Leslie Collymore
I was having a conversation recently with a colleague who told me that “I give too much information” and that in effect “I was cannibalizing my own business development efforts”.
Despite this being tremendously offensive to my auditory nerves, I calmly disagreed (mostly because I understand the main objective here) and proceeded to put together this piece.
There is no escaping it! Digital/web marketing is here to stay and ignoring it would be tantamount to sticking your head in ground hoping not to be seen! To help navigate through the sometimes complex Digital landscape – there have been several marketing automation platforms developed in the last few years.
What are Marketing Automation platforms you ask? Marketing automation platforms are systems that can help small businesses with their web/Digital marketing efforts. They are very much like accounting platforms like QuickBooks- but for marketing. Many of these platforms are affordable, easy to use as they combine multiple marketing functions into a single interface, which saves time, effort and money.
Without further delay, if you run a business here are seven marketing automation tools well worth considering.
1. Yodle
Yodle combines most every marketing function a small business needs.
Founded in 2005, Yodle combines most every marketing tool a small business owner would need into one platform, which it refers to as “Marketing Essentials.”
The company offers three packages — Yodle Organic, Yodle Ads, and Yodle Max — which, depending on the option chosen, include:
• A search engine and mobile optimized website;
• Listings in 50 business directories;
• Search engine optimization;
• Pay-per-click advertising;
• Facebook page creation and maintenance;
• Customer review gathering capabilities;
• Email marketing;
• Special offer distribution to your business website and Facebook page.
Cost: Yodle does not publish pricing; contact the company for a quote.
2. InTouch
InTouch merges several functions into one platform.
InTouch merges email, marketing campaign automation, customer management, lead capture webforms, survey tools, and social media management into one platform. Lead pipeline management and task scheduling are also part of the system.
Cost: Packages start at $15.00 per month. A “pay as you go” option based on the number of emails sent is available as well. InTouch also offers a 14-day free trial.
3. Leadsius
Leadsius includes lead nurturing, qualification, and management.
Ideal for service businesses, Leadsius is a customer management platform focused on lead generation that includes lead nurturing, qualification, and management, as well as email marketing, and landing page and web form creation. In addition, it provides a contact database, website visitor tracking, and lead analysis and reporting.
Cost: Free for up to 2,500 contacts, then $295.00 per month.
4. Spokal
Spokal is an inbound marketing platform that integrates with WordPress.
Integrated with WordPress, Spokal is an inbound marketing platform that relies on blog posts, videos, whitepapers, and podcasts to drive website traffic and generate leads. The system provides optimization suggestions to enhance SEO, distributes content to social media based on a pre-determined schedule, and curates content via Feedly, an RSS reader.
A blog post editor allows users to A/B test post titles, insert Flickr Creative Commons images, tweets, and other third-party content. Also, a “Twitter Builder” tool helps grow your Twitter follower base.
Spokal also tracks keyword effectiveness to show you how well your content performs in search engines, and provides lead scoring and nurturing for site visitors who sign up using one of its lead capture widgets.
Although email marketing is not part of Spokal’s system, it integrates with MailChimp and ActiveCampaign, two affordable email platforms.
Cost: Pricing starts at $49.00 per month. The company offers a 14-day free trial as well.
5. SalesAutoPilot
SalesAutoPilot is a marketing automation tool for ecommerce merchant use.
Designed mainly for ecommerce merchants, SalesAutoPilot is a module-based marketing system that includes:
• Marketing Auto Pilot. An email marketing component that includes surveys, polls, integration with Google Analytics, email autoresponders, list segmentation, and A/B split testing. The module automates sending of email newsletters and transactional emails for sales.
• Ecommerce. This module incorporates SKU handling, order form creation and personalization, integration with PayPal, Google Analytics tracking, order tracking, and a variety of payment and shipping options.
• Multichannel Communication. This module provides text messaging, direct mail, and telemarketing capabilities.
• Customer Management. The sales customer-relationship-module furnishes a complete contact and customer history, tasks and events, integration with Google Contacts, and sales activity reporting.
• Affiliate Marketing. A module designed for managing an affiliate marketing program.
Cost: Free for up to 400 email addresses. Premium options start at $12.00 per month.
6. ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is an email platform with marketing automation features.
Primarily intended for use as an email marketing platform, ActiveCampaign adds other marketing automation features, such as triggered campaigns based on actions that customers take, and sales follow-up. Also included are sales automation and lead nurturing.
Cost: Pricing starts at $9.00 per month.
7. Infusionsoft
Infusionsoft is a pricier marketing automation option.
Infusionsoft offers many marketing automation features, such as customer management, email marketing, lead capture, lead scoring, and ecommerce shopping carts.
Users can import and organize contacts with tagging and segmentation, collect data about leads’ behaviors, score them based on marketing interactions, and prioritize the leads based on their readiness to buy.
Cost: $199.00 for up to 2,500 contacts.
If you want to discuss marketing automation with one of our professionals, you can contact us aim@candw.lc or get social with us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram