In today’s fast-paced business landscape, small businesses are constantly on the lookout for effective tools to streamline their operations and boost efficiency.
One such tool that has gained significant popularity is marketing automation software.
Marketing automation software helps businesses automate repetitive marketing tasks, such as email marketing and social media management, allowing them to focus on other important aspects of their business.

In this blog post, Dolma will explore the top marketing automation software options specifically designed for small businesses.
Why Small Businesses Need Marketing Automation
Small businesses often face resource constraints and have limited teams to handle various operational tasks, including marketing.
Marketing, being a highly dynamic industry, involves numerous repetitive tasks, such as email marketing, social media posting, ad campaigns, and onsite marketing. This is where marketing automation software comes into play.
It helps small businesses by automating these repetitive tasks, freeing up valuable time and resources that can be directed toward other essential aspects of their business.
In addition to improving efficiency, marketing automation software creates more personalized user experiences. By setting up autoresponder email series, integrating chatbots on websites, or using sales CRM tools to organize leads and enhance user experiences, small businesses can deliver targeted messages to their audience, saving time and effort.
Best Marketing Automation Software
Dolma has compiled the top 15 marketing automation software applications that are frequently used, along with their benefits.
Let’s take a closer look at them.
1. Constant Contact
Constant Contact is another popular marketing automation software that helps small businesses automate their email marketing efforts.
With Constant Contact, you can set up email sequences and send them automatically to your contacts. Using triggers, you can send emails based on user actions, similar to Mailchimp.

Top Features:
- Dynamic content personalization
- Automated communications (e.g., resend to non-openers)
- In-depth reporting, including conversion and sales
Pros:
- Hundreds of email templates
- Sign-up forms
- Integrations with popular tools like Shopify, WooCommerce, Canva, and Etsy
- Engagement reporting (views, clicks, etc.)
- Live chat and phone support
Cons:
- Support could be improved
- Might be challenging for technically-challenged users
- Templates and design options could be more up-to-date and flexible
Price:
Constant Contact offers a 30-day free trial. The core plan starts at $9.99 per month and pricing is based on the number of contacts.
2. Mailchimp
Mailchimp is one of the most popular marketing automation software options available for small businesses. It offers a wide range of features to help businesses automate their marketing efforts.

With Mailchimp’s automation feature, you can create targeted emails that are sent when triggered by specific events, dates, or activities.
The platform provides a powerful set of design, scheduling, and segmenting tools, making it easy to inform, reward, and engage your contacts through automated emails, even when you’re offline.
Top Features:
- Pre-built journeys to engage with your audience and get recommendations
- Data integration from apps and web services
Pros:
- 24/7 email and chat support
- Custom-coded and pre-built email templates
- A/B testing
- Enhanced automated customer journeys
- Predictive segmentation
- Campaign manager
Cons:
- Limited email support on the free plan after the first 30 days
- May not be budget-friendly for some businesses
- Some users report emails ending up in spam folders
Price:
Mailchimp offers a free plan with limited features. You can add up to 500 contacts to the essential plan for $13 per month.
3. HubSpot
HubSpot is a leading CRM software tool that offers an all-in-one marketing suite for businesses of all sizes. It provides a visual dashboard to organize your content and view your entire sales pipeline. HubSpot’s CRM system helps businesses streamline processes, build better customer relationships, and increase profitability.
Top Features:
- Integration with various tools
- In-product messages
Pros:
- Track and manage multiple currencies
- Mobile inbox
- Automatically assign incoming chats
- Store, track, and manage marketing event data
Cons:
- Account setup may be challenging without sufficient knowledge
- Some features may be confusing for less tech-savvy users
Price:
HubSpot offers a Starter plan for $18 per month, including two paid users. Additional users cost $9 per month each. The CRM Suite, which includes Operations Hub Starter, Marketing Hub Starter, Sales Hub Starter, Service Hub Starter, and CMS Hub Starter, starts at $27 per month with an annual subscription.
4. Moosend
Moosend is an easy-to-use, all-in-one marketing automation software that offers a range of features, including email marketing, A/B testing, list segmentation, and user/website tracking.
It helps small businesses automate their marketing efforts and improve their overall efficiency.
Top Features:
- Behavioral analytics
- Custom reporting
- 100+ integrations
Pros:
- Unlimited emails
- Landing pages/forms
- Multi-step marketing automation workflows
- Predicted location and demographics
- A/B testing
- Email heatmap analytics
Cons:
- May require more than average knowledge to set up
- Customer support may provide contradictive information
Price:
Moosend offers a 30-day free trial, and the Pro plan starts at $9 per month for up to 500 subscribers.
