The 8 Best Marketing Automation Systems
The 8 Best Marketing Automation Systems
Riley Walz
Riley Walz
Riley Walz
Jan 10, 2025
Jan 10, 2025
Jan 10, 2025
Consider you're a marketer at a company with over 1,000 contacts. You want to run a campaign to increase engagement with a particular audience segment. Instead of contacting this group manually, you want to automate the process to save time and deliver personalized communications that nurture the group toward your goal.
The only problem? You have no idea how to get started. This is a common scenario when it comes to using marketing automation. My marketing automation guide can help you tackle this challenge and get your campaign up and running. In this guide, I’ll introduce you to the eight best marketing automation systems to help you find the right fit for your business.
In addition to this Marketing automation guide, Numerous has a solution to help you achieve your goals faster. Our spreadsheet AI tool can help you organize your data and determine how to segment your audience before you start automating your campaign. This will allow you to hit the ground running and make your marketing automation efforts more effective.
Table Of Contents
What Is Marketing Automation?
Marketing automation uses software and technology to streamline, automate, and measure repetitive marketing tasks, enabling businesses to operate more efficiently and effectively. This transformative technology allows marketers to focus on strategic activities. At the same time, the system handles routine tasks such as sending emails, managing social media posts, and nurturing leads through the sales funnel. In today’s fast-paced digital climate, marketing automation has become a cornerstone for businesses looking to scale their operations and deliver personalized customer experiences.
Key Components of Marketing Automation
Now, let’s break down some of the core functions of marketing automation tools.
Automated Workflows
Marketing automation tools rely on predefined workflows to execute tasks automatically based on specific triggers or conditions.
Example Workflow
A customer signs up for a newsletter (trigger). An automated welcome email is sent. Based on the customer’s interaction (e.g., opening the email), they are added to a list for product recommendations.
Integration with Other Tools
Marketing automation systems integrate with other business tools, such as CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platforms, email marketing software, and analytics tools.
Example: A lead captured through a website form is automatically added to a CRM like Salesforce and assigned to a sales representative.
Data Collection and Analysis
These tools track customer behavior, such as website visits, email clicks, and purchase history, to provide insights into customer preferences and campaign performance.
AI and Machine Learning
Modern marketing automation systems leverage AI to predict user behavior, recommend the best content, and optimize the timing of marketing efforts.
Example: AI determines the optimal email time to maximize open rates.
How Marketing Automation Works
Marketing automation uses triggers, rules, and workflows to execute marketing tasks. Here’s how it operates step-by-step:
Triggering an Action
A customer’s interaction, such as signing up for a newsletter, visiting a product page, or downloading an eBook, is the starting point for automation.
Executing Predefined Workflows
The system executes actions, such as sending emails, scheduling social media posts, or scoring leads based on their interactions.
Delivering Personalized Experiences
Automation tools use customer data to tailor content, ensuring it resonates with the recipient.
Example: A customer browsing hiking gear on an e-commerce site receives personalized emails featuring hiking-related products.
Measuring and Optimizing
Real-time analytics and reporting enable marketers to track campaign performance and make data-driven improvements.
Why Marketing Automation Is Essential in 2025
The digital marketing landscape in 2025 is more competitive and data-driven than ever. Marketing automation has evolved from a “nice-to-have” to a necessity for businesses aiming to remain relevant and achieve measurable results.
Efficiency in a Complex Digital Landscape
Manual management becomes unmanageable with multiple marketing channels (email, social media, search ads). Automation ensures seamless coordination across platforms.
Customer Expectations for Personalization
Today’s consumers expect businesses to deliver personalized content that aligns with their interests and needs. Marketing automation makes this possible at scale.
Data Overload
Businesses generate massive amounts of data. Automation tools analyze this data to identify patterns, predict outcomes, and make recommendations, saving time and improving accuracy.
Scalability
Whether a small business or a global enterprise, marketing automation grows with your company, managing increasing workloads without added resource strain.
Core Features of Marketing Automation
Marketing automation tools have robust features that cater to various business needs. Here’s a breakdown of the most critical capabilities:
Email Marketing Automation
Automates the creation and delivery of email campaigns based on user actions and preferences.
Example: Send welcome emails to new subscribers and targeted promotional emails based on their interactions.
Lead Scoring and Nurturing
Assign scores to leads based on their behavior (e.g., website visits, downloads, clicks) to prioritize the most promising prospects. Sends personalized content to nurture leads through the sales funnel.
Social Media Management
Schedules and publishes posts, monitors engagement, and tracks performance metrics across social platforms.
Example: Scheduling Instagram posts for an entire week while monitoring comments and likes.
Customer Segmentation
Groups customers into segments based on demographics, behavior, or purchasing history to deliver relevant content.
Example: A retailer sending different product recommendations to men and women based on browsing history.
Analytics and Reporting
Tracks key performance indicators (KPIs) such as email open rates, click-through rates, and conversions to measure campaign success.
Example: Generating reports to compare the performance of different email subject lines.
Multi-Channel Campaign Management
Coordinates marketing efforts across email, social media, paid ads, and more to ensure a consistent brand message.
CRM Integration
Synchronizes marketing efforts with sales teams by connecting with CRM systems like Salesforce or HubSpot.
Benefits of Marketing Automation
Time Savings
Automates repetitive tasks, freeing up marketers to focus on strategy and creativity.
Improved Campaign Performance
Personalization and data-driven insights lead to higher engagement and better results.
Scalable Solutions
Handles increasing customer bases and marketing workloads effortlessly.
Better Customer Relationships
Delivers timely and relevant content, enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Cost-Effective Marketing
Reduces the need for extensive manual labor while maximizing ROI through optimized campaigns.
Real-world applications of Marketing Automation
E-Commerce
Automates abandoned cart emails, personalized product recommendations, and seasonal promotions.
B2B Businesses
Scores and nurtures leads, automates webinar reminders, and tracks interactions with white papers or case studies.
Content Marketing
Schedules and promotes blog posts, manages newsletters, and tracks performance metrics.
Event Management
Sends invitations, registration confirmations, and reminders for webinars or in-person events.
