In the past, marketers and salespeople would have to go through the arduous, time-consuming process of manually conducting basic, routine marketing and sales activities. The lack of sophisticated technology to manage these processes on their behalf meant that departments spent most of their time on peripheral activities, rather than focusing on the main objective.

Simple tasks, such as; social media, follow-up emails, lead nurturing and website management, would devour a considerable chunk of the department’s day, preventing them from getting to what matters most: their leads and prospects.

However, with the technology that exists today, the automation of more basic, and even advanced tasks, can be easily achieved – and is, in fact, wholly suggested. With the right marketing automation platform, every operation in the business can be conducted, monitored and analysed from one centralised tool.

With marketing automation, businesses can scale up their marketing and sales activity exponentially – and return their focus to sales lead generation activities. They can now visualise the entirety of their sales cycle, the buyer’s journey and how their efforts influence their lead and revenue generation.

But, as with any technology or tool, it’s vital you choose the one that is best for your business - and the question you may be asking is this: which marketing automation platform is right for me… and what are the top marketing automation platforms?

While there are several marketing automation platforms your business can choose from, there are three main contenders in the marketplace, the three bears of marketing automation and the top marketing automation platforms.

These are: HubSpot, Marketo and Pardot.

In today’s digitally advanced world, there are numerous tools and technologies businesses must have if they are to succeed with digital marketing. From building a website and implementing comprehensive analytics software, to blogging, email marketing, social media management and lead capture.

And that’s not even everything.

There are a plethora of digital marketing activities which all need the right solution to be truly effective, and with this considered, it’s vital that businesses purchase the right marketing automation platform which provides them with the functions they need.

A couple of weeks ago, at the UK’s leading marketing event, The B2B Marketing Expo, my team and I delivered a marketing automation software comparison presentation, which deconstructed and assessed each of the “three bears” of marketing automation, to once and for all establish which platform was best for today’s businesses.

In the presentation, we cover:

• The five magic steps businesses need to take when embarking on a digital marketing campaign
• The necessary technologies and functionalities needed to succeed in today’s digital marketing sphere
• And, of course, a thorough, marketing automation software comparison of each of the three bears – from their strengths and weaknesses, to their suitability for specific companies.
• Our conclusions on which is the top marketing automation platform.

If you are in the process of considering one of these three marketing automation platforms, these slides may be of great use to you in helping you to decide.

You will be surprised by which one comes out on top!

If you want to learn more about how marketing automation can empower your business as well as the tools you need to ensure your inbound marketing strategies succeed, please read these helpful blogs below:

Marketing automation and what it can do for you

How marketing automation can empower your sales team

Inbound marketing tools & checklist

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