5. Popupsmart
With PopupSmart, businesses can market their products or services directly on their websites with onsite marketing automation. It provides various features like gamified popups and powerful targeting options to engage visitors and generate leads.
Top Features:
- Gamified popups
- Powerful targeting features like SiteData targeting
Pros:
- Outstanding analytics features
- Generating email leads and sending autoresponders to subscribers
- Promoting products with video popups
- Collecting customer feedback and surveys
Cons:
- The number of templates could be increased
Price:
Popupsmart offers a free plan, and the basic plan is available for $32.5 per month if paid annually.
6. Tidio Chatbot
For businesses, Tidio Chatbot offers efficient and budget-friendly live chat solutions. It allows businesses to create chatbots that work as virtual assistants, answering users’ questions 24/7, even when live chat agents are offline.
Top Features:
- Live chat and unlimited conversations
- Up to 5 operators
- Email and 24/5 live chat support
Pros:
- Team departments to direct conversations to the best assistant
- Analytics
- Native Shopify integration
- Live typing feature to see what customers are writing before they send messages
- Viewed pages to track visitors
- Live visitors list
Cons:
- May have a learning curve for new users
- Confirmation texts may not always be 100% accurate
- The number of integrations could be increased
Price:
Tidio Chatbot offers a free plan, and the Communicator plan starts at $15.83 per month, billed per operator.
7. Freechat
Freechat is a free live chat tool that helps businesses communicate with website visitors via messaging apps. It offers a user-friendly interface and customization options for branding businesses.
With Freechat, businesses can interact with customers in real-time conversations, enhancing customer engagement.
Top Features:
- Great user interface
- No coding required
Pros:
- Super user-friendly
- Customization options for business branding
- Secure and GDPR-compliant
Cons:
- More messaging apps could be added
Price:
Freechat is available for free.
8. Intercom
Intercom is a customer communication platform that enables businesses to communicate with their customers through various channels, including email, live chat, and in-app messaging. It offers features like automatic messaging, customer data management, and analytics.
Top Features:
- Integration with 250+ tools
- In-product messages
Pros:
- Get company and behavioral data
- Useful reporting dashboards
- Conversation ratings and tags
- Chat and email support
- Targeted outbound email
Cons:
- Subscription management could be easier
- Constant updates and lagging can be problematic
- Admin configuration can be a bit complicated
Price:
Intercom offers a Starter plan starting from $74 per month when billed annually, with the option to customize your plan with add-ons like WhatsApp, Product Tours, and Surveys.
9. Manychat
Manychat is a marketing automation software that allows businesses to send automated Instagram direct and Facebook messages. Businesses can easily build chatbots and automate two-way conversations using its drag-and-drop visual editor.
Top Features:
- Integrations with 2,000+ business tools
- Segment contacts with customer tags
Pros:
- Build custom chatbot flows
- Combine with SMS and email to keep conversations going
- Team member seats for collaboration
- Create custom keyword triggers
Cons:
- Analytics could be more advanced
- Instant message delivery can be laggy at times
Price:
Manychat offers a free plan to engage up to 1,000 contacts. Starting at $15 per month, the pro plan scales based on the number of contacts.
10. Mailmodo
Mailmodo is a leading marketing automation software company that empowers businesses to create interactive and personalized email experiences.
With its user-friendly interface and powerful features, Mailmodo enables marketers to engage customers, drive conversions, and enhance their email marketing campaigns.
Top Features:
- Drag-and-drop interface to create interactive emails without coding knowledge
- Best bulk email service and transactional email service
- Dynamic content block for personalization
Pros:
- Pre-built 300+ email templates and 70+ email flows
- Integration with Shopify and other tech-stack
- Email template builder for interactive emails
- Best bulk email and transactional email service
Cons:
- Limited support for non-English users
- No free plan is available
Price:
Mailmodo offers a 21-day free trial. The Lite, Pro, and Max plans start at $39, $99, and $249 per month, respectively.
11. Buffer
Buffer is a social media scheduling tool designed to automate social media posts for various platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, and Pinterest.
It allows businesses to schedule posts in advance and publish them automatically at the best times for engagement.
Top Features:
- Multi-channel campaigns
- Hashtag manager
Pros:
- Custom video thumbnails
- Link shortener
- Performance overview
- Individual post analytics
- Exportable and branded reports
Cons:
- Buffer’s data may not match with social media platforms’ data
- Scheduling can be unreliable
- Learning how to use it may be challenging
Price:
Buffer offers a free plan. The essentials plan, which includes publishing, analytics, and engagement tools, starts at $5 per month per channel. Additional channels cost an extra $5 per month.
