Your sales team closes deals, but marketing can’t prove which customer engagement campaigns drove those conversions. Leadership demands ROI data you don’t have.
Your CRM sits disconnected from email campaigns, leaving customer interactions scattered across systems. These gaps cost you opportunities and make scaling nearly impossible.
To solve these challenges, you can unify customer data, automate workflows, and produce clear analytics across sales, marketing, and service teams.
In this article, we’ll explore the top marketing automation companies and help you choose the right partner for sustainable growth.
TL;DR – Top Marketing Automation Companies
Choosing the right partner makes the difference between automation that transforms your business and technology that sits underutilized.
We’ve identified five service-based marketing automation companies that specialize in delivering comprehensive customer engagement solutions:
1. Coffee + Dunn
2. Alithya
3. Hitachi Solutions
4. TTEC
5. C5 Insight
We’ll explore what distinguishes these companies and how they approach implementation, support, and long-term partnership throughout this article.
What Are Marketing Automation Platforms?
Marketing automation platforms are systems that help businesses and organizations orchestrate personalized customer interactions across multiple channels without manual intervention.
Modern automation unifies customer data from your B2B customer data platform, CRM, website, events, and service interactions into a single view.
The platform then triggers relevant, tailored messages for customers based on specific behaviors, preferences, and lifecycle stages.
What is a marketing automation platform designed to accomplish? Here are three core functions that define effective marketing automation systems:
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- Workflow Orchestration: Automation coordinates campaigns across email, web, social, and offline channels. When someone downloads a resource, the system automatically enrolls them in nurturing sequences tailored to their interests.
- Customer Data Integration: The platform consolidates information from sales, marketing, and customer service systems. Everyone works from the same customer history, preventing disconnected experiences that damage trust.
- Performance Analytics: Strong platforms track engagement across channels and tie activities to revenue outcomes. You see which campaigns drive conversions, not just opens and clicks.
Key Factors That Distinguish Leading Automation Companies
Not all marketing automation vendors approach implementation and support in the same way.
The factors below separate true partners from software installers:
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- Deep Platform Expertise: Leading companies invest heavily in platform certifications and maintain close relationships with technology providers. At Coffee + Dunn, we employ 100% Microsoft-certified consultants with AI-related expertise and directly influence the product roadmap as a two-time Microsoft Partner of the Year finalist.
- Strategic Implementation System: Technology alone doesn’t drive results. Top providers use proven frameworks that validate business problems before implementing solutions. You’ll want to work with partners who emphasize strategy development, customer journey mapping, and change management alongside technical configuration.
- Ongoing Optimization Focus: Proper implementation goes beyond the initial stages and ensures your customer engagement maturity evolves over time. The best partners offer managed services and continuous training that help your teams take advantage of new features as they roll out.
- Industry-Specific Experience: Professional service providers work extensively in your industry, understand common pain points, and bring relevant best practices to speed up progress.
Top Marketing Automation Companies – Complete List
Selecting the right partner requires understanding what each brings to customer engagement automation.
Here’s how the five leading providers approach implementation and support:
1. Coffee + Dunn
At Coffee + Dunn, we specialize in customer engagement strategies powered by Microsoft Dynamics 365 implementations for mid-sized to enterprise organizations.
Our approach goes beyond software installation through our proven Plan, Build, Run Methodology:
Plan Phase: We help define strategies that align business goals with technology requirements and campaign efforts. We map customer journeys, design omnichannel campaigns, and ensure foundational elements support long-term success.
Build Phase: We apply best practices to implement Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Journeys with proper data governance, integrations, and scalability. Our certified consultants ensure you’re set up for growth, not just immediate needs.
Run Phase: We serve as an extension of your team to optimize platforms, execute campaigns, and continuously train your people to leverage insights.
What Sets Us Apart:
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- Deep Microsoft Partnership: Our relationship with Microsoft means our clients benefit from direct product engineering insights. We help shape the roadmap and bring those learnings to every implementation.
- Multi-Platform Integration: We work with organizations using other tools and help integrate that data with Dynamics 365 through Customer Insights – Data. This system ensures your existing investments don’t go to waste, and that we meet you where you are technologically.
- Ongoing Support Environment: We provide expert support through DUNN Right managed services. We focus on video course training formats and ongoing team education to ensure success beyond initial implementation.
For organizations seeking Microsoft Dynamics 365 customer engagement services with strategic guidance, we deliver comprehensive expertise across sales, marketing, and customer service alignment.
Ready to move from disconnected systems to unified customer engagement? Let’s figure it out together.
2. Alithya
Alithya brings digital transformation expertise across multiple technology platforms, serving enterprise clients in various industries. Their consulting approach combines business strategy with technology implementation.
Alithya works with several marketing automation software platforms, offering flexibility for organizations with diverse technology ecosystems.
Organizations that need multi-platform integrations or to modernize legacy systems work with Alithya for guidance from professionals.
3. Hitachi Solutions
Hitachi Solutions operates as a global technology services provider that delivers comprehensive business applications and cloud services.
Hitachi’s automation practice serves enterprise organizations seeking marketing automation solutions integrated with broader digital transformation initiatives.
