Best B2b Marketing Platform Shortlist
Here’s a quick look at the best B2B marketing tools I researched and reviewed to help teams handle marketing campaigns.
- Hubspot Marketing - Best all-in-one B2B marketing tool
- Adobe Marketo Engage - Best for marketing automation
- Salesforce Marketing Cloud - Best for large enterprises
- Mailchimp - Best for email marketing
- Google Marketing Platform - Best for multiple integrated tools
- Zoho CRM - Best for relationship management
- Leadfeeder - Best for lead identification
- emfluence Marketing Platform - Best for customizability
- LeadsRX - Best for conversion tracking
- Marketing Optimizer - Best for generating sales-ready leads
- Intercom - Best for push messages
- Marketing Miner - Best for B2B SEO
Marketing tools help B2B businesses adequately market goods and services to audiences and have become a must-have solution across various industries. This software can help an organization start marketing campaigns and get an overview of its progress. However, the marketing industry has evolved significantly over recent years, and with this evolution comes the change in tools to accommodate efficient B2B marketing practices. With all these changes, it can be challenging to determine which platforms are most suitable for your needs in the B2B niche. So, to help, I created this review of the top B2B marketing platforms that have kept up with these recent changes and will help you practically promote your organization.
What Is B2B Marketing Platform
A B2B marketing platform is a comprehensive digital tool or software solution designed to facilitate and optimize business-to-business (B2B) marketing activities. It enables companies to manage various aspects of their B2B marketing efforts, such as lead generation, customer segmentation, targeted communication, campaign tracking, and data analytics. By centralizing these functions, a B2B marketing platform assists businesses in effectively reaching and engaging their target audience of other businesses, streamlining marketing processes, and ultimately driving growth and revenue through more strategic and personalized marketing strategies.
Overviews of the 12 Best B2B Marketing Platform
Below are my comprehensive reviews of the 12 best B2B marketing platforms to help you manage your marketing campaigns and measure their results.
1. Hubspot Marketing - Best all-in-one B2B marketing tool
Hubspot Marketing is a popular all-in-one B2B marketing solution that offers a wide variety of features to help B2B companies attract, engage, and convert leads.
Why I picked Hubspot Marketing: I chose to start this list with Hubspot Marketing because it's one of the leading B2B marketing platforms available. It’s an all-in-one solution that enables you to get an overview of overall campaign management and connects you with revenue data to prove the effectiveness of marketing efforts. Hubspot marketing is a complete digital marketing suite that will help your brand succeed with its marketing strategies and produce more leads for less cost.
Hubspot Marketing Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features include website metrics that measure traffic quantity and quality on every page of your site and analyze page performance. The platform also offers behavioral targeting tools that allow you to personalize marketing outreach campaigns with activities people perform on the web to ensure ads and messages resonate with them.
Integrations include native connections with your favorite business tools, such as Aircall, Eventbrite, Lucky Orange, Mailchimp, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Salesforce, Segment, Sendoso, Supermetrics, Tableau, and other software options. You can also use the platform’s API or a paid Zapier account to create custom integrations with your systems.
Pricing: From $18/month.
Free Trial: Free plan available + free demo available.
Pros
- Excellent user experience
- All-in-one tool
- Useful contact activity history capabilities
Cons
- Lack of AI technology
- Reporting needs more flexibility
2. Adobe Marketo Engage - Best for marketing automation
Adobe Marketo Engage is a comprehensive B2B marketing platform that provides extensive automation capabilities to help B2B businesses engage with the right audiences.
Why I picked Adobe Marketo Engage: The platform delivers high-quality automation capabilities that will help your business identify, engage, and convert the right audiences. With Adobe Marketo Engage, you can automate everything from lead management and email marketing to ABM campaigns and attribution. Adobe Marketo Engage has everything you need to drive more revenue into your B2B organization.
