The world’s top brands are already ahead of the curve, using B2C marketing automation platforms to craft and fine-tune personalized marketing campaigns with minimal manual effort.
In this article, we’ll dive into why B2C marketing automation platforms are a game changer and highlight their key benefits. We’ll also spotlight the best platforms for 2024, helping you find the perfect fit for your needs and goals.
What Is Marketing Automation?
Since you know how many processes one needs to set in marketing B2C, you might consider marketing automation to be a magic wand. It truly is. Marketing automation uses technology to simplify and enhance your marketing efforts. With a single automation platform, you can keep all your bases covered and manage everything from email and social media marketing to mobile messaging and ad campaigns in one place.
This approach “greases” the wheels of the sales funnel, swiftly turning a wide net of leads into satisfied customers through a mix of strategies.
What Is B2C Marketing Automation?
A B2C marketing automation platform takes the heavy lifting out of marketing tasks, helping businesses targeting individual consumers boost efficiency and revenue. These platforms let marketers cut to the chase by segmenting their audiences, managing campaigns from a single central hub, and delivering personalized experiences.
With tools like in-depth analytics, marketers can quickly get a handle on what’s working and tweak campaigns on the fly. Top-notch B2C marketing automation platforms should also offer cross-channel automation and orchestration. Thus, marketers can craft consistent, high-impact omnichannel campaigns that hit the mark every time, with the right message, at the right moment.
The Best B2C Marketing Automation Platforms
ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is a well-known name in marketing automation and was the first to roll out the visual automation workflow builder. In addition to email, it offers features such as site tracking, lead scoring, attribution, and more.
Furthermore, this B2C marketing automation platform has your back with a free demo and a wealth of resources, including a blog, developer documentation, and a library of ready-made automation integrations. All subscriptions include data migration and implementation services, while higher-tier plans offer some one-on-one training.
| Pricing | Free trial available. Starts from $15 / month for a Starter plan |
| Integration | Plays well with over 300 third-party applications |
| AI features | + |
| G2 Rating | 4.5 |
Here are some benefits you can expect from ActiveCampaign:
- Ease of use: This B2C marketing automation platform was the trailblazer in visual automation builders. Right from the get-go, you’ll notice how well-designed and intuitive the interface is.
- Affordability: For most small businesses looking for an affordable B2C marketing automation platform, ActiveCampaign is a fantastic choice. Their plans start at just $15/month with no upfront costs.
- Lots of integrations: Unlike many automation solutions that lean heavily on Zapier, ActiveCampaign offers a variety of native integrations with CRMs and e-commerce platforms, enabling a more seamless connection.
- Automation split testing: This feature allows you to A/B test entire sequences against one another rather than just individual emails, which is the norm for many other marketing tools.
If you’re new to B2C marketing automation or looking for ideas, ActiveCampaign has more than 500 pre-built automation recipes to get you started.
Bloomreach
Bloomreach customizes the e-commerce experience by integrating customer and product data to help businesses gain insights into customer preferences. They align the shopping experience with customers’ identities and purchasing desires.
Bloomreach’s offerings include Engagement, a B2C marketing automation platform; Discovery, an e-commerce search tool; Content, a headless CMS; and Clarity, an AI-driven conversational shopping experience. The company holds several AI patents and supports over 850 global brands.
| Pricing | Custom offers depending on the product |
| Integration | 350+ integrations |
| AI features | + |
| G2 Rating | 4.6 |
You can expect these benefits from Bloomreach:
- Customizable marketing automation for B2C: Tailor marketing on the fly across all channels. Bloomreach creates a detailed customer profile known as the Single Customer View (SCV). This information can be shared with other technology solutions to enhance your B2C marketing strategy.
- AI tools: A standout component of the platform is Loomi, Bloomreach’s proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) that enhances personalization, discovery, and engagement. It tailors search results on the fly.
- Data analysis: As a customer data platform, Bloomreach’s primary mission is to collect and consolidate customer data. It gathers transactional, demographic, and behavioral information from various systems and sources, storing it all under one roof.
Designed specifically as a marketing automation program, a CDP for e-commerce marketing, Bloomreach includes several key features tailored to the needs of online retailers.
Drip
Drip is one of the few specialized email marketing platforms tailored for online sellers, and thanks to its advanced feature set, it is quickly climbing the ranks as the top email automated advertising platform. Its extensive e-commerce-specific features make it a top pick among online B2C marketing specialists.
| Pricing | 14-day free trial available. Starts from $39 / month for a plan up to 2,500 people |
| Integration | It has an integration library with other tools, including Shopify, Recart, Authorize.net, etc |
| AI features | AI automated processes |
| G2 Rating | 4.4 |
When using this marketing automation B2C tool, you will enjoy such benefits:
- Industry-leading features for boosting online sales: Drip email campaigns help boost engagement, which is especially important when a new prospect has just hopped onto your email list. Drip utilizes innovative features to save your time nurturing leads.