Related Reading
• Marketing Automation Tools
• Benefits of Marketing Automation
• Marketing Automation for Small Businesses
• Marketing Tasks
The Benefits of Marketing Automation For Your Business
Time and Resource Efficiency: Scale Your Business without Burning Out Your Team
Marketing automation drastically reduces the time and effort needed to manage repetitive tasks, empowering marketers to concentrate on strategic, high-value activities. Automation eliminates manual processes. Tasks such as sending follow-up emails, scheduling social media posts, and segmenting customers can be automated, freeing up team resources. For example, instead of manually sending a welcome email to every new subscriber, automation tools like HubSpot or Mailchimp can trigger this action automatically, and marketing automation scales with your business.
Whether you have 100 or 10,000 customers, marketing automation ensures tasks are completed efficiently without requiring additional manpower. For instance, e-commerce businesses can send personalized product recommendations to thousands of customers simultaneously, providing a better experience for their audience without straining their team.
Enhanced Personalization and Customer Experience: Make Your Customers Feel Special
In a world where consumers expect tailored interactions, marketing automation delivers highly personalized experiences at scale targeted messaging. Automation tools segment audiences based on behavior, demographics, or preferences, ensuring that marketing messages resonate with the recipient. For example, a fitness brand sends workout plans to users who purchased gym equipment and nutrition advice to those buying supplements through behavior-triggered communication.
Automation responds to customer actions in real-time, ensuring timely and relevant engagement. For instance, a follow-up email with a discount offer is automatically triggered when a user abandons their cart. Dynamic content, Tailored content, such as personalized email subject lines or product suggestions, increases engagement and conversion rates.
Improved Lead Generation and Nurturing: Turn Prospects into Lifelong Customers
Marketing automation helps businesses capture, qualify, and nurture leads more effectively, guiding them through the sales funnel.
Lead Scoring
Automation assigns scores to leads based on their behavior, such as website visits or email clicks, helping sales teams prioritize high-value prospects. For example, a B2B company using Pardot can score leads who attend webinars or download white papers, focusing efforts on those most likely to convert seamless lead nurturing. Automation delivers relevant content at every stage of the buyer's journey, keeping leads engaged until they're ready to purchase. For example, a SaaS company sends educational emails to new leads, followed by a demo invitation as the final step.
Data-Driven Decision-Making: Stop Guessing, Start Knowing
Marketing automation tools collect and analyze vast amounts of data, enabling businesses to make informed decisions and optimize campaigns.
Real-time Analytics
Track email open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates to evaluate campaign performance. For example, a marketing team uses Google Analytics integration with their automation tool to track how newsletter readers interact with landing pages.
Automation platforms allow businesses to test multiple variations of emails, ads, or landing pages to identify what works best. For instance, test two email subject lines to determine which generates higher open rates and adjust future campaigns accordingly with predictive insights. Advanced tools leverage AI to forecast customer behavior and recommend actions, such as optimal send times for emails or content suggestions.
Alignment Between Marketing and Sales: Get Everyone on the Same Page
Marketing automation bridges the gap between marketing and sales teams, ensuring seamless collaboration and alignment of goals and centralized data sharing. Integrated CRM tools ensure both teams can access the same customer data, streamlining communication and collaboration. For example, Salesforce and Pardot integration allows sales reps to see a lead's interaction history, such as opened emails or downloaded resources.
Improved Lead Dandoffs
Automation ensures that only qualified leads are passed to the sales team, reducing wasted effort and improving conversion rates.
Cost-Effective Marketing: Do More with Less
Marketing automation maximizes ROI by reducing manual labor, optimizing campaign performance, and increasing revenue opportunities to lower operational costs. Automation replaces time-consuming manual tasks, reducing the need for extensive marketing teams and higher conversion rates. Personalized and timely campaigns lead to better customer engagement and higher conversion rates.
Scalability: Grow Your Business without Adding Headcount
Automation tools grow with your business, making them ideal for companies at any growth stage. Handles growing workloads. As your customer base expands, automation ensures consistent marketing efforts without additional strain on resources.
Adaptable Features
Advanced tools like Numerous allow businesses to scale their marketing efforts by automating data-heavy tasks like sentiment analysis, categorization, and SEO content generation.
Enhanced Customer Retention and Loyalty: Build Lasting Relationships with Your Customers
Automation helps businesses maintain consistent engagement with their audience, fostering long-term relationships consistent engagement. Automated campaigns, such as newsletters or birthday offers, keep customers engaged over time. For example, a loyalty program sends monthly rewards updates automatically to members' customer feedback and surveys. Automation tools can request feedback and gather insights to improve the customer experience.
How Marketing Automation Benefits Businesses E-Commerce Store
Automates product recommendations based on browsing history. Sends abandoned cart emails, recovering lost sales. Tracks campaign performance to optimize future promotions.
B2B SaaS Company
Nurtures leads with drip campaigns, moving them through the sales funnel. Scores leads based on behavior to prioritize follow-up actions. Provides analytics on webinar attendance and white paper downloads.
Make Decisions At Scale Through AI With Numerous AI’s Spreadsheet AI Tool
Numerous is an AI-powered tool that enables content marketers, eCommerce businesses, and more to do tasks many times over through AI, like writing SEO blog posts, generating hashtags, mass categorizing products with sentiment analysis and classification, and many more things by simply dragging down a cell in a spreadsheet.
With a simple prompt, Numerous returns any spreadsheet function, simple or complex, within seconds. The capabilities of Numerous are endless. It is versatile and can be used with Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets. Get started today with Numerous.ai so that you can make business decisions at scale using AI in both Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel. Learn more about how you can 10x your marketing efforts with Numerous’s ChatGPT for spreadsheets tool.
The 10 Best Marketing Automation Software in 2025
1. Numerous: The AI Spreadsheet Tool That Will Optimize Your Marketing Efforts
Numerous (AI-Powered Marketing Automation for Spreadsheets) is an AI-powered marketing automation tool that allows users to automate complex, repetitive tasks in Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel. For example, you can use Numerous to execute advanced operations like sentiment analysis, product categorization, SEO content creation, and hashtag generation. The software works in real-time and has a simple drag-and-drop interface for even the most automated spreadsheet tasks. Learn more about how you can 10x your marketing efforts with Numerous’s ChatGPT for spreadsheets tool.