Adobe Marketo Engage Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features include lead nurturing capabilities that allow you to nurture leads throughout every stage of the customer journey and deliver relevant customer experiences. The platform also offers reporting and analytics tools that cover extensive information about B2B buyers’ journeys.
Integrations include connections with beneficial business tools such as Crossbeam, Oktopost, ON24, Outgrow, PathFactory, RainFocus, Skilljar, streamGo, Survicate, ZoomInfo, and other software options. You can also use the platform's API or a paid Zapier account for custom integrations.
Pricing: Pricing upon request.
Free Trial: Free demo available.
Pros
- Complete marketing automation capabilities
- Excellent workflow management
- Real-time personalization
Cons
- Outdated interface
- Steep learning curve
3. Salesforce Marketing Cloud - Best for large enterprises
Salesforce Marketing Cloud is an enterprise B2B marketing platform that helps marketing teams work better with sales departments. It creates more customer relationship connections and generates more sales leads.
Why I picked Salesforce Marketing Cloud: The platform is one of the leading B2B marketing platforms, with a fully functional solution that’s easily customizable to match your business needs. Salesforce Marketing Cloud helps large enterprises create beneficial connections by generating more customers in the marketing funnel pipeline, allowing sales teams to close more opportunities. Salesforce Marketing Cloud is an ideal choice for B2B marketers within a large enterprise because it’s built to approach a large number of people at the right time with the right message, thanks to its pre-built marketing KPIs and best practices.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features include a centralized database that allows marketers to manage customer and prospect data, track interactions, segment audiences, and personalize campaigns. Salesforce Marketing Cloud also has marketing automation capabilities that can handle repetitive tasks and nurture leads at scale.
Integrations include connections with almost 200 third-party applications you’re likely already using, such as BigMarker, Brevo, CallRail, Driftrock, Google Analytics 360, Hubspot Marketing Hub, Instapage, LeadsBridge, Pipeliner CRM, Tableau, and other software options. You can also use the platform’s API and a paid Zapier account if you need custom integrations.
Pricing: From $1,250/month, billed annually.
Free Trial: Free demo available.
Pros
- Advanced artificial intelligence tools
- Multichannel marketing capabilities
- Convenient reporting and dashboards
Cons
- Steep learning curve
- Large data loads are slow to process
4. Mailchimp - Best for email marketing
Mailchimp is a well-known email marketing automation platform that helps B2B businesses create more intelligent email campaigns to connect audiences with the right message.
Why I picked Mailchimp: Email marketing is a popular form of online marketing that has been around for a long time, and for good reason - with this marketing method, you can create effective newsletter and email marketing campaigns. So, I added Mailchimp to this list because it’s the leading solution for email marketing campaigns. With Mailchimp, you can create campaigns with effective templates, implement automated emails based on the customers’ journey, receive relevant insights, and get helpful feedback to create better emails.
Mailchimp Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features include tools to help you monitor ROI through detailed revenue reports that track sales from campaign clicks all the way to purchase. Mailchimp also empowers you to understand audience behavior, identify who interacts with your email campaigns, and determine whether they’ve clicked, downloaded content, or purchased.
Integrations include connections with third-party applications to make Mailchimp more beneficial to your B2B business, such as Adobe Photoshop, Canva, Google Analytics, Jotform, Mixpanel, QuickBooks Online, Salesforce, Shopify, Typeform, Zendesk, and other software options. You can also use Mailchimp’s API or a paid Zapier account to create custom integrations with your current systems.
Pricing: From $13/month.
Free Trial: 1-month free trial + free plan available.
Pros
- Allows for fast implementation
- High number of integrations
- Excellent drag-and-drop tools
Cons
- Setting up email campaign automation is tedious
- User interface can be confusing
5. Google Marketing Platform - Best for multiple integrated tools
Google Marketing Platform provides multiple integrated Google tools to offer a unified advertising and analytics solution for more innovative B2B marketing.