The service emphasizes scalability and enterprise-grade implementations that support complex organizational structures and global operations.
4. TTEC
TTEC specializes in customer experience technology and managed services, combining automation platforms with contact center operations.
TTEC’s approach suits organizations seeking solutions that integrate with customer service delivery.
The provider can implement platforms while also providing teams to execute campaigns and handle customer interactions.
The managed services model works well for companies lacking internal resources to run sophisticated automation programs.
5. C5 Insight
C5 Insight focuses on Microsoft business applications, serving organizations that invest heavily in the Microsoft ecosystem.
Their consultants specialize in Dynamics 365 implementations across marketing, sales, and service functions.
The company emphasizes technical configuration and system integration expertise.
For companies seeking enterprise marketing automation software within Microsoft environments, they deliver platform implementation capabilities and ongoing technical support.
Pricing Structures Offered by Leading Marketing Automation Companies
Understanding cost structures can help you budget appropriately and compare these providers effectively.
You are likely to find the following pricing models:
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- Project-Based Implementation: Most companies charge fixed fees for initial implementations based on scope, complexity, and timeline. Basic implementations might range from $30,000 to $75,000, while comprehensive programs often exceed $150,000.
- Managed Services Retainers: Ongoing optimization and support typically run on monthly retainers. For instance, our DUNN Right managed services start at $5,000 monthly. These arrangements provide dedicated resources without full-time hiring costs.
- Hourly Consulting: Some providers offer hourly rates for specific needs, such as troubleshooting, training sessions, or strategic workshops. Hourly payments work well for businesses with internal teams that need occasional expert assistance.
Besides these implementation costs, you should factor in platform licensing, training, and internal resource allocation.
The best partnerships extend well past go-live, providing continuous value as your customer engagement strategies mature.
How to Choose the Right Marketing Automation Platform for Your Business
Selecting the right partner requires evaluating both immediate needs and long-term growth plans.
You want to start by clarifying your objectives. What specific problems need solving? This approach helps you focus on measurable outcomes tied to business growth rather than vague goals.
Here’s what to do to choose wisely:
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- Evaluate Platform Expertise: Does the provider specialize in the technology you’re considering? The best marketing automation platform decisions depend heavily on implementation quality, which is why generalists don’t deliver the depth of knowledge that specialists bring.
- Assess Strategic Capabilities: Can the provider help develop customer engagement strategies, or do they only configure software? Ensure you work with partners who lead with strategy because they deliver better long-term value.
- Review Industry Experience: Have they worked with organizations in your sector? Prioritize industry-specific knowledge since it helps providers anticipate challenges and apply relevant best practices quickly.
- Examine Support Models: What happens after implementation? Look for providers that offer managed services, ongoing training, and optimization support to accommodate rapid technological development.
Before you choose from your shortlist, request client references and ask specific questions about the partnership experience, not just technical outcomes.
Did the provider deliver on time? Do clients view them as partners or vendors?
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Here are answers to common questions about selecting the right marketing automation partner:
What Support Levels Are Typically Offered by Marketing Automation Companies?
The support models offered by marketing automation providers vary from basic technical assistance to comprehensive managed services.
Entry-level support handles platform issues through ticketing systems, while mid-tier support adds proactive monitoring and regular check-ins.
Premium managed services provide dedicated resources for strategy, optimization, and campaign execution.
Our DUNN Right managed services deliver ongoing optimization, training, and strategic guidance starting at only $5,000 monthly.
What Are the Most Common Challenges with New Automation Platforms?
Most organizations frequently underestimate their training needs, data quality requirements, and the complexity of change management.
Most teams struggle with workflow design without proper guidance, and poor data governance undermines personalization capabilities.
Working with experienced partners who provide comprehensive training, establish data governance frameworks, and guide change management helps you avoid these common pitfalls.
What Metrics Matter Most in Automation Performance?
You can focus on metrics tied to real business outcomes rather than just busy activity.
Ensure your teams track conversion rates across lifecycle stages, revenue attribution by campaign, changes in customer lifetime value, and sales cycle duration.
Strong marketing automation platforms provide analytics that link activities to their revenue impact, which is the most important metric for most organizations.
What Marketing Automation Integration Options Do Enterprises Need Most?
Enterprise organizations require native CRM integration, customer data platform connectivity, business intelligence tools integration, and customer service system connections.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights integrates natively with Sales, Customer Service, and Field Service to achieve these requirements.
Customer Insights – Data unifies information from external sources.
The detailed enterprise marketing automation integration across these systems creates the unified customer experiences your business requires for sustainable growth.
Selecting Your Customer Engagement Partner
Choosing from the top marketing automation platforms and service providers shapes your customer engagement capabilities for years to come.
The right partner brings strategic expertise, proven implementation methodology, and ongoing optimization that extends well beyond initial deployment.
Our Plan, Build, Run approach ensures you implement automation that delivers measurable growth across sales, marketing, and customer service teams.
Schedule a consultation with us at Coffee + Dunn to explore how we can help you build connected experiences that fuel sustainable results.
