8 Best marketing automation tools to consider for 2027

Marketing teams have more channels, customer data, and campaigns to manage than ever.

From capturing leads and sending follow-ups to nurturing prospects and tracking engagement, repetitive marketing tasks can quickly consume the time your team could spend on strategy.

That’s where marketing automation tools come in.

But with dozens of options available, choosing the right marketing automation software can be challenging.

In this guide, we’ll look at the best 8 marketing automation tools worth considering in 2027, what each platform is best suited for, and the key factors to consider before choosing one.

What are marketing automation tools?

Marketing automation tools are software systems designed to automate routine marketing tasks like sending emails, tracking leads, managing social campaigns, and analyzing campaign performance, making them a type of marketing software that can also serve as a broader marketing platform.

Instead of manually deciding what action to take every time a customer interacts with your business, you can create a workflow that handles the process automatically.

Marketing automation helps teams send personalized messages at scale and make marketing automation work from real customer and CRM data.

For example:

Form submission → Add lead to CRM → Send welcome email → Wait 3 days → Check engagement → Send follow-up → Notify sales

Marketing automation can go beyond email campaigns. Depending on the platform, businesses can automate lead capture for lead generation, segmentation, customer journeys, lead scoring, CRM updates, sales handoffs, sales automation, SMS campaigns, and other customer engagement activities across multiple channels.

8 Best marketing automation tools for 2027

Here are 8 marketing automation platforms to consider based on business needs, channels, workflow complexity, and customer engagement requirements.

1. Salesmate

Best for: CRM-connected marketing automation and customer engagement

Salesmate is a CRM and marketing automation platform that helps businesses streamline sales, marketing, and customer engagement.

Teams can automate workflows, manage leads, and connect customer interactions across sales and marketing processes.

Shared customer data gives teams greater visibility into the customer journey and helps them coordinate follow-ups and engagement.

With its intuitive interface and powerful automation tools, Salesmate simplifies complex tasks, making it easier to engage, nurture, and convert prospects into loyal customers.

Key features

• Marketing Automation: Create, schedule, and automate email campaigns, follow-ups, and drip campaigns with a visual workflow builder for personalized lead engagement.
• Contact Management: Manage leads and customer data in one place with Salesmate's CRM, supporting core customer relationship management functions and a comprehensive view of all interactions.
• Built-in Calling: Make and receive calls directly within the platform, streamlining communication and saving time.
• Text Messaging: Automate SMS campaigns to engage leads and send personalized text messages for follow-ups.
• Lead Nurturing: Nurture leads through the sales funnel with automated workflows that support sales processes and convert them into qualified prospects.
• Skara AI agents: Build AI agents that engage customers across channels, qualify leads, schedule meetings, answer questions, and take actions using connected business tools and customer data.
• Sequences: Create structured, multi-step follow-up sequences to engage leads through personalized emails, calls, and other sales activities.

Why consider Salesmate: It brings CRM, marketing, sales, communication, and automation into a connected customer execution platform.

2. Hubspot

Best for: All-in-one marketing, sales, and CRM

HubSpot Marketing Hub combines CRM, marketing, sales, service, and other business tools within HubSpot’s broader platform ecosystem, giving teams all the tools for marketing, sales, service, and CRM in one connected ecosystem.

Its marketing automation features support workflows, lead nurturing, segmentation, email campaigns, forms, reporting, and customer journeys.

It can be a useful option for businesses that want their marketing and customer data managed within a broader CRM ecosystem.

Why consider HubSpot: Its broad ecosystem, user-friendly experience, and strong CRM integration make it well-suited for small to mid-market teams looking to connect multiple customer-facing functions, and this breadth gives many businesses all the features they need in one platform.

3. ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign focuses heavily on customer experience automation and email marketing.

Its platform supports automated email campaigns, segmentation, customer journeys, lead nurturing, and CRM-related workflows, making it a strong marketing tool for teams that want email marketing automation.

Businesses can build workflows that respond to customer actions and engagement, making it suitable for teams that want to create behavior-based campaigns and support personalized messages across customer journey automation.

Why consider ActiveCampaign: I’d call it a favorite marketing automation tool for teams prioritizing email-driven automation, as it combines email marketing, customer journey automation, segmentation, and CRM-related workflows, with automation logic that can respond to customer behavior.

4. Sendpulse

Best for: Chatbot automation across messaging apps

SendPulse combines chatbots, email and SMS marketing, and CRM in one platform. Its visual chatbot builder helps teams automate conversations across Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, TikTok, and Viber.

It also offers email automation, CRM tools, and a landing page builder, so businesses can capture leads and follow up across channels.

Why consider SendPulse: It is a useful option for teams that want to engage customers and drive sales inside messaging apps while keeping chatbot conversations connected to their marketing and CRM data.

5. Klaviyo

Best for: Ecommerce marketing automation

Klaviyo is widely focused on ecommerce marketing, particularly email and SMS engagement for personalized marketing campaigns built from customer data and behavioral signals.

Businesses can use customer data and behavioral signals to create personalized campaigns, segments, and automated flows that support sales funnels from product discovery to repeat purchase.

Common use cases include abandoned-cart recovery campaigns, post-purchase communication, customer retention, and product-related messaging.

Why consider Klaviyo: Its ecommerce-focused automation makes it particularly relevant to online retailers.