Why I picked Google Marketing Platform: Through the Google Marketing Platform, your B2B marketing team will get access to multiple integrated tools, helping you reach your marketing targets. With these tools, you can collect valuable information, gain new insights into which campaigns are working, and develop more robust customer relationships. Google Marketing Platform also provides tools that help you optimize content, understand how your site is performing on search engines, and track social networking sites.
Google Marketing Platform Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features include the Google Data Studio, which collects and organizes data and converts it to customizable reports. You can also use the platform’s Campaign Manager 360 tool to get comprehensive overviews of all digital media campaigns.
Integrations include connections with tools outside of the Google product line, such as Business Warrior, BySide, Calltracks, Commission Factory, Fone Dynamics, Ketch, MSIGHTS, Sightly, Signal AI, Telaria, and other software options.
Pricing: Pricing upon request.
Free Trial: Free demo available.
Pros
- One-stop shop for marketing tools
- Seamless integration with Google products
- Consists of multiple Google tools
Cons
- Not suitable for small businesses
- Not many integrations with systems outside of Google
6. Zoho CRM - Best for relationship management
Zoho CRM is a cloud-based customer relationship management solution that helps B2B companies manage marketing engagement strategies.
Why I picked Zoho CRM: The platform is a popular CRM provider that helps B2B marketing teams become more customer-focused and create campaigns that are relevant to their audiences. Zoho CRM brings all customer data together in one platform and shares them among team members handling various marketing campaigns or with other departmental units. Also, the platform offers a contact management solution that tracks contacts and associated details in a centralized database you can tailor to fit your needs.
Zoho CRM Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features include customer segmentation capabilities that allow you to segment contacts and create personalized marketing campaigns targeted to them. Zoho CRM also provides lead nurturing tools to help strengthen relationships with leads by nurturing them with relevant content throughout every stage of your marketing funnel.
Integrations include connections with your favorite third-party applications to help you spend less time managing your tools, such as Eventbrite, GetResponse, Leadfeeder, Mailchimp, PandaDoc, QuickBooks, RingCentral, Shopify, Slack, Xero, and other software options. You can also use the platform’s API or a paid Zapier account if you need custom integrations.
Pricing: From $14/user/month.
Free Trial: 15-day free trial + free plan available.
Pros
- Easy to use CRM
- Simple set up
- User-friendly interface
Cons
- Some extra training might be needed
- Lack of customer support
7. Leadfeeder - Best for lead identification
Leadfeeder is a lead generation tool designed for B2B businesses that can help identify who is visiting websites without having them fill out any forms.
Why I picked Leadfeeder: The platform is a unique tool available for B2B marketing teams because it can help your company identify which companies are browsing your website, allowing you to reach out to them. Leadfeeder will help you identify leads to start qualifying, nurturing, and closing processes for them. With Leadfeeder, you can discover who is visiting your site, how they got there, and the pages they’re clicking on.
Leadfeeder Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features include account-based marketing tools to help you identify new accounts, understand the best accounts to target, and enhance campaigns with visitor data. Leadfeeder can also help you qualify leads with automatic scores based on web activity., allowing you to focus on high-value prospects.
Integrations include connections with third-party tools that allow you to enrich your current systems with high-level visitor data, such as ActiveCampaign, Google Analytics, Google Chat, Google Looker Studio, Hubspot CRM, Mailchimp, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Pipedrive, Salesforce, Slack, and other software options. You also have the option of using Leadfeeder’s API or a paid Zapier account to create custom integrations.
Pricing: From $139/month.
Free Trial: 14-day free trial + free plan available.
Pros
- Analyzes and tracks website visitors
- Good user interface
- Excellent onboarding process
Cons
- Customer support needs work
- Vendor sends continuous spam emails
8. emfluence Marketing Platform - Best for customizability
emfluence Marketing Platform offers a highly customizable B2B marketing solution that enables users to get the exact tool they need for their business.