2. HubSpot: The Ultimate All-in-One Marketing Software
HubSpot is one of the most popular marketing automation tools, and for good reason. The software has everything you need to execute successful inbound marketing campaigns, from attracting visitors to converting leads and nurturing customers. HubSpot also integrates with hundreds of platforms and offers a range of solutions for different business needs and sizes.
3. Marketo Engage: The Best Marketing Automation Software for Enterprises
Marketo Engage is Adobe's marketing automation solution. This powerful software is handy for enterprise-level businesses with complex marketing needs. Marketo Engage excels at account-based marketing (ABM) to help you target high-value prospects. The software also integrates with Adobe's suite of products for additional functionality.
4. ActiveCampaign: The Best For Small to Medium-Sized Businesses
ActiveCampaign is an easy-to-use marketing automation tool that specializes in email marketing. The software also offers advanced segmentation and customer relationship management (CRM) features to help you organize and automate your sales processes. ActiveCampaign integrates with over 850 apps to help you enhance the tool's functionality to fit your business needs.
5. Pardot (By Salesforce): The Best B2B Marketing Automation Tool
Pardot is a B2B marketing automation solution by Salesforce. The software helps businesses streamline their lead scoring, nurturing, and reporting processes. If your company already uses Salesforce for customer relationship management (CRM), Pardot will seamlessly integrate with your existing database to provide a unified view of your customers.
6. Mailchimp: The Best Affordable Marketing Automation Software
Mailchimp is one of the most well-known marketing automation tools on the market. The software is especially popular among small businesses and startups thanks to its user-friendly interface and affordable pricing. With Mailchimp, you can create automated email campaigns to nurture leads and convert them into customers. You can also segment your audiences, track campaign analytics, and integrate the software with several platforms to enhance its functionality.
7. Klaviyo: The Best Marketing Automation Software for E-Commerce
Klaviyo is an email and SMS marketing platform designed specifically for e-commerce businesses. The software helps you improve customer retention and increase sales by facilitating personalized communication before, during, and after a purchase. Klaviyo offers deep integrations with major e-commerce platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce to help you quickly optimize your store's marketing efforts.
8. Zoho Campaigns: The Best Marketing Automation Tool for Zoho Users
Zoho Campaigns is an affordable email marketing automation tool that helps you create, send, and track campaigns to nurture leads and convert them into customers. The software integrates seamlessly with Zoho CRM and other products within the Zoho ecosystem, making it an excellent choice for businesses already using these tools.
9. Drip: Best For Multi-Channel Marketing Automation
Drip is a marketing automation tool built specifically for e-commerce businesses. The software specializes in multi-channel email, SMS, and social media automation to help you improve customer engagement and build brand loyalty. Drip also integrates with several e-commerce platforms and offers advanced analytics to help you track customer behavior and improve your marketing efforts.
10. GetResponse: Best For Email Automation And Webinars
GetResponse is an email marketing platform with robust automation features to help you create personalized workflows based on user behavior. The software also offers additional tools for hosting webinars, building landing pages, and optimizing conversion funnels to help you boost sales.
Related Reading
• Marketing Automation for Agencies
• Marketing Automation Tools for Small Businesses
• Marketing Automation Process Flow
• SEO Marketing Automation
• Marketing Automation as a Service
Make Decisions At Scale Through AI With Numerous AI’s Spreadsheet AI Tool
Numerous is an AI-Powered tool that enables content marketers, Ecommerce businesses, and more to do tasks many times over through AI, like writing SEO blog posts, generating hashtags, mass categorizing products with sentiment analysis and classification, and many more things by simply dragging down a cell in a spreadsheet. With a simple prompt, Numerous returns any spreadsheet function, simple or complex, within seconds.
The capabilities of Numerous are endless. It is versatile and can be used with Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets. Get started today with Numerous.ai so that you can make business decisions at scale using AI in both Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel. Use Numerous AI spreadsheet AI tools to make decisions and complete tasks at scale.
Related Reading
• Funnel Marketing Automation
• Marketing Automation Challenges
• Marketing Automation Capabilities
• Marketing Automation Metrics
• Click Funnel
• Marketing Functions
• Marketing Process
• B2B Marketing Automation
• HubSpot Lead Scoring
• ClickFunnels vs ActiveCampaign
• Tools of Marketing
Consider you're a marketer at a company with over 1,000 contacts. You want to run a campaign to increase engagement with a particular audience segment. Instead of contacting this group manually, you want to automate the process to save time and deliver personalized communications that nurture the group toward your goal.
The only problem? You have no idea how to get started. This is a common scenario when it comes to using marketing automation. My marketing automation guide can help you tackle this challenge and get your campaign up and running. In this guide, I’ll introduce you to the eight best marketing automation systems to help you find the right fit for your business.
In addition to this Marketing automation guide, Numerous has a solution to help you achieve your goals faster. Our spreadsheet AI tool can help you organize your data and determine how to segment your audience before you start automating your campaign. This will allow you to hit the ground running and make your marketing automation efforts more effective.
Table Of Contents
What Is Marketing Automation?
Marketing automation uses software and technology to streamline, automate, and measure repetitive marketing tasks, enabling businesses to operate more efficiently and effectively. This transformative technology allows marketers to focus on strategic activities. At the same time, the system handles routine tasks such as sending emails, managing social media posts, and nurturing leads through the sales funnel. In today’s fast-paced digital climate, marketing automation has become a cornerstone for businesses looking to scale their operations and deliver personalized customer experiences.
Key Components of Marketing Automation
Now, let’s break down some of the core functions of marketing automation tools.
Automated Workflows
Marketing automation tools rely on predefined workflows to execute tasks automatically based on specific triggers or conditions.
Example Workflow
A customer signs up for a newsletter (trigger). An automated welcome email is sent. Based on the customer’s interaction (e.g., opening the email), they are added to a list for product recommendations.
Integration with Other Tools
Marketing automation systems integrate with other business tools, such as CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platforms, email marketing software, and analytics tools.
