by Ryan Chester
New businesses are frequently faced with a daunting task once it comes to advertising and implementing a strong market presence in a saturated online world. The main question is how to efficiently market a fresh business with its inadequate restricted resources.
Market Automation Tools Provide an Effective Solution
Marketing automation is a general term that refers to independently or collectively set of actions and behaviors. Generally, marketing automation tools allude to the online software and tools that offer business owners with the chance to efficiently sell their products and services online and automate repetitive tasks.
Marketing automation tools comprise of simple tasks including advertising and promotion, these tools also include marketing tasks that are accomplished through the Internet, SMS, social media and via email. Other complex marketing automation tools are categorizing and tracking client data, monitoring client behavior, lead generation and selecting proper responses to aid in earning maximum profit.
For small businesses, the benefits of market automation tools are extensive. With the right marketing automation tools, small businesses can save a great deal of money, time and effort. Huge corporations employ immense marketing departments and are subsequently capable of holding an enormous market presence. In a small business, the average number of employees assigned to marketing is around one to two individuals.
Marketing automation tools help to even the playing field among corporate giants and the little guys, creating a chance for small businesses to compete for a larger piece of the market.
When selecting marketing automation tools for a small business, a few factors must be taken into consideration. First, identify the budget, services needed and the number of customers. Consider these three factors to pull out the costly tools, offer unnecessary services, or can’t manage the size of the customer base. Then take into account the kind of business the marketing automation tools usually service.
Preferring a tool that caters to huge online businesses might not be the right choice for a small enterprise, and vice versa. The reputation of the marketing automation tools and the span of time they operate must be considered. New companies may not always be the right choice. Lastly, take seriously the level of proficiency needed to employ the tool’s software. Marketing automation tools that are easy and simple to use can save you a lot of time and energy.
Marketing Automation Tools for Businesses
Getspokal
GetSpokal provides editing software intended to modernize the WordPress software and make publishing blogs easier and faster. GetSpokal also permits users to incorporate blog posts to social media site such as Twitter and Facebook. Blog posts may be scheduled in advance and enterprise search engine optimization (SEO) advice is readily available. GetSpokal also provides a free trial period and offers three diverse levels of pricing, each one having no long-term contract.
Bridg
Bridg offers marketing automation tools including email campaigns, social marketing and contact management. Two remarkable services are Return on Investment (ROI) which aims to help businesses perceive which strategies led to actual revenues and Reputation Management, which assists owners monitor and supervise online reviews of the customers. Though trial periods are not offered, Bridg presents a demo for businesses to test. Prices are subject to business size and have varying levels to full marketing automation services and email marketing only.
Optimove
Optimove advertises itself as a “Customer Retention Automation Software” and aids business owners in finding and retaining customers online. Optimove also assists small businesses to discover target customers, and appeal and sustain that business. Through evaluating customer actions and data, Optimove also makes commendations to business owners on how to significantly market products to particular customers. Exact pricing plans are not declared, but the price greatly depends on the total number of customer networks and the total number customers in every network.
Customer.IO
Customer.io assists businesses to develop the messages being sent to customers. The tool provides assistance in analyzing how effective campaigns are, the creation of different lists of customers and designing emails. Customer.io also aids in segmentation – analyzing customers based on behaviors and data. Pricing is subject to the quantity of customers and the amount of emails sent every month. For early subscription, a discount is given.
Autosend.IO
Autosend.io provides help with messaging. Aside from the options offered by other marketing automation tools, messages may be managed by text (SMS), push notifications and email. Autosend.io can also offer services like “autoresponder”, this means that it will allow business owners to classify responses basing from activities of the customer. For instance, business owners can create a schedule for emails to be sent to customers that signed up for a free trial so they are reminded to subscribe before the trial run ends. The price of services for Autosend.io cannot be seen on their website (Private Beta).