12. Hootsuite
Hootsuite is a social media management platform that allows businesses to schedule and publish content across multiple social media platforms. It provides tools to help users manage their social media presence and engage with their audience effectively.
Top Features:
- Professional analytics
- Customize posts for each network
Pros:
- Unlimited posts
- Schedule posts in advance
- Publish them automatically at the best times for engagement
- Access to messages in one inbox
Cons:
- Support could be improved
- Some features may not be essential but are pricey
- The onboarding process could be better
Price:
Hootsuite offers a 30-day free trial. The professional plan is €99 per month, but skipping the trial gives you a 20% discount.
13. Zapier
Zapier is a powerful marketing automation tool that connects different apps and software to automate workflows. It allows businesses to move content from one place to another seamlessly.
For example, you can create a “Zap” to automatically create a story on Medium or publish your content on WordPress.
Top Features:
- Supports thousands of apps and services
- Automates repetitive tasks and saves time
Pros:
- Customizable with options for complex automation flows
- Affordable pricing plans
- Five free zaps in the free plan
Cons:
- Some integrations may not be as robust as native app solutions
- Relies on the reliability of integrations and 3rd-party APIs
- Glitches can be frustrating
Price:
Zapier offers a forever-free plan with 100 tasks per month. The starter plan is $19.99 per month and includes 750 tasks per month.
14. Brevo
Brevo is an all-in-one marketing automation software that caters to small businesses needs for both email and SMS marketing. It allows you to build custom workflows that send out emails automatically based on subscriber actions on your website.
Top Features:
- Unlimited contacts and details
- Real-time email statistics
- Workflow editor
Pros:
- Drag and drop builder
- Shared inbox to keep your team organized
- Transactional email
- Segmentation
- Signup forms
Cons:
- The editor could be more intuitive
- There is room for improvement in customer support
- Some customer reviews mention emails not being sent, although they appear to have been
Price:
Brevo offers a free plan with unlimited contacts. The starter plan starts from $25 per month with unlimited contacts.
15. Pipedrive
Pipedrive is a CRM software designed to help businesses prioritize and manage leads, track communications, and automate administrative tasks.
It offers features like visual pipelines to organize and close deals, lead labeling and filtering, and chatbot and live chat integration.
Top Features:
- Security alerts and rules
- Web-to-mobile calls
- Group emailing and email scheduling
Pros:
- Create visual pipelines to organize and close deals
- Pool all your leads in one place, follow up, and qualify new leads
- Label and filter leads
- Chatbot and live chat
- Create and embed web forms
Cons:
- Data import may be challenging
- Pricing plan updates may be confusing
- May not be sophisticated enough for larger enterprises
Price:
Pipedrive offers a 14-day free trial. The Essential plan costs $12.50 per user per month, billed annually.
How to Choose the Right Marketing Automation Software
Here are some tips to help you choose the right marketing automation software:
- Identify your needs: The first step in finding marketing automation software is to determine your needs. What kind of tasks do you want to automate? What features do you need?
- Research different options: Once you know what you’re looking for, you can start researching different options. Look for software that meets your needs and also fits within your budget.
- Read reviews: Getting a better understanding of a software’s features and potential problems can be obtained by reading reviews.
- Compare prices: Different software solutions have different pricing models, so be sure to compare prices to find the best deal.
- Test it out: Several marketing automation software solutions offer free trials, so try them out before you buy.
Tips for Using Marketing Automation Software
- Set up automated campaigns: Automated campaigns can help you save time and ensure that your campaigns are always running.
- Monitor your campaigns: Make sure your campaigns are running smoothly and meeting your objectives.
- Personalize content: Create a more personalized experience for your customers by personalizing your content.
- Use segmentation: Segmentation can help you target specific groups of customers with relevant content.
- Monitor analytics: Monitor analytics to gain valuable insights into customer behavior and preferences.
- Test and optimize: Test different versions of your campaigns and optimize them for better results.
Conclusion
Marketing automation software has become an essential tool for small businesses looking to streamline their operations and improve efficiency.
Choosing the right marketing automation software requires carefully evaluating your business needs and goals. Whether you need email marketing automation, social media management, or sales automation, there is a solution out there for your small business.
Select the software that fits your needs based on its features, pricing, and support options. By implementing marketing automation software, you can take your business to the next level and achieve greater success.
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