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15 Best Lead Nurturing Software (With Highlighted Use Cases)

Sep 12, 2024 - By Emily Austin & Anmol Ratan Sachdeva

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Running a business is like cultivating a garden. You must constantly nurture your leads with valuable content and compelling offers to push them toward conversions. 

Lead nurturing software makes this journey easy by automating various steps. In this blog post, we’ll share more about lead nurturing software and the best lead nurturing tools to help you turn prospects into loyal customers. Let’s hop in. 

What is a Lead Nurturing Tool?

A lead nurturing tool keeps your business in the hearts and minds of your potential customers. These tools automate follow-ups and keep the conversations going, ensuring your leads are always interested. 

A lead nurturing software uses behavioral analytics to trigger tailored communications based on specific actions or milestones. Here’s how it helps: 

  • Personalizes communication. A lead nurturing solution customizes messages based on customer actions and preferences, making each interaction feel special; 
  • Tracks behaviors. Keeps tabs on potential customer behaviors and interests, making it easier to understand what they’re looking for;
  • Automates tasks. It frees you from repetitive tasks, helping you focus on the more creative aspects of your business.

Why Investing in Lead Nurturing Tool is a Smart Move? 

Using a lead nurturing tool can supercharge your sales and marketing strategy. Here are some compelling reasons. 

  • 66% of people who use marketing automation do it to improve their lead-nurturing processes;
  • 77% of companies register increased conversion rates when they use marketing automation for lead nurturing. 
  • Nurtured leads make 47% larger purchases compared to non-nurtured leads; 
  • Lead nurturing emails get up to 10 times the response rate compared to standalone email blasts.

Still on the fence? Here’s why an investment in lead nurturing solutions makes sense: 

  • Streamlines the sales process. Automates follow-ups and tracking, helping your sales team focus on high-impact activities to accelerate the sales cycle; 
  • Delivers personalized content. Analyzes lead behavior to provide tailored content, increasing engagement and building stronger prospect relationships; 
  • Saves time. Automates repetitive tasks, freeing teams to focus on planning, strategy, and relationship building; 
  • Prevents lead loss. Ensures consistent communication, reducing the risk of leads falling through the cracks or losing interest; 
  • Improves conversion rates. Provides timely and relevant info to prospects through the buyer’s journey, increasing the likelihood of conversion. 

5 Key Features of Lead Nurturing Software

Given how vital lead nurturing is, no wonder you should have high expectations from the software responsible for it. Here are the most important features you should look for: 

Automated Email Campaigns

The software should help your sales team maintain consistent communication without manual effort. For example, it should trigger targeted messages based on lead behavior or predefined schedules. 

Automation keeps leads engaged by maintaining regular contact and delivering relevant content, increasing the likelihood of conversion. 

Lead Scoring

Lead scoring assigns numerical values to leads based on their behavior, demographics, and engagement level. 

This helps optimize resource allocation and tailor sales approaches to increase conversion efficiency.

Personalization Capabilities

Personalization delivers relevant content based on a lead’s characteristics and behaviors. This helps in building stronger relationships and trust. 

Pick a tool that enables content customization to boost conversion rates. 

Behavior Tracking

Such a feature monitors lead interactions across touchpoints. You gain insights into interests and intent for nurturing leads.  

All this helps power your segmentation strategies and enable more meaningful sales conversations.

CRM Integration

Seamless integration with a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) centralizes lead data and streamlines the sales process. You get a unified view of each lead’s journey for better sales and marketing alignment. 

Such a feature improves lead management efficiency and helps retain interest throughout the sales funnel.

15 Lead Nurturing Tools: Software Highlights and Use Cases

With so much to automate in your lead nurturing process, you need powerful software loaded with useful features. Here are some of the best tools you can try for your company.

Let’s start lead nurturing software comparison and look at each one in detail. 

1. Sender — Best for Automated Email Campaigns

Sender transforms leads into customers through automated yet highly personalized engagement campaigns across email & SMS.

Best for:

  • SMBs; 
  • Ecommerce companies; 
  • Budget-light marketing teams.
sender-logo-default

Sender is like a tireless assistant that automates follow-ups and maintains conversations to guide leads toward conversion. There’s a visual automation builder and several features to personalize your email campaigns. 

Its intelligent behavioral segmentation helps tailor campaigns based on the lead’s actions. So you can reach out at the right moment every time. 

