Categories   >   Demand Generation Software
Last Reviewed: November 14th, 2024

Best Demand Generation Software Of 2024

What is Demand Generation Software?

Demand Generation Software (DGS) is a valuable ally for businesses, helping stimulate interest in their offerings. It essentially fuels the sales pipeline, bridging the gap between marketing and sales. DGS is key for lead generation, nurturing, and conversion, enabling more profitable customer interactions. It typically encompasses functionalities such as email marketing, lead capture, and analytics. An emerging development is the integration of AI to automate and enhance lead scoring and engagement. Businesses from tech startups to multinational corporations find equal value in DGS, utilizing it to drive sustainable growth. However, notable limitations include the requirement for considerable expertise in usage and the potential for misuse if not properly aligned with business goals. In summary, by facilitating a more precise, data-driven approach to capturing and converting leads, DGS is instrumental in amplifying business revenue and overall growth.

What Are The Key Benefits of Demand Generation Software?

  • Stimulates Product Interest
  • Fuels Sales Pipeline
  • Enhances Lead Generation
  • Boosts Lead Nurturing
  • Improves Conversion Rates
  • Automated Email Marketing
  • Insightful Analytics
  • Enable Targeted Campaigns
  • Amplifies Business Revenue
  • Sustains Business Growth
Read more

Overall

Based on the latest available data collected by SelectHub for 88 solutions, we determined the following solutions are the best Demand Generation Software overall:

HubSpot
HubSpot
Start Price
$800
Monthly
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked HubSpot

With basic CRM alongside marketing, sales, service and content management, Hubspot offers a lot of functionalities, which users cite as a primary benefit. Its slick interface ensures an intuitive experience and extensive automation simplifies tasks, although some complicated functions make it time-consuming to learn. Users also appreciate how prompt customer support is, and that there’s a free version that’s ideal for small and mid-sized businesses.
However, certain email elements present issues and the paid versions are expensive for what they offer. Overall, businesses that are in need of a robust and scalable product suite, especially those with a focus on inbound marketing, might find this to be a good fit.

Pros & Cons

  • Ease of Use: Every user referencing navigation reports the platform is user-friendly.
  • Customer Support: The support team is reliable and offers quick responses to any need, according to 91% of reviewers referencing this aspect.
  • Automation: Automating email campaigns, lead scoring and workflows, managing sales funnel and social engagement, and creating email templates is easy, according to 95% of reviewers who talk about automation.
  • Feature-Rich: The range of features offered, such as creating landing pages, forms and email campaigns, is a benefit to 85% of users mentioning functionalities.
  • Marketing: Every user who refers to marketing feels it’s easy to market products.
  • Interface: A slick interface makes it easy to navigate, in the experience of 80% of reviewers referencing the UI.
  • Price: Premium products are expensive for the amount of functionality, especially for small and mid-sized companies, according to 86% of reviewers mentioning cost.
  • Training: In 85% of reviews referencing training, users say it’s difficult for average users to perform complicated tasks such as tracking leads and making different mailing lists, causing a learning curve.
  • Email Functionality: All reviews about this issue note that customizing the mobile version of an email affects the desktop version, inserting custom HTML such as a for promo timer isn’t possible and more.

Key Features

  • Pipeline Management:
    •  Reduces data entry through auto-populated data and grants control over pipelines to match how users work. 
    •  User-friendly edit tools alongside a drag-and-drop interface simplify the entire management process. 
    •  Quick access to key metrics is available with a sales dashboard. 
  • Lead Management: Perform CRM activities without the hassle of reconciling different data sets and gain full visibility into contacts by accessing data-rich profiles in one location. Capabilities include lead segmentation, contact activity history and tasks. 
  • Messaging: Facilitates better internal and external communication, promotes strong customer experiences, supports lead generation and enables more timely follow up. Offers Facebook Messenger, a customizable live chat widget, shared email and a chatbot builder. 
  • Conversations Inbox:
    •  Provides context, alignment and transparency for marketing, sales and service teams through a team-wide inbox. 
    •  Aids cross-functional collaboration via a central hub for communicating with prospects, leads and customers. Routing rules deliver emails to the most relevant team or member. 
    •  Offers a seamless experience to customers no matter what stage they’re in. 
  • Contact Activity: Gain deeper insights by leveraging analytics that show website interactions. Track form submissions, page visits and more. 
ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign
Start Price
$9
Monthly
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign provides cloud-based marketing services to businesses of any size. It’s easy to use and offers a wide range of features, along with robust automation and campaigning capabilities. The system integrates with all major platforms. Most users also find the customer support team as well as the training materials to be helpful.
However, it takes time to learn the intricate features thoroughly. Reviews also state the system suffers from glitches and the interface could be more user-friendly. Businesses that need a system that caters to CRM as well as marketing needs, and that have the ability to leverage its complex functionality effectively, should consider this as a solid choice.

Pros & Cons

  • User-Friendly: Everyone referencing this aspect states the software is easy to use.
  • Automation: It helps run customer and lead campaigns, triggered automatically based on set specifications, note 98% of reviewers referring to this feature.
  • Customer Support: The support team is easy to reach and very responsive, according to 93% of reviewers talking about this aspect.
  • Functionalities: Every user mentioning features states the system offers robust capabilities including client onboarding, lead funnels, newsletters, contact tracking and more.
  • Email Campaigns: In the view of 85% of reviews about this feature, it’s easy to send weekly emails, replicate earlier emails and develop templates for other uses.
  • Integration: Connecting with Zapier and other platforms makes it easy to transfer leads, according to 88% of reviewers referencing integration.
  • Help Resource: Everyone mentioning training reports there are helpful tutorials and webinars.
  • Learning Curve: According to 77% of reviewers talking about training, it’s tough and time consuming to learn the platform.
  • Glitches: Every user mentioning this aspect notes it can be glitchy at times and quite slow to load during peak business hours.
  • Interface: The interface is slow and not very intuitive, according to 62% of reviewers referencing this aspect.