Why I picked emfluence Marketing Platform: I decided to add emfluence Marketing Platform to this article because the vendor can help you customize the solution to meet your needs. The vendor’s development team can build new functionality and features in the tool based on your requirements and budget. The emfluence Marketing Platform’s team is always available to help you make the most of your B2B marketing campaigns, whether you need mid-campaign help or guidance for the next steps.
emfluence Marketing Platform Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features include marketing automation tools that allow you to create automated campaigns through visual capabilities in a drag-and-drop dashboard. The platform also provides web tracking capabilities that collect actionable data regarding how visitors engage with your website.
Integrations include flexible connections with other technologies that are the best in the industry, such as Email on Acid, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Nifty Images, ReturnPath, Salesforce, TapClicks, WordPress, and Yext. You can also create custom integrations through a paid Zapier account or the platform’s API.
Pricing: From $800/month.
Free Trial: Free demo available.
Pros
- Provides fast ROI
- Helpful support team
- Offers marketing agency services
Cons
- Some features aren’t updated
- Pricing isn’t suitable for smaller businesses
9. LeadsRX - Best for conversion tracking
LeadsRX provides a comprehensive conversion tracking solution that provides the insights, technology, and confidence needed to enhance marketing performance.
Why I picked LeadsRX: The platform helps B2B marketing teams collect essential, impartial, cross-channel conversion tracking tools. LeadsRX will help your teams understand why conversions are at the levels they are now. You can use the solution to see which lead touchpoints, or a combination of them, that result in the most efficient acquisition costs and higher return on ad spend.
LeadsRX Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features include tools to help you build customer journeys across multiple marketing channels and programs, allowing you to identify how customers are developing relationships with your brand. LeadsRX also provides a privacy studio feature that helps your brand protect data and control how it's stored in your business.
Integrations include connections with popular marketing tools such as Act-On, AdRoll, CallRail, Google Analytics, Hubspot Marketing Hub, Mailchimp, Marketo, Optimizely, Salesforce, WordPress, and other software options.
Pricing: Pricing upon request.
Free Trial: Free demo available.
Pros
- Allows for comprehensive marketing plan creation
- Provides extensive conversion data
- Easy for teams to use
Cons
- Data visualizations can be confusing
- Takes time to sync reports
10. Marketing Optimizer - Best for generating sales-ready leads
Marketing Optimizer is a B2B marketing software that helps B2B organizations turn more leads into sales-ready opportunities.
Why I picked Marketing Optimizer: As you may already know, marketing and sales teams can work together closely, and your teams can hand off hot leads to your sales department. With Marketing Optimizer, you can collect more sales-ready leads and hand them to your organization’s sales team to close them. The platform helps you understand what content on your website works and which needs improvement, allowing you to focus more on the campaigns and strategies that work.
Marketing Optimizer Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features include A/B testing tools that empower you to optimize your website for more leads and learn which messaging performs best. Marketing Optimizer also has email marketing capabilities that enable your team to easily create email campaigns, such as newsletters, notices, and promotions, and send them to the right audiences.
Integrations include connections with a few third-party applications, like Unbounce, VWMo Testing, and WordPress. You can also use the platform’s API to develop custom integrations.
Pricing: From $249/month.
Free Trial: Free plan available.
Pros
- Simple lead generation
- Helps users connect with leads over email
- Intuitive interface
Cons
- Small number of integrations
- No segmentation tools
11. Intercom - Best for push messages
Intercom is a conversational marketing tool that uses push messages to connect with potential customers at the best times.
Why I picked Intercom: The platform is a top B2B marketing platform that helps your business capture leads and convert them through push messaging capabilities. Intercom’s capabilities allow you to engage leads through in-app messages and provide support through live chat and AI bots. When customers reach out to your marketing team, you can route them and their accounts directly to the right person in real-time.
Intercom Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features include tools to help you onboard, engage, and activate new customers and convert more site visitors into paying clients. Intercom also offers a centralized location that enables you to get all data and reporting working together.
