Top 10 Marketing Automation Cloud Tools Driving Success in 2025

Posted date:
26 Aug 2025
Last updated:
26 Aug 2025

Running campaigns without a marketing automation cloud often means wasted time and missed customer connections. Businesses adopting automation marketing cloud tools are seeing faster growth and better engagement. This guide of MOR Software highlights the top 10 tools driving success in 2025.

What Is Marketing Automation Cloud?

marketing automation cloud is a cloud-based system that helps companies automate and control marketing activities across channels. It supports email, social media, SMS, and campaign workflows with AI-driven precision. 

The goal is to give customers personalized experiences at scale, while helping businesses manage and expand campaigns without adding manual work.

What Is Marketing Automation Cloud?

McKinsey finds that effective personalization can reduce customer acquisition costs by up to 50%, lift revenues by 5 to 15%, and increase marketing ROI by 10 to 30%, which explains why AI automation sits at the core of modern programs.

Digital spending is also surging, with eMarketer projecting worldwide ad outlays to top one trillion dollars in 2025 and more than 75% going to digital channels. So cross-channel orchestration has become essential.

What Are The Benefits Of Using Marketing Automation Cloud?

marketing automation cloud simplifies campaigns by cutting manual effort, lowering expenses, and creating tailored customer interactions that build loyalty. It also brings a complete view of your audience, making it easier to build stronger pipelines and drive faster revenue growth.

What Are The Benefits Of Using Marketing Automation Cloud?

In the United States, e-commerce accounted for 16.3% of total retail sales in Q2 2025. This is a sign that digital journeys now touch a large share of purchases.

Here’s how a marketing automation cloud supports business success:

Unified Customer Data And Pipeline Growth

By connecting behavioral insights, a marketing automation cloud delivers a clear picture of customer actions. This enables teams to spot qualified leads, share targeted content, and guide prospects through the funnel until they’re ready to buy. It also aligns marketing and sales, ensuring engagement happens at the right time with real value.

Time Efficiency

Automating repetitive work allows teams to shift their focus to high-level strategy and direct conversations with prospects, rather than routine tasks. In McKinsey’s 2025 global AI survey, 71% of organizations reported using generative AI in at least one function, commonly marketing and sales, as teams automate content and salesforce workflow tasks to move faster.

Lower Operational Costs

Businesses can expand campaigns without hiring more staff or adding overtime, which translates into major cost savings over time. Budget pressure is real, with Gartner finding average marketing budgets flat at 7.7% of company revenue in 2025, so automation that scales output without adding headcount is a practical response.

Personalized Engagement And Faster Revenue Growth

Tools like segmentation, retargeting, and A/B testing ensure customers see tailored messages. That deeper personalization improves relationships and accelerates revenue, with many companies reporting productivity jumps of 20% or more after adopting salesforce service cloud solutions.

Email continues to be a standout, delivering an average return of 36 dollars for every dollar spent. McKinsey also reports that AI adopters see revenue uplift of 3 to 15% and sales ROI gains of 10 to 20%. This shows the link between personalization, AI, and growth.

Content Focus

With performance data, teams can highlight top-performing assets, ensuring audiences receive the most effective and relevant messages.

Creative quality matters, and Nielsen’s meta-analyses attribute roughly 49% of advertising’s incremental sales lift to the creative itself, which makes automated testing and optimization especially valuable.

Right Timing

Smart scheduling and behavior-based triggers make sure brands connect at the exact moment customers are most receptive, keeping engagement consistent.

The ad market’s shift toward digital and streaming experiences adds urgency to timely, event-driven outreach. Bloomberg reported global ad sales crossing one trillion dollars in 2024 and rapid growth in connected TV and streaming ad inventory.

Reuters also noted Netflix expects to double its 2025 ad revenue to 2.7 billion dollars. This is a signal that audience attention continues to fragment across digital screens where automated, trigger-based campaigns perform best.

Top 10 Marketing Automation Cloud Tools For 2025

The market is full of platforms promising to simplify automation, but not all deliver the same value. We’ve highlighted the top 10 marketing automation cloud tools for 2025 that stand out for reliability, innovation, and real business results.

Top 10 Marketing Automation Cloud Tools For 2025

Zapier (Web)

Zapier takes a different approach compared to other marketing automation cloud tools. Instead of acting as the channel itself for email, SMS, or ads, it connects all your existing apps and automates workflows between them. In short, it helps you get more value from your current marketing tech stack.