Key Features

  • Dynamic Content: Keep content fresh and personalized by automatically changing email content depending on where a lead is in the buyer’s journey. 
  • Email Marketing: A robust and fully-featured suite offers broadcasting, triggered and targeted emails, funnels, and robust integrations with popular social media and e-commerce platforms. Also offers: 
    • Drag-and-Drop Builder: Create and automate campaigns with ease. 
    • Scheduled Emails: Enables scheduling emails for specific dates and times. 
    • Email Autoresponders: Enables sending welcome emails, starting a welcome series or delivering lead magnets automatically. 
  • Segmentation: Target specific groups within the contacts list to be more personal in emails and engage people with the right information. 
  • CRM: Notify the sales team, update deals, create tasks and nurture leads automatically. Scores leads, passes off highly-qualified targets to sales and integrates with popular email providers. 
  • Advanced Reporting: Offers custom reporting features, including custom KPIs, sales reporting, tag counting and robust segmentation. Gives insights into email performance. Split testing can also be used to get email opens, clicks and buys. 
  • Fast Training: Schedule one-on-one appointments with the company’s customer service team to help teams get up to speed with training. A series of robust webinars and user docs are available. 
  • Migration Services: Receive assistance migrating from another marketing automation product. Services include contact list and tag import, form recreation, workflow recreation, and email template recreation. 
  • Powerful Integrations: Integrates with PayPal, Stripe, Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Facebook, Google Analytics and more than 250 other apps including payment processors, membership websites and e-commerce stores. 
  • Audience Segmentation: Allows personalized messages by adding tags to segments. Tags can be based on purchase history, geographic location, time since last purchased, personal interests and more. 
  • Geo-Tracking: Automatically capture a contact’s location for geo-targeted email marketing campaigns. 
  • Site Tracking: Pulls data in from other websites to assist in tracking the customer’s activity. 
  • Social Sharing: Gives insights into performance on social platforms and enables greater audience engagement. 
  • Split Testing: Try different email subject lines, body copy and more to increase and optimize campaign conversion rates. Add up to five variations for a single campaign. 
  • SMS Marketing: Automate SMS marketing to send notifications and campaigns such as appointment reminders, flash sale notifications and more. 
  • Conversation Features: Provides: 
    •  Live chat to facilitate capturing leads and creating contacts from the website. Includes customizable auto reply, custom branding, contact creation and triggered automations. 
    •  A unified inbox to connect conversations with customers. 
  • Predictive Sending: Automate emails using machine learning algorithms. It ranks the hours in a day based on a contact’s open time and uses these recommendations to schedule an optimal send time. 
  • Contact and Lead Scoring: Sends notifications when leads are getting hot, with automatically triggered email notifications and task assignments based on lead score changes. Helps follow up with deals that are most likely to close. 
  • Win Probabilities: Calculates the conversion chance for a specific lead, giving foresight into lead behavior. 
Marketing Cloud Account Engagement
Marketing Cloud Account Engagement
Start Price
$1,250
Monthly
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked Marketing Cloud Account Engagement

Marketing Cloud Account Engagement is liked among users for the seamless integration it offers with Salesforce, leading to stronger marketing capabilities. It also offers various functionalities to make email marketing more powerful and is relied upon for lead generation. However, the cost of the product might be too much for smaller companies, especially given the lack of reporting options. The complexities of the platform also make it difficult to get used to according to the majority of reviews. Overall, the product is a good pick for larger enterprises seeking robust marketing automation, particularly those already using Salesforce that can leverage the tight integration for enhanced marketing.

Pros & Cons

  • Integration: More than 90% of users who mention integration noted the benefit of being able to connect Marketing Cloud Account Engagement with the wider Salesforce ecosystem.
  • Email Marketing: Users can seamlessly set up emails, create content, measure performance and report results, according to all reviews about email marketing.
  • Lead Generation: It offers robust tools for lead generation and nurturing, as reported by 85% of user feedback on these features.
  • Cost: The product costs more than the functionality it offers, according to all the users who mention this aspect.
  • Complexity: It’s difficult to understand and involves a lot of clicks, as observed by 95% of users mentioning this aspect.
  • Reporting: The lack of vigorous reporting tools is a matter of concern, according to 85% of user feedback on the topic.

Key Features

  • Campaign Visualizer: Tracks marketing and sales efforts as customers move through the sales funnel and provides a high-level overview of a campaign. 
  • Dynamic Content: Improve lead generation and customer experiences with dynamic and useful content specifically tailored to a target audience’s needs, wants and interests. 
  • Landing Page Builder: Standard, easy-to-use and customizable templates enable better customer service and increase lead counts. 
  • Smart Forms: Collect information at every interaction and enrich data pools with a simple drag-and-drop form builder. 
  • Organic and Paid Search Tools: Integrate with Google AdWords to determine ROI and then analyze keywords to improve performance. 
  • Social Posting: Track prospects and leads in social platforms. Schedule posts at optimal times for the greatest impact. 
  • Email Builder: The email builder is simple to use, yet powerful, and can be attached to any number of automated tools and tracking measures. 
  • Einstein: Gain insights on campaigns to optimize marketing assets and find new audiences using machine learning. 
  • Email Reporting: Track metrics like clicks, opens and more. Provides SPAM analysis and preview services to extend email reporting. 
  • Auto Segmentation: Deliver a personalized experience with dynamic content by leveraging automatic contact segmentation. 
  • Activity Tracking: Track prospect activities and maintain an activity history from a CRM, Gmail or smartphones. 

Pricing

License/Subscription Cost
  • Subscription-based model – per user per month
  • Starts at $1,000 per user per monthSetup fee of $1,000 is charged
  • Cost per extra user is $50 per month
  • Cost may vary based on the plan selected – Standard, Pro and Ultimate
Maintenance Cost
  • Cost is included in the subscription cost
  • Provides on-going customer support via Customer Hub which is an on-demand online resource center providing hundreds of articles, training and other resources to support users
  • Marketing Cloud Account Engagement offers ongoing technical support and services via in-app chat and email to users located across the globe with offices in Atlanta, San Francisco, Dublin, London, Sydney and Tokyo
  • Provides unlimited access to the Marketing Cloud Account Engagement Knowledge Base to the end user
Installation/Implementation Cost
  • None
Customization Cost
  • Cost may vary depending on the type of functional requirements being added as an add-on or the type of plan being selected out of Standard, Ultimate, and Pro
Data Migration Cost/Change Management/Upfront Switching Cost
  • Cost may vary depending on the current software, amount of data to be migrated, complexity of the data fields, level of automation and data migration tools to be utilized for transfer of data from the old to the new software
Training Costs
  • Cost is over and above the subscription cost and will vary depending on the type of training course opted for
  • Provides Live, weekly and free training, including deep-dive webinars on specific features to the end user
  • Provides Training and Certification courses along with Webinars, eLearning modules, best practices documents for learning Marketing Cloud Account Engagement solution
  • Marketing Cloud Account Engagement offers free, virtual training webinars, live events, live onsite session and customized training programs based on user requirements
Recurring/Renewal Costs
  • Cost is equivalent to the recurring monthly subscription fee to be paid on a yearly basis, customization cost, data migration cost plus training cost
Infusionsoft
Infusionsoft
Start Price
$159
Monthly
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked Infusionsoft

Infusionsoft by Keap is a comprehensive CRM platform that helps SMBs automate processes, connect with prospects and customers, and increase ROI. As many reviews noted, the price is on the high end for a small business, and it has some features that work best for enterprises. It also has a learning curve and limitations with storage and custom fields. However, it provides robust email marketing and campaign management tools, and its wide range of automations can save users a lot of time. There are mixed reviews about customer service, as some find it satisfactory while others believe it’s inadequate. Overall, the product can be a good choice for companies with a large enough budget.