Example: A lead captured through a website form is automatically added to a CRM like Salesforce and assigned to a sales representative.
Data Collection and Analysis
These tools track customer behavior, such as website visits, email clicks, and purchase history, to provide insights into customer preferences and campaign performance.
AI and Machine Learning
Modern marketing automation systems leverage AI to predict user behavior, recommend the best content, and optimize the timing of marketing efforts.
Example: AI determines the optimal email time to maximize open rates.
How Marketing Automation Works
Marketing automation uses triggers, rules, and workflows to execute marketing tasks. Here’s how it operates step-by-step:
Triggering an Action
A customer’s interaction, such as signing up for a newsletter, visiting a product page, or downloading an eBook, is the starting point for automation.
Executing Predefined Workflows
The system executes actions, such as sending emails, scheduling social media posts, or scoring leads based on their interactions.
Delivering Personalized Experiences
Automation tools use customer data to tailor content, ensuring it resonates with the recipient.
Example: A customer browsing hiking gear on an e-commerce site receives personalized emails featuring hiking-related products.
Measuring and Optimizing
Real-time analytics and reporting enable marketers to track campaign performance and make data-driven improvements.
Why Marketing Automation Is Essential in 2025
The digital marketing landscape in 2025 is more competitive and data-driven than ever. Marketing automation has evolved from a “nice-to-have” to a necessity for businesses aiming to remain relevant and achieve measurable results.
Efficiency in a Complex Digital Landscape
Manual management becomes unmanageable with multiple marketing channels (email, social media, search ads). Automation ensures seamless coordination across platforms.
Customer Expectations for Personalization
Today’s consumers expect businesses to deliver personalized content that aligns with their interests and needs. Marketing automation makes this possible at scale.
Data Overload
Businesses generate massive amounts of data. Automation tools analyze this data to identify patterns, predict outcomes, and make recommendations, saving time and improving accuracy.
Scalability
Whether a small business or a global enterprise, marketing automation grows with your company, managing increasing workloads without added resource strain.
Core Features of Marketing Automation
Marketing automation tools have robust features that cater to various business needs. Here’s a breakdown of the most critical capabilities:
Email Marketing Automation
Automates the creation and delivery of email campaigns based on user actions and preferences.
Example: Send welcome emails to new subscribers and targeted promotional emails based on their interactions.
Lead Scoring and Nurturing
Assign scores to leads based on their behavior (e.g., website visits, downloads, clicks) to prioritize the most promising prospects. Sends personalized content to nurture leads through the sales funnel.
Social Media Management
Schedules and publishes posts, monitors engagement, and tracks performance metrics across social platforms.
Example: Scheduling Instagram posts for an entire week while monitoring comments and likes.
Customer Segmentation
Groups customers into segments based on demographics, behavior, or purchasing history to deliver relevant content.
Example: A retailer sending different product recommendations to men and women based on browsing history.
Analytics and Reporting
Tracks key performance indicators (KPIs) such as email open rates, click-through rates, and conversions to measure campaign success.
Example: Generating reports to compare the performance of different email subject lines.
Multi-Channel Campaign Management
Coordinates marketing efforts across email, social media, paid ads, and more to ensure a consistent brand message.
CRM Integration
Synchronizes marketing efforts with sales teams by connecting with CRM systems like Salesforce or HubSpot.
Benefits of Marketing Automation
Time Savings
Automates repetitive tasks, freeing up marketers to focus on strategy and creativity.
Improved Campaign Performance
Personalization and data-driven insights lead to higher engagement and better results.
Scalable Solutions
Handles increasing customer bases and marketing workloads effortlessly.
Better Customer Relationships
Delivers timely and relevant content, enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Cost-Effective Marketing
Reduces the need for extensive manual labor while maximizing ROI through optimized campaigns.
Real-world applications of Marketing Automation
E-Commerce
Automates abandoned cart emails, personalized product recommendations, and seasonal promotions.
B2B Businesses
Scores and nurtures leads, automates webinar reminders, and tracks interactions with white papers or case studies.
Content Marketing
Schedules and promotes blog posts, manages newsletters, and tracks performance metrics.
Event Management
Sends invitations, registration confirmations, and reminders for webinars or in-person events.
Related Reading
• Marketing Automation Tools
• Benefits of Marketing Automation
• Marketing Automation for Small Businesses
• Marketing Tasks
The Benefits of Marketing Automation For Your Business
Time and Resource Efficiency: Scale Your Business without Burning Out Your Team
Marketing automation drastically reduces the time and effort needed to manage repetitive tasks, empowering marketers to concentrate on strategic, high-value activities. Automation eliminates manual processes. Tasks such as sending follow-up emails, scheduling social media posts, and segmenting customers can be automated, freeing up team resources. For example, instead of manually sending a welcome email to every new subscriber, automation tools like HubSpot or Mailchimp can trigger this action automatically, and marketing automation scales with your business.
Whether you have 100 or 10,000 customers, marketing automation ensures tasks are completed efficiently without requiring additional manpower. For instance, e-commerce businesses can send personalized product recommendations to thousands of customers simultaneously, providing a better experience for their audience without straining their team.
Enhanced Personalization and Customer Experience: Make Your Customers Feel Special
In a world where consumers expect tailored interactions, marketing automation delivers highly personalized experiences at scale targeted messaging. Automation tools segment audiences based on behavior, demographics, or preferences, ensuring that marketing messages resonate with the recipient. For example, a fitness brand sends workout plans to users who purchased gym equipment and nutrition advice to those buying supplements through behavior-triggered communication.
Automation responds to customer actions in real-time, ensuring timely and relevant engagement. For instance, a follow-up email with a discount offer is automatically triggered when a user abandons their cart. Dynamic content, Tailored content, such as personalized email subject lines or product suggestions, increases engagement and conversion rates.
Improved Lead Generation and Nurturing: Turn Prospects into Lifelong Customers
Marketing automation helps businesses capture, qualify, and nurture leads more effectively, guiding them through the sales funnel.