- Valuable data and analytics: Data management and activation enable marketers to make the most effective move with a contact by leveraging real-time digital behavior insights.
- Seamless integration with Shopify and other apps: Drip helps to fuel your workflows with essential e-commerce data from Shopify, WooCommerce, LoyaltyLion, and more. Sync Facebook Custom Audiences with Drip segments. You can craft powerful marketing campaigns that align across channels.
This B2C marketing automation platform features a “What You See Is What You Get” (WYSIWYG) email editor for easy, code-free design, numerous automations with customizable pre-built workflows, various email triggers, advanced segmentation options for effective audience targeting, and an integration library to enhance capabilities.
GetResponse
GetResponse bills itself as the easiest newsletter tool on the market, packed with professional features. That’s a bold statement, especially with their competitive pricing. The Polish-based company has cast its net far and wide, reaching 183 countries and boasting over 350,000 users.
| Pricing | Free plan available. Starts from €54 / month for a marketing automation plan with 1,000 contacts |
| Integration | 300+ integrations, incl. Shopify, Squarespace |
| AI features | AI assistant |
| G2 Rating | 4.3 |
GetResponse provides the following benefits:
- Landing pages and conversion funnel: Among GetResponse’s many pros, the conversion funnel stands out. It’s a fantastic lead-generation tool for creating sales funnels and landing pages, especially for those running e-commerce sites or promoting webinars and other events.
- B2C marketing automation: You can create sophisticated automated campaigns triggered by sales, location, and other conditions. While other tools offer automation, few match GetResponse’s power and ease of use. Plus, they provide a variety of detailed templates to get you started.
- Design and spam testing: Often a feature that either costs an arm and a leg or just doesn’t work, GetResponse nailed it with its easy-to-use design and spam testing tools.
- Google and social media ads feature: Manage your Google, Facebook, and Instagram ads directly from your GetResponse account. Explore more marketing automation integrations with this platform.
- Strong marketing features on the free plan: Although the contact and send limits are modest on the free plan, you still can build and host one landing page, with a 1,000-visitor monthly limit and access to image galleries, pop-ups, and sign-up forms.
When it comes to marketing automation for B2C, GetResponse pulls out all the stops compared to other email marketing services. From custom landing pages to advanced marketing automation and reporting tools, you’d be hard-pressed to find something they don’t offer.
HubSpot
The most popular B2C marketing automation software, HubSpot CRM, is designed to track leads, nurture contacts, deliver insightful analytics, and manage the customer journey from the first handshake to becoming a loyal brand advocate.
| Pricing | Free plan available. Starter plan starts at $45/month, billed annually |
| Integration | Integrate with over 500 apps like Salesforce and Microsoft 365 |
| AI features | Breeze Copilot, Breeze Intelligence |
| G2 Rating | 4.4 |
Here are some benefits you can expect from HubSpot:
- Lead and contact management: A centralized dashboard gives you a bird’s-eye view of the sales pipeline. Additionally, their CRM data syncs seamlessly with your email inbox. Thereby, you can easily track who’s opening and clicking on your emails. On top of that, enjoy embedding templates, sequences, and documents directly into your emails.
- Pipeline and deal tracking: With this B2C marketing automation software, you will customize your real-time view of the entire sales funnel. Besides, you can follow deal stages, forecast revenue like a pro, and pinpoint high-quality leads worth chasing.
- Marketing automation for B2C: HubSpot enables you to craft targeted email campaigns and create personalized customer journeys that hit the mark. Additionally, you can connect the dots with insights from website analytics.
- Outstanding customer support: They also offer multi-channel customer support for all paid plans. Depending on your subscription level, you can reach out for help via email, chat, phone, Twitter, and other channels.
This platform fits like a glove for B2C marketing automation, spanning industries like retail, real estate, accounting, marketing agencies, and more.
Keap
What makes Keap stand out from the crowd of other B2C marketing automation platforms?
From our review, Keap stands out as a jack-of-all-trades for business solutions. It rolls CRM, marketing automation for B2C, sales automation, payments, and more into one package. This is a real boon for growing businesses with specific needs and for established companies seeking a reliable CRM.
| Pricing | Free up to 500 subscribers. Starts from $19/month for 1k subscribers |
| Integration | 5,000 apps, incl. Zapier |
| AI features | AI content generator |
| G2 Rating | 4.2 |
Keap provides these unique benefits:
- All-in-one solution: Keap combines multiple business functions—like CRM, B2C marketing automation, sales automation, and payments—into a single platform. This one-stop-shop approach streamlines workflows and keeps users from juggling too many tools.