Pros & Cons

  • Process Automation: Every user who mentions this feature notes the system has vast automation scope including automating customer acquisition and marketing processes.
  • Campaign Builder: It offers a robust, flexible and feature-rich campaign builder with excellent controls, as observed by 85% of reviewers who reference campaign management.
  • Email Marketing: According to almost 90% of reviewers who mention email marketing, Infusionsoft by Keap has a responsive, user-friendly interface that aids segmentation, sends mass emails and offers templates.
  • Contact Management: 85% of users who reference managing client databases feel it’s possible to manage databases efficiently with the ability to create, organize and configure contact lists.
  • Learning Curve: The system is confusing to learn, requires a lot of training and has some features that are hard to find, as noted by more than 80% of customers who refer to training.
  • Price: The cost of the software is on the higher side, according to 90% of reviewers who mention pricing.
  • Custom Fields: It’s difficult to search fields and the platform doesn’t support more than 100 fields, according to every user who mentions custom fields and tools.
  • Document Storage: It doesn’t store documents or client information internally or in the cloud, as indicated by each customer who mentions storage.

Key Features

  • Customer Relationship Management: Infusionsoft’s CRM platform acts as the central hub for sales and marketing efforts. From it, you can segment lists, automate lead data entry, sync client emails from your other accounts to the correct contact record and identify the best opportunities with lead scoring tools. 
  • Marketing Automation: Build efficient processes using a variety of marketing automation settings. Campaign sequences are easy to create using the drag-and-drop interface, and you can set up workflows by defining triggers based on user actions. A/B testing is also supported. 
  • Sales Pipeline: The software allows sales reps and managers to nurture leads through the pipeline. The Infusionsoft by Keap app facilitates the creation and management of custom quotes, which customers can accept with a single click. 
  • Online Sales: Using this feature, you can generate unique landing pages. The interface is drag-and-drop, and templates make the process quick and easy. Add elements like text and images, as well as define which products to include. The system is also equipped to process online payments and will send automatic follow-ups to customers based on the sequence you choose. 
  • Integrations: Infusionsoft plugs into a host of third-party apps that extend your capability. E-Commerce integrations include Magento, WooCommerce and Shopify. You can also connect the platform to Zendesk, QuickBooks, Xero, Zapier, Vimeo, WordPress and a host of other tools. 
  • Payment Collection: Simplify the process of collecting payments on time. The system allows you to set up automated reminders and shows which customers have paid and which have outstanding balances. The connected platform removes the need to juggle multiple tools. Infusionsoft offers a flat rate for every transaction. 
  • Analytics: Take the pulse of your business with the analytics dashboard. It tracks a number of KPIs such as email conversions, quarterly sales and number of contacts. This provides insight into every aspect of your marketing and sales efforts, along with informing decisions. 

Pricing

License/Subscription Cost
  • Recurring subscription-based model: per user, per month, plus maintenance, implementation and backup support
  • All plans are billed monthly according to the annual contract
  • All plans come with a mandatory one-time setup fee called Kickstart package for new customers
  • Costs vary depending on the plan selected, based on the level of consulting and implementation help businesses require
Maintenance Cost
  • Included in the subscription cost
Installation/Implementation Cost
  • Included in the subscription cost
Customization Cost
  • Varies depending on the functional requirements added in the product module, such as sales force automation, marketing automation and eCommerce capabilities. This is based on the organization’s business requirements
Data Migration Cost/Change Management/Upfront Switching Cost
  • Cost varies depending on the amount and type of data to be migrated from the legacy system, availability of migration tools, data profiling, data cleansing and audit trail of the migration process
Training Cost
  • Cost is over and above the subscription cost and varies depending on the type of plan chosen
  • Provides an initial training program for first-time users. Users need to enroll and pay for the training course
  • Provides embedded links, including walkthrough features and video tutorials, after initial training is completed
Recurring/Renewal Costs
  • Cost is included in the subscription fee, based on the number of users, additional add-ons and the plan purchased
Eloqua
Eloqua
Start Price
$48
Monthly
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked Eloqua

With a vigorous set of features and tools, Eloqua assists many marketing automation activities. The ease of use and convenient navigation of the product proves to be a strong benefit among users. Users also appreciate the seamless integration opportunities it allows with third-party APIs, which helps strengthen campaigns.
However, user feedback suggests that it’s on the expensive end, especially considering delayed updates and an out-of-date visual interface. Users also report that unresponsive customer support is a drawback. Overall, it’s most useful for larger companies that want strong functionality and integrations, and that have resources to handle some glitchy behavior and system complexities.

Pros & Cons

  • Functionality: The product offers robust personalization, segmentation and automation, according to 86% of user feedback on features.
  • User-Friendly: Almost 80% of users who mention user interface and navigation note that the product is easy to use.
  • Integration: More than 85% of user feedback about integrations suggests that connecting with third-party APIs enhances the software’s usability.
  • Cost: It’s not cost-effective for the functionality offered, according to 86% of user feedback about this aspect.
  • Support: Over 75% of users referencing support report that customer service isn’t up to the mark and often responds based on issue severity.
  • Updates: Infrequent feature updates and an outdated interface are a cause for concern, according to all the users who mention this aspect.

Key Features

  • Online and Offline Data Aggregation: Access a multitude of different data sources while enabling the ability to parse, process and enrich multiple data silos. Also feeds into the system’s customer targeting features. 
  • Campaign Management: Create robust campaigns and view campaign information and customer journeys in an easy-to-understand visual interface without any technical resources. 
  • Interest-based Messaging: Utilize customer data to deliver personalized messaging campaigns. Pause or adjust campaigns on the fly for a delightful customer experience. 
  • Intuitive Digital Whiteboard: Envision campaign goals and processes with an easy-to-use digital whiteboard. 
  • Partner Ecosystem: Integrate seamlessly with hundreds of partners and their products with minimal technical work and knowledge. 
  • Native CRM Integrations: Enrich data pools and segmentation with CRM integrations that are easy to set up. 
  • Customizable Dashboards and Interactive reports: Customize dashboards to suit business needs and access interactive reports for stronger insights into marketing strategies. 
  • Lead Management: Improve sales readiness with an automated lead scoring system, which scales automatically and offers updates for various campaigns and business lines in real time. 
  • Asset Management: Create dynamic content like responsive emails, landing pages and interactive forms to engage customers. Reuse brand-compliant content for campaign assets. Also, access historical email open data to assess a campaign for insights. 
  • Segmentation:  Assemble data from multiple sources to segment and connect to the right audience based on geography, interests and more for data-driven targeting. 