Integrations include connections with over 300 third-party applications to increase team efficiency and productivity, such as CloudTalk, Freshdesk, Google Analytics, Hevo, Hubspot, Outreach, Pipedrive, Salesforce, Trello, Zoho Desk, and other software options. You can also use a paid Zapier account and the platform’s API to create custom integrations between Intercom and your current toolset.
Pricing: From $74/month.
Free Trial: 14-day free trial.
Pros
- User-friendly platform
- Delivers accurate information
- Organizes customer details
Cons
- Not suitable for small businesses
- Has some latency issues
12. Marketing Miner - Best for B2B SEO
Marketing Miner is an in-depth B2B SEO marketing tool for marketing teams to improve search engine rankings and increase traffic.
Why I picked Marketing Miner: The platform is a B2B SEO marketing tool that empowers businesses to collect marketing data to help rank websites on search engines. Marketing Miner enables you to get valuable SEO insights and keyword and website overviews, analyze this information, and add it to in-depth reports. You can also use Marketing Miner to track and manage all aspects of online visibility, including rank tracking and brand mentions.
Marketing Miner Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features include SEO audits that help you discover technical challenges that are impacting your website’s ranking on search engines. Marketing Miner also offers link-building opportunities to enhance your website’s backlink profile.
Integrations include connections with various third-party applications, such as Ahrefs, Google Analytics, Google Data Studio, Google Search Console, Google Sheets, and Majestic. You can also create custom integrations through the platform’s API.
Pricing: From $29/month.
Free Trial: Free plan available.
Pros
- Wide range of SEO features
- Affordable pricing
- Helps rank websites on search engines
Cons
- User interface needs work
- No backlink checker functionality
Other B2B Marketing Options
As a bonus, I’m giving you another brief list of other B2B marketing platforms that every B2B marketer should consider to enhance their campaigns to their fullest potential. This list is nowhere close to exhaustive since there are a significant number of options available, but you will be able to find multiple choices here and in the list above that meet your requirements.
- Funnel.io - Best for marketing funnels.
- monday CRM - Best for task management.
- ZoomInfo - Best for display marketing.
- 6sense - Best for marketing AI.
- StackAdapt - Best for multichannel marketing.
- Shopify Plus - Best for enterprise-sized B2B ecommerce brands.
- Qualtrics XM - Best for strategy research.
- Fluency - Best for increasing marketing efficiency.
- CIENCE - Best for outbound lead generation.
- GetResponse - Best for engaging audiences through email.
- Buffer - Best for social media campaigns.
- Unbounce - Best for conversion intelligence.
- Paperflite - Best for content collaboration.
- OptinMonster - Best for opt-in pages.
- Sprout Social - Best for social media management.
- B2B Easy - Best for marketing analytics.
- AHREFs - Best all-in-one SEO tool.
- BuzzSumo - Best for content research.
Selection Criteria For B2B Marketing Platform
Here’s a short summary of the main selection and evaluation criteria I used to develop my list of the best B2B marketing platform for this article:
Core Functionality
There are more marketing platforms available than I’ll be able to evaluate in one article, and many aren’t suitable for B2B businesses. So here’s the core functionality I looked for in each solution above when doing an independent search for the best options.
- Lead generation and nurturing; identify and capture potential business leads, often through targeted campaigns, forms, and landing pages.
- Account-based marketing (ABM); enables the implementation of account-based marketing strategies, allowing businesses to focus their efforts on specific high-value accounts.
Key Features
Here are some of the top features I considered when researching the tools above. This isn’t an exhaustive list, but they’re the key capabilities that will make them beneficial to your organization.
- Targeted Audience Reach and Segmentation: Creating targeted audiences simplifies marketing activities when directing and educating a specific type of buyer, saving money and time on customers that might not provide a high ROI.
- Lead Generation and Conversion Tracking: For-profit B2B businesses monitor lead generation efforts and track information regarding new leads to discover which marketing channels are producing the best results while also calculating which have the highest closing ratios.