Lead Scoring
Automation assigns scores to leads based on their behavior, such as website visits or email clicks, helping sales teams prioritize high-value prospects. For example, a B2B company using Pardot can score leads who attend webinars or download white papers, focusing efforts on those most likely to convert seamless lead nurturing. Automation delivers relevant content at every stage of the buyer's journey, keeping leads engaged until they're ready to purchase. For example, a SaaS company sends educational emails to new leads, followed by a demo invitation as the final step.
Data-Driven Decision-Making: Stop Guessing, Start Knowing
Marketing automation tools collect and analyze vast amounts of data, enabling businesses to make informed decisions and optimize campaigns.
Real-time Analytics
Track email open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates to evaluate campaign performance. For example, a marketing team uses Google Analytics integration with their automation tool to track how newsletter readers interact with landing pages.
Automation platforms allow businesses to test multiple variations of emails, ads, or landing pages to identify what works best. For instance, test two email subject lines to determine which generates higher open rates and adjust future campaigns accordingly with predictive insights. Advanced tools leverage AI to forecast customer behavior and recommend actions, such as optimal send times for emails or content suggestions.
Alignment Between Marketing and Sales: Get Everyone on the Same Page
Marketing automation bridges the gap between marketing and sales teams, ensuring seamless collaboration and alignment of goals and centralized data sharing. Integrated CRM tools ensure both teams can access the same customer data, streamlining communication and collaboration. For example, Salesforce and Pardot integration allows sales reps to see a lead's interaction history, such as opened emails or downloaded resources.
Improved Lead Dandoffs
Automation ensures that only qualified leads are passed to the sales team, reducing wasted effort and improving conversion rates.
Cost-Effective Marketing: Do More with Less
Marketing automation maximizes ROI by reducing manual labor, optimizing campaign performance, and increasing revenue opportunities to lower operational costs. Automation replaces time-consuming manual tasks, reducing the need for extensive marketing teams and higher conversion rates. Personalized and timely campaigns lead to better customer engagement and higher conversion rates.
Scalability: Grow Your Business without Adding Headcount
Automation tools grow with your business, making them ideal for companies at any growth stage. Handles growing workloads. As your customer base expands, automation ensures consistent marketing efforts without additional strain on resources.
Adaptable Features
Advanced tools like Numerous allow businesses to scale their marketing efforts by automating data-heavy tasks like sentiment analysis, categorization, and SEO content generation.
Enhanced Customer Retention and Loyalty: Build Lasting Relationships with Your Customers
Automation helps businesses maintain consistent engagement with their audience, fostering long-term relationships consistent engagement. Automated campaigns, such as newsletters or birthday offers, keep customers engaged over time. For example, a loyalty program sends monthly rewards updates automatically to members' customer feedback and surveys. Automation tools can request feedback and gather insights to improve the customer experience.
How Marketing Automation Benefits Businesses E-Commerce Store
Automates product recommendations based on browsing history. Sends abandoned cart emails, recovering lost sales. Tracks campaign performance to optimize future promotions.
B2B SaaS Company
Nurtures leads with drip campaigns, moving them through the sales funnel. Scores leads based on behavior to prioritize follow-up actions. Provides analytics on webinar attendance and white paper downloads.
Make Decisions At Scale Through AI With Numerous AI’s Spreadsheet AI Tool
Numerous is an AI-powered tool that enables content marketers, eCommerce businesses, and more to do tasks many times over through AI, like writing SEO blog posts, generating hashtags, mass categorizing products with sentiment analysis and classification, and many more things by simply dragging down a cell in a spreadsheet.
With a simple prompt, Numerous returns any spreadsheet function, simple or complex, within seconds. The capabilities of Numerous are endless. It is versatile and can be used with Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets. Get started today with Numerous.ai so that you can make business decisions at scale using AI in both Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel. Learn more about how you can 10x your marketing efforts with Numerous’s ChatGPT for spreadsheets tool.
The 10 Best Marketing Automation Software in 2025
1. Numerous: The AI Spreadsheet Tool That Will Optimize Your Marketing Efforts
Numerous (AI-Powered Marketing Automation for Spreadsheets) is an AI-powered marketing automation tool that allows users to automate complex, repetitive tasks in Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel. For example, you can use Numerous to execute advanced operations like sentiment analysis, product categorization, SEO content creation, and hashtag generation. The software works in real-time and has a simple drag-and-drop interface for even the most automated spreadsheet tasks. Learn more about how you can 10x your marketing efforts with Numerous’s ChatGPT for spreadsheets tool.
2. HubSpot: The Ultimate All-in-One Marketing Software
HubSpot is one of the most popular marketing automation tools, and for good reason. The software has everything you need to execute successful inbound marketing campaigns, from attracting visitors to converting leads and nurturing customers. HubSpot also integrates with hundreds of platforms and offers a range of solutions for different business needs and sizes.
3. Marketo Engage: The Best Marketing Automation Software for Enterprises
Marketo Engage is Adobe's marketing automation solution. This powerful software is handy for enterprise-level businesses with complex marketing needs. Marketo Engage excels at account-based marketing (ABM) to help you target high-value prospects. The software also integrates with Adobe's suite of products for additional functionality.
4. ActiveCampaign: The Best For Small to Medium-Sized Businesses
ActiveCampaign is an easy-to-use marketing automation tool that specializes in email marketing. The software also offers advanced segmentation and customer relationship management (CRM) features to help you organize and automate your sales processes. ActiveCampaign integrates with over 850 apps to help you enhance the tool's functionality to fit your business needs.
5. Pardot (By Salesforce): The Best B2B Marketing Automation Tool
Pardot is a B2B marketing automation solution by Salesforce. The software helps businesses streamline their lead scoring, nurturing, and reporting processes. If your company already uses Salesforce for customer relationship management (CRM), Pardot will seamlessly integrate with your existing database to provide a unified view of your customers.
6. Mailchimp: The Best Affordable Marketing Automation Software
Mailchimp is one of the most well-known marketing automation tools on the market. The software is especially popular among small businesses and startups thanks to its user-friendly interface and affordable pricing. With Mailchimp, you can create automated email campaigns to nurture leads and convert them into customers. You can also segment your audiences, track campaign analytics, and integrate the software with several platforms to enhance its functionality.