Pricing

License/Subscription Cost
  • Subscription-based pricing model: price charged per month, in addition to extra fees for premium training and support services
  • Offers three-tier pricing models: Basic, Standard and Enterprise
  • Cost varies based on the number of contacts, number of marketing users and number of sales users
  • A signed contract for an annual subscription is required
Maintenance Cost
  • Included in the subscription cost
  • Provides regular upgrades and software updates, plus 24/7 ongoing support services via online, documentation, whitepapers and webinars
Installation/Implementation Cost
  • Cloud-based/SaaS: Included in the subscription cost
  • Cost is over and above the subscription cost
  • Offers Oracle Marketing Cloud Onboarding services
  • Provides Oracle Marketing Cloud Implementation Services
  • Cost varies based on the scope of implementation, business requirements and pricing tier
Customization Cost
  • Cost varies depending on the type of functional requirements added on, based on business requirements such as Oracle Eloqua Insight Analyzer, Custom Security Administration, Oracle Cloud Priority
  • Service, Multi-Lead Scoring & Advanced Routing, Event Management Module, Advanced Data Cleansing and Digital Advertising
Data Migration Cost/Change Management/Upfront Switching Cost
  • Cost varies depending on the amount and type of data to be migrated from the legacy system, availability of migration tools, complexity of data and gaps between the existing system and the new system
Training Cost
  • Cost is over and above the subscription fee
  • Cost varies depending on the type of training program chosen
Recurring/Renewal Costs
  • Cost is equivalent to the recurring subscription fee, plus customization costs and training costs
Marketo
Marketo
Start Price
$895
Monthly
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked Marketo

As a part of the Adobe Experience Cloud, Marketo Engage supports both demand and account-based marketing strategies that work in sync with marketing and sales. It offers a range of features that help businesses operations. Notable features that users call out include custom reports, automation tools and lead management. It’s highly customizable and can integrate with a wide range of business systems. Users also appreciate the robust customer service.
Some limitations include an inconvenient mobile app, outdated user interface for campaign dashboards and cumbersome functionality. Overall, businesses looking to automate their sales and marketing efforts will find the system has a lot to offer.

Pros & Cons

  • Lead Management: The ability to route and categorize leads based on requirements is helpful for staying on top of customers inputs, in the view of 60% of users talking about lead management.
  • Customizable: All reviews on this aspect agree that the system is highly customizable and offers email templates that can be created as per requirements.
  • Automation: Marketing and sales automation make it easy to use and eliminate manual entry, according to 83% of users who reviewed this feature.
  • Reporting: Provides custom reports that fit the user requirement and are insightful, say 75% of users referencing reporting.
  • Integrations: Integrations for websites, event platforms, survey platforms, mobile apps and more, along with two-way integration with CRM systems, aid functionality, according to 75% of users mentioning integrations.
  • Customer Support: The training is great and customer support is responsive, according to 66% of reviews on this topic.
  • Not User-Friendly: The functionality is cumbersome and pages take time to load, in the experience of 60% of users who reviewed the usability.
  • Dashboard: Campaign dashboards are outdated and the design needs an upgrade, according to 75% of users specifying this feature.

Key Features

  • Search Engine Optimization: Compares keyword rankings of competitors, provides recommendations for new keywords for higher ranking web pages, and discovers inbound link opportunities based on targeted keywords and competitors’ links. 
  • CRM Integration: Offers native integrations for Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics 365 applications to provide a bi-directional data sync that auto-updates every five minutes. Also facilitates custom-configured integrations for various CRM platforms such as NetSuite, Oracle, SAP Sales Cloud and SugarCRM. 
  • Lead Scoring: Rank customers by assigning positive and negative scores based on demographics or their likelihood to exhibit certain behaviors, such as making a new purchase, being open to cross-sell offers and more. 
  • Email Marketing: Supports both batch and real-time triggered emails. Helps: 
    • Create personalized campaigns for mobile, web, ads and more using a visual editor and responsive templates.
    • Personalize content based on inferred information from website visitors, such as company, country, zip code and city, helping segment and localize content.
    • Use browsing behavior to identify product interest for target accounts.
  • Mobile Marketing: 
    • Helps connect with customers on the go, track inputs from different marketing channels and respond via mobile apps.
    • Sends push notifications and in-app messages, and incorporates beacon and geo-fencing technology to send location-relevant messages to customers.
    • Visual dashboards measure overall performance by opens, installs and session duration across multiple apps.
  • Social Media Marketing: Facilitates running social polls, sweepstakes and referral campaigns with built-in social share buttons and shareable videos. Integrates social metrics into marketing reports to help measure the impact of social activity on conversions and revenue. 
  • Digital Ad Campaigns: Connects with Facebook, Google, LinkedIn and other advertising platforms, and targets customers with relevant ad campaigns. 
  • Analytics and Reporting: Automatically connect data from different sources into a unified platform. Enables: 
    • Mapping and measuring a customer journey at every stage through shareable, prebuilt dashboards and ad-hoc reporting tools.
    • Designing custom models with the help of AI.
    • Leveraging a suite of attribution models.
SharpSpring
SharpSpring
Start Price
$449
Monthly
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked SharpSpring

SharpSpring combines CRM and marketing automation functionalities to provide robust, user-friendly features and performance. Users particularly appreciate its lead tracking and regular software updates that improve and add features. Comprehensive customer support is another prominent benefit. Some product limitations include a lack of display functionality in the form and landing page builders and a mobile app that isn’t user-friendly and lacks responsiveness. Custom stylesheets are also time-consuming to work with. Despite some drawbacks, it can be a solid option for businesses looking for a budget-friendly and intuitive sales and marketing solution.

Pros & Cons

  • User-Friendly: The platform is easy to use, and the kanban boards, the marketing automation and drip campaigns are easy to adapt to, in the experience of 69% of users referring to this aspect.
  • Robust Lead Tracking: Over 60% of reviews about this feature appreciate the end-to-end tracking functionality for marketing and sales data, with the ability to generate, track, filter and score leads.
  • Customer Service: All reviews on support say it’s professional and highly responsive.
  • Updates: The system constantly keeps updating with new features and offers updated dashboards for use, a benefit according to 75% of users mentioning updates.
  • Mobile App: Every user referencing the mobile app suggests it’s inoperable, not relevant and lacks basic functionalities.
  • Limited Design Flexibility: The landing page builder lacks the ability to add custom code, restricting users' ability to fully customize their pages and potentially hindering brand consistency or advanced functionality.
  • Email Deliverability Issues: Some users report challenges with emails landing in spam folders, which can impact campaign performance and lead to missed opportunities. It's important to note that email deliverability can be influenced by various factors, so it's recommended to investigate and address potential causes to improve deliverability rates.
  • Reporting Limitations: Users mention that the reporting features could be more robust, particularly in terms of attribution and providing deeper insights into campaign performance. This might make it difficult to accurately measure the effectiveness of marketing efforts and identify areas for improvement.