With integrations to over 8,000 apps, from salesforce and ad platforms to spreadsheets, Zapier turns disconnected tools into one connected system. 

That makes it especially useful for marketing teams running multi-channel campaigns across platforms like Facebook Lead Ads, HubSpot, Mailchimp, and Google Sheets, all syncing in real time without manual entry.

Zapier also doubles as an AI orchestration platform, letting you embed tools like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini directly into workflows. You can generate tailored email copy, summarize campaign data from different sources, or categorize leads based on job titles or form responses. 

It can even clean and enrich contact records by removing duplicates, standardizing details, or adding missing company information as new data flows in.

By combining this with Zapier Tables for data storage, Interfaces for intake forms, and Chatbots for conversational automation, Zapier evolves into a full AI-powered marketing hub. You can even set Agent steps that make decisions, search for data, and adapt workflows automatically, all through a visual, AI-enabled builder.

The real strength of Zapier lies in its flexibility. It unifies fragmented tools, minimizes context switching, and supports personalization at scale. For teams managing AI-driven, multi-channel campaigns, Zapier brings efficiency and agility across the marketing stack.

Zapier pricing: Free plan available; paid plans start at $19.99/month.

Brevo (Web, iOS, Android)

Brevo pros:

  • CRM, scheduler, and marketing automation cloud in one
  • Supports automation across 4+ channels
  • Free plan available

Brevo cons:

  • Limited flexibility in CRM features
  • Advanced tools locked in higher tiers

Brevo stands out as an affordable option that delivers more than expected. Even on its free plan, it automates email, SMS, and WhatsApp, giving users access to more channels than many paid alternatives. 

The workflow builder includes conditions like delays and A/B splits, along with actions such as CRM solutions updates and webhooks, making it practical for small and growing teams.

The app is more than just an automation tool. It also includes a lightweight CRM and a built-in meeting scheduler. While the CRM is simple, offering only a basic dashboard and sales pipeline, it works fine for businesses managing straightforward deals and contacts. The scheduler, however, is a strong point. 

Users can create an availability calendar that automatically generates booking pages with custom branding, logos, colors, and synced calendars from Google or Outlook.

Where Brevo falls short is scalability. The free plan caps usage at 300 emails per day and carries Brevo branding. Removing it requires a $9 Starter plan upgrade, while more advanced features like predictive sending, A/B testing, and expanded channels (Facebook Ads, pop-ups) only come with the Business and Enterprise tiers.

That said, Brevo integrates well with other platforms. Through Zapier, teams can connect Brevo with thousands of apps, form builders, and CRMs, extending its value inside an automation marketing cloud strategy.

Brevo pricing: Free plan available; Starter plan begins at $8/month when billed annually.

HubSpot Marketing Hub (Web)

HubSpot pros:

HubSpot cons:

  • Pricing is high compared to other tools
  • Free tier only supports basic chat automation
  • Certain advanced functions require separate Hubs

HubSpot has long been considered one of the most complete names in marketing platforms. While it covers a wide range of business needs, its most advanced marketing automation cloud functions only become available with Marketing Hub Professional, which is priced for mid-size and enterprise users rather than small startups.

Free and Starter plans come with limited automation, mainly through Chatflows. These work as customizable chatbots for lead capture and customer interaction. More advanced automations, like campaign sequences or surveys, are only included in higher-tier Sales and Service Hubs.

Even so, HubSpot continues to impress with user experience. Its workflow builder is powerful, guiding new users through clear demos on how to qualify leads and move them along the pipeline. Actions range from automated emails and ads management to integrating APIs or enrolling contacts into new workflows.

Analytics is another strong point. Teams can build custom reports, view campaign performance in dashboards, and arrange data with drag-and-drop flexibility. Combined with 1,600 native integrations, HubSpot offers broad connectivity. If something is missing, teams can extend its capabilities through Zapier to automate marketing software connections across spreadsheets, CRMs, and email platforms.

HubSpot pricing: Marketing Hub Professional starts at $800/month, billed annually.

Omnisend (Web)

Omnisend pros:

  • Strong support, plus a full academy of machine learning resources
  • Free plan includes many advanced functions

Omnisend cons:

  • Works best for eCommerce businesses

While Brevo offers a simple free plan, Omnisend gives users much more flexibility. Its no-cost tier unlocks features that many other apps would treat as premium, making it a strong option for online stores.

Omnisend automates email, push notifications, and SMS, with plenty of pre-built workflows that cover the entire customer journey. You can also build custom workflows through its drag-and-drop builder, which makes it easy to link conditions and actions visually.