7. Klaviyo: The Best Marketing Automation Software for E-Commerce
Klaviyo is an email and SMS marketing platform designed specifically for e-commerce businesses. The software helps you improve customer retention and increase sales by facilitating personalized communication before, during, and after a purchase. Klaviyo offers deep integrations with major e-commerce platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce to help you quickly optimize your store's marketing efforts.
8. Zoho Campaigns: The Best Marketing Automation Tool for Zoho Users
Zoho Campaigns is an affordable email marketing automation tool that helps you create, send, and track campaigns to nurture leads and convert them into customers. The software integrates seamlessly with Zoho CRM and other products within the Zoho ecosystem, making it an excellent choice for businesses already using these tools.
9. Drip: Best For Multi-Channel Marketing Automation
Drip is a marketing automation tool built specifically for e-commerce businesses. The software specializes in multi-channel email, SMS, and social media automation to help you improve customer engagement and build brand loyalty. Drip also integrates with several e-commerce platforms and offers advanced analytics to help you track customer behavior and improve your marketing efforts.
10. GetResponse: Best For Email Automation And Webinars
GetResponse is an email marketing platform with robust automation features to help you create personalized workflows based on user behavior. The software also offers additional tools for hosting webinars, building landing pages, and optimizing conversion funnels to help you boost sales.
Related Reading
• Marketing Automation for Agencies
• Marketing Automation Tools for Small Businesses
• Marketing Automation Process Flow
• SEO Marketing Automation
• Marketing Automation as a Service
Make Decisions At Scale Through AI With Numerous AI’s Spreadsheet AI Tool
Numerous is an AI-Powered tool that enables content marketers, Ecommerce businesses, and more to do tasks many times over through AI, like writing SEO blog posts, generating hashtags, mass categorizing products with sentiment analysis and classification, and many more things by simply dragging down a cell in a spreadsheet. With a simple prompt, Numerous returns any spreadsheet function, simple or complex, within seconds.
The capabilities of Numerous are endless. It is versatile and can be used with Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets. Get started today with Numerous.ai so that you can make business decisions at scale using AI in both Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel. Use Numerous AI spreadsheet AI tools to make decisions and complete tasks at scale.
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Consider you're a marketer at a company with over 1,000 contacts. You want to run a campaign to increase engagement with a particular audience segment. Instead of contacting this group manually, you want to automate the process to save time and deliver personalized communications that nurture the group toward your goal.
The only problem? You have no idea how to get started. This is a common scenario when it comes to using marketing automation. My marketing automation guide can help you tackle this challenge and get your campaign up and running. In this guide, I’ll introduce you to the eight best marketing automation systems to help you find the right fit for your business.
In addition to this Marketing automation guide, Numerous has a solution to help you achieve your goals faster. Our spreadsheet AI tool can help you organize your data and determine how to segment your audience before you start automating your campaign. This will allow you to hit the ground running and make your marketing automation efforts more effective.
Table Of Contents
What Is Marketing Automation?
Marketing automation uses software and technology to streamline, automate, and measure repetitive marketing tasks, enabling businesses to operate more efficiently and effectively. This transformative technology allows marketers to focus on strategic activities. At the same time, the system handles routine tasks such as sending emails, managing social media posts, and nurturing leads through the sales funnel. In today’s fast-paced digital climate, marketing automation has become a cornerstone for businesses looking to scale their operations and deliver personalized customer experiences.
Key Components of Marketing Automation
Now, let’s break down some of the core functions of marketing automation tools.
Automated Workflows
Marketing automation tools rely on predefined workflows to execute tasks automatically based on specific triggers or conditions.
Example Workflow
A customer signs up for a newsletter (trigger). An automated welcome email is sent. Based on the customer’s interaction (e.g., opening the email), they are added to a list for product recommendations.
Integration with Other Tools
Marketing automation systems integrate with other business tools, such as CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platforms, email marketing software, and analytics tools.
Example: A lead captured through a website form is automatically added to a CRM like Salesforce and assigned to a sales representative.
Data Collection and Analysis
These tools track customer behavior, such as website visits, email clicks, and purchase history, to provide insights into customer preferences and campaign performance.
AI and Machine Learning
Modern marketing automation systems leverage AI to predict user behavior, recommend the best content, and optimize the timing of marketing efforts.
Example: AI determines the optimal email time to maximize open rates.
How Marketing Automation Works
Marketing automation uses triggers, rules, and workflows to execute marketing tasks. Here’s how it operates step-by-step:
Triggering an Action
A customer’s interaction, such as signing up for a newsletter, visiting a product page, or downloading an eBook, is the starting point for automation.
Executing Predefined Workflows
The system executes actions, such as sending emails, scheduling social media posts, or scoring leads based on their interactions.
Delivering Personalized Experiences
Automation tools use customer data to tailor content, ensuring it resonates with the recipient.
Example: A customer browsing hiking gear on an e-commerce site receives personalized emails featuring hiking-related products.
Measuring and Optimizing
Real-time analytics and reporting enable marketers to track campaign performance and make data-driven improvements.
Why Marketing Automation Is Essential in 2025
The digital marketing landscape in 2025 is more competitive and data-driven than ever. Marketing automation has evolved from a “nice-to-have” to a necessity for businesses aiming to remain relevant and achieve measurable results.
Efficiency in a Complex Digital Landscape
Manual management becomes unmanageable with multiple marketing channels (email, social media, search ads). Automation ensures seamless coordination across platforms.
Customer Expectations for Personalization
Today’s consumers expect businesses to deliver personalized content that aligns with their interests and needs. Marketing automation makes this possible at scale.
Data Overload
Businesses generate massive amounts of data. Automation tools analyze this data to identify patterns, predict outcomes, and make recommendations, saving time and improving accuracy.
Scalability
Whether a small business or a global enterprise, marketing automation grows with your company, managing increasing workloads without added resource strain.
Core Features of Marketing Automation
Marketing automation tools have robust features that cater to various business needs. Here’s a breakdown of the most critical capabilities:
Email Marketing Automation
Automates the creation and delivery of email campaigns based on user actions and preferences.
Example: Send welcome emails to new subscribers and targeted promotional emails based on their interactions.
