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Time becomes a precious commodity when it comes to being a one-person army trying to get a SaaS company off the ground. With endless tasks on the to-do list, wouldn’t it be wonderful if some of them could take care of themselves?
Well, that’s where SaaS digital marketing automation tools come into play. These handy little helpers take a load off your shoulders. They assist in automating repetitive tasks like email marketing, social media posting, and lead nurturing, giving you more time to focus on strategy and creativity.
Recent stats show that around 70% of B2B marketers will be increasing their marketing automation spend within the next year. 21% of these have the goal to decrease costs and drive efficient growth.
Sound familiar…?
If you’re a start-up fighting for your spot in the market, we have the post for you. It’s time to experience the world of SaaS automation tools for small businesses firsthand. Unleash the power of automation.
Table of Contents
Why You Need SaaS Digital Marketing Automation Tools for Small Businesses
As a small business owner, you no doubt wear many hats, from CEO to accountant to marketer. While that might help you become well-rounded, it comes with problems and limitations.
Handling these roles effectively can be challenging with fewer resources and budget constraints. This is where SaaS automation tools come in handy.
They help streamline processes, take care of manual tasks, and save time and effort. Businesses can focus on creating better content by automating tasks. The effort streamlines building customer relationships and driving growth.
Exploring the Benefits of SaaS Digital Marketing Automation Tools
There are many benefits of using SaaS digital marketing automation tools. These perks make them a valuable investment for small businesses. Let’s take a look at some of the top advantages:
- Time and Cost Savings: Businesses can save time and reduce labor costs by automating tasks. This allows them to allocate resources more efficiently.
- Increased Efficiency: Automation reduces human error, ensuring accuracy and brand consistency in marketing efforts.
- Personalization: With data-driven automation, businesses can create better experiences for customers. It can lead to higher engagement and conversions.
- Scalability: As your business grows, so will your customer base. With automation tools in place, you can scale your marketing efforts without needing more manpower.
SaaS Digital Marketing Tools: The Key Features You Need
With so many SaaS digital marketing tools available in the market, choosing the right one for your small business can be overwhelming. Here are some key features to look for when making your decision:
- Multi-channel Automation: The tool should be able to automate tasks across various channels like email, social media, and website.
- Data Management: It should have robust data management capabilities. A resource with this feature allows you to collect and analyze customer data for better targeting.
- Integration: Look for a tool that can integrate with your existing systems and platforms, making it easier to streamline processes.
- Customization: The tool should allow for customization, so you can tailor it to fit your specific business needs.
Top SaaS Digital Marketing Automation Tools
Now that we have a better understanding of the benefits and key features, let’s explore some of the top SaaS digital marketing automation tools for small businesses:
1. Encharge – Best for Start-Ups and Small Businesses
Encharge is an all-in-one marketing automation tool designed specifically for SaaS startups. It offers a user-friendly interface, making setting up email campaigns, onboarding new users, and trail conversions an absolute breeze. It also integrates seamlessly with apps such as Facebook, Google Analytics, and Salesforce.
Pricing – $79 monthly if billed annually for the basic plan, $99 monthly otherwise
Free Trial? 14 days
2. ActiveCampaign – Best for Customization
ActiveCampaign provides a wide range of automation capabilities, from lead scoring to email. It excels in the ecom space, offering integrations with Shopify, WooCommerce, and WordPress.
All these features make it a popular choice among small businesses. It also offers advanced customization options for targeted and personalized marketing efforts, which is one of its major selling points.
Pricing – Starting as low as $19 monthly for the Sales Plan, and $29 monthly for the marketing plan – But do get the most bang for your buck here. Check out the Plus Bundle, which is $93 monthly if paid annually.
Free Trial? With an email grab
3. HubSpot – Best for Scalability
HubSpot is a comprehensive digital marketing platform that offers automation tools, customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities, and content management all in one place. With its scalable pricing plans, it’s ideal for growing small businesses.
Unfortunately, it’s not the most budget-friendly service. However, it’s worth checking out once you’re up and running.
Pricing – $360 monthly for the cheapest plan
Free Trial? 14 days
4. Marketo – Best for Enterprise-Level Businesses
Marketo is a robust marketing automation tool designed for large enterprises, acquired by Adobe a few years ago. It offers advanced features like AI-powered personalization and account-based marketing. It’s a solid choice for businesses with complex needs.
They’re really pushing the AI aspect right now. And we don’t like that you have to contact them for basic pricing information. But the products are powerful tools if you have the budget.
Pricing – All custom
Free Trial? Unknown
5. Customer.io – Best for Data-Driven Automation
Customer.io specializes in automating marketing messaging and collecting and routing data to the channels where you need it. They pride themselves on allowing users to build all messages with a single tool, whether a personalized one-time send or a completely automated campaign.
Pricing – $100 monthly for the Essentials plan
Free Trial? Unknown
6. Hotjar – Best for Website Optimization
Hotjar is a unique tool that provides heatmaps. This tool collects user data and will show the most and least used parts of your website via color-coded heatmaps.
