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The Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Right Enterprise Marketing Automation Software

3 mins read

When it comes to marketing automation, it’s not all about the end sale. A lot of businesses are too engaged on the end sale so they forget to target the lead generation, nurturing and re-engagement stages of the sales cycle. Enterprise businesses tend to be guilty of this more so than smaller businesses just because of the sheer size of them and mass volumes of customers.

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Marketing automation software can improve your business’ efficiency, ensure that nothing gets missed and that leads always get followed up, removing the risk of human error. It’s hugely beneficial to your business, so here’s your ultimate guide to choosing the right enterprise marketing automation software.

We’ll cover:

Take a Holistic Approach

It’s no secret that some buyers won’t be ready to buy instantly after your first contact with them. It’s all about nurturing leads, helping your prospects become acquainted with your brand and getting them to a point where they feel comfortable making a sale.

Different customers will engage with your brand in different ways and there are various things you can do to spark up a conversation with them to build that trust and strengthen your relationship. Which is why you need to take a holistic approach when it comes to choosing your marketing automation software.

A marketing automation tool that has plenty of functionality can aid you in some key areas that will definitely improve your chance of your campaigns being a success.

These areas are:

  • Email Marketing. Automated emails can be used to follow up after a purchase to help with customer retention levels. Or, they could be used as a main point of contact during a drip campaign, suggesting other quality content that they should take a look at.

  • Social Media. Help build your brand’s reputation and provide a quick, easy point of contact for your customers to reach you on. By signposting your content on your social media platforms, you’re directing more traffic towards it.

  • Lead Nurturing. Slowly nurture leads and gradually move potential customers through the sales funnel. Maintain the relationship with personalised advertisements and emails.

  • Analytics. Make smarter moves with a top analytical tool. The right software will provide you with enough detail to spot trends and act on them in a positive way for your company.

  • Resource Management. Connect and stay connected. Suck in your prospects with quality content and keep a constant feed of top quality, relevant work to keep them hooked.

Consider Pricing and Plans

A lot of businesses will make their decision purely based on the price of marketing automation software. Everybody loves saving a bit of extra money, but scrimping on a cheap platform could well be detrimental to your business.

However, that’s not to say that the most expensive one is going to be the perfect fit for your business, nor does it mean that it’ll be more successful either.

You don’t have to worry about spending too much with HubSpot as they offer several packages to suit your needs. The free package is well, free, and the Starter (from £42 a month) is great for first-time HubSpot users as it's aimed at new and growing marketing teams (or solo marketers). 

HubSpot Professional and Enterprise are priced a little higher (billed annually from £655 and £1,960 a month respectively) but offer many more pro features that would come in handy for bigger businesses. You can read our full comparison of the packages here but the most important thing to consider is which features your business actually needs.

Easily Navigable

Like most things in life, introducing a change in software or a completely new change is never ideal. People are creatures of habit, especially in their work life so you’re going to have to make sure that the change is as smooth as possible.

One way in which this is easily done is by making sure that your marketing automation software is easily navigable and has a user-friendly interface.

HubSpot's interface is laid out pretty logically and is generally well perceived by its users. Whether you’re a computer whiz or a genuine novice, you should take to HubSpot like a duck to water in no time.

This is backed up by customer satisfaction scores and ease of use reviews into account as HubSpot scores an average of 4.4/5 based on 4,300 reviews.

Integration Abilities

Integrations allow you to collaborate with various useful apps and tools for your business. By integrating your apps and programs, you have access to all of the information needed and any records in one place. Not only is this great for ease and convenience as there's no need to flit back and forth between apps, but it’ll improve business efficiency as a whole and remove any confusion.

HubSpot supports 11 integrations including Salesforce, WordPress, SurveyMonkey, G Suite and Wistia. Externally-built integrations are possible, but they’ll be included in your hidden costs. 

Support

However easy it is to use, when implementing new technology, you’re bound to have plenty of questions and queries. So, in order for it to be rolled out and used as smoothly as possible, a certain level of support will need to be provided.

HubSpot offers many different forms of free support for its users and these include:

  • Training courses.

  • Certification tracks.

  • Blogs.

  • eBooks and other downloadable content.

  • 24/7 live customer support.

  • Community forums.

  • HubSpot Academy.

Data Security

Obviously, when working with new software, you have to be sure that you can trust it with all of your business’ data and content. After all, that’s your most priceless bargaining tool and commodity. If you were to lose it, it’d be an absolute travesty. You need to be confident that there’s no way of the data being destroyed or hacked.

HubSpot is revolutionary when it comes to security. You’ll not have to worry about updating security patches, responding quickly to new security threats or preventing any future attacks - HubSpot is here for you. 

Find Out How to Grow Your Business Effectively

The right marketing automation software can be a vital weapon in your business’ arsenal, so you must pick the perfect one. It can help streamline your business and improve efficiency amongst many other key benefits. It’s a key component in helping your business grow effectively.

Don’t worry if you’re not sure on what other factors you need to concentrate on, we’ve put together an all-in-one guide that shows you everything you need to know about running large scale campaigns effectively. Get your free copy below.