Lead Scoring and Nurturing
Assign scores to leads based on their behavior (e.g., website visits, downloads, clicks) to prioritize the most promising prospects. Sends personalized content to nurture leads through the sales funnel.
Social Media Management
Schedules and publishes posts, monitors engagement, and tracks performance metrics across social platforms.
Example: Scheduling Instagram posts for an entire week while monitoring comments and likes.
Customer Segmentation
Groups customers into segments based on demographics, behavior, or purchasing history to deliver relevant content.
Example: A retailer sending different product recommendations to men and women based on browsing history.
Analytics and Reporting
Tracks key performance indicators (KPIs) such as email open rates, click-through rates, and conversions to measure campaign success.
Example: Generating reports to compare the performance of different email subject lines.
Multi-Channel Campaign Management
Coordinates marketing efforts across email, social media, paid ads, and more to ensure a consistent brand message.
CRM Integration
Synchronizes marketing efforts with sales teams by connecting with CRM systems like Salesforce or HubSpot.
Benefits of Marketing Automation
Time Savings
Automates repetitive tasks, freeing up marketers to focus on strategy and creativity.
Improved Campaign Performance
Personalization and data-driven insights lead to higher engagement and better results.
Scalable Solutions
Handles increasing customer bases and marketing workloads effortlessly.
Better Customer Relationships
Delivers timely and relevant content, enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Cost-Effective Marketing
Reduces the need for extensive manual labor while maximizing ROI through optimized campaigns.
Real-world applications of Marketing Automation
E-Commerce
Automates abandoned cart emails, personalized product recommendations, and seasonal promotions.
B2B Businesses
Scores and nurtures leads, automates webinar reminders, and tracks interactions with white papers or case studies.
Content Marketing
Schedules and promotes blog posts, manages newsletters, and tracks performance metrics.
Event Management
Sends invitations, registration confirmations, and reminders for webinars or in-person events.
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The Benefits of Marketing Automation For Your Business
Time and Resource Efficiency: Scale Your Business without Burning Out Your Team
Marketing automation drastically reduces the time and effort needed to manage repetitive tasks, empowering marketers to concentrate on strategic, high-value activities. Automation eliminates manual processes. Tasks such as sending follow-up emails, scheduling social media posts, and segmenting customers can be automated, freeing up team resources. For example, instead of manually sending a welcome email to every new subscriber, automation tools like HubSpot or Mailchimp can trigger this action automatically, and marketing automation scales with your business.
Whether you have 100 or 10,000 customers, marketing automation ensures tasks are completed efficiently without requiring additional manpower. For instance, e-commerce businesses can send personalized product recommendations to thousands of customers simultaneously, providing a better experience for their audience without straining their team.
Enhanced Personalization and Customer Experience: Make Your Customers Feel Special
In a world where consumers expect tailored interactions, marketing automation delivers highly personalized experiences at scale targeted messaging. Automation tools segment audiences based on behavior, demographics, or preferences, ensuring that marketing messages resonate with the recipient. For example, a fitness brand sends workout plans to users who purchased gym equipment and nutrition advice to those buying supplements through behavior-triggered communication.
Automation responds to customer actions in real-time, ensuring timely and relevant engagement. For instance, a follow-up email with a discount offer is automatically triggered when a user abandons their cart. Dynamic content, Tailored content, such as personalized email subject lines or product suggestions, increases engagement and conversion rates.
Improved Lead Generation and Nurturing: Turn Prospects into Lifelong Customers
Marketing automation helps businesses capture, qualify, and nurture leads more effectively, guiding them through the sales funnel.
Lead Scoring
Automation assigns scores to leads based on their behavior, such as website visits or email clicks, helping sales teams prioritize high-value prospects. For example, a B2B company using Pardot can score leads who attend webinars or download white papers, focusing efforts on those most likely to convert seamless lead nurturing. Automation delivers relevant content at every stage of the buyer's journey, keeping leads engaged until they're ready to purchase. For example, a SaaS company sends educational emails to new leads, followed by a demo invitation as the final step.
Data-Driven Decision-Making: Stop Guessing, Start Knowing
Marketing automation tools collect and analyze vast amounts of data, enabling businesses to make informed decisions and optimize campaigns.
Real-time Analytics
Track email open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates to evaluate campaign performance. For example, a marketing team uses Google Analytics integration with their automation tool to track how newsletter readers interact with landing pages.
Automation platforms allow businesses to test multiple variations of emails, ads, or landing pages to identify what works best. For instance, test two email subject lines to determine which generates higher open rates and adjust future campaigns accordingly with predictive insights. Advanced tools leverage AI to forecast customer behavior and recommend actions, such as optimal send times for emails or content suggestions.
Alignment Between Marketing and Sales: Get Everyone on the Same Page
Marketing automation bridges the gap between marketing and sales teams, ensuring seamless collaboration and alignment of goals and centralized data sharing. Integrated CRM tools ensure both teams can access the same customer data, streamlining communication and collaboration. For example, Salesforce and Pardot integration allows sales reps to see a lead's interaction history, such as opened emails or downloaded resources.
Improved Lead Dandoffs
Automation ensures that only qualified leads are passed to the sales team, reducing wasted effort and improving conversion rates.
Cost-Effective Marketing: Do More with Less
Marketing automation maximizes ROI by reducing manual labor, optimizing campaign performance, and increasing revenue opportunities to lower operational costs. Automation replaces time-consuming manual tasks, reducing the need for extensive marketing teams and higher conversion rates. Personalized and timely campaigns lead to better customer engagement and higher conversion rates.
Scalability: Grow Your Business without Adding Headcount
Automation tools grow with your business, making them ideal for companies at any growth stage. Handles growing workloads. As your customer base expands, automation ensures consistent marketing efforts without additional strain on resources.
Adaptable Features
Advanced tools like Numerous allow businesses to scale their marketing efforts by automating data-heavy tasks like sentiment analysis, categorization, and SEO content generation.
