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Jacob Morrow

Updated: 2025-09-10

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Marketing automation has revolutionized how businesses connect with their audiences. Implementing a robust automation solution not only streamlines workflows but also significantly boosts marketing efficiency. For instance, email marketing automation handles repetitive tasks—including lead nurturing and retargeting—freeing your team to focus on strategy.

This guide covers key aspects of marketing automation services, from core features to selection criteria, to help you choose the right platform for your business needs.

Understanding Marketing Automation Services

What Are the Marketing Automation Services?

Use automation services to build your customer journey in email
  marketing

Marketing automation services are platforms specifically developed to help businesses streamline and automate repetitive marketing tasks. Indicatively, you can utilize them for your email marketing, social media posting, customer segmentation, and lead nurturing, among others. Professional services marketing automation enables your company to deliver a personalized marketing experience to your customers based on a user journey that you have created. This level of optimization boosts your conversions.

Key Features and Capabilities of Marketing Automation Tools

If you look into finding a marketing automation tool, you will soon discover that you have numerous options at your disposal. Each tool is designed for specific tasks, thus being ideal for different purposes. Whether you are looking for marketing automation for financial services or e-commerce, you are sure to find a platform that satisfies your needs.

Nevertheless, some features are common, regardless of the platform. Some of the most important capabilities of marketing automation for professional services are the following:

  • Email Automation: The most basic platforms will focus on email marketing. With that, you can create automated email workflows based on user behavior and specific scenarios.
  • Multi-Channel Marketing: With the right tool, you can coordinate your campaigns across multiple channels, such as email, SMS, push notifications, and messaging apps. This creates a holistic experience for your customers, thus encouraging engagement with your company.
  • Marketing automation tools allow you to build user journeys for
    numerous channels
  • Lead Scoring and Nurturing: Marketing automation implementation services are ideal for lead nurturing, a process that requires consistent communication. Many tools will rank and segment your leads based on their engagement with your communications and the likelihood of conversion. This is particularly useful in optimizing your strategy for better results.
  • Customer Journey Mapping: In marketing automation consulting services, you will visualize your customer journey. The top platforms will give you access to templates created for different cases. This way, you will be able to create efficient user journeys that cater to the particularities of your audience.
  • customer-journey-mapping
  • Personalization and Segmentation: With these tools, you can deliver personalized messages that bring the desired results. Moreover, you can use the available user data to segment your audience for an even more personalized communication strategy.
  • Analytics and Reporting: No tool doesn’t offer you even the most basic of analytics. Of course, the more detailed reports you get, the better, since you will be able to evaluate your campaign’s performance and make data-driven decisions.
  • A/B Testing and Optimization: The marketing automation professional services should also give you access to tools like A/B testing. With these practices, you can test different marketing approaches to improve your results.

How to Maximize the Value of Marketing Automation? A Guide to Strategy & Selection

It's not enough to understand the definition of marketing automation. For B-side organizations, the key is integrating automation into real customer journeys and turning them into measurable business returns. This section will provide you with a hands-on guide to the whole chain, from strategy planning to vendor selection.

Design Thinking with the Customer Journey in Mind

Effective automation is not about piecemeal email triggers, but rather a collaborative experience built around the full customer lifecycle. The following is a typical automation scenario layout:

Potential Customer Nurturing Phase

Scenario : User downloads a whitepaper or signs up for a trial.

Automation process : Automatically trigger [welcome series of emails] to introduce the core value of the product and guide the activation of key features within 3-5 days.

Deal Conversion Stage

Scenario : User visits the pricing page multiple times but does not place an order.

Automated Process : Automatically trigger [Abandon Purchase Retrieval Push] or emails to provide limited time consulting offers or directly assign to sales consultants for follow up.

Post-sales Support and Loyalty Phase

Scenario : Customer successfully completes the first purchase.

Automated Process : Automatically trigger [New Customer Getting Started Series], provide tutorial documents, and invite to join user community after 7 days to enhance stickiness.

Churn Recovery Stage

Scenario : The user has not generated any interaction in the past 30 days.

