What Marketing Automation Software Works for Small Businesses?

Marketing Automation Software Small Businesses

What is the best marketing automation software in 2022?

Marketing Automation Software Small Businesses CRM

Marketing automation software is a must and is accelerating at a faster pace.

To be successful in today’s fast-paced marketing, companies invest their colossal resources into finding ways to pitch to targeted markets with the most appropriate content at the perfect time. 

Marketing automation software is the best solution for achieving this goal. Yet, finding the perfect marketing automation software can be challenging and time-consuming. 

This article will cover everything you need to know about on-premise marketing automation software to help you get started. 

You will learn the difference between cloud-based and on-premise automation software and six on-premise marketing automation tools you can use to streamline your marketing efforts and workflows. 

What is Marketing Automation Software? 

Before diving deep into five on-premise marketing automation tools, let us first cover the basics and understand how marketing automation works. 

Marketing automation uses software to automate marketing activities, such as email marketing, social media posting, and ad campaign development

Marketing automation software uses dedicated tools to replace manual and monotonous tasks by automating workflows. This way, marketers can boost efficiency and provide more personalized experiences to their audience. 

Even though marketing automation proves to be extremely helpful, many marketers still hesitate to implement it because they do not know how to choose the proper software. They do not know that the right marketing automation platform is always easy to use and offers just enough functionality to cater to business needs.  


On-premise vs. Cloud-based (SaaS)

Marketing automation software can be either cloud-based or on-premise the difference between the two lies in the installation method and data storage method. 

Unlike cloud-based software, on-premise marketing automation software is installed locally on your network. On the other hand, cloud-based marketing automation software stores all data within the cloud and deploys necessary information via the internet. 

End-to-end data visibility is one of the biggest advantages of on-premise marketing automation platforms.

With on-premise software, you know exactly where your data is located and how it is being stored. Hence, by using on-premise tools, you can keep all data on your servers, eliminating the possibility of data leaks and unauthorized access. 


The Benefits of Using Marketing Automation Software 

Benefits Marketing Automation Software 

Marketing automation software allows you to obtain more qualified leads by automating and evaluating levels of engagement and relevant workflows. This enables you to boost sales conversions and, therefore, increase the profitability of your business. 

Marketing automation tools are usually designed to capture top-of-pipeline leads. Additionally, they allow you to evaluate leads for suitability for feeding into a larger sales funnel. In other words, with marketing automation solutions, you can pick leads that are most likely to convert and focus your marketing efforts on turning them into paying customers. 

Using marketing automation software comes with many benefits. For example, by automating repetitive marketing activities and processes, you allow your marketing and sales teams to work collaboratively, enabling them to bring in more customers and make more sales. 

Additionally, marketing automation can help you improve the overall efficiency of your business operations. You can automate and improve numerous marketing activities, including lead qualification, sorting email replies, timed email campaigns, sending responses to customers, and updating customer profiles. 

Also, marketing automation allows you to focus on the results and revenue, eliminating the need to worry about monotonous marketing activities. Many marketing automation software products provide invaluable data reporting that can help you focus on your efforts’ results. 

Besides, your marketing and sales teams can get new insights after the software reveals which parts of the marketing campaign work well and which, oppositely, need improvement. 


6 of the Top Marketing Automation Software Platforms

While cloud-based marketing automation software is generally more affordable and technologically advanced, many organizations still prefer the on-premise deployment method. 

This can be explained by the high level of customization and security that it offers. Moreover, on-premise marketing automation software is supported by a vast majority of applications and plugins.

This way, you can integrate additional functionality and customization to streamline your marketing activities. 

By now, you may be wondering what marketing automation software works on-premise? Here is a list of five on-premise marketing automation software worth implementing to streamline your marketing efforts. 


HubSpot 

hubspot elite partner

Owning roughly 32% share of the small business automation software market, HubSpot is one of the most popular marketing automation tools available on the market. HubSpot is a very well-designed marketing automation software dedicated primarily to advanced users. 

HubSpot is user-friendly and covers most features required for any marketing automation campaign, explaining why they have the highest number of customers among all marketing automation tools. 

