Marketing Automation Tools Vs Custom-Built Software: What’s Right for You?

Marketing is a challenging task for every business. Even more than ‘sales’, marketing challenges the survival and existence of a business as it lays the foundation for its success. By generating qualified leads, marketing provides the sales team with a direction and helps a business flourish and prosper. Then, why do businesses take marketing automation solutions so lightly?

Did you know that technology aims to reduce manual labour, enhance productivity and efficiency, increase accuracy in tasks, and improve the overall quality of life, work, and services? Using marketing automation effectively, a business can significantly boost its success rate.

However, choosing between the existing marketing automation tools and custom-built marketing software becomes difficult for businesses. But now worry not! This blog provides a comprehensive comparison of smart marketing automation solutions, enabling you to select the best solution for your business based on its type, scale, and industry. So, let’s dive into more details by scrolling down.

How Marketing Automation Works?

Before exploring the solutions, it is essential to understand the concept of marketing automation first. See, marketing has many repetitive tasks such as:

Emailing
Sending WhatsApp and SMS Texts
Running Social Media Ads
Posting Content on Social Media Platforms
Tracking User Behaviour
Preparing Analytical Reports
Lead Nurturing and Ad Retargeting
A/B Testing and many more.

If you are a true marketer, you must have noticed that these tasks have a set pattern, frequency, and presentation style. Even an audit using SEO Audit tools reveals a discernible pattern. So, don’t you think that these may be automated?

‘Content is the king’ in marketing, no doubt! And AI-generated content is a big no for web and SEO. But who says we can’t leverage Artificial Intelligence in Marketing for non-content tasks listed above?

Aligning lead generation and marketing automation such that the content remains creative, original, and plagiarism-free is not rocket science.

The right marketing automation solution can help you automate all these tasks with 100% more accuracy than human labour. And the right software development company will help you find the accurate automation solution for your business.

When we refer to marketing automation, we mean leveraging technology to the better. Reducing manual labour and enhancing productivity, task accuracy, and efficiency. That’s how marketing automation works!

What Are Marketing Automation Tools?

If you wish to implement marketing automation in your business, you will confront two options. Off-the-shelf marketing automation tools vs. custom-built software. Let’s discuss the off-the-shelf tools first.

Off-the-shelf marketing automation software tools are pre-existing and ready-to-use solutions that are just a subscription away from your business. Say, for example, HubSpot, Zoho, and ActiveCampaign are some ready-made marketing automation solutions that you can leverage for instant automation.

Top 5 Marketing Automation Software Right Now

If you are extremely eager to implement marketing automation at the earliest, then you can pick any of these top 5 marketing automation software at present-

Zoho

Developed in India, Zoho is a renowned marketing automation solution that comes with multilingual support. SMEs can consider Zoho as a reliable solution for their marketing operations.

Hubspot

A world-renowned leader in marketing automation and CRM solutions. HubSpot marketing software is a great solution if you are looking for an all-in-one solution.

ActiveCampaign

Dedicated to marketing automation, ActiveCampaign is the first choice of the retail and e-commerce industries. Service-based industries also use ActiveCampaign for marketing automation.

Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Large corporations often utilize Salesforce Marketing Cloud for ease and quick AI-driven marketing automation.

Oracle Eloqua

For complex B2B marketing campaigns, large enterprises use Oracle Eloquo for marketing automation.

These 5 marketing automation solutions are sufficient to achieve basic marketing automation objectives, such as lead nurturing, campaign optimization, and ROI tracking.

However, these automation tools come with hefty subscriptions and rigid pricing plans. Therefore, some large organizations prefer custom-built solutions. Let’s find out more about them in the next section.

What is Custom Marketing Automation Software?

The most refined alternative to ready-made software tools is custom software development. Custom-built software solutions are exclusively made for your business, tailored to your size, scale, and business process automation requirements.

A business needs to leverage custom software development services for personalised marketing solutions.

A custom-built marketing software can provide a business with the ultimate flexibility to execute its specific marketing campaigns for tailored audience types, size, and scale.

As a one-time investment, a customised marketing automation solution frees a business from hefty subscriptions and rigid plans.

Existing Marketing Automation Tools Vs. Customised Marketing Software: A Quick Comparison

The choice between available marketing automation tools and customised marketing software depends on your business needs. However, for a deeper clarity, let’s have a detailed comparison of both.

Available Marketing Tools Pros:

Quick-fix solution. Implement as soon as you purchase the subscription.
Easy to integrate.
Multiple choices are available in the market.
Comes with various features, including the latest tech.
Maintained by the vendor (owner company), so you are free of headaches.

Available Marketing Tools Cons:

Third-party solutions might not be secure enough.
Requires data sharing with the owner/vendor, so business data may leave your region.
Rigid Plans. You cannot customize features and functions to suit your specific requirements.
Hefty subscriptions. The subscriptions increase the operational cost in the long run.
Not suitable for unique business processes. For specific types of marketing automation campaigns, you might require tailored software.
Alternatively, you can perform some tasks manually. Complete automation might not be possible.

Custom Marketing Automation Software Pros:

Completely tailored to your size, scale, and business process type.
No monthly subscriptions needed. So, you can reduce operational costs in the long run.
Full compliance, no need to share your business data with third parties.
Connects seamlessly with your other ERP systems.
Scale whenever you want. No rigid plans.
You can also get an Arabic-friendly solution with custom software development.

Custom Software Solution Cons:

Not a quick-fix solution. You will need to wait until the development and deployment are complete.
You will be required to invest a lump sum amount right from the beginning, which may be 20 times more than a subscription.
Maintenance will be the responsibility of the chosen software development company. So, indirectly, it will be your responsibility too.
Finding a reliable custom software development company can be a challenging task.

Which One Should I Choose?

Both existing tools and custom-built marketing software solutions have their own pros and cons. However, depending upon your business size, scale, and comfort level, you can choose a solution that fits your requirements. Here are some expert suggestions for you.

Small Scale Businesses & New Startups

Small-scale businesses and new startups seek quick-fix solutions.
Additionally, custom-built solutions are not a safe choice for them, as they are typically in a constant pursuit of survival.
Investing in ready-to-use subscription-based marketing automation tools is the right choice.

Mid-Size Enterprises & 5+ Years Old Startups

Mid-sized enterprises and startups with 5+ years of age and promising survival must opt for customized marketing automation solutions.
Marketing automation campaigns for mid-scale businesses and established startups are generally robust and highly tailored.
Ready-made solutions may not be able to handle tailored campaigns. Therefore, customized solutions are the right choice for them.
However, these may also plan for hybrid solutions and use ready-made solutions as a proxy until the custom software product is complete.

Large Scale Enterprises & 8+ Years Startups

Large-scale enterprises and well-established startups require more secure cyber solutions.
Therefore, custom software development for marketing is the best choice for them.

Final Thoughts

Both ready-made tools and custom marketing software solutions have their own advantages and disadvantages, as well as specific applications. Organizations seeking a long-term solution to reduce operational costs and achieve a tailored user experience should consider custom software solutions. However, if you are looking for a quick-fix solution, then ready-made marketing automation tools are right for you.

In this rapidly evolving digital world, leveraging technology to automate tasks that require minimal human intervention is the most effective approach. Use your marketing team in strategy formulation, decision-making, and problem-solving. Choose a reliable software development company, and let smart software handle the manual tasks.