Automated process : Automatically trigger [user churn warning process], push exclusive offers or release new product information for secondary activation.

Evaluate ROI: Is Marketing Automation Worth It?

Before making a decision, you can estimate the possible benefits of automation through a simple model:

Calculation Model

Expected Revenue = (expected conversion rate increase % × customer lifecycle value) + (expected savings in man hours × labor costs) - annual software costs

Marketing Automation Platform Selection Guide

When evaluating a platform, follow these steps for a systematic assessment:

  • Define Core Requirements : Identify your key business goals and challenges to determine the essential features your platform must provide.
  • Evaluate Integration Capabilities : Can it integrate seamlessly with your existing systems (e.g., CRM, databases, WeChat ecosystem)?Which data synchronization methods are supported (API, SDK, manual import)? An important step is to evaluate whether the platform has a user-friendly interface and good customer support. This is especially critical if you have a marketing team with no deep technical knowledge, as they will be able to incorporate it into their workflow without a steep learning curve.
  • Assess Functionality and Ease of Use : Compare features across platforms—If you will need to approach your customers in multiple channels, we would advise you to get a platform that allows you to develop a multichannel marketing strategy.
  • Clarify the Pricing Model : Is pricing based on contacts, message volume, or feature access? How are overages calculated?Most platforms will have their pricing information, such as their monthly plans, on their websites. Others, like EngageLab, allow you to calculate your approximate cost as you only pay for the communications you will need.
  • Review Service and Support : Is language customer service and technical support available? How responsive are they?Signing up for a marketing automation platform often requires getting a plan, which is a big commitment. For this reason, it would be great if the tool offered you a demo or a free trial, where you can explore its capabilities before you decide to commit to it.

We also recommend reviewing feedback from existing users to better understand each platform’s strengths and weaknesses.

Top 8 Marketing Automation Services

Now that you are aware of how to make an informed decision, you can start looking for the best automation tools around. In this section, we have selected the top marketing automation implementation services in 2025.

#1 EngageLab

Our first pick is none other than EngageLab . This robust engagement tool has been around for a while, offering businesses an easy-to-use platform to develop multiple channels of communication, such as email, SMS, push notifications, WhatsApp, and in-app messaging. The platform has recently launched its marketing automation tool, allowing you to make the most out of its omnichannel approach.

EngageLab is the top omnichannel marketing automation tool

In EngageLab, you will gain access to several features that will make your marketing automation for professional services even more efficient. Indicatively, it has an abundance of user journey templates based on different scenarios and gives you access to detailed real-time analytics.

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Advantages

  • imgUser-friendly interface
  • imgEasy drag-and-drop editors
  • imgMulti-channel automation, including email, SMS, push notifications, and WhatsApp messages
  • imgReal-time analytics
  • imgA rich library of pre-made user journey templates

Disadvantages

  • imgLimited third-party integrations

Pricing: Pay-as-you-go dynamic pricing, based on the messages you will need to send each month. 30-day free trial for in-app and web push notifications, 50 free emails per day.

#2 Brevo (formerly Sendinblue)

Brevo is an affordable and powerful marketing automation tool that you can get for your business. It is one of the best email marketing automation services, offering you several features that enhance your email marketing. In addition to this, the tool also focuses on SMS and CRM functionalities.

Brevo is a great automation platform

Advantages

  • imgCost-effective
  • imgStrong email automation features
  • imgA helpful AI assistant
  • imgFree CRM software
  • imgSign-up forms

Disadvantages

  • imgThe free plan has a very low sending limit
  • imgLimited integrations
  • imgEmail deliverability is very unstable
  • imgA/B testing and detailed reports are only available in the Business plan

Pricing: Free plan available; the Starter plan starts at $9/month; the Business plan starts at $18/month.