The platform’s AI automation tools are just as impressive. Users get access to polished email templates with an intuitive editor, along with A/B testing and an AI writing assistant. Even at the free level, Omnisend provides segmentation, signup forms, and customer profiles, making it valuable for those who want to run automated digital marketing campaigns without major investment.

Support is another area where Omnisend shines. The free plan includes 24/7 email and live chat help, plus access to Omnisend Academy, a library of guides, demos, and courses that help businesses make the most of the platform.

Integration is also broad. Beyond 130+ native connections, Omnisend works with Zapier, so you can sync subscribers from website builders, lead generation tools, or other systems into your marketing automation cloud setup.

Omnisend pricing: Free plan available; paid plans start at $16/month for the Standard plan.

ActiveCampaign (Web, iOS, Android)

ActiveCampaign pros:

  • Extensive library of multilingual workflows
  • AI tools for content creation, predictive sending, and workflow building

ActiveCampaign cons:

  • No ready-made templates for form building
  • May feel complex for beginners
  • Predictive AI sending reserved for top tiers

ActiveCampaign goes beyond the basics of most marketing automation cloud platforms. While many tools offer a handful of pre-built automations, ActiveCampaign delivers a massive library that spans industries and use cases, from re-engagement campaigns to internal updates like deal win notifications.

It’s also unique in offering workflows in multiple languages, including French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. For global teams, this multilingual focus makes ActiveCampaign a standout choice.

The platform combines marketing automation with CRM software functionality, making it an automated marketing CRM that bridges sales and marketing. For some businesses, that may feel like more than they need, but for growing teams it’s a powerful advantage.

AI has become one of ActiveCampaign’s biggest strengths. Generative AI helps users draft, edit, or summarize messages, while predictive email sending fine-tunes delivery based on recipient behavior (available at Pro and higher). 

Best of all, AI-powered automation building is included across all tiers. You can describe a workflow to the system’s chatbot, and it will create it for you.

With its Zapier integration, ActiveCampaign can update contacts automatically from scheduling tools, payment systems, or other apps. This makes it a flexible choice for businesses looking to unify data and create smarter workflows inside their marketing automation cloud strategy.

ActiveCampaign pricing: Starter plan begins at $15/month, billed annually.

Klaviyo (Web, iOS, Android)

Klaviyo pros:

  • Wide range of customizable, high-quality templates
  • Strong value for the price

Klaviyo cons:

  • Limited workflow variety compared to some competitors
  • Heavily focused on eCommerce use cases

Klaviyo stands out as the most flexible drag-and-drop tool in this marketing automation cloud roundup. Nearly everything, workflows, dashboards, and forms, can be designed visually by moving elements around. This approach creates a smooth and intuitive user experience.

The interface is modern and clean. It doesn’t overwhelm with too many features like HubSpot, but it also avoids the bare-bones feel of simpler apps. For many businesses, it strikes the right balance.

Klaviyo offers several starting points for workflows, including abandoned cart recovery, subscriber nurturing, loyalty building, order status updates, and repeat purchase encouragement. 

These options make it useful for a wide range of industries, though its deep Shopify integration and eCommerce focus mean retailers may benefit the most. Still, SaaS companies and other businesses can also rely on it for forms, workflows, and reporting.

With more than 300 integrations, including Zapier, Klaviyo fits easily into an existing marketing stack. 

By pairing it with Zapier, teams can expand capabilities, like adding new subscribers from form submissions or syncing contacts with PPC platforms, making it a strong automated marketing software choice for businesses ready to scale campaigns.

Klaviyo pricing: Free plan available; paid Email plan starts at $20/month.

Customer.io (Web)

Customer.io pros:

  • Supports automation across multiple marketing channels
  • Flexible customization with or without code
  • Custom object creator for tailored workflows

Customer.io cons:

  • Pricing is relatively high

Unlike many tools that claim to be automation platforms but act more like simple CRMs, Customer.io is built as a true marketing automation cloud solution. It excels at helping businesses create and manage workflows that go far beyond basic email or SMS.

Customer.io can automate email, SMS, Slack, push notifications, Twilio, and more, covering more channels than most competitors. The drag-and-drop workflow builder makes it easy to create multi-branch journeys, webhooks, and saved templates. It’s designed to handle complex campaigns without overwhelming users.

The customization capabilities are another highlight. You can integrate nearly every feature into your workflows. Whether it’s building newsletters in the CMS, designing transactional emails through the API, or adding CRM elements like people and audience segments, Customer.io offers extensive control. 

