Buyer’s Guide to Automation Tools for Business Owners
Automation tools have allowed companies to streamline their business processes. Automation is the process of making a device, a process, or a system operate automatically without human intervention.
Using automation tools can help business owners automate repetitive, day-to-day tasks. This will allow them to save time and energy so that they can focus on more important things.
There are numerous business process automation tools available in the market. Business process automation tools can help automate project tasks, communication, and data entry. In this article, we will focus on sales and marketing automation software that can handle routine tasks without the need for human action.
Thinking of buying an automation tool for your business? As a business owner, you’ll want to choose tools that not only produce great results, but also have a great return on investment in the long run.
Factors to consider when choosing the right automation tools
To make the most out of your automation tools, you and your team must be able to maximize them. Choose automation tools that can easily be used by people with technical and non-technical backgrounds. Here are some factors to consider when choosing the right automation tool:
- User-friendly interface. Automation tools can be very complicated. A great automation tool puts the user experience first and foremost. This means you can navigate the interface smoothly to import contacts, extract data, and customize sequences without too much difficulty.
- Native integrations. This feature allows your business data to flow from one application to another. CRM software tools can be integrated with different applications. See to it that the automation tool that you are considering has an API that is easy to set up with your current software.
- Best customer support. If you encounter errors or bugs in your automation tool, you will need to reach out to customer support. Find out the level of tech support that will be provided. It would be good to know if you can get the assistance you need when something goes wrong so that your business will keep running smoothly.
- Accessible resources. Aside from having a user-friendly interface, your automation tool should come with tutorials and guides that are easy to follow. Having access to resources about the tool can reduce the need for unnecessary meetings and training sessions. It would also be in your best interest to choose a company that provides regular product updates about the automation tool.
- Flexible pricing. When you choose the right automation tool, its cost can more than pay for itself because of the higher efficiency levels and savings that you get. Look for an automation tool provider that matches the budget of your company.
Sales and Marketing automation software providers
Software automation tools can boost your sales and marketing efforts. IThey can help you find a steady number of leads and assist you in closing deals. To facilitate the growth of your business, check out these sales and marketing software providers.
Mailchimp offers an all-in-one email marketing platform that comes with automation features. It helps companies create workflows based on prospects’ replies and time of response. These automated emails can be triggered by a specific date, event, or action of the prospect. You can use its postcard template to come up with creative designs for personalized email messages. It aggregates data so you can optimize your email campaigns to improve engagement and response rate.
User-friendly interface: 4.4 Capterra review
Native integrations: BEE Pro, Barn2Door, Burst SMS, etc.
Customer support: 4.2 Capterra review
Resources: Knowledge Base/ FAQs/ Forum
Pricing: Starts at $9 per month
Aloware is a cloud-based contact center solution with sales automation tools that you can use for prospecting and demand generation. It comes with unlimited calling abilities and allows you to send SMS messages at scale. When you enroll contact to a sequence, your leads will get automated texts and calls so you can do effective and scalable sales follow-ups. These automation tools can help you avoid doing repetitive tasks so you can boost your productivity.
Aloware’s integration with CRMs such as HubSpot can also help automate the outreach process. This will allow business owners to get click-to-call functionality to ring any number in their CRM list. By being remote-ready and being updated about these contact center automation trends, companies can stay ahead of the curve and stand out from the competition.
User-friendly interface: 4.5 Capterra review
Native integrations: HubSpot, Zoho, Pipedrive, Guesty
Customer support: 4.8 Capterra review
Resources: Knowledge Base/ Email/ Help Desk
Pricing: Starts at $35 per user
Klaviyo is a marketing automation platform that is primarily focused on email marketing, email automation, and analytics. Automate the customer journey by using its drag-and-drop blocks to create personalized customer experiences. It lets you do A/B testing so that you can identify which emails or texts inspire customers to take action. You can broadcast marketing offers and promotions through its email and text workflow channels.
User-friendly interface: 4.4 Capterra review
Native integrations: Shopify, Magento, Woo Commerce, etc.
Customer support: 4.4 Capterra review
Resources: Knowledge Base/ Email/ Help Desk
Pricing: Starts at $20 per month
Marketo is a marketing software as a service (SaaS) platform that can help companies target qualified leads and run personalized and automated marketing campaigns. Its marketing automation helps you identify all the sources of leads and help determine which phase of the funnel requires action. You can build a lead scoring system in Marketo to help you identify the hottest leads for future sales.
User-friendly interface: 3.8 Capterra review
Native integrations: Salesforce, Microsoft, SAP, etc.
Customer support: 3.9 Capterra review
Resources: Knowledge Base/ FAQs/ Forum
Pricing: Starts at $895 per month
Drip is a marketing automation platform that uses SMS workflows, website analytics, customer data, and social media for brand awareness. It offers prebuilt workflows that can be used by e-commerce marketers to boost conversions. Its automated workflow templates work with third-party tools such as Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento. E-commerce companies will also appreciate the fact that Drip can be connected to ClickFunnels, Facebook Custom Audiences, Zapier, Stripe, and PayPal.
User-friendly interface: 4.0 Capterra review
Native integrations: Shopify, Magento, Woo Commerce, etc.
Customer support: 4.2 Capterra review
Resources: Knowledge Base/ FAQs/ Forum
Pricing: Starts at $19 per month
Takeaways
Sales and marketing automation can help companies save time and money, reduce labor-intensive marketing efforts, and grow revenue more efficiently. Once you have chosen a platform, let your employees be trained to use the system so you can set them up for success. Once the tool is up and running, check in frequently to ensure it’s working as desired so that you can eventually scale your operations using the right automation tool.