#3 Klaviyo

Klaviyo is a data-driven marketing automation platform that is most suitable for e-commerce businesses. It is one of the most popular platforms you can sign up for, even though it is one of the most expensive ones. It is best for email and SMS marketing, offering you a high number of integrations, rich libraries of templates, and detailed analytics.

klaviyo

Advantages

  • imgAdvanced segmentation
  • imgRich template library
  • imgStrong integrations
  • imgVisual email editor

Disadvantages

  • imgIt can be expensive if you have a lot of subscribes
  • imgSteep learning curve
  • imgCustomer support is slow to respond
  • imgThe initial setup might be a bit complex

Pricing: Free plan available for up to 250 subscribers; Email plan starts at $45/month for up to 15.000 emails; Email and SMS plan starts at $60/month for up to 15.000 emails and 1.250 emails per month.

#4 Omnisend

Omnisend is one of the marketing automation consulting services that promises to make automation an easy process for you. This platform focuses on email, SMS, and web push notifications, allowing you to make your first steps into a multichannel marketing approach. It is best suited for e-commerce brands, such as e-shops.

omnisend

Advantages

  • imgMulti-channel automation, including email, SMS, and web push notifications
  • imgFocused on e-commerce businesses
  • imgModern design in templates

Disadvantages

  • imgLimited features outside e-commerce
  • imgLimited integrations
  • imgAnalytics not as detailed

Pricing: Free plan available for up to 250 contacts; Standard plan starts at $16/month for up to 500 contacts; Pro plan starts at $59/month for up to 2.500 contacts.

#5 ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign provides a powerful blend of automation, email marketing, and CRM tools. It is a great platform for developing an omnichannel marketing strategy with which you can easily reach out to your customers in numerous channels. Furthermore, this tool has integrated AI-powered automation capabilities to make your campaigns even more efficient. ActiveCampaign is ideal for small to mid-sized businesses.

activecampaign

Advantages

  • imgOmnichannel marketing platform
  • imgGreat customer support
  • imgDemo available at request
  • imgFree migration is available

Disadvantages

  • imgCan get very expensive for larger number of contacts
  • imgNo free plan available
  • imgIt can be intimidating for beginners

Pricing: 15-day free trial available; Starter plan starts at $15/month; Plus plan starts at $49/month; Pro plan starts at $79/month; Enterprise plan starts at $145/month.

#6 Eloqua by Oracle

If you are looking for enterprise-level marketing automation for financial services, Eloqua is the tool for you. Developed by Oracle, it is an automation solution that offers deep analytics and AI-powered suggestions for transforming your campaigns.

eloqua-oracle

Advantages

  • imgAdvanced reporting
  • imgAI-powered personalization
  • imgCross-channel marketing capabilities
  • imgStrong integrations

Disadvantages

  • imgComplex implementation
  • imgSteep learning curve
  • imgRather expensive for small and medium businesses
  • imgLimited template library

Pricing: Custom pricing depending on your business needs.

#7 Mailchimp

MailChimp is one of the most popular email marketing automation services. It gives you access to a variety of features that enable you to build efficient customer journeys. In addition to this, it utilizes AI to make the process faster. This platform is ideal for startups and small businesses.

mailchimp

Advantages

  • imgEasy to use
  • imgAll paid plans have a 14-day free trial
  • imgRich template library
  • imgDetailed analytics
  • imgAI-powered recommendations

Disadvantages

  • imgIt can get expensive as your contact list grows
  • imgContinues to charge for unsubscribers and inactive contacts

Pricing: Free plan available; Essentials plan starts at $13/month; Standard plan starts at $20/month; Premium plan starts at $297.50/month.

#8 GetResponse

GetResponse is a professional services marketing automation tool for engaging your audience, nurturing leads, and boosting conversions. Apart from its email and web push notifications, it is also a great tool to create landing pages, signup forms, and popups.

getresponse

Advantages

  • imgFeature-rich
  • imgResponsive live chat
  • imgCan also create landing pages and forms

Disadvantages

  • imgEmail automation available in paid plans only
  • imgLimited segmentation tools

Pricing: 30-day free trial available; Free plan available for up to 500 contacts; Starter plan starts at $15.58/month; Marketer plan starts at $48.38/month; Creator plan starts at $56.58/month.

