Seventy-nine percent of high-performing companies have used marketing automation for at least three years. It’s not surprising. Using marketing automation software has numerous benefits for marketing and sales departments. It can increase productivity, grow revenue, reduce overhead costs, and save time. Offering marketing automation services to your agency clients can help them be more agile, high-performing, and deliver on their goals – proving you to be invaluable to their success.

As you explore the right marketing automation software, you may need to get buy-in from your clients . The next question is, which software out there is suitable for their particular needs? 

What workflows do you need to automate?

The particular software you decide to go with ultimately depends on what you want to automate. If you’re unsure, start listing each step of every marketing process your client takes. Then, mark which actions must be done by a human and which ones might be better left to the robots. The latter will then become a list of features you’ll need marketing automation software to provide. 

Your list might include, for example:

  • Sending pre-written emails to prospects or customers
  • Lead scoring/qualifying 
  • Survey, form, and landing page creation
  • Publishing posts to social media channels
  • SMS messaging
  • Consolidating metrics and sending reports

Fortunately, there’s marketing automation software for each of these tasks. We’ve handpicked the ten best marketing automation software options for agencies in 2022 (based on capabilities, ease of use, and customer reviews) so you can start test-driving them for your clients today.

The 12 Best Marketing Automation Platforms to Consider 

Sharpspring

Sharpspring is a platform designed for agencies, so you can be sure it’ll fit your needs out of the box. Users report that it’s easy to learn, has an expansive set of features, and is cost-effective.

  • Key features: Email, Forms, Visitor ID, CRM, Landing Pages, Blogs, Analytics, Social, Workflow builder

Pros: 

  • It increases agencies’ conversation rates.
  • It improves the user experience. 

Cons:

Email and landing page builders lack some display functions and intuitive features.

  • Price: Starting at $399/mo

Marketo

Marketo is one of the most popular programs out there. It has a toolset for each part of your digital marketing strategy — from lead management and email to mobile marketing. It has incredible customization tools, making it an excellent solution for agencies of all sizes and specializations.

  • Key features: Lead management, email, mobile, account-based marketing, social, content AI, web retargeting

Pros: 

  • Marketo has incredible customization tools, making it an excellent solution for agencies of all sizes and specializations. 

Cons:

  • The landing page builder tends to slow down.
  • Price: $1,195/month

BenchmarkONE

We’d be careless to leave our solution off the list. BenchmarkONE is ideal for small and medium-sized agencies that regularly utilize email marketing in their digital campaigns. Customers love our automatic lead scoring system, affordability, the continual addition of features, and customer support.

  • Key features: Lead management, email integration, advanced segmentation, lead scoring, form building, CRM

Pros:

  • Impressive email templates.
  • Measure clicks per email.
  • Easy to use for users with little to no technical knowledge
  • Responsive and excellent support team. 

Cons:

  • The basic form design could be improved. 

Offerings: Free Trial/Freemium Version/Premium Consulting/ Integration Services

  • Price: Starting at $99/month

Pardot

If you’re already using Salesforce, its marketing automation solution, Pardot, might be a good pick. Pardot focuses on boosting marketing efficiency, making it suitable for large enterprises. It allows the marketing and sales team to collaborate, engage buyers, and shorten the sales cycle. 

Find different plans for different essential functions: forms and landing pages, email marketing, lead scoring, and more.

  • Key features: Lead management, email, sales enablement

Pros:

  • Easy to use and manage.
  •  It has the same functionality as Hubspot.

Cons:

  • Not suitable for emerging companies because it’s expensive.
  • Price: Starting at $1250/month

Hubspot

Hubspot customers love its range of inbound marketing tools that keep you covered throughout the entirety of the buyer’s journey. Content marketing agencies may be especially satisfied with Hubspot’s focus on blogging, SEO, social media, and website automation tools.