Socialoomph
SocialOomph offers tools that can help little businesses enhance their social media productivity. The tool is incorporated by known social media sites like Twitter, Linkedln, Facebook and other site. The primary features consist of abilities to create a schedule and write posts ahead. Top features of the tool are the ability to copy posts from social media sites and tweeting them through email. Not like other marketing automation tools, SocialOomph can also incorporate with blog publishing sites such as Tumblr and WordPress.
UPLANME
Uplanme offers marketing automation tools intended to aid online businesses boost their customer base. The distinct features of Uplanme consist of ability to prepare and supervise business events and managing public event calendars for business. Independently, Uplanme can also provide consultation, which can aid local, minor businesses such as restaurants and bars make and uphold a cost-effective online presence thru email campaigns, social media, event calendars and websites.
Alicanto
Alicanto offers marketing automation tools in the field of social media promotion through Facebook and Twitter and email marketing, however it is one of its kind in presenting options for direct mail advertising. Alicanto also aids small businesses manage marketing promotions and campaigns during the holidays and birthday of customers. One feature that is distinct to Alicanto is known as “Alliances” which permit businesses to link as one to boost sales.
Activecampaign
ActiveCampaign offers marketing automation tools in the field of customer data management, marketing campaigns and sales management. Tools needed in making eye-catching ads and emails are accessible. Many of the features and accessible for free, but if audiences are larger then it will then require subscription. Several plans are available, and for those who purchase yearly plans, discounts are given. ActiveCampaign also provides a discount of 20% for companies that are non-profit.
Bizo
Bizo is a marketing automation tool that is B2B or business-to-business centered. This tool is intended for companies that create products for businesses. Bizo caters renowned companies including AT&T, Microsoft, Porcehe and American Express. Bizo defines their strategy for business as the “Full Funnel Approach” and functions to determine customers, nurture customers and maintain customers for future business dealings.
Get Ambassador
The business strategy of Ambassador is to make customers into tools for promotion for small businesses. Implying to customers as “ambassadors”, these ambassadors aid small businesses find and maintain customer referrals. Ambassador can provide with tools that can help make a winning motivational campaigns to drive referrals and incorporate with several third party applications to simplify activities. Ambassador can offer a free trial run, and has various pricing levels, although a few lower tier subscriptions can only provide email-based support. Ambassador has also a mobile application feature for business offers.
Cloudwork
Cloudwork is a SaaS tool or ‘Software as a Service’ tool. This pertains to the method Cloudwork is presented to customers, software that is accessible by the users through the internet. Cloudwork functions by incorporating all the various applications that business owners use to run their businesses. This process works by lowering costs and saving time used for tasks that are repetitive. A lot of trendy applications like Google Drive and Gmail can be incorporated through Cloudwork.
IFTTT
If This Then That (IFTTT) is another marketing automation tool that utilizes integration to make processes simpler for business owners. IFTTT provides integration to various known applications like, eBay, Facebook, Craiglists, Google Drive, BuzzFeed and others. IFTTT does not give lists of prices on their website; however, they provide a lot of samples on how their service works.
Zapier
Zapier is a marketing automation tool that incorporates methods among existing web applications. If there are two companies that do not provide incorporation among their services, then Zapier will be the one to incorporate in a third-party platform. Actions are known as “zaps” and can be as easy as informing business owners of emails. Further probable actions include making customer contact info basing from entries made on websites by customers. Market automation tools such as Zapier makes it simple for business owners to incorporate with not having to learn the code.
Summary
With the present marketplace, a small business has a small chance of thriving against a big corporation with a bountiful budget for marketing, except it that business utilizes any available marketing automation tools. Either if that small business caters 50 customers or 50,000 customers, there are many marketing automation tools accessible online to aid in developing and boosting a business.
Ryan Chester is a digital marketing connoisseur who helps Fortune 500s with their digital marketing strategies, hike on weekends, and reads a new book every 4 days. Follow me on Twitter or add me on LinkedIn so we can keep in touch!
Photo Credits
col_adamson | Nic McPhee | Courtesy of Ryan Chester
