who it’s for:

Similar to Constant Contact, HubSpot works very well for small business owners. However, HubSpot’s additional functionality beyond just email marketing differentiates in from Constant Contact. If you’re trying to find an “all-in-one” tool that provides you the very basic functionality of several different marketing systems, HubSpot may be a good option for you.

Most similar product: Constant Contact

Prices begin at $200/month

Constant Contact

Constant Contact is one of the best documented email marketing tools for most small businesses. It does an excellent job of providing basic functionality using a method that’s very easy for even non-technical users to get a hang of. Constant Contact’s biggest advantages are its affordability and ease of use.

Who it’s for:

Constant Contact is for the small business owner who wants to quickly start with organized email marketing and doesn’t anticipate needing any advanced functionality down the road. The tool may be a great choice for you if you fit this description, but if you are looking towards expanding your marketing automation efforts sometime in the future, this isn’t the tool for you.

Most similar product: HubSpot

Prices begin at $15/month

Userfox

Userfox is another new player within the marketing automation space. Usefox has recently been acquired by AdRoll. The combined power of the AdRoll and Userfox teams means exciting things in the long term. 

Who it’s for:

Userfox works primarily with tech companies, so if you’re within the industry, you’ll be in good company. Like Customer.io, userfox features a lightweight interface and is meant to trigger email supported events (rather than simply pageviews), so if that’s important to you, Userfox will probably be a great choice. You might also consider userfox if you’re already using AdRoll, because the acquisition likely means a decent integration between the two products sometime in the future.

Most similar product: Customer.io

Prices begin at $49/month

ExactTarget/Pardot

Unlike most marketing tools that specialise in email, ExactTarget also allows users to target mobile notifications.

And if you’re wondering what’s the difference between ExactTarget and Pardot (acquired by ExactTarget), ExactTarget is designed for B2C companies while Pardot is meant for B2B companies.

Who it’s for:

ExactTarget is for the firm that has the will — and therefore the resources — to travel above and beyond when it comes to their marketing automation. It’s for the firm that’s really focused on the long term prospects of marketing automation and needs to establish a connection with its customers over many various channels.

Most similar product: Eloqua

Prices begin at: Contact their sales team

Conclusion

To summarize this post, here’s a more succinct characterization of the best marketing automation tools:

Small Business: Constant Contact, HubSpot.

Enterprise: Marketo, Eloqua, ExactTarget/Pardot.

The Next Generation of Marketing Automation: Customer.io, Userfox.