Today’s marketers are juggling more platforms, channels, and data streams than ever before. From email campaigns and social media to SEO tracking and automation, the modern marketing stack can feel bloated—and often disjointed. Tools like Mailchimp, Hootsuite, Marketo, and SEMrush are widely used, but they weren’t built with your specific strategy, audience, or reporting needs in mind.
When your team is constantly switching between tabs, exporting spreadsheets, or working around clunky limitations, it may be time to rethink your marketing tech stack. Custom marketing software could be the key to unifying your efforts and amplifying your results.
Mailchimp – Email Marketing and Automation
Mailchimp is one of the most well-known platforms for email marketing, offering drag-and-drop campaign builders, list segmentation, and automation workflows. It’s especially popular with small to medium businesses looking to launch targeted email campaigns quickly.
Key features:
- Pre-built email templates and journey builders
- Audience segmentation and performance tracking
- Integrations with e-commerce and CRM systems
- A/B testing and predictive recommendations
Limitations:
Mailchimp excels at email campaigns, but its functionality can be restrictive when you need more nuanced automation or integration with complex internal systems. Its reporting can also be limited if you’re looking for deep cross-channel insights or fully custom metrics.
Hootsuite – Social Media Scheduling and Analytics
Hootsuite allows marketers to manage multiple social media platforms from a single dashboard. It’s designed to simplify scheduling, engagement, and basic reporting across channels like LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram.
Key features:
- Multi-platform post scheduling and calendar view
- Social listening and keyword tracking
- Team collaboration tools
- Basic analytics and performance reports
Limitations:
While Hootsuite is handy for managing content output, its analytics and automation tools aren’t very deep. If your social media strategy involves real-time data, detailed ROI tracking, or integrations with campaign-level analytics, Hootsuite might fall short.
Marketo (Adobe) – Enterprise Marketing Automation
Marketo is a heavyweight in the marketing automation world, designed for enterprises managing sophisticated lead nurturing and B2B campaigns. Its powerful automation engine supports long-term customer journeys, lead scoring, and integrated campaigns.
Key features:
- Advanced workflow automation
- Lead nurturing and scoring models
- Personalised landing pages and email campaigns
- CRM integration (especially Salesforce)
- Marketing ROI and attribution reports
Limitations:
Marketo’s depth comes with a steep learning curve and a hefty price tag. Many businesses find that their teams use only a fraction of the platform’s capabilities. Customisation often requires dedicated admin or developer support, and flexibility can be limited without significant configuration.
SEMrush – SEO and Content Marketing Intelligence
SEMrush is a leading SEO and competitive analysis tool, offering insight into keyword performance, backlinks, content gaps, and site audits. It’s a staple for digital marketers focused on organic growth and competitive research.
Key features:
- Keyword research and SERP tracking
- Competitor domain analysis
- Content topic suggestions and optimisation tools
- Site health and backlink audits
- Integration with Google Analytics and Search Console
Limitations:
While SEMrush is excellent for SEO specialists, it can feel like overkill for generalist marketers. It also doesn’t easily tie into the broader marketing mix—so integrating SEO insights with content workflows, CRM data, or campaign analytics often requires manual work or third-party tools.
When Your Stack Becomes a Stumbling Block
You’ve likely built your marketing stack tool by tool—adding one for email, one for social, another for automation, and another for SEO. But these tools rarely “speak” to each other properly. As a result:
- Your team is duplicating work across platforms
- Data is scattered and inconsistent
- Reporting is manual and fragmented
- Campaigns aren’t aligned across channels
- Custom workflows are hard to implement
That’s where custom software comes in.
Shoothill: Custom Marketing Platforms Tailored to You
At Shoothill, we build bespoke marketing software that reflects how your team works—not the other way around. Whether you’re managing multi-channel campaigns, streamlining lead handovers, or unifying your analytics, we create platforms that bring everything together under one roof.
With a custom solution, you can:
- Automate your entire funnel, across email, social, SEO, and beyond
- Design workflows that match your strategy, not a template
- Integrate deeply with CRM, sales, and customer support tools
- Build reporting dashboards that give you clarity, not confusion
- Eliminate the cost and complexity of multiple disconnected tools
Reclaim Control of Your Marketing Operations
Off-the-shelf tools solve general problems. But your marketing challenges are unique—and your software should reflect that. A custom-built solution gives you the freedom to streamline operations, improve campaign results, and finally break down the silos that are holding your team back.
Talk to Shoothill today to explore how a bespoke marketing platform could save time, reduce costs, and boost your ROI.
