Using marketing software is an effective means of reaching your audience, turning them into customers, and boosting your business. Yet, it can be very expensive – even more, when you use several. For small businesses, it is especially important to look for budget-friendly options for getting the job done. In this article, we consider some of the top marketing software on a budget. Looking through the features of each one, you will find that they make your marketing effective without breaking the bank.
List of Top Marketing Software on a Budget
Before diving into details, here are the affordable sales and CRM tools (in no particular order) we consider in this article:
Targeted at small businesses, HubSpot is at the top of the list of many CRM reviews for good reasons. It has a comprehensive freemium model that is so good that it works for virtually all businesses. To them, the needs of the customer are just as important as the goals of the business. This is the basis for the features included in their CRM tool.
Features
As much as a million contacts on the free plan
Customizable CRM solution
Modular and scalable tools that grow with your business
Advanced dashboards for analytics
Email marketing, landing pages, traffic, and conversion analytics
Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google ads
Newly included operations hub that allows data syncing, data quality, and programmable automation
14-day free trial for the Content Management System hub, as well as the operations software
Pricing
Pricing is flexible and this is great because it can get quite expensive to sign up for all premium features on a paid plan. The sales, operations, customer support, and marketing hubs on the software each have a starting price of $45 monthly. Bundling them together is, however, more affordable. The Starter Bundle, for example, starts at the monthly cost of $45 and consists of all hubs.
There are pricing options in USD, EUR, GBP, AUD, JPY, SGD, and COP currencies. Below is an overview of HubSpot’s starting prices in USD.
Pros
The CRM has an intuitive UI.
Content creation and scheduling are a breeze on the platform.
It comes with great email integration features.
HubSpot’s pricing is flexible and fitting for a wide range of budgets.
Its free version is comprehensive and accessible without credit card information.
Cons
With premium features, it can be relatively expensive.
The pricing tiers are somewhat complicated.
Customers who use the free version do not get to enjoy the live customer support features.
The limits on the free plan can quickly be exhausted.
Overall, as a marketing, sales, and customer management tool, HubSpot outshines a majority of its counterparts. True, there are more affordable options but its features make it worth the cost. Even more, the plans are flexible enough for any budget.
Easy-to-use, all-in-one, and best of all, affordable, EngageBay helps startups and small businesses acquire and engage customers. For SMBs on a budget, this software makes getting and converting leads easy to do and within reach. The platform comes with training packs in the form of webinars, videos, documentation, in-person, and live sessions. This makes it a great and inexpensive staff training tool. Its marketing automation features are among the highest-rated of the suite’s functionality.
Features
Automated tasks and alerts
Easy setup
Automation for e-commerce marketing
Email and other online marketing features
WordPress plugin with online, automated, and small business CRM solutions
Lead scoring, grading, nurturing, and integration
Integrations with Mailgun, Sendgrid, Zapier, Postmark, etc.
Pricing
Pros
Users get an all-in-one solution with this tool.
EngageBay offers value and ease of operations at only a fraction of most competitors’ prices.
The EngageBay Inc. team is responsive to customer feedback.
Its workflow processes and features such as fields, objects, views, and calculations are customizable.
It has one of the most efficient contact sorting features around.
Cons
It does not allow for some useful integrations such as Google Meet.
The templates for landing pages are limited.
There is no social software analytics.
Mobile page optimization is manual.
With its useful and advanced features, the comprehensive software is, overall, a good pick for low-budget organizations.
Small and medium-sized businesses can get value with a good degree of flexibility from the Less Annoying CRM. Startups are also its target users. The tool is high-performing even though its cost is minimal and is said to be one of the most affordable in the market.
Features
Lead tracking and management tools
Convenient built-in calendar
Automatic data entry for company contacts
Seamless integration with other tools such as G-Suite, Microsoft, and MailChimp
Filter and sorting of reports
Individual coach for each account
Accessible Less Annoying shortcut on mobile which performs like a mobile application
Pricing
Less Annoying considers simplicity and affordability in its pricing. It has a single, straightforward plan placed at $10 every month for each user. There is also a 30-day free trial that has the complete features of the software. This version is accessible and does not require you to input any payment information.
Pros
The software is perfect for a budget.