Summary Table

Here is a table so that you can compare all these tools at a glance:

Marketing Automation Services Advantages Disadvantages Pricing Rating
EngageLab User-friendly interface, easy editors, multi-channel automation, real-time analytics, rich template library. Limited third-party integrations Pay-as-you-go 4.8
Brevo Cost-effective, strong email automation features, AI assistant, free CRM software, sign-up forms. The free plan has a very low sending limit, limited integrations, email deliverability very unstable, A/B testing and detailed reports only available in the Business plan. Free plan available; Paid plans start at $9/month. 4.1
Klaviyo Advanced segmentation, rich template library, strong integrations, visual email editor. Rather pricey if you have a lot of subscribes, steep learning curve, customer support is slow to respond, initial setup a bit complex. Free plan available; Paid plans start at $45/month. 4.8
Omnisend Multi-channel automation, focused on e-commerce businesses, modern design in templates. Limited features outside eCommerce, limited integrations, analytics not as detailed. Free plan available; Paid plans start at $16/month 4.6
ActiveCampaign Omnichannel marketing platform, great customer support, demo available at request, free migration. Expensive for larger number of contacts, no free plan available, intimidating for beginners. 15-day free trial available; Paid plans start at $15/month. 3.9
Eloqua by Oracle Advanced reporting, AI-powered personalization, cross-channel marketing capabilities, strong integrations. Complex implementation, steep learning curve, rather expensive, limited template library. Custom pricing. 4.5
Mailchimp Easy to use, paid plans have a 14-day free trial, rich template library, detailed analytics, AI-powered recommendations. Expensive as your contact list grows, continues to charge for unsubscribers and inactive contacts. Free plan available; Paid plans start at $13/month 4.4
GetResponse Feature-rich, responsive live chat, can also create landing pages and forms. Email automation available in paid plans only, limited segmentation tools. Free plan available; Paid plans start at $15.58/month 3.8

How to Implement Marketing Automation Services with EngageLab

Most financial services marketing automation tools work similarly. Therefore, you will need to know the basic steps for creating your customer journey. In this section, we will show you how to complete the task in EngageLab.

Create Your EngageLab Account – First, you must sign up for EngageLab. The process is simple, as you only need to type in your credentials. Once you do, activate Marketing Automation from your Console.

Sign up for EngageLab Marketing Automation Get Started For Free

Create Your User Journey – Go to the "User Journey" on the sidebar and click the "Create Your First Journey" button.

Create your first user journey in EngageLab

Select a User Journey Template – Find and click on the template that matches your marketing automation professional services

Select the most appropriate user journey in EngageLab

Manage the User Journey – Review the visual user journey of the template and add any necessary steps. Once you are ready, click "Publish" to activate it.

Manage the user journey in EngageLab

Challenges and Considerations in Marketing Automation Services

While marketing automation offers numerous benefits, businesses often face challenges when implementing these tools. The most common setbacks of implementing marketing automation consulting services are the following:

  • Complex Setup and Integration: Some platforms require extensive setup, which requires technical expertise from your team.
  • Data Management Issues: Poor data quality, as well as improper segmentation, often leads to ineffective automation. You need to make sure that the data you are using is of the best possible quality.
  • Over-Automation Risks: Having marketing automation for professional services available can sometimes lead to excessive automation. This might make your interactions feel impersonal.
  • High Costs: Some platforms are quite expensive for advanced features. If you are a small business, you might not be able to afford the premium plans.
  • Learning Curve: Some tools have steep learning curves and require training and onboarding.

Why Choose EngageLab for Marketing Automation Services

EngageLab is a leading marketing automation platform designed to solve the common challenges faced by modern businesses.

With an intuitive interface, it can be set up in just a few steps, enabling your team to become proficient quickly. The platform provides real-time analytics across all marketing channels, giving you clear and actionable insights into campaign performance.

Furthermore, EngageLab offers high scalability, making it suitable for businesses of all sizes. Its flexible pricing model ensures that you only pay for what you use, helping you control costs and align your investment with actual needs.

Choose EngageLab to access enterprise-grade marketing automation tools that drive efficiency and growth. Start today with a free trial and experience how simple and powerful marketing automation can be.