You can even create custom objects, like events, classes, or accounts, and plug them directly into workflows.

Testing is also advanced. Its A/B testing supports up to eight variations at once, helping businesses fine-tune campaigns with precision. Combined with strong personalization options, Customer.io is well-suited for brands running automation digital marketing strategies that require both flexibility and scale.

Zapier integration adds even more versatility. You can connect landing pages, forms, or social media to automatically bring new leads into Customer.io and trigger campaigns instantly.

Customer.io pricing: Essentials plan starts at $100/month.

Ortto (Web)

Ortto pros:

  • Tracks a wide range of user activities with strong analytics
  • Easy-to-use interface with responsive support
  • Capture widget expands lead acquisition options

Ortto cons:

  • Premium pricing

Ortto is one of the more engaging premium tools in the marketing automation cloud space. Its Journeys builder makes automating email and SMS simple and visual, with a colorful interface and handy revision history so you can restore earlier workflow versions if needed.

The analytics capabilities are what make Ortto shine. The platform comes with more than 60 preset activities, like tracking email opens, widget interactions, and trial cancellations. You can also define your own activities and combine them with capture widgets to build highly customized lead acquisition workflows.

Journeys can get very detailed, covering touchpoints like trial activations, setup completion, or subscription upgrades. Ortto also integrates AI-driven tools, including predictive analytics that gauge subject line effectiveness in real time and suggest alternatives for better results. This blend of automation and AI puts Ortto among the best marketing automation platforms available today.

Reporting is equally robust. The Reports tab lets you monitor customer engagement, revenue attribution, and timing for optimal message delivery. You can even build custom dashboards with drag-and-drop, making it easy to align metrics with business goals.

Zapier integration adds flexibility by letting you connect Ortto with spreadsheets, subscriber lists, and other platforms to unify workflows in your marketing automation cloud strategy.

Ortto pricing: Professional plan starts at $509/month.

Mailchimp (Web, iOS, Android)

Mailchimp pros:

  • Free plan with useful functionality
  • Supports multiple content formats and channels
  • Strong integrations for email automation across acquisition channels

Mailchimp cons:

  • Pricing increases with contact list size
  • Can become as costly as some CRMs with automation features

Mailchimp is often thought of as a simple newsletter tool, but it has grown into a true marketing automation cloud platform. While email is still its strongest area, it now supports automation, content management, reporting, and even basic CRM-like lead tracking.

At the free level, you get access to the Classic Automation Builder. Moving up to the Essentials tier unlocks the Customer Journey Builder, which brings smarter automations and integrations with third-party data sources. Multi-step automations require at least the Standard plan, making the lower tiers better suited for simpler workflows.

The Customer Journey Builder itself is intuitive. You can set touchpoints to trigger emails, SMS, scheduled messages, tag updates, or even Google Analytics tracking. Mailchimp also connects with apps like Shopify and Facebook Ads to expand workflows, letting you start campaigns from ad clicks or purchases.

Beyond messaging, Mailchimp is expanding its scope. Users can design websites, generate creative assets with its AI wizard, build forms and surveys, and manage digital content, all within the same platform. This makes it an accessible automate marketing software option for teams that want more than just email automation.

Mailchimp still prioritizes messaging workflows, so it’s not as modular or advanced as higher-end tools. Yet, its simplicity is an advantage for businesses that want something easy to adopt and scalable with integrations. Connecting Mailchimp with Zapier further enhances its power, automating lead capture, audience management, and campaign delivery.

Mailchimp pricing: Free for up to 500 contacts; paid plans start at $13/month for Essentials, with costs scaling by contact volume.

Marketing Automation Cloud Best Practices

To get the best results from your marketing automation cloud, it’s important to adopt proven practices that strengthen operations, improve customer experiences, and generate measurable ROI.

