There are many choices for marketing automation software. But not all are created equal. In order to make the right marketing automation comparison you need to first establish your site’s objectives. The biggest decision is what do you want to accomplish? When it comes to marketing automation software reviews and vendors it boils down whether you want to attract new clients vs. nurturing existing leads. This is where the big divide exists in marketing automation software. If you’re looking for more site visits then focus on a automation software that provides the best tools to acquire new leads. However, if you’ve got tons of traffic and have many, many leads you may want to consider a marketing automation vendor that specializes in lead nurturing.
Hubspot’s marketing automation software is positioned as an “all-in-one” marketing system. That is, their service not only includes lead nurturing but also tools and importantly a process to acquire new leads. This is accomplished through a sophisticated set of SEO (search engine optimization) tools and incorporating a content strategy to capture new business. The content creation strategy Hubspot promotes is to consistently create blog content and thought leadership content. The latter is information that can be positioned as a download – how you capture leads.
Example of Hubspot's smart SEO tools tied to blogging:
Beyond the SEO and blog tools, Hubspot offers landing page creation, lead nurturing, email platform, social media and analytics. Easily the most comprehensive suite of marketing automation software services available in one package. One particular note regarding Hubspot: Be prepared to create content (#1 reason why hubspot doesn’t work) because without it you are not taking advantage of the investment.
Other marketing software automation services of note include Pardot, Marketo and Eloqua. The primary focus of these marketing automation services is to “nurture” existing leads. Another term for this is “drip campaign.” All of these services are quite sophisticated in this capacity. They excel at creating something I refer to as “lead flow.” This is the ability to dynamically customize emails to a lead based on their specific action on your site. For example, if Visitor A looks at a certain set of pages and then downloads a whitepaper off your site they can be targeted to receive a specific set of following emails after conversion. Whereas, Visitor B that looks at a completely different set of pages and downloads a case study can be assigned a different drip campaign. This behavior based lead flow is how these automation services differ from Hubspot. As of today Hubspot can only send a nurturing campaign based off one action – a conversion download off your site.
Marketing automation software reviews is an effort. When reviewing one of these automation software vendors there are many decisions that come into play such as price, ease of use and functionality. To help you make your decision easier be sure to download the Optimize 3.0 marketing automation comparison chart this free and easy to follow chart reviews the leading marketing automation software vendors across 10 critical features.
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