- Marketing Automation and Workflow Management: B2B marketing platforms can help businesses automate functions such as outreach, report delivery, and workflows to notify teams about specific actions, deliver details frequently, and build workflows.
- Real-Time Visibility: B2B marketing solutions provide real-time notifications and alerts for specific events, allowing marketing teams to see what relevant audiences are doing when they come across campaigns and visiting websites.
- Marketing Analytics: Businesses can use B2B marketing tools to get detailed analytics about marketing efforts, such as drip, email, conversion, and source analytics, helping them run data-driven strategies.
- Multichannel Marketing: An organization can engage customers across multiple marketing channels with B2B solutions, empowering them to send push notifications, emails, SMS messages, and more, ensuring messages reach customers and leads on their preferred channels.
Usability
A platform with high usability will help marketing teams learn and use the tool as fast as possible. You can expect all solutions to have a learning period, but aspects such as additional training and easy onboarding can lessen this time. Also, to make these tools more beneficial for team use, they should also work for teams that are spread out worldwide and allow you to accept payments in your target countries’ currencies. Lastly, as your business grows, the solution you implement should be able to accommodate your team, customer database, and increased activity.
Software Integrations
Sometimes, the best B2B marketing platforms don’t have every single feature you need for your business, making it crucial to find ones that properly integrate with your current tech stack. Excellent software integrations will help you use data across multiple tools and allow you to connect details from other company departments. When creating this article, I looked for options that will natively connect with various third-party tools and platforms, such as CRMs, analytics tools, and ecommerce platforms, but also allow you to use an API or tools like Zapier to create custom connections.
Data Security
B2B marketers have a responsibility to secure customer data. Doing so will increase customer trust, reduce data breaches, cleanse databases, improve brand image, and comply with regional laws. In an effort to protect sensitive customer data, I look for B2B marketing platforms that help your business secure information using methods such as anonymization, opt-in and opt-out consent; first, second, and third-party data protection; and secure personally identifiable and personally protected information.
People Also Ask
Since B2B marketing is becoming a popular topic, many marketers and other individuals ask many questions regarding these solutions. So, to help, I answered some of the most frequently asked questions to help you during your search for new B2B marketing tools.
How much does B2B marketing platforms cost?
How to use LinkedIn for B2B marketing?
How to use SEO for B2B marketing?
What are the benefits of B2B marketing software?
Other B2B Marketing Platform Reviews
Marketing software can be split into more specific categories, which you can take a look at here if you need something that excels in one particular area. I've divided them by category to make it easier to find what you need.
Process & Workflow
Marketing process and workflow software is a digital tool that streamlines and automates marketing activities, allowing teams to collaborate, plan, execute, and analyze campaigns efficiently.
- Digital Marketing Platforms
- Marketing Management Software
- Marketing Calendar Software
- Marketing Collaboration Software
Analytics & Reporting
Marketing analytics and reporting software enables businesses to collect, analyze, and visualize data from various marketing channels to gain valuable insights and make informed decisions for optimizing marketing strategies.
Relationship Building
Marketing relationship building software helps businesses build and nurture strong relationships with customers, prospects, and partners by centralizing communication, tracking interactions, and providing personalized engagement.
- Marketing Strategy Software
- Marketing CRM Software
- Brand Management Software
- Affiliate Marketing Software
- Social Media Management Software
The Takeaway
Choosing the right B2B marketing platform isn’t a simple task because you and your marketing team will depend on this tool to keep critical business aspects operational. So, your final decision needs to be spot on. However, this article provides many options to help you and your team work efficiently through a long list of tasks, everything from writing content or performing research to collaborating with your team. Implementing a centralized area to manage and track strategies will allow you to be more efficient with future plans and ensure budgets and time are focused on high-growth activities.
If you need more information regarding other marketing tools you can implement in your business, sign up for The CMO newsletter. As a subscriber, you’ll receive the latest software suggestions and marketing advice to help with your growth plans.