Plus, you can target your leads across email as well as SMS. Such a targeted approach amplifies your nurturing efforts and drives better results.

ecommerce-template-sender-drag-and-drop-builder

Sender’s Key Features

  • Drip campaigns and sequences;
  • Email and SMS marketing automation;
  • Behavioral segmentation; 
  • Form builder; 
  • Integrations with all major CRM & ecommerce platforms.

Pros & Cons

ProsCons
Visual automation builderSender branding in the free plan 
Behavioral segmentation and targeting
SMS marketing capabilities

Pricing 

  • Forever free plan for up to 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails per month; 
  • Paid plans start at $15 per month for up to 30,000 emails and SMS marketing features. 

2. LeadSquared — Great Platform for Lead Scoring

LeadSquared specializes in sales, marketing, and onboarding automation. It offers robust lead-scoring tools to help you prioritize leads and is particularly effective for high lead-volume businesses.

Best for:

  • High-value businesses; 
  • Sales automation coaches;
  • Data-driven teams.
leadsquared_logo

LeadSquared supports lead scoring and offers automated sales alerts based on their stage. Its reporting and analytics features are good, too – it comes with customizable dashboards and standard reports, and you can even set up custom reports.

LeadSquared Key Features

  • Lead scoring;
  • Automated workflows;
  • Multichannel engagement;
  • Form builder;
  • Lead analytics.

Pros & Cons

ProsCons
Seamless integration with a lot of marketing/sales toolsSlow when it comes to advanced lead segmentation and filters
API support for customizationOccasional technical glitches
Automated sales alertsCostly for many businesses

Pricing 

  • Free trial available on request; 
  • Paid plans start at $400 per month.

Also read: 12 Best Online Form Builders for Business in 2023 (Free & Paid)


3. Ortto — Lead Nurturing Campaign Management Solution for SaaS

Ortto is a lead nurturing platform for creating direct connections and discovering actionable insights.

Best for:

  • B2B SaaS companies; 
  • Large enterprises; 
  • Sales-led organizations.
ortto_logo

It helps sales teams unify customer data with their customer data platform (CDP). You can capture leads and segment them for automatic nurturing across the customer lifecycle. 

As a result, you can engage these audiences with personalized omnichannel experiences and analyze their growth with a robust suite of business intelligence (BI) tools.

Ortto Key Features

  • Customer journey mapping;
  • Lead scoring features;
  • Campaign analytics;
  • Activity dashboard;
  • Behavioral targeting.

Pros & Cons

ProsCons
AI marketing tools & predictions for optimizationsCostly and overwhelming for beginners
Advanced email personalization capabilitiesRequires time to set up and train your team
Omnichannel inboxSuitable for enterprise use cases

Pricing

  • Free 14-day trial; 
  • Paid plans start at $509 per month for up to 10,000 contacts. 

4. HubSpot — Best Customer Relationship Management Software

HubSpot is a customer relationship management (CRM) for managing your sales pipeline on a visual dashboard. You can personalize marketing emails, offers, content, and outreach according to lead behavior.

Best for:

  • Large companies; 
  • B2B sales teams; 
  • Marketing coaches.
HubSpot_Logo

HubSpot CRM also monitors your lead’s email activity so that you can track hot leads. For example, the system notifies your sales team of all website visitors or when a prospect opens an email to optimize your approach. 

The software also helps you set up nurturing automations and streamline the creation of blog content, emails, and landing pages so you can optimize every step of a lead’s journey.

HubSpot Key Features

  • Business lead nurturing workflows;
  • Email marketing campaigns;
  • In-built CRM; 
  • Inbound lead nurturing management;
  • Content creation tool.

Pros & Cons

Pros Cons
Free CRM solutionLimited features and customizations in free plans
Great email marketing capabilitiesSteep learning curve 
Easy-to-navigate UICostly for small businesses

Pricing

  • Limited-time free trial account available with feature restrictions; 
  • Paid plans start at $18 per month for up to 1,000 contacts.

5. Keap — Online Sales Lead Nurturing Tool

Keap is a lead nurturing tool with hundreds of integrations to help you manage your business processes in one place. The software lets you manage lead capturing and nurturing, invoicing, pipeline management, and payment processes from a single platform.

