Are you juggling endless campaigns, scattered data, and rising customer expectations—all while trying to demonstrate your ROI? The old ways of gut instincts and trial and error just don’t cut it anymore. Enter AI-backed marketing strategy software: your shortcut to clarity, precision, and results.
Imagine effortlessly allocating budgets with pinpoint accuracy, nurturing customer relationships at scale, and delivering content so personalized it feels like magic. These marketing strategy AI tools don’t just optimize your marketing. They also help you work smarter, connect deeper, and drive measurable growth. Here are the top five types of marketing planning tools you need to thrive in the AI era.
1. Marketing mix modeling (MMM): Data-driven budget decisions
Marketing mix modeling (MMM) evaluates the effectiveness of each channel in your strategy—TV, social media, email, and beyond. It provides a detailed ROI analysis across the channels, helping you understand what’s working and what’s not.
With that information, you can allocate budgets and strategically choose your perfect marketing channel mix.
How AI elevates MMM for better decisions
AI transforms MMM platforms by automating complex calculations and offering features like:
- Predictive analytics: Forecast the impact of reallocating budgets before making decisions.
- Scenario-based marketing planning: Test “what-if” strategies, like shifting spend from TV ads to digital.
- Channel attribution modeling: Pinpoint which channels truly drive revenue.
- Real-time insights: Take an agile marketing approach, monitoring live campaign performance and adjusting strategies dynamically based on AI recommendations.
Featured MMM tool
Keen, the best AI-powered MMM platform, brings precision to the marketing mix, helping you predict outcomes and recommend the best budget strategies.
Learn more: Understand the difference between marketing mix and marketing strategy
2. Customer relationship management (CRM): Personalized engagement
Customer relationship management (CRM) tools centralize customer data, track interactions, and streamline engagement strategies. They create a cohesive view of the customer lifecycle, from initial contact to post-purchase retention.
How AI transforms CRM
AI supercharges CRM tools, giving you:
- Predictive lead scoring: Prioritize leads most likely to convert. Hubspot’s 2024 ROI Report found that their users generate 107% more leads.
- Next-best-action recommendations: Get actionable insights for engaging each customer.
- Automated workflows: Take repetitive tasks like follow-ups off your plate.
- Behavioral segmentation: Group customers dynamically based on their actions.
- Churn prediction: Spot at-risk customers and retain them before it’s too late.
Featured CRM tool
Hubspot CRM uses AI to deliver smarter workflows and personalized strategies so that you can nurture relationships at scale.
3. Email marketing platforms: Smarter campaigns
Out of all marketing strategy software, email marketing consistently delivers high ROI, making it a cornerstone of lead nurturing and customer engagement. Advanced email platforms go beyond delivery—they analyze, personalize, and optimize campaigns for better results.
How AI transforms email marketing
Email marketing software is the most implemented automation tool, with 63% of marketers using it. The number comes as no surprise when email marketing has features like:
- Automated segmentation: Create targeted groups based on preferences or behavior.
- Subject line optimization: Craft email lines that compel recipients to click.
- Send-time optimization: Schedule emails when your audience is most likely to engage.
- Dynamic content personalization: Tailor messages to individuals for maximum impact.
- Performance analytics: Gain insights and improve campaign effectiveness over time.
Featured email marketing tool
Klaviyo integrates AI to refine every part of your email strategy, from segmentation to performance analysis.
4. Social media management tools: AI-driven engagement
Social media is an indispensable part of any marketing strategy. After all, managing campaigns across multiple platforms requires tools that centralize efforts and provide actionable insights.
Marketing strategy AI tools that simplify and enhance strategy
Leverage AI-powered social media tools as part of your marketing planning software stack to deliver:
- Sentiment analysis: Understand how audiences feel about your social media content in real time.
- Automated scheduling: Post at optimal times for maximum reach.
- Content recommendations: Find trending topics and formats to boost visibility.
- Engagement tracking: Monitor likes, shares, and comments for actionable insights.
- Audience segmentation: Deliver tailored messaging to specific groups.
Featured social media marketing tool
Social media platforms provide in-built tools themselves. So, you don’t have to use third-party apps necessarily. Popular options include LinkedIn Ads, Meta Ads, YouTube, Microsoft Ads, Amazon Ads, X (former Twitter), and more.
5. Content management systems (CMS): Tailored experiences
A strong CMS is the foundation of content marketing. It helps you manage, deliver, and optimize content across customer touchpoints while ensuring consistency.