It also offers visitor recordings so you can see what customers see and experience their journey as they see it.
Viewing your website from this side of the table allows you to fix issues based on a real person’s journey. Hotjar is one of the neatest tools out right now. And for the price, you can’t beat it.
Pricing – The Basic plan is free. You: “Seriously?” Them: “Ye”
Free Trial? Unnecessary
7. LowFruits – Best for SEO SERP Analysis
LowFruits is an all-in-one digital marketing platform that offers automation capabilities for technical SEO, social media, and content marketing.
Its advanced features, like keyword research, SERP analysis, and clustering make it a top choice for businesses looking to boost their online presence. While it’s a little more cut-and-dry than something like Hotjar, it provides top-quality SEO tools.
Pricing – Premium plan starts at $79,9 monthly – There is also a standard plan and pay-as-you-go options which makes it an ideal option for any budget!
Free Trial? First analysis is free
8. Eloqua by Oracle – Best for B2B SaaS Companies
Eloqua by Oracle is a powerful email marketing automation tool with advanced features like lead scoring, A/B testing, and dynamic content capabilities, specializing in B2B companies. It’s best suited for businesses looking to improve their email marketing efforts. But it’s proficient as a Swiss army knife of digital marketing.
Pricing – Contact Sales
Free Trial? Unknown
9. Drip – Best for E-commerce Businesses
Drip specializes in e-commerce automation for physical products and digital services such as SaaS, providing tools for personalized product recommendations, abandoned cart emails, and more. It also integrates with popular e-commerce platforms like Shopify. They have demos and live platform walkthroughs so you can become an expert quickly.
Pricing – Base plan starts at $39 monthly
Free Trial? 14 days
10. Pallyy – Best for Social Media Automation
Pricing – $18 monthly, per social set for the Premium Plan
Free Trial? Even better – they have a free plan!
Pallyy is a social media management tool that offers automation capabilities like scheduling posts, replying to messages and comments, and tracking analytics. It’s ideal for businesses looking to streamline their social media efforts.
It’s a great tool, and compared to some of the others on this list, it’s extremely cost-effective, too. While the free plan is limited, the premium plan might be worth it if your business relies heavily on social networks.
11. RelayThat – Best for Graphics Automation
RelayThat is a unique automation tool that helps businesses create professional-looking graphics for their marketing campaigns and websites. But that’s just the core. It also has tools to help keep the design of your branding on point all the time. Its templates and drag-and-drop editor make it perfect for small businesses without in-house design resources.
It’s perfect for the coder who’s working hard on his services and doesn’t want to spend the time to become a graphics marketing expert. RelayThat is a great tool at a great price.
Pricing – $15 monthly per user for the Pro Plan
Free Trial? Unknown. But it’s cheap, so probably not.
12. Aeroleads – Best for Lead Generation Automation
Aeroleads specializes in lead generation automation, providing tools for prospecting, email verification, and more. It also integrates with popular CRM platforms.
Pricing – They offer a limited free plan
Free Trial? Yes
13. Grammarly – Best for Content Automation
Grammarly is a writing assistant tool that uses AI to help businesses create error-free and engaging content. It integrates with popular platforms like Google Docs and WordPress, making it a must-have for content marketers.
Pricing – $45 monthly for the Business Account – Free options are available
Free Trial? 7 days
14. Sharpspring – Best for Marketing and Sales Alignment
Sharpspring is a marketing automation platform that aims to align sales and marketing efforts. It may be the closest thing to a complete tool when used this way, allowing you to scale growth without switching tools. It offers lead scoring, ROI tracking, and CRM integration to help businesses attract, convert, and retain customers.
Unfortunately, it’s one of the most expensive tools on this list. It’s going to cost a minimum of $2,448 to get you started. But it might be worth a shot if your business is growing quickly and you don’t want to use several different tools.
Pricing – Base Plan is $449 (plus some handsome onboarding fees)
Free Trial? No. But they do offer a demo by request.
SaaS Automation Tools: Factors to Consider
When choosing marketing automation tools, it’s important to consider various factors to ensure you make the right decision for your business.
- Customization: You might want more of this so you can tailor it to meet your unique needs and goals
- Support: At some point, you’ll have questions, something will bug out, or straight up not work. Look for a tool with quality customer service.
- Cost: Every startup has a budget. And those marketing budgets are substantially thinner than those of established brands. Shop around to find what has what you need. If you don’t want a lot of bells and whistles, then don’t pay for them. There are tons of options out there.
Taking these, and other factors that may be specific to your company, into account can help you choose SaaS automation tools that will help you achieve your goals.
Embracing SaaS Digital Marketing Automation Tools in Your Small Business
SaaS digital marketing automation tools have become essential to successful small businesses in today’s fast-paced digital product marketplace. Especially for those operating alone or with a small team and limited capital.
These SaaS automation tools offer a host of features designed to streamline operations, enhance customer engagement, and drive business growth.
While it’s important to consider all important factors, the ultimate goal should be to find a solution that aligns with your business objectives. So you can create a more efficient, effective, and scalable marketing strategy.