It has an intuitive and clean interface.
Even beginners will find it easy to use.
There is a great onboarding process for new users.
Customers receive full platform support.
Cons
The simplistic nature of its reporting features may not completely serve the intended functions for some organizations.
For old users, it might take a while to get used to the new modern interface and changed terms.
Overall, Less Annoying is reasonably priced and offers ample easy-to-use features that SMBs on a budget can maximize.
Having dominated the sphere of email marketing software for a while, MailChimp continues to evolve into a hub for diverse marketing channels. With the newly included web, commerce, and email features, the tool helps businesses maximize various channels for growth.
Features
Clean UI with a powerful editor
Automation for email and advertising
Forms have simple drag, drop setup
Integrations with niche and popular tools such as Google Analytics, WordPress, Instagram, Facebook, Zapier, etc.
Fair deliverability (although their mails fall under Gmail’s “Promotions” tab)
Unlimited amount of data and image files, which must be under 10MB
Pro features such as a landing page editor
Embedded CRM features
Pricing
Here is an overview of MailChimp’s pricing for their various plans –
Free: $0 monthly for 2,000 contacts
Essentials: $9.99 monthly for 500 contacts
Standard: $14.99 monthly for 500 contacts
Premium: $299 monthly for 10,000 contacts
Pros
With 10,000 emails for 2,000 subscribers and access to most of their tools, MailChimp’s freemium plan is quite generous.
Flexible pay-as-you-go plans are available.
There is a relatively robust email automation system.
Merchants get turnkey e-commerce function.
It comes with thorough reporting features.
MailChimp has great mobile functionality.
Their set of features are continuously expanding.
Cons
Plans become relatively expensive with an increase in subscribers and numbers, compared to others on the list.
Their strict policies make it unfitting for affiliate marketers.
There is no access to support via live chat or email on the free plan.
Spam testing is unavailable.
Campaign tracking is somewhat limited.
It is not suitable for businesses searching for multilingual software.
The bottom line is; while MailChimp is not the cheapest email marketing software available, it abounds with easy-to-use features. Businesses need to consider their needs and opt for MailChimp if it meets those needs and falls within their budget.
Here is a powerful and intuitive automation tool for marketing campaigns. With ActiveCampaign, businesses can make connections through various media – email, chat, social, messaging, and text. In their words, using the software is like getting an extra employee without needing an extra desk.
Features
ROI testing and analytics
Email marketing, web forms, and landing pages
Seamless social media marketing
A WYSIWYG editor
Access and optimization for mobile
Management systems for lists, subscribers, content, templates, and tasks
Image library and dynamic content
CAN-SPAM compliant campaigns
Integration with over 850 customer engagement solutions such as Facebook, Stripe, WordPress, and Google Sheets.
Pricing
Pricing for ActiveCampaign depends on the number of contacts a business has. Here is a summary of the payment plans for 1,000 contacts:
Lite – $29
Plus – $70
Professional – $159
Enterprise – $279
Pros
It is comparatively affordable.
ActiveCampaign is more convenient to use than many of its competitors.
There are features such as list segmentation and in-depth contact tracking, which competitors such as MailChimp lack.
It supports 14 languages.
They have a responsive customer support team and system.
The automation features are very efficient and highly reviewed.
Cons
The landing page and forms need improvement.
Loading time for report and landing page creation, as well as saving emails can be slow.
Design elements’ functionality is somewhat poor.
Its dashboard is not customizable.
Despite the cons, ActiveCampaign is best for SMBs working with a budget in building customer relationships and expanding their reach.
Final Thoughts
As digital marketing evolves, there are more options of tools for business owners. Some of these have pricing plans more suited for large businesses. Others are just perfect for smaller-sized businesses or any business on a budget. And the internet provides tons of options when it comes to searching for budget-friendly marketing software. This article helps to streamline your search as it discusses the top marketing software on a budget. However, you still have to consider several factors before selecting one. Factors like integrations to other software, automation, cost, simplicity are essential points to sway your decision.
Nevertheless, with the top marketing software, you can increase your customer base, manage and convert leads, and grow as a business. And they do all of this without eating into your profits, thus offering value for little or no cost – something every business can benefit from.