Key Features

  • Email Builder: Offers drag-and-drop email editor and HTML customization. Dynamic features and smart tags automate the process of customizing email messages. Designs can also be saved as templates for later use. 
  • Email Campaign Testing: Native integration with Litmus facilitates testing and previewing emails on dozens of applications, email providers and devices. 
  • Behavioral-Based Email Tracking: Gives complete information on visitor activity, including page visits, form fills, webinar sign-ups and white paper downloads from email campaigns. 
  • Web Form Builder: Provides: 
    • A drag-and-drop tool with auto-completion capabilities to design and customize web forms and CTA buttons.
    • The option to view and test forms before making them live.
    • CSS to customize forms.
    • Data sharing with other applications and databases by adding a Postback URL to sync information automatically.
  • Customer Segmentation: Offers lists that automatically update as contacts meet the list’s criteria such as location, visited pricing pages, product interest and more. Map a field in web forms to preset buyer personas, setting up questions accordingly. Responses aid list segmentation, allowing follow up with personalized information. 
  • Workflow Builder: Supports automation tasks and leverages branching logic, task combination and action groups to devise a path buyers should take. Responses use custom triggers and filters to personalize lead journeys. 
  • Lead Scoring: Scores leads based on engagement. Custom metrics allow increasing or decreasing scores, including page visits, filled out forms, content downloads and specific demographic characteristics. Assigning a decay rate on leads automatically decreases scores over time. 
  • Real-Time Alerts: Automated workflows can trigger notifications via email and SMS whenever a sale is made, a high-quality lead is created or a prospect moves along their buyer’s journey. 
  • Pipeline View: Create and customize custom deal stages to track the progress of an opportunity. Provides a drag-and-drop interface to move opportunities across deal stages to get an overview of each prospect’s progress through the sales cycle. 
  • VisitorID: Tracks anonymous visitor IP addresses with reverse IP lookup to identify companies that visit the business’ website. Records page visits, recognizes visitors’ views on an important page, determines where they came from and identifies which search terms led them to the website. 
  • Customer Timeline: Offers a timeline view of individual buyers’ journeys to track significant events associated with each contact. 
  • Landing Page Builder: Provides a WYSIWYG interface with HTML for customization. Pages can automatically adapt based on visitor preferences and behaviors. Supports optimizing for mobile and creating a series of linked pages to design a funnel for visitors and prospects. 
  • Content Calendar: Offers an interactive application with daily, weekly or monthly list views of all the planned content such as social activity, scheduled emails and blog posts. Share social media content immediately or at a later date. 
  • Site Tracking: Embeds a custom tracking code snippet in landing pages, websites, microsites or blogs to track every visit. Add media center links to track visits to external resources. 
  • Blog Builder: Provides a WYSIWYG blog and website editor that’s customizable with HTML views. Includes dynamic content that can automatically adapt to resonate with different audiences based on who they are, what interests them and how they behave on the blog and website. Also has an embeddable social sharing widget. 
  • Google Ads Integration: Tracks the ROI of paid search engine marketing campaigns and derives keyword data. 
  • Campaign Analytics Tracking: Automatically tracks website visitors conversions from the moment they first visit till the final sale. Detailed campaign analytics track campaign ROI goals and work offline without the need to set up conversion funnels. 
  • Social Listening: Find and filter social conversations on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn by hashtag, keyword and more. Spots customer queries, captures interactions to identify prospects that are ready to buy and offers affiliate programs to promote current customers to help close the next deal. 
  • Custom Reports: Customizable across campaigns, email, social media and CRM to include business-specific metrics. Measures and predicts present and future performance, turning data into insights. 
  • Open API: Developers have access to a platform-agnostic, open API that supports programming languages such as Java, Ruby, Perl, PHP, Python and more for building custom integrations with third-party software. 
  • Third-Party Integration: An app marketplace provides access to prebuilt extensions and integrations across categories such as CRM, accounting, analytics, forms and more, extending capabilities. 
eTrigue
eTrigue
Start Price
$600
Monthly
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request Pricing Request Demo

Key Features

  • Campaign Management: Quickly build out automated email marketing campaigns, simple or multistep campaigns and more using a drag-and-drop builder. Launch, report and test campaigns and check results with in-line campaign statistics. 
  • Prospect Management: Categorize and identify which prospects to include, and build target personas, segments and account-based lists. Dynamic lists are automatically updated as new prospects are added. 
  • Reports: Measure, analyze and report on the effectiveness of campaigns. Track results to make necessary changes, get an overview of progress in detailed dashboards and schedule automatic reports via email. 
  • Landing Pages: Create, edit and publish pages quickly using a WYSIWYG editor. Schedule live sessions, expiry and redirection. Access pages without IT support. 
  • Form Builder: Build forms easily using a drag-and-drop interface, drop forms on landing pages using the WYSIWYG editor and customize them as needed. 
  • Email Builder: Create mobile-friendly, automated email campaigns quickly and effectively with a drag-and-drop tool. Offers professional templates, built-in image editing and an image library. 
  • Sophisticated Customer Tracking: Customer tracking can be extended from inbound to outbound efforts, allowing marketers to tweak campaign models based on recovered data. 
  • Real-time Lead Alerts: Allows timely follow-up and includes campaign stats and the times at which leads accessed certain content. 

Pricing

License/Subscription Cost
  • Subscription-based pricing model: per user, per month
  • Cost varies based on the prospect database size
Maintenance Cost
  • Cost is included in the subscription fee
  • Provides ongoing support via best practices documents, standard phone/email support, a dedicated customer success manager, webinars and eBooks
  • Charges $3,000/year (optional) for a dedicated IP address
  • ETrigue offers a Partner Plus Program starting at $1,000/month, which includes:
  • Full-feature package per instance
  • Partner Plus support
  • Includes all the features and functionalities of eTrigue DemandCenter
Installation/Implementation Cost
  • Included in the subscription fee
  • Provides Quick Start and Onboarding services, included in the subscription fee
  • Provides implementation from the beginning through the first email campaign with 5 days training, all included in the subscription fee
Customization Cost
  • Cost varies depending on the new functional requirements and modules added on, based on business requirements
Data Migration/Change Management/Upfront Switching Cost
  • Cost varies depending on the current software, amount of data to be migrated, availability of migration tools, complexity of data and gaps between the existing system and the new system, amount of
    data cleansing, data consolidation and data validation required
Training Cost
  • Provides online training for users, included in the subscription fee
Recurring/Renewal Costs
  • Cost is equivalent to the recurring subscription fee and the customization cost
Oracle CX Marketing
Oracle CX Marketing
Start Price
$0
Freemium, Per User
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked Oracle CX Marketing

User reviews of Oracle CX Marketing paint a contrasting picture. Many praise its comprehensive feature set, particularly its advanced journey mapping and integration capabilities with other Oracle products. Users appreciate its ability to handle large databases and complex campaigns, highlighting its scalability and performance as major strengths. For example, one reviewer noted, "The ability to map out the entire customer journey and deliver personalized experiences across multiple channels has been a game-changer for our business." However, some highlight its steep learning curve and high cost as major drawbacks, suggesting it may be overkill for small businesses or those with simpler marketing needs. Additionally, some users criticize its limited reporting capabilities and slow customer support, finding them less user-friendly compared to similar products like HubSpot and Marketo. One user commented, "The platform can be quite complex to navigate, and the initial learning curve was significant. We also felt the reporting tools could be more customizable and user-friendly." Despite these shortcomings, many users believe Oracle CX Marketing outperforms its competitors in terms of its comprehensive feature set, scalability, and ability to handle complex campaigns. However, its high cost and steep learning curve make it a better fit for large businesses with the resources and expertise to leverage its full potential. Ultimately, the decision boils down to individual needs and priorities, with users needing to weigh the strengths and weaknesses against their specific requirements and budget.