  • Key features: Lead management, email, blogging, landing pages, email, social media, SEO, ads

Pros: 

  • Eliminates dependency on manual tasks
  • Suitable for growing and small-scale agencies

Cons: 

  • Without the knowledge of CSS, Hubspot’s templates may be hard to modify.
  • Price: Starting at $45/month

Act-On

This marketing automation tool is less expensive than some big guns but nearly as powerful. Act-On can maintain contact lists for different groups, a significant perk for agencies with many clients. It also allows you to pay only for the contacts you interact with, which can be a big money-saver.

  • Key features: Email, lead scoring, multiple list creation, ads, landing pages, gated content

Pros:

  • The set-up is User friendly.
  • Easy to implement lead generation campaigns.
  • Multiple integration tools.

Cons:

  • Average Interface and user experience.

Offerings: Professional/Enterprise

  • Price: Starting at $900/month

NetResults

NetResults users report that it’s easy to get up and running with this marketing automation solution — but also that it’s great value compared to some of the market leaders. As an end-to-end solution with great features, it’s ideal for agencies. 

  • Key features: Lead management, social media management, email builder, CRM integration

Pros:

  • Easy to use and for email creation.
  • Net-Results support team is very accessible, responsive, and action-oriented.
  • Exceptional metrics and reporting capabilities.

Cons:

  • Limited capabilities surrounding A/B testing.
  • Reports have limited customization and filtering.
  • Price: Starting at $800

eTrigue

eTrigue boasts a highly intuitive user interface with functionality designed specifically for B2B marketing. Though some users share that reporting could be a little better, eTrigue seems to make up for this with its stellar customer service.

  • Key features: Email, CRM integration, Google Ad Words, website tracking, forms, personalization, webinar integration, lead alerts

Pros:

  • Drag and drop builder for quick email marketing campaigns
  • Detailed dashboard reports

Cons:

  • Lead scoring has limited customization.
  • Integrations are limited.
  • Price: Starting at $600/month

Active Campaign

Active Campaign has advanced automation features that make this software highly valuable for agencies. Segment your audiences and easily set up triggers for automated email campaigns and other admin tasks.

  • Key features: Lead management, email, advanced segmentation, contact management, advanced reporting and analytics, social analysis

Pros: 

  • Offers flexible marketing automation functionality
  • Detailed customer data and insights

Cons:

  • Active Campaign requires time and effort to learn and master. 
  • Price: $9– $229/month

dotdigital

dotdigital features an incredibly powerful but easy-to-learn automation interface that’s fantastic for smaller firms and those who aren’t super tech-savvy. Users are consistently impressed with its value and customer service.

  • Key features: Email, Integrations, SMS and Mobile, Landing Pages, Surveys and Forms, Reporting and Analytics

Pros:

  • Impressive templates 
  • Easy to navigate.

Cons:

  • Lacks the functionality to track emails sent out.
  • Price: Free trial/Customized quotation-based pricing

 Eloqua

Eloqua is one of the most versatile marketing automation tools to build and maintain long customer relationships and scale your revenue. The team at Eloqua ensures that you get the best value from their product.

Key features: Sales and marketing alignment, lead management, AI, contact segmentation. 

Pros:

  • Eloqua has a similar marketplace to Marketo. 
  • Suitable for agencies without budget restrictions. 

Cons:

  • Eloqua may be inaccessible because the starting price is high. 

Price: Starting at $2,000/month

 Salesmate

Here’s your stop if you’re looking for an all-inclusive CRM software that can help you generate more revenue by automating all your marketing processes. Salesmate is one of the best marketing automation software for agencies.

Key features:  Email and sales automation, team inbox, trigger-based automation, forms, contact management, built-in calling, power dialer, messenger

Pros: 

  • Suitable for small businesses
  • Its sales reports help you estimate your revenue.

Cons:

  • The data sharing capabilities could be improved.

Price: Starting at $12

Don’t let 2022 go by without a go-to marketing automation platform for your clients. Instead of going through the motions, not seeing the results you need while also adding more to your plate than what’s necessary, find the software that’s right for you and see your marketing and sales offerings reach new levels.