Top marketing automation tools with comparison

As a marketer, at some point, you may realize that you need to purchase a marketing automation tool. It is that moment of realization that can be the guiding light for choosing a marketing automation tool, because then you will look for the features you need and which will truly address the challenges you are currently facing. 

HubSpot, Marketo, Eloqua by Oracle, and Pardot by Salesforce are named as leaders by Gartner⁽¹⁾ in the B2B Automation Platforms report of 2022. Even then, it makes sense to study them in detail to verify their suitability for your organization.

Leading marketing automation tools, and their comparison: 

1. HubSpot  - 

If you are looking to bring marketing, sales, and service teams onto one page, then HubSpot is the best choice. It is a comprehensive tool, suitable for companies of any size. If you are looking to only automate marketing, then again, HubSpot Marketing Hub is a brilliant choice. It offers everything you would need for lead generation and lead nurturing: email marketing, automated workflows, social media automation, landing pages, live chats, blogging, retargeting, analytics, and a free CRM. What you pay depends on the features you need; few tools are free, while some are available at a price. HubSpot offers strong customer support, including live chats and help desk tools, as well as learning resources such as blogs and free online courses.

2. Marketo - 

Marketo is best suited for mid to large sized enterprises. It was recognized for its ‘Completeness of Vision’ and ‘Ability to Execute’ in the Gartner report⁽²⁾ of 2022. Marketo lets you take control of things—email, event registrations, social media, paid ads—all under one platform. Marketo requires integration with other CRMs and content management systems. Other than automating the email and event campaigns and establishing workflows, its key features include an AI-built predictive audience list and account-based marketing that keeps the sales in sync.

3. Eloqua - 
Oracle Eloqua Marketing Automation Tool enables you to do cross-channel B2B marketing, build content assets, score leads, and take the next best step with its predictive analysis. Eloqua lets you respond to changing customer behavior and actions and adapt campaigns accordingly. In terms of content development, you can create landing pages and emails without the need for coding. It also uses historical data to suggest better email subject lines.

4. Pardot -

Large and mature enterprises can greatly benefit from using Pardot, now called Salesforce Marketing Cloud. It seamlessly integrates with Salesforce CRM, which is great if you are using Salesforce. For any other CRM, integrations could need extra effort. The focus is more on enabling sales. Build email campaigns, create landing pages, perform lead scoring, manage, and track webinars and events, and integrate SEM and SEO for better insights on ROI.

5. Mailchimp - 

Mailchimp is an email marketing and automation tool. Known for its email marketing features, you can connect with your audiences through automated emails. Create custom templates, which may need some coding. Perform A/B testing to find out which content has a better response rate. Benefit from 300+ integrations with other apps for SMS marketing, live chats, surveys, lead generation from LinkedIn and Facebook, and so on. Mailchimp’s premium plan is what most organizations would need, as it includes the most advanced features, unlimited contacts, priority support, and is built for teams.

Let’s compare these tools based on specific criteria: 

 •  Size of the company –

Large enterprises can opt for Marketo and Pardot, whereas HubSpot and Eloqua are apt for both small and medium-sized companies. Mailchimp is appropriate for small companies and start-ups that are only looking for email automation.

•  B2B or B2C –

Marketo, Eloqua, and Pardot are well suited for B2B marketing. On the other hand, HubSpot and Mailchimp are used for both B2B and B2C marketing.

•  Pricing –

With HubSpot, you can choose a Professional or Enterprise package for the Marketing Hub, or you can get the complete CRM Suite with premium features. Elsewhere, HubSpot also offers free CRM. Marketo also has multiple pricing plans. One important difference between Marketo, Pardot, and HubSpot is that in HubSpot you pay for only the contacts you market to, whereas in Marketo and Pardot you pay for all the contacts in your database. MailChimp has a free plan with basic email marketing, but with subsequent increases in users, contacts, and features, the prices go up.

Each of these tools has strong customer support, and they offer learning resources.

Every tool is the best version of itself, but you need to choose a tool as per your business needs, keeping key factors in mind: features, integrations, pricing, and support.

Reference and Citation-

1. https://business.adobe.com/in/resources/reports/gartner-mq-b2b-automation-platforms-2022.html 

2. https://business.adobe.com/in/resources/reports/gartner-mq-b2b-automation-platforms-2022.html