I’ve been looking at marketing automation for some time now trying to decide if, and when, to transition from an email service provider to full marketing automation.

For many years, Constant Contact has served me (and my clients) very well with email blasts, email newsletters, email “drip” campaigns, surveys, event promotions and social media integration. And you can’t beat the starting price of just $15 a month.

But if your sales and marketing operation can benefit from things like lead tracking, lead management, website visitor tracking, landing page creation and behavioral triggered emails – all on one platform – then it may be time to cough up the larger investment for marketing automation.

It’s not outrageously expensive, although it’s a big jump from email services. From what I can tell, marketing automation systems range from a few hundred dollars to a couple of thousand dollars a month – depending largely on complexity and usage volume.

I should add that many of these systems will not only replace your email system provider, but also your lead tracking and CRM systems.