When it comes to advantages, HubSpot has a well-designed platform convenient and easy to use despite the complexity of marketing automation applications. So, you can use HubSpot intuitively with little or no coding skills. 

If you are struggling to navigate the platform, HubSpot offers webinars, a blog section, and a customer support team ready to assist you. When it comes to marketing automation itself, HubSpot offers the following functionalities: 

  • Email campaign automation concerning workflow goals 
  • Visualization, personalization, and customization of workflows 
  • Automation of various marketing processes, including webhooks setup, lead scoring, lead management, and leads to sales rotation
  • Data management and analytics 

While HubSpot comes with many advantages, there are some distinct disadvantages you should consider. 

Pricing is likely the biggest drawback of the platform. HubSpot requests high setup fees and a mandatory 12-month contract. Even though you can try the software for seven days at no charge, many note that HubSpot is costly. And SharpSpring offers it at a much lower price but watch out it doesn’t compare to HubSpot if you want to scale your organization.


Oracle Eloqua

Oracle Eloqua is a cloud-based marketing automation software that offers on-premise products. In general, Oracle Eloqua is one of the most expensive marketing automation solutions aimed at large B2B enterprise businesses. 

Oracle Eloqua offers many cloud-based functionalities that can be useful in marketing automation. Yet, as this article focuses on on-premise solutions, let us take a closer look at Oracle Eloqua’s on-premise products. 

There are currently four Oracle Eloqua product suits available: E-Business Suite, PeopleSoft, JD Edwards, and Siebel. 

E-Business, PeopleSoft, and JD Edwards application suites are best to automate financial management, supply chain management, human resources, and customer relationship management. 

The Siebel application suite is best to use if you need customer relationship management and automation. 

In general, Oracle Eloqua is pretty complicated to use if you are a beginner as it is suitable for advanced marketing automation activities. The platform is not your cheapest option, but it is worth it to automate complex operations for a large corporation. 


MailChimp 

MailChimp is a great email marketing automation software worth considering. Originally founded back in 2001, MailChimp is now one of the most dominant players in the industry. This is an ESP, email service provider.

MailChimp offers email automation tools to help you achieve your marketing goals through user-friendly controls, a wide range of templates, and automation features. Besides, the platform empowers small businesses to cover other business aspects, including automation and customer relationship management. 

When it comes to marketing automation solutions, MailChimp is a full marketing automation platform as it allows you to do the following:

  • Create personalized, automated marketing workflows for each of your customers. 
  • Automatically send out emails to the right audience at the right time. 
  • Send trigger-based messages about purchases and account activity using API
  • Use all automation features, including visual journeys, custom triggers, scheduling tools, and pre-built automation. 

MailChimp is a great marketing automation solution for small businesses. It is user-friendly, customizable, and affordable. Yet, if you are looking to launch a more advanced marketing automation campaign, MailChimp may lack functionality compared to other automation software. 


GetResponse 

GetResponse is another all-in-one marketing automation solution with numerous pro features. This platform is perfect for you if you are looking for something in between regarding the complexity of features and price. GetResponse is affordable, with the cheapest plan starting from $15 per month

GetResponse is user-friendly and simple to use. It does offer quite advanced features in terms of email marketing and marketing automation. You can use pre-built automation workflows for your specific goals or build your workflows with intuitive drag-and-drop functionality. 

Also, GetResponse enables users to capture and convert new leads with advanced marketing automation tools. For example, you can apply tags and scores for precise segmentation and more personalized targeting. Additionally, you can use automation tools to reach cart abandoners, website visitors, and customers whenever they interact with your website or make a purchase. 

GetResponse MAX is a great marketing automation application package worth mentioning. Unlike other application packages, GetResponse MAX is a marketing automation solution with Microsoft Dynamics integration. In other words, it is an all-in-one marketing automation platform that combines GetResponse and Microsoft Dynamics. Your marketing and sales teams can collaborate and synchronize data and analytics for better results. This way, GetResponse MAX is a perfect solution for corporate use.