Best for:

  • Solopreneurs; 
  • Small business owners; 
  • Service-based businesses.
keap_logo

Keap helps you automate your marketing and sales campaigns. For example, the platform divides leads into groups when they fill out contact forms and sends them perfectly timed messages based on their actions.

Keap Key Features

  • Sales and marketing automation;
  • Sales pipeline features;
  • Reports and analytics;
  • Native integrations;
  • Create your own lead nurturing and sales funnel.

Pros & Cons

ProsCons
Integrated sales and marketing toolsCan be limited to specific industry use cases
Sales pipeline management Complicated dashboard
Dedicated phone lines (U.S. and Canada) Costly compared to other alternatives

Pricing

  • Free 14-day trial with limited features; 
  • Premium plans start at $169 per month per 1,500 contacts.

6. Zoominfo — Sales Automation System

Zoominfo is the modern sales automation platform for B2B companies. It has a comprehensive, accurate, and updated intelligence database to track the buying intent data of contacts and companies.

Best for:

  • B2B sales teams; 
  • Telemarketing firms; 
  • Service businesses.
zoominfo_logo

Zoominfo tops lead intelligence with relevant data such as sales engagement, conversation intelligence, and data orchestration. 

It also offers a detailed contact directory, supporting lead generation, sales management, revenue tracking, and enhancing productivity by systematizing work.

Zoominfo Key Features

  • Email and phone automation;
  • Contact and company search;
  • Buyer intent;
  • Chatbot for sales;
  • Conversation intelligence.

Pros & Cons

ProsCons
Lead intent forecasting intelligence  Long customer support response time 
Automated outreach and contact discoveryHigher pricing compared to other platforms
Direct dialer for contactsComplex setup 

Pricing

Customized pricing plans based on features and functionalities required. Basic plans start at $15,000 per year.


7. Nutshell — Simple Contact and Pipeline Management Solution 

Nutshell is a user-friendly CRM designed to help you nurture leads through visual pipeline management. It simplifies lead tracking and automates the sales process based on the lead stage.

Best for:

  • Coaches and consultants; 
  • Large sales teams; 
  • Real-estate businesses.
Nutshell_logo

Nutshell offers lead nurturing CRM functionalities, robust reporting tools, and useful contact management/updating features. It can also automate reminders for calls, emails, meetings, and other activities, ensuring smooth operation. 

A mobile app ensures team members can access lead information anytime, even on the field. 

Nutshell Key Features

  • Sales process automation builder; 
  • Visual lead pipeline management with multiple views; 
  • Email and form builder; 
  • Lead attribution and analytics; 
  • Paid add-ons for scheduling meetings and website analytics.

Pros and Cons

ProsCons
Customizable and visual sales pipeline Multiple email attachments not available 
Unlimited contacts and record storage on all paid plansPaid add-ons for campaign and landing page builder
Mobile app for accessing lead data in the fieldLimited integrations

Pricing 

  • 14-day free trial account is available; 
  • Paid plans start at $16 per user monthly for unlimited contacts and one sales pipeline. 

8. EngageBay — Refined Marketing Automation Software

EngageBay offers a comprehensive suite of tools to streamline marketing efforts, enhance customer engagement, and automate repetitive tasks.

Best for:

  • Digital coaches; 
  • Non-tech business; 
  • SMB marketers.
engagebay_logo

The user-friendly platform makes it useful for businesses without extensive technical expertise. It empowers businesses to nurture leads effectively through personalized communication, automated workflows, and insightful lead scoring. 

EngageBay Key Features

  • Landing page builder;
  • Email marketing automation;
  • Live chat solution; 
  • CRM integration; 
  • Social media management.

Pros & Cons

ProsCons
Extensive CRM capabilitiesFewer integrations
Strong customer support and responsivenessLimited templates
Cost-effectiveBuggy email builder 

Pricing

  • Free plan with limited features for up to 250 contacts;
  • Paid plans with all-in-one access start at $13/user/month with 500 marketing contacts.

2. Salesforce — B2B Lead Nurturing Platform

Salesforce is a popular enterprise B2B lead nurturing and reporting platform. It helps enterprises analyze all customer interactions across departments and get data-driven insights about the performance of lead nurturing campaigns.

Best for:

  • Enterprise B2B; 
  • Cross-department teams;
  • Data-driven companies.
salesforce_logo

The software provides a 360° view of all leads so you can create relevant nurturing campaigns to turn leads into customers. 