Pros & Cons

  • Comprehensive Feature Set: Offers a wide range of tools for campaign management, lead generation, automation, content management, and social media marketing.
  • Advanced Journey Mapping: Enables personalized customer experiences across multiple touchpoints.
  • Scalability and Performance: Handles large customer databases and complex marketing campaigns efficiently.
  • Integrations with Oracle Products: Provides seamless integration with other Oracle solutions for a unified business ecosystem.
  • Strong Lead Generation Tools: Helps identify and nurture high-potential leads effectively.
  • High Cost: Can be expensive compared to other marketing automation platforms, especially for small businesses.
  • Steep Learning Curve: The platform can be complex to learn and use, requiring significant training and resources.
  • Limited Reporting Capabilities: While reporting features are available, they may not be as comprehensive or user-friendly as those offered by other platforms.
  • Overkill for Small Businesses: The extensive features and complexity may be unnecessary for small businesses with simpler marketing needs.
  • Slow Customer Support: Some users have reported experiencing slow or unresponsive customer support.

Key Features

  • Eloqua: Offers B2B tools to plan and implement automated marketing campaigns that can adapt in real time based on buyer activity. Generate, prioritize and segment leads using lead scoring and data from different sources. Also includes real-time data flow controls, account-based marketing and asset management. 
  • Responsys: Manages B2C campaigns to build experiences and personalize interactions across different channels by aggregating consumer data signals. Leverages email marketing, A/B and multivariate testing, cross-channel marketing, analytics, and segmentation. 
  • Maxymiser: Create optimized customer journeys across websites and mobile apps through testing, personalization, recommendations and insights. Provides a decision engine and action tracking for developers. Also enables testing on non-browser devices and for new pricing algorithms. 
  • Infinity: Collect and manage data in real time to track, measure and optimize performance and visitor behavior. Includes analytics for data reporting, streams for data collection, an action center for data activation and a data connector for data management. 
  • CX Audience: Combines behavioral and profile data from different sources, including online, offline and third-party. This allows creating segments and targets as well as analyzing audiences based on past campaigns. 
  • CrowdTwist: Manage personalized customer loyalty and reward programs using omnichannel engagement and loyalty solutions. Design programs using widget-based, automated tools. Key capabilities include collection of customer engagement data, self-service reporting tools and automatic data export. 
  • CX Content: Manage content, documents and digital assets, and streamline content creation and distribution with internal as well as external collaboration and workflow management. Also provides content recommendations, an asset repository, smart tagging and integrations with tools like Dropbox, Office 365 and Adobe Creative Cloud. 
  • CX Unity: Optimizes business processes by accessing online, offline and third-party customer data sources. Integrates with DMP and ID Graph solutions to bring together marketing and advertising data. Also includes native machine learning functionality, profile enrichment and behavior-based segmentation. 
  • Bluekai Data Management Platform: Offers key target audiences using specific buyer interests and actionable information to create personalized online, offline and mobile marketing campaigns. 
  • DataFox: Drives personalized marketing campaigns and sales programs by leveraging company data and real-time signals. Stay up to date regarding customers’ needs with continually updated, AI-sourced data that’s automatically permeated throughout workflows. 
Sendinblue
Sendinblue
Start Price
$25
Monthly
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked Sendinblue

Sendinblue provides a cloud-based suite of communication tools available through a simple interface, ensuring ease of use. It offers a wide range of marketing automation tools and helps manage contacts efficiently, as many users note. The support team is prompt and thoroughly helpful. Users also find the free plan to be beneficial, as it offers good features with up to 300 emails per day. However, the system suffers from certain functional limitations and the design tool needs improvement. Overall, it’s an efficient, user-friendly option for businesses of any size looking to support all aspects of email marketing.

Pros & Cons

  • Ease of Use: More than 90% of reviewers referencing this feature mention it’s easy and simple to use the platform.
  • Email Marketing Tool: It’s easy to create, customize and deliver emails using a complete range of email automation tools, note more than 90% of reviewers who talk about this feature.
  • Support: The customer service team is helpful and responds in a timely manner, according to 82% of users mentioning it.
  • Interface: In the view of 91% of users referencing the interface, it’s efficient and pleasant to use.
  • Contact Management: It’s easy to import and categorize contacts, and communicating with customers is also straightforward, in the experience of 75% of reviewers mentioning contact management.
  • Limitations: Every user talking about this aspect mentions limitations such as difficulty adding a new folder and finding bounce email issues.
  • Design Tool: As every user observes, the design tool is basic and doesn’t offer many functions.

Key Features

  • Email Templates: Simplifies GDPR compliance with email templates built to follow regulations. Enables user-friendly editing via drag-and-drop functionality. 
  • Email Personalization: Helps increase email open rates. Dynamic personalization helps use subscriber-provided information from newsletters to achieve a more relevant experience. Personalization attributes include last name, first name, gender preferences, date of birth and more. 
  • Retargeting: Create a retargeting audience for ads by retargeting visitors based on specific page visits or actions (visiting a checkout page, abandoning a cart). Upload different styles of ad creatives, define budgets and monitor performance on key metrics. 
  • Sign-Up Forms: A drag-and-drop tool makes it easy to build sign-up forms and helps collect information from different fields. Additionally, give contacts a chance to opt in to receive different types of emails according to GDPR regulations. 
  • Real-Time Statistics: Access a global overview of email performance. Enables tracking events, deliveries, opens, clicks and bounces in real time, providing live monitoring of any campaign. 
  • Landing Pages: Create custom landing pages without any coding skills using the drag-and-drop landing page builder. Add the URL of landing pages in emails, advertisements, social posts and more. 
  • API: Developers have access to the entire range of the platform’s capabilities. APIs are available in several coding languages including PHP, Python, Node.js, Ruby and C Sharp. 
  • Integrations: Extend the platform’s functionality and keep using familiar apps. Supports integrations for CRM, e-commerce, forms, CMS, analytics and more, including Magento, PayPal, WordPress and Google Analytics. 
  • Chat: Developers can install a chat window on the company website so users can talk to customers and leads in real time. 

COMPARE THE BEST Demand Generation Software

Select up to 2 Products from the list below to compare

 
Product
Score
i
SelectHub’s Analyst Rating is based on data from our 400+ point analysis of Demand Generation Software, user reviews, and our own crowd-sourced data from our free software selection platform. Scores are periodically updated via ongoing selection projects and user activity within our platform.
Start Price
Free Trial
Company Size
Deployment
Platform
Logo
HubSpot
$800
Monthly
Yes
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
HubSpot
ActiveCampaign
$9
Monthly
Yes
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
ActiveCampaign
Marketing Cloud Account Engagement
$1,250
Monthly
Yes
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Marketing Cloud Account Engagement
Infusionsoft
$159
Monthly
Yes
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Infusionsoft
Eloqua
$48
Monthly
Yes
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Eloqua
Marketo
$895
Monthly
Yes
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Marketo
SharpSpring
$449
Monthly
No
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
SharpSpring
eTrigue
$600
Monthly
Yes
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
eTrigue
Oracle CX Marketing
$0
Freemium, Per User
Yes
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Oracle CX Marketing
Sendinblue
$25
Monthly
Yes
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Sendinblue

All Demand Generation Software (88 found)

Narrow down your solution options easily






X  Clear Filter

Outsell

by Outsell
Outsell
Designed for auto dealers, Outsell offers an AI-driven platform that helps create and nurture customer relationships, leading to increased sales and profits. Analytical data, generated from consistent omnichannel communications, helps create accurate consumer profiles with which users can engage customers and prospects effectively.
Cost Breakdown
$100 - $500
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request with no obligation:
Demo Pricing