Mautic 

Mautic is a marketing automation solution that works on-premise. This marketing automation platform is extremely robust and easy to use. It has enough functionality to handle email marketing automation and personalize your digital properties and channels into a better customer experience

Mautic is fairly intuitive, so it should be challenging for beginners to set up basic features, like segmentation and campaign automation. Mautic allows you to view email opens and clicks within your campaign. This is a great benefit, especially if email marketing automation is among your top priorities. 

When it comes to disadvantages, Mautic users note that the platform has plenty of bugs. Yet, all of them are solvable, and you can either find a way to work around them or contact customer support for assistance. 


SharpSpring Marketing Automation Software

SharpSpring Marketing Automation Platform will Grow Your Business.

SharpSpring is a CRM and marketing automation solution that helps companies create meaningful connections, generate more marketing leads, better pipeline, and empower sales to close more deals.

The integration, reporting, and ease of use are where SharpSpring shines not to mention its cost of ownership is lower than the competition. Get a free trial here.

Cloud-based Alternatives 

Now, you should have a better idea about the on-premise marketing automation software available on the market. Even though there are many decent options, including the ones listed above, it is useful to keep your options open and consider cloud-based alternatives. 

Cloud-based marketing automation software is a few steps ahead of on-premise solutions regarding technology, safety, and data storage options. On the other hand, on-premise software will save the hassle and costs of manual deployment. 

The main advantage of cloud-based marketing automation platforms is the space enabled by the cloud. 

Experts from Ivory Research suggest that with more clients using marketing automation tools, software companies are looking for better storage space and availability solutions. That is why the majority of marketing automation tools are either SAAS or cloud-based. 

Here is a list of the top marketing automation software that operates on the cloud to give you a brief introduction to cloud-based options. 


The Bottom Line 

The development of technology has brought countless opportunities for marketers to take full advantage of their campaigns. Marketing automation is a great way to add a personal touch and extra functionality to your marketing campaign. 

There are two types of marketing automation software – on-premise software and cloud-based software. The two differ in data storage solutions and methods. 

On-premise marketing automation software is perfect for you if you need full control and ownership of data. Using software that operates on the premise, you can be sure that all highly sensitive and confidential data is stored on your servers. 

So, what marketing automation software works on-premise? The answer is a lot of them! These five marketing automation tools and platforms are just a few popular options available to you. 

So, do not stop searching for marketing automation solutions and make sure to consider different alternatives to find the one software best suited for your business. Good luck! 

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General FAQs

  1. Do I need marketing automation?

    If you need to improve your lead generation, nurturing, and overall inbound marketing and sales performance and are looking to save time, marketing automation might make sense for your business.

  2. What are the marketing automation objectives?

    Marketing automation allows businesses to automate repetitive tasks such as sending emails, maintaining social media, tracking website interactions, and handling various other jobs. Marketing automation centralizes all of the features and functions that make up the marketer’s role in an organization. A marketing automation platform should have the ability to integrate with other sales and marketing tools (CMS, CRM, social media, meeting software, and more) to provide a streamlined platform for data management and analysis.

  3. What Does Marketing Automation Software Do?

    Marketing automation brings three principal assets to the table:
    – Drive More Leads
    – Convert Those Leads into Sales
    – Maximize Marketing Spend.
    There is considerable evidence supporting the value that marketing automation can bring to marketers. According to the VB Insight report, 80% of marketing automation users saw their number of leads increase, and 77% saw their number of conversions increase. Furthermore, companies using marketing automation see 53% higher conversion rates from initial response-to-MQL and a revenue growth rate of 3.1% higher than non-users.

  4. I’m already using an email services provider, Mailchimp or GetResponse.

    It’s not possible to do marketing automation with email service providers. Email service providers (ESPs) send emails and offer modest analytics, whereas SharpSpring’s marketing automation software can track precisely where contacts have traveled through a website, score these behaviors, and automatically provide relevant, targeted content based on those behaviors. A marketing automation platform provides an end-to-end picture of the customer journey, from the first interaction to conversion and beyond.


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