Salesforce also offers real-time updates, so you always know where your prospects are in the lead generation funnel. Other notable features include pipeline reporting, phone dialer, and call log to nurture client relationships.

Salesforce Key Features

  • Lead nurturing planner;
  • Lead generation features;
  • MQL tracking;
  • Email builder; 
  • Built-in dialer and call log.

Pros & Cons

ProsCons
Lead pipeline visualizationComplex and overwhelming for beginners
Great integration ecosystemExpensive
Strong customer supportRequires training for advanced configuration 

Pricing

  • Free trial plan available on request; 
  • Paid plans for lead nurturing features start at $1,250 per month for up to 10,000 contacts. 

10. Pipeline — Good Overall CRM Platform 

Pipeline CRM is for small to midsize businesses that want to focus on sales. It helps sales teams automate the lead nurturing process through visual pipeline management. 

Best for:

  • Service businesses; 
  • SMBs; 
  • Sales organizations
pipeline_logo

Pipeline CRM simplifies lead pipeline management and enhances customer engagement through social media and other channels. 

You are sorted for many operational tasks with features like email and sales automation builder, social CRM, daily agenda reports, etc. However, it may not offer the advanced functionalities of more expensive, larger-scale CRM platforms. 

Pipeline Key Features

  • Social data integration; 
  • Role-based user permissions; 
  • Mobile accessibility; 
  • Marketing automation;
  • Customizable dashboards and reports. 

Pros & Cons 

ProsCons
Easy-to-navigate interfaceNon-responsive contact form layouts
Transparent sales tracking Occasional technical glitches
Customizable dashboards and reportsToo much focus on sales funnels

Pricing 

  • 14-day free trial plan available; 
  • Paid plans start at $25 per user monthly for up to 250 deals and one sales pipeline. 

11. Pipedrive — Best for Sales Process Automation

Pipedrive offers an uncluttered interface to streamline the sales process. Its kanban-style sales pipelines are highly visual and easy to follow, so teams can track deals effectively from start to finish.

Best for:

  • Process-oriented companies; 
  • B2B SaaS tools; 
  • Mobile sales teams.
Pipedrive_Logo

The user-friendly platform has many features that make lead nurturing more manageable for beginners. It has tools for lead qualification and an AI sales assistant that analyzes past sales activity. 

There’s even a sales automation builder for automating deal progress and outreach tasks. 

Pipedrive Key Features

  • Customizable sales pipeline; 
  • Readymade analytics templates for different goals; 
  • Email inbox integrations; 
  • Document management; 
  • Mobile app. 

Pros & Cons

ProsCons
Visual sales pipelineComplicated set up
Customizable workflows and automationSlow customer service
AI sales assistant for forecastingLimited number of reports on lower plans

Pricing

  • A 14-day free trial is available; 
  • Paid plans start at $10 per month for unlimited sales pipelines. 

12. Marketo — Best for B2B Sales and Marketing Teams

Marketo offers advanced automation and personalization features, making it useful for enterprise clients looking to enhance their lead nurturing strategy.

Best for: 

  • B2B enterprises; 
  • Insider sales teams; 
  • Data-driven marketers. 
marketo_logo

Marketo supports customization and promotes marketing scalability for businesses with complex sales funnels. It comes with lead management, email, customer base, and mobile marketing features. 

Its powerful analytics and lead management tools make it a preferred choice for enterprises involved in B2B marketing. 

However, smaller businesses or those new to marketing automation might find Marketo’s comprehensive features and pricing more challenging.

Marketo Key Features

  • Advanced lead management; 
  • Email campaign management; 
  • Customer engagement tracking; 
  • Marketing resource management;
  • Analytics and reporting. 

Pros & Cons

ProsCons
Integrations with major marketing & CRM solutionsPoor landing page builder experience
Responsive customer supportSteep pricing model 
Easy to setup Limited reporting without additional extensions (paid separately) 

Pricing

  • Custom pricing plan available on request based on requirements; 
  • Standard plans start from $895/month. 

13. Zixflow — Centralized Lead Management

Zixflow is an intelligent lead management and engagement solution that automates several steps of your lead nurturing process. 

Best for:

  • B2B tools; 
  • Marketing agencies; 
  • Sales-driven organizations. 
Zixflow-logo

The platform unifies lead management, marketing automation, and customer engagement across multiple channels. You can use its AI features to automate contextual follow-ups based on the lead stage. 