Lead Liaison

by Lead Liaison
Lead Liaison
Lead Liaison is a cloud-based automation solution suitable for businesses of all sizes to attract and close leads. It helps users attract, convert, close deals and retain customers. It lets users capture, track, qualify, distribute and nurture leads, segment databases, report ROI and manage social media. It also enables sales, manages event leads and tracks website visitors. Some of its add-ons include gamification, analytics and reporting, content builder and relationship management. It integrates seamlessly with over 400 popular inclusions like marketing, video, productivity, CRM and finance. It also supports third-parties like Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, Facebook, LinkedIn, HubSpot, Eloqua, Wistia, YouTube, Zapier, Stripe, Paypal and more.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: excellent
Cost Breakdown
$100 - $500
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request with no obligation:
Demo Pricing

RedPoint Global

by RedPoint Global
RedPoint Global
Redpoint Global empowers brands to automate their marketing efforts and transform customer experiences. It has a single dashboard that connects customer data, recommends possible actions and manages interactions across organizational hierarchy to optimize customer engagement. Its ecosystem is built with its Customer Engagement Hub at its center, facilitating these three services: marketing, data aggregation and implementation. It helps use available data to deliver personalized customer experiences across all interaction points. It leverages data and provides insights to deliver customer interactions.
Cost Breakdown
$100 - $500
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request with no obligation:
Demo Pricing

RD Station

by RD Station
RD Station
RD Station helps users manage their digital marketing and sales strategies. It helps attract visitors, close sales, build relationships and track results. It connects to other digital inclusions, lets users find partners and agencies and accelerate their marketing results. It provides technical support in languages like English, Portuguese and Spanish. Its onboarding is supported by specialists who focus on execution and planning.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: great
Cost Breakdown
$10 or less
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request with no obligation:
Demo Pricing

FunnelMaker

by TriageTech LLC
FunnelMaker
FunnelMaker is a comprehensive software solution designed to streamline CRM and marketing tasks, making it an ideal choice for businesses seeking to enhance customer relationship management and marketing efficiency. It caters to a wide range of industries, including real estate, healthcare, and financial services, due to its versatile features. Users benefit from its robust capabilities such as email marketing automation, lead tracking, and detailed analytics, which empower businesses to optimize their marketing strategies and improve customer engagement. FunnelMaker stands out with its user-friendly interface and customizable options, allowing businesses to tailor the platform to their specific needs. While pricing details are not explicitly available, potential users are encouraged to contact SelectHub for a personalized quote. Compared to similar products, FunnelMaker is praised for its intuitive design and comprehensive feature set, making it a valuable tool for businesses aiming to enhance their CRM and marketing efforts.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: great
Cost Breakdown
$100 - $500
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request with no obligation:
Demo Pricing

Zoho Marketing Automation

by Zoho Corporation
Zoho Marketing Automation
Zoho Marketing Automation is a comprehensive solution that creates a visual dashboard for tracking data. It automates workflow processes, tracks conversions and helps visitors navigate the website. Generate engagement with surveys and webinars, and simplify social media, email and mobile campaigns. Explore and compare data with accessible analytics and provide integrated assistance to customers and staff.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: great
Cost Breakdown
$10 - $100
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request with no obligation:
Demo Pricing

SeoSamba

by SeoSamba
SeoSamba
SeoSamba provides digital solutions that automate all marketing efforts and support customer-focused tasks such as contact management, sales, ABM and more. Deployable both in the cloud and on-premises, it offers patent-pending, hybrid open source marketing, email, social media and more. It also offers SEO and blogging capabilities for SeoToaster and WordPress users. Free workflow automation saves time and effort.It hosts a brand review management module that tracks customer reviews, decreases the chances of unfavorable reviews, lists the best ones on the top and also automatically responds to critical reviews.
Cost Breakdown
$10 or less
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request with no obligation:
Demo Pricing

Kloudville

by Kloudville
Kloudville
Kloudville offers a comprehensive software solution designed to streamline business support and customer relationship management (CRM) tasks. It is particularly well-suited for industries such as telecommunications, retail, and manufacturing, where managing complex customer interactions and business processes is crucial. The platform stands out with its robust features, including order management, billing, and customer engagement tools, which enhance operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. Users appreciate its intuitive interface and the ability to customize workflows to fit specific business needs. Compared to similar products, Kloudville is praised for its flexibility and scalability, making it an attractive option for growing businesses. While specific pricing details are not publicly available, potential users are encouraged to contact SelectHub for a tailored pricing quote. Overall, Kloudville provides a dynamic and adaptable solution for businesses seeking to optimize their CRM and business support functions.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: excellent
Cost Breakdown
$100 - $500
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request with no obligation:
Demo Pricing

Buyer's Guide

Demand Generation Software Is All About Creating and Converting Leads

By Hunter Lowe, Editor and Market Analyst at SelectHub

Demand Generation BG Intro

Is your targeted marketing up to snuff? Are you struggling to pinpoint your audience and generate content that converts them? Demand generation tools help attract qualified leads and nurture them through personalized campaigns and in-depth interaction tracking.


This guide will cover everything from the benefits of this subset of marketing automation software to some basic features, cost considerations and popular software you should consider.

Executive Summary

  • Demand generation tools help you tailor your marketing content to attract and nurture leads.
  • Some key features include lead management, lead generation, email marketing, automation and more.
  • Lay out some questions that cover your internal needs and anything you want to learn about your vendor before making a purchase.
What This Guide Covers:

What Is Demand Generation Software?

Demand generation software is a comprehensive suite of tools that uses everything from automation, content generation and analytics to improve your marketing funnel. It supplies actionable insights into audience behavior so you can tailor content that converts leads into wins.

It simplifies the most complex marketing processes by hours of manual lead tracking and supports your marketing strategies with real-time data. Customer relationship software and email marketing platforms come together to form a one-stop shop for all your demand generation needs.

Related Categories

Primary Benefits

Demand Generation Benefits

Boost Lead Generation

According to a HubSpot survey, 61% of marketers say lead generation is the biggest challenge they face. Demand generation software brings in a consistent flow of leads with a combination of social media marketing, email campaigns, SEO optimization, webinars and more.

Take the grind out of your lead hunting with tools that shoulder more of the burden. Imagine being ahead of 61% of the marketing game with simple, effective lead generation processes.

Improve Lead Nurturing

Getting leads is one thing. Nurturing them into high-quality, valuable conversions is another. These tools use several modules to engage leads across the entire buyer’s journey, including:

  • Personalized communication
  • Automatic campaign nurturing
  • Lead scoring
  • Multichannel engagement
  • And more!

Segment audiences, automate entire email campaigns, prioritize the most valuable leads based on scores and engage customers across numerous channels to pull in the most revenue.

Strengthen Customer Experiences

Demand generation tools ensure you target the right audience with the right content in the right channel. Timely content focusing on the right demographic goes a long way toward drawing in and converting quality leads.

