If you’ve ever dabbled in the world of marketing automation, you must know the big names like HubSpot, Salesforce, or Marketo. They’re like the celebrities of the marketing world that seem to be the go-to solutions for all your marketing needs.
But let’s be real for a second: big tools always come with hefty price tags that can make your wallet weep. For a small business trying to keep things lean and mean, shelling out big bucks for features you might not even use can feel like throwing money down the drain.
And then there’s the learning curve. Sure, these platforms are feature-rich, but that also means they can be pretty overwhelming. If you’re a small team wearing multiple hats, the last thing you want is to spend weeks trying to figure out how to navigate a complicated interface.
But here’s where it gets really frustrating: while these big players may shine in some areas, they often fall short when it comes to those little routines that can eat up your time. And we all know that sometimes it’s the small stuff that really adds up.
So, what’s a small business owner to do? Relax! There are smaller, more user-friendly tools out there that can tackle these tasks without breaking the bank or giving you a headache.
Marketing Automation Tools for Your Little Routines
forms.app: Your Go-To Custom Forms Supplier
If you’re running a business, you know how important it is to connect with your customers and understand their needs. One of the most effective ways to do this is through custom forms.
Custom forms let you collect any information, from feedback on a new product to insights on customer preferences and satisfaction levels.
Forms also can simplify many aspects of your business, from gathering leads to managing event registrations.
So, how do you create these amazing custom forms? That’s where forms.app comes into play!
forms.app is an awesome online form builder that lets you whip up forms, surveys, and quizzes in no time! With over 5,000 ready-made templates and a built-in AI form generator, it’s super easy to get started.
You can customize everything: themes, fonts, and even CSS, to make your forms look professional.
Need to automate your workflow even more? forms.app integrates natively with popular tools like Slack, Hubspot, and Google Analytics, as well as 500+ other solutions via Zapier.
Here’s why forms.app stands out from the crowd:
- AI form creation and AI-powered insights,
- 5000 ready-made templates available in 6 languages,
- Data export in various formats,
- A mobile application to create and track your forms.
Pricing: Free
From $15/month
ManyChat: All-in-One Chats Automation Tool
Are you still stuck in the email marketing rut? Then think about all those conversations you have with your customers via Facebook Messenger, Instagram Direct Messages, WhatsApp, and even SMS every day. You know, the ones where you answer the same questions over and over again? Yeah, those!
And now imagine a world where you don’t have to spend hours each week answering FAQs or scheduling appointments. Sounds dreamy, right? That’s where ManyChat can help.
ManyChat – a super handy chatbot that lets you automate these. You can set the bot up in minutes: just choose from tons of templates or let the AI assistant help you create replies.
All the insights you gather about your users will sync right up with your CRM and other tools.
Here are a few more reasons to give ManyChat a try:
- Straightforward chat flow builder,
- Multiple chatbot elements, e.g. cards, images, lists, etc.
- Advanced growth tools to keep the conversation on,
- A wide variety of integrations.
Pricing: Free
From $10/month
Breadcrumbs: Customer Engagement Radar
And if you are looking to connect with your customers even better and get more insights, you’ll also need a tool that checks what your users are doing on your website or app as it happens.
With real-time data, you will see exactly what your customers are interested in. Are they checking out that new product? Are they abandoning their cart?
With such insights into customer behavior, you will be able to engage with them at the right moment. For example, if someone is lingering on a product page, you could send them a friendly message or offer a discount.
Or if you notice a sudden spike in interest for a particular item, you can adjust your inventory or marketing efforts accordingly.
Instead of throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks, real-time data helps you analyze which campaigns are resonating with your customers and pivot your strategy on the fly.
Breadcrumbs is a lead-scoring tool that keeps tabs on what’s happening on your website, helps you spot hot leads, and gives your sales reps all the info they need to make those personal connections that close deals faster.
Here’s why Breadcrumbs is a must-have for your marketing automation toolkit:
- Automated lead scoring,
- Instant notifications on meaningful events,
- Activity-based communication flows and content,
- Seamless CRM integration,
- Repetitive tasks automation.