- Great customization options: Users can tweak campaigns, automate sales processes, and mold this B2C marketing automation platform to fit their team’s specific needs. Keap’s versatility makes it a handy option for businesses with a wide range of requirements.
- Automation capabilities: Keap’s automation features allow users to set up repeatable sales processes and marketing campaigns. This not only saves time but also ensures that outreach efforts consistently hit the mark.
- E-commerce integration: Keap has e-commerce features built in, making it a solid choice for businesses focused on online sales.
Klaviyo
Klaviyo takes the cake as the top email marketing automation tool for e-commerce, and there are three big reasons why you can get hooked: it’s a breeze to use, the stats are crystal clear, and the segmentation is top-notch.
| Pricing | Free up to 250 profiles; Starts from $35/month |
| Integration | 350+ pre-built integrations, incl. Square, Shopify, Meta, etc. |
| AI features | Predictive analytics, personalized benchmarks, guided warming |
| G2 Rating | 4.6 |
When using Klaviyo, you will enjoy such benefits:
- A powerful and user-friendly tool: This automated advertising platform strikes the perfect balance between being advanced and easy to use—a rare combo in the world of ESPs.
- Top-notch sign-up form builder: Klaviyo’s sign-up form builder stands out among the ESPs we’ve reviewed. It offers a variety of design and style options, along with the ability to easily configure targeting and behavioral settings.
- List creation and segmentation: This service provides multiple methods for list creation, including sign-up forms and seven-segment options with AND conditions, allowing you to get incredibly specific with your segments.
- Detailed engagement reporting: Klaviyo delivers engagement reports in its list and segmentation sections, offering detailed insights. You can filter by different email clients and track engagement levels, from highly engaged to unengaged members.
From pre-made Shopify-triggered workflows to predictive AI product recommendations, Klaviyo’s B2C marketing automation software gives you everything you need.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is a heavyweight in email marketing automation. With Mailchimp, you can send transactional emails, such as order confirmations and other personalized messages. The tool also lets you map out visual customer journeys, helping you deliver a top-notch experience to each customer.
| Pricing | Free up to 500 contacts (email marketing); Starts from $13/month and depends on the type of service |
| Integration | Integrates with 300+ services, incl. WordPress, Lightspeed, Slack, and SurveyMonkey |
| AI features | Intuit Assist |
| G2 Rating | 5 |
Mailchimp provides the following benefits:
- Mobile functionality: Mailchimp’s mobile app, available on both iOS and Android, makes it a breeze to deliver, track, and analyze email marketing B2C campaigns on the go.
- Customization: The RSS-to-email feature automatically sends newsletters whenever a business blog or online campaign is updated. Plus, with pre-designed email marketing automation and the ability to add logos and branding, users can easily customize their campaigns. Importing existing email lists and integrating sign-ups is also a breeze.
- Targeting facilities: Mailchimp’s tools are a marketer’s dream, allowing businesses to target newsletters based on criteria such as geolocation or click history. This insight into who’s engaging (or not) with newsletters and who’s clicking on what helps fine-tune your B2C marketing strategy.
- Analytics: Mailchimp’s reporting features are a goldmine, offering insights such as newsletter subscribers’ Twitter reactions and data from Mailchimp’s integration with Google Analytics.
As an automated advertising platform, Mailchimp integrates with over 300 external sources, including WordPress, Lightspeed, Slack, and SurveyMonkey, enabling users to connect with their customers in more ways than one.
Which B2C Marketing Automation Platform to Choose?
There is no one universal automation software for marketing campaigns. Determine your budget and business needs so your future marketing efforts align perfectly with the automation platform’s features.
Besides, remember about integrations. How smoothly does the marketing automation software fit with your current setup? Seamless integrations let you manage data effortlessly and squeeze more value out of your tools.
Frequently Asked Questions
Would B2C marketing automation work for my small company?
Absolutely! Marketing automation isn’t just for the big players. The reality is it can work wonders for companies of all sizes.
What are the best types of automated B2C marketing campaigns?
It truly shines in lead-nurturing campaigns, personalization, and overall marketing communications.
Why do I need automation if I have auto-responders or email marketing?
Automation of B2C marketing processes lets you do far more than what email marketing or auto-responders can achieve. It offers unmatched personalization for both your marketing messages and website content, and it delivers detailed analytics that surpass standard email marketing reports.