Marketing Automation Cloud Best Practices

Here are the approaches that drive success:

  • Align marketing and sales teams: Success depends on strong collaboration between marketing and sales. When both teams share data and workflows, customers get a smoother experience. This alignment also supports recurring revenue models and self-service engagement, both of which benefit from automation.
  • Keep the customer journey in focus: Every automation should support a stage of the journey, from the first interaction to long-term retention. Using centralized data to personalize outreach at each step helps nurture leads into loyal customers.
  • Set clear goals: Defining objectives helps your team decide which metrics matter and how to measure ROI. Clear targets make it easier to refine campaigns and plan future automation strategies.
  • Use customer data wisely: Accurate data is the foundation of any automation effort. Segment audiences, update CRM records regularly, and track performance across touchpoints with multitouch attribution. This ensures that resources are allocated to the right prospects and campaigns.
  • Automate high-value tasks: Focus on areas that deliver the most impact. By automating repetitive but critical tasks first, teams save time and see faster results, leaving space for strategy and innovation.
  • Select the right tools: Every business has different needs, whether that’s email campaigns, lead management, or multi-channel messaging. Choosing tools that match your goals is key to reaching your audience effectively.
  • Promote cross-team collaboration: Broader collaboration means more consistent customer experiences. When all teams use the same automation platform, you gather better data and create smoother engagement across every channel.

>>> READ MORE: Top 10+ Best CRM for Startups to Drive Business Success in 2025

When Is The Right Time To Invest In Marketing Automation Cloud?

Deciding when to invest in a marketing automation cloud starts with a few key questions about your current marketing and sales efforts.

  • Are you publishing consistent, high-quality content?
  • Is that content mapped to every stage of the buyer’s journey?
  • Have marketing and sales agreed on clear handoff points for leads?
  • Do you know exactly where marketing conversations end and sales begin?
  • Are you seeing a steady flow of organic leads?
  • Can you track customer behavior across all touchpoints and channels?
When Is The Right Time To Invest In Marketing Automation Cloud?

The biggest question is whether your business is ready to scale. If so, now is the time to adopt a marketing automation cloud and build systems that support long-term growth.

Many companies at this stage look for an experienced salesforce crm consulting partner. MOR Software helps businesses implement marketing automation cloud solutions with tailored strategies and ongoing support. Our teams connect marketing and sales processes, improve customer engagement, and build scalable, data-driven systems that drive measurable results.

Conclusion

Investing in a marketing automation cloud is no longer optional for businesses that want to stay competitive. The right platform connects data, automates repetitive work, and delivers personalized experiences that strengthen customer relationships. MOR Software provides guidance, customization, and long-term support to help you make the most of your marketing automation cloud and achieve measurable results in 2025 and beyond. Ready to find the right marketing automation cloud for your business? Contact us today and let MOR Software guide your journey.

MOR SOFTWARE

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is marketing cloud automation?

Marketing cloud automation allows businesses to run digital campaigns without manually sending every message. It automates emails, social posts, ads, and customer journeys to save time and improve consistency.

Is SFMC a CRM tool?

Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC) is not a traditional CRM. It is a marketing platform that helps companies deliver personalized and targeted communication, often working alongside Salesforce CRM.

How to create automation in marketing cloud?

In Salesforce Marketing Cloud, you can create automations through Automation Studio. Start a new automation, set a schedule, name it, and drag activities like email sends or data updates onto the canvas.

Is marketing automation part of CRM?

No, CRM and marketing automation serve different purposes. CRM focuses on managing customer relationships and sales, while marketing automation supports campaigns, communication, and lead nurturing.

What is SFMC used for?

Salesforce Marketing Cloud is used to automate marketing across multiple channels, including email, mobile apps, SMS, and social platforms. It helps create consistent customer experiences.

Is SFMC a SaaS?

Yes. Salesforce Marketing Cloud is offered as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution. Salesforce also provides PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service) capabilities, making it flexible for businesses of all sizes.

What is the automation limit in SFMC?

In Salesforce Marketing Cloud, up to 5 automations can run at the same time. Each automation can include a maximum of 50 activities.

Is marketing automation an AI?

Marketing automation has increasingly incorporated AI. It now uses machine learning to optimize campaigns, predict customer behavior, and deliver more personalized experiences.

Is Salesforce Marketing Cloud a marketing automation platform?

Yes, Salesforce Marketing Cloud is a complete marketing automation platform that combines analytics, campaign management, and customer engagement tools.

How do I choose a marketing automation tool?

When selecting a tool, consider ease of use, pricing flexibility, available integrations, customization options, AI features, analytics, and scalability to match your business growth.

Does SFMC require coding?

No coding is needed for most Salesforce Marketing Cloud functions. It has a drag-and-drop interface, although coding knowledge can help with advanced customizations.

Who is the owner of SFMC?

SFMC, Inc. was founded by Mr. Ellis, who serves as the CEO and original owner. The company later became part of Salesforce through acquisition.

What is marketing automation and examples?

Marketing automation uses technology to handle repetitive marketing tasks. Examples include automated email campaigns, social media scheduling, personalized SMS, and targeted ad placements.

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