AI capabilities of CMS
AI adds intelligence to your CMS with features like:
- Dynamic content personalization: Serve tailored experiences based on user behavior.
- Search engine optimization: Suggest keywords and improve content structure for better ranking.
- Audience insights: Understand what resonates with your visitors and why.
- Automated content tagging: Organize assets for easier access and reuse.
Featured CMS tool
The tool you choose here depends on the platform where your website is built. For example, if your site is on Shopify, you can use Shopify’s in-built tools or Shopify app integrations.
How to choose the best marketing planning software
There are countless AI-powered marketing tools in the market—and the selection defines the success of your campaigns. Plus, you need to align the tool with your goals and team capabilities. Here’s a detailed guide to help you make a confident choice.
1. Start with your marketing goals
Before diving into your planning process, identify your specific needs. Are you focused on improving customer retention, optimizing marketing budgets, or creating personalized content? Your goals will guide your selection.
2. Look for key features
When evaluating software, prioritize:
- Integration: Can it work with your existing systems?
- Scalability: Will it grow with your business?
- AI capabilities: Does it provide actionable insights?
- Usability: Is it intuitive for your team?
- ROI: Does the investment justify the results?
3. Take advantage of free trials or demos
Most marketing software vendors offer free plans or product demos. Use these opportunities to:
- Test the features that matter most to your goals.
- Evaluate how the tool performs under real-world conditions.
- Gather feedback from your team on usability and compatibility.
Set clear evaluation criteria during the trial period, such as ease of integration, feature effectiveness, and workflow impact.
Build your next winning strategy with Keen
The future of marketing technology is here—with solutions that cut your planning and execution time. And choosing the right AI marketing tool means the difference between scattered efforts and data-driven success. That’s why Keen combines cutting-edge AI with actionable insights to simplify the complexities of modern marketing.
What sets Keen apart? Our platform integrates with over 275 third-party platforms, covering most data providers, data connectors, customer data platforms, and more. But you can also request an integration if you don’t find your preferred platform on the list.
Plus, Keen’s Marketing Elasticity Engine (MEE) leverages advanced algorithms, machine learning, and Bayesian priors, grounded in over 40 years of academic research. This means Keen doesn’t just provide predictions—it delivers highly accurate, reliable insights with a margin of error as low as 4%.
Ready to unlock your ROI potential with the best marketing strategy software? Get a free demo of Keen today.
Frequently asked questions
What are the main types of marketing software?
There are many types of marketing software, each built to handle a specific need. Options include:
- Strategy tools: Optimize your marketing mix, budgets, and overall approach. Example: Keen.
- Creative tools: Use these tools to assist with designing, editing, and managing creative assets. Example: Adobe Creative Cloud.
- Project management tools: Streamline team collaboration and campaign timelines. Examples: Trello, Asana.
- Lead generation tools: Capture and manage potential customers effectively. Example: HubSpot.
What is marketing strategy software?
Marketing strategy software is a tool designed to help you plan, execute, and optimize your marketing efforts. It acts as marketing plan software, helping you make data-driven decisions, manage campaigns efficiently, and achieve measurable outcomes.
The purpose of this software is to streamline your processes and provide insights that improve the effectiveness of marketing strategies.
How does AI make marketing strategy tools smarter?
AI makes marketing strategy tools smarter by automating tasks, analyzing data to reveal insights, personalizing experiences, and predicting future trends. Here’s what you get:
- Predictive analytics: Analyzing historical data to forecast future outcomes, such as marketing campaigns or customer behavior.
- Personalization: Tailoring marketing messages and content to individual customers.
- Automation: Handling tasks like email segmentation, scheduling, and data analysis.
- Real-time insights: Monitoring live data and providing instant feedback.
- Customer journey mapping: Tracking customer interactions across multiple touchpoints.
- Dynamic pricing and recommendations: Adjusting prices or suggesting products or services in real time based on customer preferences and market trends.
What are the benefits of using AI marketing tools?
AI marketing tools bring these benefits that directly impact the efficiency, effectiveness, and overall ROI of your campaigns:
- Improved decision-making: Get data-driven marketing insights and forecasts to make smarter, more informed decisions.
- Enhanced personalization: Analyze customer behavior and deliver tailored messages, offers, and experiences that drive higher engagement and conversions.
- Time savings: Automate repetitive tasks like scheduling, segmentation, and reporting, and focus on strategy and creativity.
- Better resource allocation: Identify high-performing channels and optimize your marketing spend.
- Scalability: Handle large datasets and complex tasks easily.
