Marketing automation means using smart software to handle repetitive marketing jobs. From email marketing and social media scheduling to lead nurturing and campaign tracking, marketing automation simplifies the repetitive stuff. Of course, this kind of approach gives you time to focus on what matters: your customers and growth. The problem is, many Australian Small and Medium-sized Businesses (SMBs) still have not evolved with these tools. Even though at this time, expectations and leaner teams, especially post-pandemic, marketing automation for small businesses is becoming a key lever for sustainable success.
Here at Nexalab, we’ve seen how the right automation setup transforms businesses. And that experience shapes the practical tool list in this article.
Benefits of Marketing Automation for Small Businesses
The benefits of marketing automation for small businesses start with time. Automating repetitive tasks like email blasts or follow-ups frees up hours each week. Your time would be better spent building relationships or improving products.
It also means more consistent communication. Whether it’s a welcome email or a seasonal offer, your brand stays front of mind. For example, with email marketing automation, personalisation becomes scalable, not a chore.
Also, consider how cost savings come as a big benefit here. With fewer hours spent on manual tasks, your team becomes more efficient. Add better lead scoring, automated follow-ups, and a well-structured marketing automation workflow, and suddenly your campaigns start pulling more weight.
Plus, these platforms scale. Whether you’re a two-person outfit or growing fast, marketing automation software can grow with you. And the scalability without needing to rebuild your whole workflow.
Best Marketing Automation for Small Businesses
With so many options on the market, choosing the best 7 marketing automation tools for SMBs feels overwhelming. From these top 7 choices, you must narrow it down to one that suits the unique needs of your business.
The problem now, there is no one-size-fits-all. It’s already a hassle, isn’t it? This is why the best way to find the perfect match depends on what you need, your budget, and how tech-savvy you feel. So, here are ten strong contenders commonly used by Australian small businesses.
Mailchimp
Many know Mailchimp as an email marketing automation tool for small businesses. But today, MailChimp has grown into a broader platform, which is making it easier than ever for small teams to use marketing automation to run campaigns with confidence. It’s generally seen as pretty easy to get started with.
MailChimp Best For
SMBs that are new to email marketing automation, particularly e-commerce businesses needing audience segmentation and foundational workflows.
Plans & Pricing
MailChimp offers free marketing automation tools with a 500-contact limit. Paid tiers include:
- Standard: $20/month for 500 contacts
- Essentials: $13/month for 500 contacts
- Premium: $350/month for 10,000 contacts
Key Features
- Drag-and-drop email builder
- Marketing automation (customer journeys, behaviour triggers)
- Audience segmentation
- Landing pages
- Forms
- Reporting and analytics
- Integrations (Shopify, Salesforce, etc.)
- Generative AI features.
HubSpot
HubSpot is a big player, built around a very capable free CRM for small businesses. It offers different ‘Hubs’ (Marketing, Sales, etc.) that work together. They push the ‘inbound marketing’ idea and offer tons of learning resources.
HubSpot Best For
SMBs who seek an all-in-one CRM and marketing automation solution with scalable capabilities.
Plans & Pricing
The free tools are genuinely useful. However, if you’re after more advanced features, you’ll need to jump on one of the paid Marketing Hub plans. And there are a few pricing tiers to choose from. Just as an example, the Marketing Hub Starter plan (great for small teams) kicks off at $15 USD per seat per month.
Key Features
- Strong CRM features
- Email marketing
- Advanced automation workflows
- Lead capture tools (forms, chat)
- Ad management
- Social media management.
ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign has a reputation for powerful marketing automation, especially in email, segmentation, and creating personalised experiences.
ActiveCampaign Best For
Australian businesses require granular automation sequences and integrated CRM features.
Plans & Pricing
There is no free plan in ActiveCampaign. But the pricing is quite fair enough. Here are the details:
- Enterprise: $145 per month
- Pro: $79 per month
- Plus: $49 per month
- Starter: $15 per month.