There are many other useful tools for managing leads at every step, from a LinkedIn extension for prospecting to a validation tool for email verification and multichannel campaigns. 

Zixflow Key Features

  • Centralized CRM; 
  • AI-driven personalization; 
  • Email finder tool;
  • Unified inbox;
  • Workflow automation for lead nurturing. 

Pros & Cons 

ProsCons
Unified customer inbox that syncs with all major platformsLimited email templates 
Sales cadence automation templates Learning curve for beginners
Friendly and prompt customer supportBugs with email finder tool

Pricing

  • Free marketing plan for SMS & email channels with 250 contacts (no CRM) 
  • Paid plans start at $79/month for marketing and CRM capabilities for up to 3 users. 

Also read: 11 Best Email Capture Software for Generating More Leads


14. Act-On — Marketing Automation with Strong Lead Nurturing

Act-On offers an intelligent and user-friendly approach to marketing automation to boost prospect engagement and lead nurturing. 

Best for:

  • Enterprise marketers
  • B2B companies
  • Marketing agencies
act-on-logo

The platform offers tools for multichannel marketing automation and sales alignment. Its lifecycle marketing tools enable businesses to anticipate and meet buyers’ needs across their preferred channels. 

With an intuitive automated journey builder, create elaborate omnichannel automations to guide prospects from consideration to purchase. 

Key Features

  • Visual journey builder with conditional logic; 
  • Lead automation flows; 
  • Lead scoring tool;
  • AI content creation tool; 
  • Sales and marketing alignment tools. 

Pros & Cons 

ProsCons
Powerful data studio for analyticsOutdated email composer 
Dynamic content with conditional logic for personalizationDifficult to set up forms
Integrations with all major toolsSlow performance 

Pricing

  • No free trial is available; 
  • Paid plans start at $900/month for up to 2,500 contacts. 

Also read: What is Omnichannel Marketing? Definition, Tips & Examples


15. InsideSales — Sales Acceleration with Lead Nurturing Tools

InsideSales offers an AI-powered sales engagement platform to improve efficiency and accelerate revenue through intelligent lead nurturing.

Best for:

  • Enterprise marketers
  • B2B companies
  • Marketing agencies
insidesales_logo

InsideSales is better than traditional sales auto-dialers as it uses AI and data to guide sales reps toward their next move. 

With insights from 27 billion revenue interactions and 183 million buyer profiles, it provides actionable intelligence on who to target, how prospects behave, and the best engagement strategies. This helps in effective lead follow-up and automates lots of manual administrative tasks. 

Key Features

  • AI-powered sales cadence management; 
  • Automated task management; 
  • AI lead scoring;
  • Team performance scoreboards; 
  • Buyer intelligence recommendations. 

Pros & Cons 

ProsCons
Intelligent calling/outreach time suggestion toolBad customer support
Historical sales trends toolNon-intuitive dashboard
Inside sales work automationLack of proper documentation or guides

Pricing

  • No free trial; 
  • On-demand pricing model based on your custom requirements. 

Lead Nurturing Software FAQs

How can lead nurturing be automated?

Lead nurturing automation triggers email sequences, personalizes content delivery, and targets messaging based on lead behavior. You can set up workflows for automatically sending relevant information, follow-ups, and offers at optimal times. 

Such automation tools can also score leads, track engagement, and notify sales teams when leads are ready for direct contact.

How do lead nurturing tools help businesses?

Lead nurturing and marketing automation tools streamline the sales process, improve lead quality, and increase conversion rates. They ensure consistent communication with prospects, deliver personalized content, and provide valuable insights into lead behavior. 

These tools also save time by automating repetitive tasks, allowing sales and marketing teams to focus on high-value activities and strategy development. 

What is the ROI of lead nurturing?

Companies with lead nurturing processes witness a 50% increase in sales at a 33% lower cost, leading to higher ROI. 

You can calculate your incremental ROI through a simple formula. Subtract your new monthly revenue (due to lead nurturing efforts) from your usual monthly revenue to find incremental revenue. Then, it can be used to calculate ROI by factoring in the costs associated with lead nurturing efforts. 

About author
Emily is a content manager who has dipped her toes in almost all fields of marketing, including PR, social media, email, and ecommerce. She loves perfecting digital content, ensuring everything is polished and ready to go live.

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