In this article, we will cover the 15 best marketing software for small businesses. To skip our detailed analysis of the best marketing softwares, you can go directly to 5 Best Marketing Software for Small Businesses.
Artificial Intelligence and automated marketing softwares might be your best friend if you want to start a new business. Targeting a global market is now easier than ever using AI-powered softwares and automated marketing tools. Check out some of the best digital marketing agencies and companies in the world.
According to a report by Grand View Research, the global digital marketing software market was valued at $65.33 billion in 2022. The global digital marketing software market is expected to grow to a valuation of $264.15 billion by 2030 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.4%. The growth of mobile and social media advertising is a primary contributor to the growth of the digital marketing software industry. Primary segments in the market include cloud-based software, marketing software, and content software. Regionally, North America holds the largest market for digital marketing software providers, followed by Europe and the Asia Pacific.
Klaviyo: An Emerging Name in the Digital Marketing Industry
Conventional business setups require companies to set up office spaces, hire hundreds of employees, and establish expansive business facilities. Such sums up to hefty amounts of money which more often than not prevents aspiring entrepreneurs from starting a business. However, the existence of marketing softwares is an opportunity for small business owners to join the entrepreneurial circuit. Marketing softwares have gained immense traction, primarily because of their ease of use and the time-efficient options they offer. An emerging marketing software company is Klaviyo, Inc. (NYSE:KVYO). Klaviyo, Inc. (NYSE:KVYO) was introduced in 2012. The technology company primarily offers email and SMS marketing solutions on its marketing automation platform.
On September 21, Yahoo Finance reported on the success of the new technology company, Klaviyo, Inc. (NYSE:KVYO). The company has almost 130,000 businesses, including big names like Unilever and Skims, among its clients. The report shares the transcript of a recent video interview conducted with the CEO, Andrew Bialecki. According to the CEO, the company had figured out the recipe to success; personalization of the marketing experience for an individual customer. He further added that the lack of technology integration limited the length they could go to when they first came into business. Now, with the availability of AI tools, the CEO shared his future plans for the company and how they should help their client base. Bialecki said:
"Businesses want to deliver that because they know customers love personalization, and that's what gets them to buy more. It's just that the tech was missing. So that's what we've been trying to build and what we've built. And a little bit of proof point, we've got everybody from entrepreneurs just starting out, small businesses, now moving up into the enterprise. So machine learning, artificial intelligence has been core to our strategy, for the last five, six, seven years. I think if you look at a lot of, we'll take marketing as a space, you have to be a really talented marketer and you're still experimenting to figure things out. Every customer I talk to says, Andrew, what ideas do you have that I may need to think about? Well, the good news is that you can use artificial intelligence to not only generate content but help come up with those ideas. In the future, we're going to build software that is good at using itself."
Prominent Names in the Marketing Software Industry
Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) is a prominent provider of customer relationship management software. The company's platform not only integrates internal teams with each other, but it also connects customers to the business. CRM platforms help businesses build long-term relationships with their key customers. On September 21, the company signed an agreement entailing the acquisition of the AI customer service startup, Airkit.ai.
Bill Patterson, EVP & General Manager of Customer 360 Applications at Salesforce, shed light on how the integration of AI would bring a more innovative outlook to the customer relationship experience. He stated:
“The future of customer engagement will be powered by a new set of AI-driven customer experiences. Adam and team have a strong understanding of the Customer 360 Platform and are some of the best technologists we have worked with in helping Salesforce customers connect with their customers in a whole new way. We are excited to bring the Airkit.ai team back to Salesforce where they have a strong track record of innovation and a focus on customer success.”
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is a leading technology company in the United States. The technology company offers businesses a range of marketing software, including Google Analytics, Google Ads, and Google Adsense. All these softwares combined allow businesses to rank better on search engines and analyze their market performance regularly. On August 2, the company launched New Google Analytics 4 features. One of the most noteworthy features is the new privacy-centric analysis feature will allow businesses to understand user behavior across the web and app. Additional noteworthy features include the ability of businesses to access consented data to optimize campaign performance and web-to-app conversion management.
Integrating automated marketing tools is the need of the hour. In fact, globalization demands as such. While some softwares may be highly expensive for small businesses, the following is the list of the 15 best marketing software for small businesses. You can also check out some of the biggest software companies in the world by revenue.
15 Best Marketing Software for Small Businesses.
Our Methodology
Our methodology for identifying the top 15 marketing software for small businesses employed a consensus-driven approach. We consulted unofficial reports from five marketing agency blog posts. We also looked through the likes of prominent names through competitor lists. This thorough process was a pivotal step in curating our initial pool consisting of 50 software names.
We determined the top 15 names through an assessment based on the user or customer count. User data was sourced from official company reports or websites of parent companies. For instances where the user data was unavailable, we consulted unofficial reports from reputable online sources. It is to be noted that the software that lacks official user or customer count data has been labeled as "estimated" within our analysis. The list is in ascending order of the aforementioned metric.