Going the extra mile to understand where the customer is in the sales funnel gives you the strategic advantage of focusing on specific pain points. Customers who feel like you understand what they need and when are more likely to become repeat or first-time buyers.

Key Features & Functionality

Keep an eye out for these vital demand generation tools.

Lead Generation
  • Create buyer personas based on demographics.
  • Auto-fill forms for repeat visitors. Create multiple form types, including pop-ups and sign-ups.
  • Share surveys through social media channels, emails or chats.
Lead Management
  • Send automatic follow-ups to leads.
  • Segment leads based on activity.
  • Track lead sources and their journey through the sales pipeline.
  • Create and set lead scoring criteria.
Social Media Management
  • Create, schedule and publish social media posts.
  • Generate ads for Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
  • Use social listening to find and filter hashtags, mentions and keywords on social platforms.
Email Management
  • Use A/B testing to measure email performance and test campaign variances.
  • Customize email templates and send mass or bulk emails to audiences.
  • Create automated drip email campaigns.
  • Access analytics for open, bounce and click rates.
Reporting and Dashboards
  • Combine metrics in a preferred view on visually digestible dashboards.
  • Use pre-built reports to access helpful KPIs on engagement and lead generation.
  • Customize reports to display vital data using filters.

Software Comparison Strategy

Finding a perfect demand generation tool requires a lot more than picking your favorite features.

Our Lean Selection methodology can simplify the process with nine easy-to-follow steps:

  1. Establish
  2. Collaborate
  3. Define
  4. Distribute and Validate
  5. Justify
  6. Prove
  7. Rank
  8. Negotiate
  9. Sign

Following this guide ensures your stakeholders are engaged and involved, you consider the requirements you need to succeed, and you get the information you need from vendors before signing on with a new solution.

Research vendors you’re interested in, check online reviews and ask colleagues who have used the system in question about their experience. Don’t go into a purchase half-cocked.

Cost & Pricing Considerations

Prices vary depending on a few factors, with some tools offering free versions without full feature sets. Most demand generation software vendors offer subscription-based pricing that can range anywhere from $20 to $80 a month.

However, this can fluctuate thanks to customization, user numbers and more. Make use of free trials and demos before signing a contract to ensure your teams like the tools.

The Most Popular Demand Generation Software

Now that you’ve got an idea of what demand generation software can do, let’s dive into some popular systems.

HubSpot

Hubspot, specifically its Marketing Cloud solution, offers a cloud-based platform that helps businesses focus on customer-centric data. It provides a free CRM package, funnel automation, lead targeting, reporting and analytics, and more.

It’s great for smaller businesses but also offers paid packages for larger organizations that need more functionality.

HubSpot

Drive revenue and view ROI numbers with HubSpot dashboards. Source

Product Overview
User Sentiment Score 87%
Analyst Rating 95
Company Size S|M|L
Pricing $$$

Pipedrive

Pipedrive supports every step of the sales process to help sales teams close deals. It offers forecasting tools and visual pipelines to identify where a lead is in the sales funnel for more precise targeting.

It also offers AI and automation modules to simplify mundane tasks and reduce errors associated with manual inputs. Its open API supports third-party integrations.

Pipedrive

Manage sales CRM and pipelines. Source

Product Overview
User Sentiment Score 90%
Analyst Rating 68
Company Size S|M
Pricing $

Salesforce Marketing Cloud

The Salesforce Marketing Cloud, also available as part of the Salesforce Customer 360 suite, supports everything from digital marketing and advertising to social media and customer engagement.

It also offers access to Pardot, the Google Marketing Platform, mobile marketing tools and more.

Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Create and demo new customer journeys. Source

Product Overview
User Sentiment Score 79%
Company Size S|M|L
Pricing $$$$$

Questions To Ask

Before jumping into vendor discussion, asking some probing internal questions can give you a head start on what you need/want.

  • How many users do we need to support?
  • Are there any customizations we need to succeed?
  • Do we have any legacy systems or modules we need continued support for?
  • Which social media sites are we active on/want to be more active on?
  • Are there any must-have functions the sales teams need?

Demand Generation Key Questions

Once you have an idea of what you need internally, you can start outlining what you want to learn from software vendors.

  • Do you have any experience working within our industry?
  • What security measures do you have in place to protect customer data?
  • How much do customizations or upgrades add to subscription costs?
  • Do you offer support or training programs?
  • Are there any free trial or demo periods available?

Next Steps

Demand generation tools are your hub for marketing and lead support. Don’t let the software selection process overwhelm you. Ask questions about what you need and make sure you get the vital features your teams want.

Want some more help getting started? Our free comparison report gives you valuable insight into top vendors with an interactive, analytics-based approach.

Additional Resources

About The Contributors

The following expert team members are responsible for creating, reviewing, and fact checking the accuracy of this content.

Shweta
By Shweta Joshi
Technical Content Writer
Shweta Joshi is a Market Analyst at SelectHub. She writes content for Warehouse Management, Distribution and CRM. In her free time, she pursues her myriad interests in reading, writing, sketching, traveling, learning about new languages, cultures and cuisines, and occasionally playing the uke completely out of tune.
See Full Bio
Joan
Technical Research By Joan Akash
Senior Analyst
Joan Akash, a Senior Research Analyst at SelectHub, holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management with a specialization in Marketing. Her expertise as a researcher and reviewer spans diverse software categories, including Project Management, Customer Relationship Management, Live Chat, and Help Desk. Beyond her professional pursuits, Joan is spiritually driven, with a passion for teaching children and a penchant for reading biblical blogs and crafting poetry.
See Full Bio
Manan
Technical Review By Manan Roy
Principal Analyst
Manan is a native of Tezpur, Assam (India), who currently lives in Kolkata, West Bengal (India). At SelectHub, he works on categories like CRM, HR, PPM, BI, and EHR. He has a Bachelor of Technology in CSE from The Gandhi Institute of Engineering and Technology, a Master of Technology from The Institute of Engineering and Management IT, and an MBA in Finance from St. Xavier's College. He's published two research papers, one in a conference and the other in a journal, during his Master of Technology.
See Full Bio
Hunter
Edited By Hunter Lowe
Content Editor
Hunter Lowe is a Content Editor, Writer and Market Analyst at SelectHub. His team covers categories that range from ERP and business intelligence to transportation and supply chain management. Hunter is an avid reader and Dungeons and Dragons addict who studied English and Creative Writing through college. In his free time, you'll likely find him devising new dungeons for his players to explore, checking out the latest video games, writing his next horror story or running around with his daughter.
See Full Bio
Joe
Edited By Joe Evans
Content Editor
Joe Evans is an Editor and Senior Market Analyst at SelectHub. A seasoned professional wordsmith, he has a bachelor's degree in journalism and electronic media and a decade of professional expertise in crafting top-tier digital content for niche online brands. He leads his small yet formidable team in producing helpful, compelling content in vital categories like HR, payroll, talent management, performance management, marketing automation home health, MES. When not editing and writing, he enjoys sports, quality time with family and dogs, and remains constantly in pursuit of something new and interesting to read or listen to.
See Full Bio