6. Mailchimp

Best for: Small businesses and email-focused marketing

Mailchimp is primarily known for email marketing and offers automation, audience management, customer journeys, forms, and reporting.

Its approachable interface makes it a common option for smaller teams getting started with automated campaigns.

Businesses can use it for automated email sequences, customer communication, segmentation, and campaign management.

Why consider Mailchimp: It provides an accessible entry point for businesses primarily focused on email marketing, and it is a common starting point for teams looking for a generous free plan and easy campaign automation.

7. Brevo

Best for: Multichannel marketing automation

Brevo provides marketing automation across channels including email, SMS, and other customer communication touchpoints.

Businesses can create automated workflows based on customer actions and use segmentation to deliver more relevant communication.

Its broader communication capabilities make it suitable for businesses looking beyond email-only marketing.

Why consider Brevo: It combines marketing automation with multiple customer communication channels.

8. Omnisend

Best for: Ecommerce email and SMS automation

Omnisend is built around ecommerce marketing and customer lifecycle communication.

The platform supports email, SMS, segmentation, automated workflows, customer engagement campaigns, and additional channels such as push notifications.

Ecommerce businesses can use automation for activities such as abandoned-cart recovery, welcome sequences, post-purchase communication, and customer retention.

Why consider Omnisend: Its ecommerce-oriented workflows are designed around customer lifecycle marketing.

Marketing automation tools comparison

Support for marketing channels also varies by tool, with some focused on email and SMS while others extend into chat or push for deeper communication coverage.

How to choose the best marketing automation tool?

The right tool depends on what you need to automate, how your team works, and how complex your workflows are.

Focus on the capabilities that support your actual marketing processes rather than choosing based on feature count alone.

1. Start with your business needs and goals

Define what you want automation to achieve. Your choice should match the marketing strategies you plan to run now and in the future. Whether your goal is lead nurturing, customer engagement, email automation, or improving marketing and sales alignment, choose a platform that supports those specific objectives.

2. Evaluate the core features

Look for the capabilities you actually need, such as workflow automation, segmentation, lead nurturing, CRM integration, email and SMS campaigns, customer journey automation, and advanced automation tools like workflow branching, lead nurturing logic, and multistep sales funnels.

3. Check usability and interface

Your team should be able to build, manage, and update workflows without relying on technical expertise for every change. Look for intuitive workflow builders, clear navigation, and easy campaign management.

4. Look at analytics and reporting

Automation is only useful if you can measure its impact. Check whether the platform provides strong reporting to track campaign performance across workflows, channels, campaign engagement, conversions, customer activity, and other metrics relevant to your goals.

5. Test it with a free trial or demo

Whenever possible, test the platform before committing. Use a trial or demo to build a real workflow, explore the interface, and see whether the platform fits your team's processes.

6. Consider customer support and service

Check what support options are available, including live chat, email, phone support, documentation, and onboarding. Responsive support can be particularly important when you're setting up complex workflows or troubleshooting automation.

A quick way to evaluate your options

Before choosing a platform, ask:

• Does it solve the marketing problems we're trying to address?
• Can our team use it without unnecessary complexity?
• Does it connect with our CRM and existing tools?
• Can we test it before making a long-term commitment?
• Does its pricing and support model fit our needs?

How to get started with marketing automation

You don't need to automate your entire marketing operation at once. Start with processes that are repetitive, predictable, and easy to measure.

1. Identify repetitive tasks

Start by identifying repetitive marketing tasks that are worth automating repetitive marketing tasks across campaigns and follow-ups, such as lead follow-ups, welcome emails, or customer re-engagement.

2. Map the customer journey

Determine what happens when a customer takes a specific action and what should happen next.

3. Define your triggers

Choose the events that start your workflows, such as form submissions, email clicks, website activity, purchases, or lifecycle-stage changes.

4. Build the workflow

Add the conditions, delays, messages, and actions required to move the customer through the journey. Workflows work best when they unify customer data from forms, CRM activity, and engagement signals in one place.

5. Test before launching

Check every step and workflow branch to make sure the right message reaches the right audience at the right time.

6. Measure and optimize

Review engagement and conversion data regularly, and use that performance data to optimize marketing strategies over time. AI use in marketing automation is expected to grow significantly as the global marketing automation tools market continues to expand.

Marketing automation vs. email marketing

Email marketing and marketing automation are related, but they aren't the same thing.

Email marketing primarily focuses on creating and sending email campaigns to an audience.

Marketing automation uses triggers, customer data, conditions, and workflows to determine what happens next across email and other marketing and customer engagement channels.

For example, an email marketing workflow might send the same newsletter to a subscriber list.

A marketing automation workflow could work like this:

Lead downloads an ebook → lead enters a segment → welcome email is sent → engagement is tracked → follow-up email is triggered → CRM record is updated → sales representative is notified

Choose marketing automation that fits your customer journey

The right marketing automation software isn't necessarily the one with the longest feature list.

It’s the one that fits your marketing processes, supports your marketing efforts and connected sales processes as customers move through the journey, connects with your existing tools, and helps your team turn customer activity into timely action.

Whether you need email automation, ecommerce workflows, lead nurturing, or CRM-connected customer journeys, start with the processes you want to improve and choose a platform that can support them as your needs grow.

If you're looking to bring CRM, marketing automation, sales, and customer communication together in one platform, Salesmate can help you build automated workflows that keep leads engaged and your team moving forward.