15 Best Marketing Software for Small Businesses
15. Omnisend
Number of Users as of September 27, 2023: 100,000
Omnisend is a popular choice amongst small online retailers. The company started off as an email marketing tool in 2014, but now the company offers an omnichannel marketing automation platform. Some of the prominent features offered by the company include email marketing, SMS marketing, and web push notifications. The software allows companies to begin their journey with a free trial and also offers a free version of the platform. The standard version costs $16 a month, and the Pro version costs $59 a month.
Small business owners can enhance their marketing capabilities using software by some of the leading companies like Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM), and Klaviyo, Inc. (NYSE:KVYO).
14. SEMrush Premium
Number of Users as of September 27, 2023: 104,000
Semrush Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SEMR) is a SaaS platform based in the United States. Semrush Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SEMR) offers an all-in-one tool suite that allows businesses to improve their visibility on search engines and discover market insights. Primary services offered by the platform include SEO, PPC, SMM, keyword research, PR, content marketing, marketing insights, campaign management, and marketing analysis. The free version of Semrush Holdings, Inc.'s (NYSE:SEMR) platform is only suited for occasional users of SEMrush. To avail all the services, businesses may purchase SEMrush Pro for $129.95 per month, SEMrush Guru for $249.95 a month, and SEMrush Business for $499.95 a month.
13. Klaviyo Marketing Automation Platform
Number of Users as of September 27, 2023: 130,000
Klaviyo, Inc. (NYSE:KVYO) is a technology firm based in the United States. The company offers a range of solutions in email and SMS marketing. The company automates SMS and email marketing to help businesses establish long-term relationships with customers. The free version of the platform allows companies to add up to 250 contacts, and for $20 a month, companies can add more than 250 contacts.
12. Buffer
Number of Users as of September 27, 2023: 140,000
Buffer is an all-in-one social media tool kit specifically designed for small businesses. The software allows people to schedule and publish social media posts from anywhere using their browser extension or mobile application. Additionally, the software also tracks social media performance for businesses and develops comprehensive reports based on qualitative and quantitative measures. Buffer offers a 14-day trial to their paid plans, however, businesses can also use the free version, with limited features and usability. The "Essentials" version is for $6 a month, the "Team" version is offered for $12 a month, and the "Agency" version is offered for $120 a month.
11. Salesforce CRM
Number of Users as of September 27, 2023: 150,000
The CRM software by Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) is a popular tool among small businesses. The comprehensive CRM tool allows companies to streamline their end-to-end processes on a single platform. Additionally, the CRM platform also enables businesses to establish strong relationships with their customers. The company also offers AI tools, sales tools, data cloud solutions, integration with Slack and Tableau, and lead generation tools.
10. Active Campaign
Number of Users as of September 27, 2023: 180,000
Active Campaign is a SaaS platform specifically designed for small to medium-sized businesses. The company offers solutions in email marketing, marketing and sales automation, and CRM functions. The company also has an elaborate e-commerce solution, allowing people to integrate the platform with most online stores. The pricing plans for the software range from $29 a month to $149. The company offers a customizable enterprise plan as well.
9. HubSpot Marketing and CRM
Number of Users as of September 27, 2023: 184,000
HubSpot, Inc. (NYSE:HUBS) is a marketing software company based in the United States. HubSpot, Inc. (NYSE:HUBS) provides inbound marketing solutions, software products for sales, and customer service solutions. The company has an elaborate CRM and marketing automation platform consisting of the marketing hub, the sales hub, the CMS hub, and the operations hub. The platform allows small businesses to connect and streamline all their business processes on one platform, while they prioritize customer service, content management, and marketing. The company offers a range of free tools, however, for a monthly price of $800 businesses can avail all the services under their professional plan. The professional plan by HubSpot, Inc. (NYSE:HUBS) includes automation, reporting, and campaign-building services. The enterprise plan charges $3,600 a month offering complete control and flexibility to a business.
8. Constant Contact
Number of Users as of September 27, 2023: 600,000
Constant Contact is a digital and email marketing platform, specifically designed for small businesses. The platform can be used to automate and personalize emails for every customer. The company also sends those emails to the right customer within an ideal timeframe. The company offers three different paid plans, with a 60-day free trial to test the software. The Lite plan costs $12 a month, the standard plan costs $35 a month, and the premium plan costs $80 a month.
7. Canva Pro
Number of Users as of September 27, 2023: 5 Million
Canva Pro is the paid version of the graphic design software company. Canva Pro unlocks multiple features for businesses. The Canva Pro account allows businesses to work together on the platform as a team. Moreover, Canva Pro users can access and unlock all the templates on the platform and are able to create posts, reels, or stories for all platforms in every size in one go. Lastly, Canva Pro users also gain access to the Canva AI tool, allowing users to generate images based on a short description. Canva Pro users pay a small price of $14.99 monthly for the paid platform.
6. Google Ads
Estimated Number of Users as of September 27, 2023: 7 Million
Google Ads software is a popular choice amongst all kinds of businesses. The software is an online advertising platform by Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG). Using this software, businesses and advertisers bid on keywords to display their product listings, or adverts to web users on search engines like Google Search. The tool is free of cost. However, businesses must pay every time a user clicks on the advert.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM), and Klaviyo, Inc. (NYSE:KVYO) offer some of the leading and easy-to-use automated marketing software for small businesses.