Enhanced Customer Retention and Loyalty: Build Lasting Relationships with Your Customers
Automation helps businesses maintain consistent engagement with their audience, fostering long-term relationships consistent engagement. Automated campaigns, such as newsletters or birthday offers, keep customers engaged over time. For example, a loyalty program sends monthly rewards updates automatically to members' customer feedback and surveys. Automation tools can request feedback and gather insights to improve the customer experience.
How Marketing Automation Benefits Businesses E-Commerce Store
Automates product recommendations based on browsing history. Sends abandoned cart emails, recovering lost sales. Tracks campaign performance to optimize future promotions.
B2B SaaS Company
Nurtures leads with drip campaigns, moving them through the sales funnel. Scores leads based on behavior to prioritize follow-up actions. Provides analytics on webinar attendance and white paper downloads.
Make Decisions At Scale Through AI With Numerous AI’s Spreadsheet AI Tool
Numerous is an AI-powered tool that enables content marketers, eCommerce businesses, and more to do tasks many times over through AI, like writing SEO blog posts, generating hashtags, mass categorizing products with sentiment analysis and classification, and many more things by simply dragging down a cell in a spreadsheet.
With a simple prompt, Numerous returns any spreadsheet function, simple or complex, within seconds. The capabilities of Numerous are endless. It is versatile and can be used with Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets. Get started today with Numerous.ai so that you can make business decisions at scale using AI in both Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel. Learn more about how you can 10x your marketing efforts with Numerous’s ChatGPT for spreadsheets tool.
The 10 Best Marketing Automation Software in 2025
1. Numerous: The AI Spreadsheet Tool That Will Optimize Your Marketing Efforts
Numerous (AI-Powered Marketing Automation for Spreadsheets) is an AI-powered marketing automation tool that allows users to automate complex, repetitive tasks in Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel. For example, you can use Numerous to execute advanced operations like sentiment analysis, product categorization, SEO content creation, and hashtag generation. The software works in real-time and has a simple drag-and-drop interface for even the most automated spreadsheet tasks. Learn more about how you can 10x your marketing efforts with Numerous’s ChatGPT for spreadsheets tool.
2. HubSpot: The Ultimate All-in-One Marketing Software
HubSpot is one of the most popular marketing automation tools, and for good reason. The software has everything you need to execute successful inbound marketing campaigns, from attracting visitors to converting leads and nurturing customers. HubSpot also integrates with hundreds of platforms and offers a range of solutions for different business needs and sizes.
3. Marketo Engage: The Best Marketing Automation Software for Enterprises
Marketo Engage is Adobe's marketing automation solution. This powerful software is handy for enterprise-level businesses with complex marketing needs. Marketo Engage excels at account-based marketing (ABM) to help you target high-value prospects. The software also integrates with Adobe's suite of products for additional functionality.
4. ActiveCampaign: The Best For Small to Medium-Sized Businesses
ActiveCampaign is an easy-to-use marketing automation tool that specializes in email marketing. The software also offers advanced segmentation and customer relationship management (CRM) features to help you organize and automate your sales processes. ActiveCampaign integrates with over 850 apps to help you enhance the tool's functionality to fit your business needs.
5. Pardot (By Salesforce): The Best B2B Marketing Automation Tool
Pardot is a B2B marketing automation solution by Salesforce. The software helps businesses streamline their lead scoring, nurturing, and reporting processes. If your company already uses Salesforce for customer relationship management (CRM), Pardot will seamlessly integrate with your existing database to provide a unified view of your customers.
6. Mailchimp: The Best Affordable Marketing Automation Software
Mailchimp is one of the most well-known marketing automation tools on the market. The software is especially popular among small businesses and startups thanks to its user-friendly interface and affordable pricing. With Mailchimp, you can create automated email campaigns to nurture leads and convert them into customers. You can also segment your audiences, track campaign analytics, and integrate the software with several platforms to enhance its functionality.
7. Klaviyo: The Best Marketing Automation Software for E-Commerce
Klaviyo is an email and SMS marketing platform designed specifically for e-commerce businesses. The software helps you improve customer retention and increase sales by facilitating personalized communication before, during, and after a purchase. Klaviyo offers deep integrations with major e-commerce platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce to help you quickly optimize your store's marketing efforts.
8. Zoho Campaigns: The Best Marketing Automation Tool for Zoho Users
Zoho Campaigns is an affordable email marketing automation tool that helps you create, send, and track campaigns to nurture leads and convert them into customers. The software integrates seamlessly with Zoho CRM and other products within the Zoho ecosystem, making it an excellent choice for businesses already using these tools.
9. Drip: Best For Multi-Channel Marketing Automation
Drip is a marketing automation tool built specifically for e-commerce businesses. The software specializes in multi-channel email, SMS, and social media automation to help you improve customer engagement and build brand loyalty. Drip also integrates with several e-commerce platforms and offers advanced analytics to help you track customer behavior and improve your marketing efforts.
10. GetResponse: Best For Email Automation And Webinars
GetResponse is an email marketing platform with robust automation features to help you create personalized workflows based on user behavior. The software also offers additional tools for hosting webinars, building landing pages, and optimizing conversion funnels to help you boost sales.
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Make Decisions At Scale Through AI With Numerous AI’s Spreadsheet AI Tool
Numerous is an AI-Powered tool that enables content marketers, Ecommerce businesses, and more to do tasks many times over through AI, like writing SEO blog posts, generating hashtags, mass categorizing products with sentiment analysis and classification, and many more things by simply dragging down a cell in a spreadsheet. With a simple prompt, Numerous returns any spreadsheet function, simple or complex, within seconds.
The capabilities of Numerous are endless. It is versatile and can be used with Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets. Get started today with Numerous.ai so that you can make business decisions at scale using AI in both Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel. Use Numerous AI spreadsheet AI tools to make decisions and complete tasks at scale.
Related Reading
• Funnel Marketing Automation
• Marketing Automation Challenges
• Marketing Automation Capabilities
• Marketing Automation Metrics
• Click Funnel
• Marketing Functions
• Marketing Process
• B2B Marketing Automation
• HubSpot Lead Scoring
• ClickFunnels vs ActiveCampaign
• Tools of Marketing
© 2023 Numerous. All rights reserved.
© 2023 Numerous. All rights reserved.
© 2023 Numerous. All rights reserved.