With the numerous benefits of Customer Relationship Management(CRM) in marketing, you're likely to jump online in search of tools to help you enjoy these benefits.
While CRM involves a systematic approach to building, managing and maintaining a profitable customer relationship requires tools to work.
To effectively maintain this customer relationship in this competitive environment, businesses need tools that offer such services based on the specific CRM goal they're trying to achieve.
CRM tools are mostly software that offers CRM Marketing services for your businesses. However, some tools have proven to be more innovative in powering marketing for businesses.
This article will review the top innovative CRM tools to power your marketing in no particular order. I choose these tools based on their ability to perform basic tasks such as capturing customer needs, automating repetitive tasks and tracking interactions.
Check out our blog post on the basics and benefits of CRM in marketing here.
Introduction
- Top CRM Tools
- Salesforce
- Hubspot
- BreeCMS
- Creatio
- Mailchimp
- Freshworks
- EngageBay
- What to consider before choosing a CRM tool
- Conclusion
Top CRM Tools to Power Your Marketing
Salesforce-
Salesforce is a cloud-based, paid CRM Software that offers a variety of features and options for its users. You can use it to engage customers, launch e-commerce and empower your teams to work remotely.
Salesforce UI is said to adjust to your needs and helps you make detailed reports for informed decisions. It has excellent customisation and integration features to power your marketing efforts.
It is perfect for tech-savvy teams as it has high-ended technology.
Hubspot
Like Salesforce, Hubspot is one of the popular CRM software most businesses use to power their marketing. Hubspot offers a free version of their CRM that promises almost everything you need in CRM software.
For example, you can monitor your email open rates and website visitors' activities on HubSpot. Hubspot also offers different marketing solutions based on your role in the company, whether in sales, marketing, operations, customer service, or others.
So while it has a free plan, you can get a higher value for the paid version.
BreeCMS
When you need an all-in-one content management system that helps you spot trends and insights regarding your customers by acquiring and accessing customer data, you can think of BreeCMS.
Aside from being a website builder, it can help you track leads, qualify them, and convert them into paying customers. It also enables you to automate repetitive tasks to focus on higher-value activities easily.
BreeCMS offers an all-in-one platform for CRM, content management, and web design without coding. Its easy-to-use feature and responsive customer support set it apart.
In addition, it makes for easy workflow as you can automate tasks like appointments and email campaigns and track orders and sales.
However, BreeCMS offers only a paid version in different categories.
Creatio
Creatio is another paid service CRM platform that boasts of automating marketing tasks. Not just that, it is easy to use for non-tech marketing teams.
With Creatio, you can lead your customers through the sales pipeline, managing interactions across all channels.
If your marketing specialises in email campaigns, you'll find Creatio useful as it can collect and segment your customer's data.
Mailchimp
Do you think Mailchimp is only for email marketing? Mailchimp has, over the years, expanded to providing CRM services like contact management, marketing automation and even creative tools.
Mailchimp has a free and paid version that offers various CRM services based on your business needs. For example, you can access customer conversion histories through phone calls, emails and chats.
In Mailchimp, you can convert your website visitors to contacts using the lead form integration. Through its contact management feature, you can segment your customers and leads into various categories for easy identification.
However, you have to pay attention not to duplicate leads as importing data can cause such.
Although Mailchimp's automation features may not be super advanced and integrations limited, it's a CRM to get you started in your marketing.
Freshworks
Freshworks is a CRM tool that powers the marketing of sales and lead management teams.
With its easy-to-use automation feature, you can quickly build and sustain your customer relationships.
They also have a built-in email and phone system to help you close leads. Although it focuses on sales and lead management, you can track your web visitors and manage tasks and appointments.
EngageBay
Most CRMs specialise in either sales, marketing or customer service, but Engagebay claims to cater for all.
On the EngageBay platform, you can automate your emails and messages and build your pipeline. They also boast an easy-to-use UI and sync with apps like Gmail and Outlook.
In addition, EngageBay's contacts feature helps organisations that don't only want to gather leads but want to nurture and retain customers.
It keeps all the information of the customer throughout the customer journey.
What To Consider When Choosing A CRM Platform.
With so many tools, selecting the best CRM software doesn't seem like a walk in the park.
But you can simplify the process by identifying the particular problem each CRM software solves.
So, although most CRMs can solve your marketing needs, there is a tool that will help you make the most of your goals and objectives.
Here are a few things to consider when selecting CRM software for your business.
Company Size
What CRM software is appropriate for you depends on the size of your company. You may require more sophisticated operations than a business with few employees if you have different marketing, sales, IT, and customer support, divisions.
It would help if you also thought about who will oversee the software. Subscribing to software and using it to its maximum capacity are two different things.
The size of your business will also affect the cost of the software you choose. More users will cost more subscriptions.
Your Business Needs
You need to identify your current business challenges. For example, have you been using a CRM tool before now, and why do you need a switch?
What are the issues with managing your customer relationship? Knowing these issues will help you select the tool that has your problem in mind. Most CRM software help sales, marketing, IT, and customer service achieve their CRM goals.
Therefore, you must know which areas to focus on and what CRM can solve those issues.
Basic CRM Features
There's a basic feature available on the majority of CRMs. These features should also be a part of the CRM you select.
Although each feature's specifications differ from software to software, the CRM should have a feature that helps you deal with issues like:
- Lead and contact management
- Sharing and storing of documents
- Process automation
- Tracking interactions
- Mobile access
Before making any judgments, check for these essential CRM features. Watching videos of these users using these features is also a good idea.
Each platform has a unique approach to handling things like contact management.
Which one best matches how your teams operate?
Advanced CRM Features
Consider advanced features that could have a significant impact on your business. For example, automating repetitive tasks can save you tons of time for other productive activities.
However, most automation features are accessible only on paid plans. If you consider the benefits, it may be worth it for you and your teams.
Third-Party Integrations
Your CRM tool should be able to sync with the already existing applications you use to automate and streamline your business activities effectively.
Make a list of the applications you use, and then confirm that your CRM interfaces with each one. List applications like:
- Email platforms
- Social media applications
- Software for internal communications
- customer service tools
- Videoconferencing and chats
- Ecommerce platforms
- Calendar
- Analytics tools
You can use this list to select which CRM software offers everything you need.
Conclusion
Using The ideal CRM tool can significantly boost your marketing efforts. It keeps customers satisfied and makes remaining organised easy.
BreeCMS is my top recommendation for most businesses. Teams from all areas, including sales, marketing, and customer service, can use various features.
The ideal CRM tool for you, however, will depend on the size of your company and the features you require. So, while you go through the process of making your final decision, apply the factors we discussed above.
Which CRM tool do you use?