Key Features
- Advanced marketing automation builder
- Email marketing
- Predictive sending
- Advanced segmentation
- CRM features
- Integrations with many apps
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue)
Brevo positions itself as an affordable, all-in-one digital marketing platform for SMBs. It’s particularly well-suited for businesses aiming to run consistent omnichannel marketing across email, SMS, chat, and WhatsApp from one place.
Brevo Best For
Budget-conscious Australian SMBs need a versatile platform for multi-channel communication.
Plans & Pricing
Brevo’s free tier is quite generous. Paid plans are mainly based on contacts. The options are various, ranging from 500 to 50,000 contacts. The prices start around $9-15 per month per 500 contacts.
Key Features
- Email, SMS & WhatsApp campaign tools
- Marketing automation
- Transactional emails
- Basic CRM
- Chat tools.
Constant Contact
Constant Contact is a long-standing name focused on easy-to-use email marketing for small businesses and nonprofits. It also includes tools for social media posting, events, and some basic automation and CRM.
Constant Contact Best For
Australian small businesses, sole traders, and nonprofits who prioritise ease of use for email marketing, list management, and basic automation.
Pricing & Plan
Tiered plans based on contact list size and feature set. No permanent free plan is mentioned, but a free trial is available. Here is the pricing plan in detail:
- Lite: $12 per month
- Standard: $35 per month
- Premium: $80 per month
Key Features
- User-friendly email editor
- Basic CRM
- Basic marketing automation
- Event marketing tools
- Surveys & polls tools
Zapier
Zapier is an integration platform as a service (iPaaS) rather than a dedicated marketing automation suite. It connects thousands of different web applications, enabling users to build automated workflows (“Zaps”) between them.
Zapier Best For
Australian businesses that rely on a diverse set of specialized software tools that lack native integrations.
Plans & Pricing
Zapier offers a free plan that automates basic workflows with 100 tasks per month. Paid plans scale based on how many ‘tasks’ you run monthly and how fast you need updates. Here are the pricing plans:
- Professional: £23.37 per month
- Team: £80.64 per month
- Enterprise: This is the quote-based plan, so you need to contact the Zapier sales team to adjust your unique pricing
Buffer
Buffer is primarily a social media management tool. It’s designed to make scheduling, publishing, and analysing your content across different social networks much easier. Its automation focuses on social workflows.
Buffer Best For
Australian businesses where the main automation need is streamlining social media and tracking engagement.
Plans & Pricing
Buffer offers a free plan up to 3 channels and 10 scheduled posts per channel. Meanwhile, the paid plans are:
- Essentials: $6 per month per 1 channel with unlimited scheduled posts
- Team: $12 per month per 1 channel with unlimited scheduled posts.
Key Features
- Multi-platform social media scheduling & publishing
- Content calendar
- AI Assistant
- Analytics dashboards
- Engagement tools
- Custom landing page builder.
Integrate Your Marketing Tools with CRM
The best marketing automation tool for a small business is the one that connects with your CRM. Because instead of juggling disconnected systems, everything starts working together. You get one clear view of the customer journey, from the first click to the final purchase. Consequently, no more double handling or missed leads. That means less admin, better lead scoring, more personalisation, and clearer reporting.
At Nexalab, we specialise in making that connection seamless. Whether you’re using HubSpot, Brevo, or a mix of platforms, our CRM integration service is designed to smooth out the bumps and keep your tools in sync.
So, if you want your team to stop guessing and start working from the same playbook, let’s talk. Book your free discussion session with us here. We’ll walk through your setup, your goals, and what’s possible.
Your Next Steps
Diving into marketing automation for SMBs can be a growth engine when you approach it thoughtfully. The key is to start small, build momentum at your own pace, and double down on what works for your business. And don’t overlook integration. Having CRM and marketing automation for small businesses is a combo for the bottom line.
