You're overwhelmed with work, deadlines looming, and all you want to do is schedule your emails or social media duties and move on. Then you come across hundreds of tools that are intended to accomplish exactly what you want. It'll take hours to sift through them all and choose one, much alone get used to using it. Then this year, let marketing automation help!

Marketing automation software allows you to set your campaigns on autopilot and maximize the return on your investment. We'll go through some of the best marketing automation platform alternatives in this piece, including ones that can automate your customer interaction strategy, emails, advertisements, and even social media.

Zapier automates the connection of your tools

When you first hear about Zapier, it may not appear to be very beneficial.

However, if you grasp what it can achieve, you'll see that it can be used for a wide range of marketing scenarios.

Working with the Zapier Integration

The idea is straightforward yet broad: create "Zaps" that link two programs. Make it such that when anything happens in one app, it also happens in the other.

Because Zaps are so versatile, they may be employed in a wide range of scenarios. Consider the following implications: Purple, a mattress tech business, utilizes Zapier to upload consumer product evaluations to their HubSpot account (to see the data all in one place).

According to Purple, creating this Zap took less than 10 minutes and saved at least 20 development hours. This is tens of thousands of dollars saved just to a single Zapier integration.

If you pay, what do you get? You'll need to upgrade if you require additional Zaps. You also have additional applications to pick from (in your Zaps) and the ability to construct Zaps with more than two stages.

CRM - Free Customer Relationship Management Software from HubSpot

Customer relationship management (CRM) software may assist every small-size B2B company.

It maintains track of your contacts, their information, and whatever you've done with them (calls, emails, status updates, etc.). Rather than manually entering all of this information into a spreadsheet, a smart CRM would automate as many little activities as feasible.

HubSpot - Best Free CRM software

Among the various CRM solutions available, HubSpot's CRM is one of the finest. It's easy to use, having all of the basic CRM features you'd expect (such the ability to conduct calls, send emails, and take notes), and complex automation features for experienced users.

If you upgrade to a more specialized plan with even more features, HubSpot gets money. There are three sophisticated "hubs" available, each with its own set of features:

• Marketing Hub

• Sales Hub

• Hub for Customer Service.

If you pay, what do you get? You gain extra features and automation if you pay for one of the advanced hubs, notably the marketing hub. You may, for example, construct processes to automatically send emails (and perform other tasks) when a contact performs a specific action (e.g., visits a URL, clicks a link, etc.)

Mautic - an open source marketing automation platform that is all-in-one

Mautic is a marketing automation and CRM application.

In most ways, it's identical to HubSpot's CRM, except it's (possibly) fully free and without limitations. HubSpot is liberal, but there are certain limitations (for example, the free tool allows just 15 minutes of calling), whereas Mautic does not.

There is a free version, much like WordPress, that you can download and install yourself.

Understanding campaign structure and adding segment with Mautic

Alternatively, you may purchase a package that includes setup and hosting. There's a free sandbox mode where you can try out the game and perform a lot of things before deciding whether or not you want to pay to unlock all of the features.

You can use the builder to design processes based on what a user does or doesn't do. If they open a certain email signaling a desire for discounts, for example, you may transfer them to a section where discounts are targeted more aggressively.

There are also more features and automated functions offered, such as:

• Marketing via email

• Making a landing page

• Analytics

• Lead scoring

• Form creation

EngageBay – a comprehensive free plan to automate and manage activities

Another popular solution, EngageBay, offers a comprehensive free plan to assist customers to automate and manage critical company activities including email marketing, sales, and live chat. This allows users to manage all aspects of their business, including lead creation and contact management, in one convenient and user-friendly platform.

EngageBay dashboard

EngageBay's free plan offers consumers sophisticated CRM solutions, which is one of the company's advantages. Because of its cost and adaptability, EngageBay is one of the go-to CRM system providers for SMBs in the current market, offering everything from email and contact management to ticketing, email marketing, and lead management to automated live chat assistance.

Zoho Campaigns - an email marketing solution for small businesses

Zoho Campaigns Dashboard

Zoho offers a free plan that automates all marketing activities, including email and mailing list management. It works on the principle of delivering the appropriate information at the right moment. The technology may assist users in engaging customers through social media marketing on sites like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. The program essentially takes care of the whole marketing process, allowing you to concentrate on your messages and target consumers.

For individuals who want to test out the product's essential features first, the seller offers a fantastic free trial. You can easily join up for a free trial of Zoho Campaigns. The program helps users to develop successful subject lines and designs while also preventing spam from entering their email list. Emails may be quickly generated using pre-designed themes and layouts. You may even use your own templates if you like; all you have to do is import them into the platform. On the other side, an HTML editor allows users to create newsletters for subscribers. By automatically synchronizing data, Zoho Campaigns eliminates the need to import or export data.

Automation, on the other hand, can be costly, so finding one that won't cost you an arm and a leg to use—especially one that offers a free trial—is always a blessing. What's even better is a software solution like HubSpot CRM that provides a free beginning plan. It provides all of the functionality you need to keep track of your contacts and engage with your customers without having to switch apps.