Pricing: Available on demand
Lucky Orange: Heatmaps Wizard
Now, let’s talk about heatmaps. You know, those colorful, eye-catching visuals that show you exactly where your users are clicking, scrolling, and spending their time. These will definitely let you make the most of the insights provided by the tools above.
Heatmaps give you a clearer picture of how users interact with your site. Are they clicking on that fancy banner you created? Or is it just sitting there, lonely and ignored? This insight helps you understand what works and what doesn’t.
If you notice that visitors are mostly clicking on one section of your page while ignoring others, it might be time to rethink your layout. Maybe that important call-to-action button needs to be more prominent or moved to a different spot!
By analyzing heatmaps, you can also identify the roadblocks that might be frustrating your visitors and optimize for conversions. If people are dropping off at checkout, heatmaps can help you pinpoint exactly where the problem lies.
So, welcome Lucky Orange, a great suite of conversion and optimization tools packed with features that help you track and engage with your website visitors in real time.
It shows not just the heatmaps that show where people are clicking but also dashboards that give you a snapshot of your traffic and even live chat options to connect with customers on the spot.
Why else you’ll love it:
- Real-time visitor tracking,
- Conversion funnels creation,
- Live chats and polls,
- Detailed reports on forms performance,
- Visitors segmentation by browser, device, or behavior.
Pricing: Free
From $39/month
Tailwind: Your Personal Social Media Manager
Social media posting is an easy way to boost your online presence. However, creating content for these platforms can be a full-time job.
But what if I told you there are tools out there that can help generate nice posts without breaking a sweat?
With Tailwind you can actually spend just a few hours a month planning your content instead of scrambling every day to come up with something new and maintain a steady posting schedule so your audience knows when to expect new content from you.
Tailwind is like your personal social media assistant and email marketing guru rolled into one. It helps you create and schedule posts across all your favorite platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc., create eye-catching visuals, and get your content out there without hassle.
Here’s the scoop on some of Tailwind’s coolest features:
- Content calendars for each platform so you always know what to post and when.
- Seamless sharing: just sync your content and watch your reach and engagement soar.
- Advanced analytics that shows which posts are getting the most love and how your audience interacts with your brand.
Pricing: Free
From $12.99/month
actiTIME: More Than Just Task Manager
All marketers use task managers to plan and track their campaigns. However, not all task managers are created equal.
Some are like that trusty Swiss Army knife – super versatile and packed with features – while others might just be a basic tool that leaves you wanting more.
So, what should you look for in a task manager to make your marketing life easier?
If we speak about marketing campaigns, you’ll love a tool that allows you to see the progress of each task at a glance. It’s one thing to have a long list of things to do, but it’s another to see how far along you are on each item.
Next, it’s crucial to spot those interconnected tasks so you can avoid delays and duplication of effort. So, you need a tool that lets you see how different elements of your campaign fit together, making it easier to manage dependencies and keep everything running smoothly.
And the last, but not least, finance. A good task manager should allow you to see how much of your allocated budget is spent on each campaign or task. This feature is crucial for keeping your spending in check and ensuring you don’t blow through your budget before the campaign even gets off the ground.
Welcome actiTIME, the time and project management software designed to help you track time spent on tasks, manage budgets, and keep your campaigns running smoothly—all in one place.
- Create tasks, assign them to team members, and set deadlines. Plus, you can break down larger projects into smaller, manageable tasks – because, let’s face it, nobody likes staring at a massive to-do list that feels impossible to tackle.
- Track the progress of each task in real time. This means you’ll always know who’s working on what and how far along they are.
- Set time, cost, and billing budgets for each campaign and track expenses as they occur. You can see how much money has been spent and how much is left.
- Log hours worked on tasks directly within the platform on desktop and mobile or use the timer and a Chrome extension to track time as you go.
- Share campaign updates, communicate with team members, and even generate reports to keep everyone in the loop.
Collect historical data and use it for retrospectives and further planning.
Pricing: Free
From $5 user/month
Final Words
So, what’s the takeaway here? While HubSpot, Salesforce, and Marketo are fantastic for many aspects of marketing automation, they don’t always cater to the unique needs of small businesses.
It’s essential to find a balance between leveraging these complex but powerful tools and having additional solutions in place to tackle those everyday tasks that can bog you down.
After all, every minute counts!
