Gone are the days of word of mouth marketing and offline promotional events to increase sales. Today’s digital business landscape demands more with deeper efforts in the digital space. But, what has become more of a survival imperative is the best use of sales and marketing automation tools. To drive growth, businesses are embracing the importance of robust marketing and sales tools- for example an enterprise CRM solution. But there are many products in the market- which one is to choose. After all, the businesses these days have diverse needs. And HubSpot is one of the most demanding products in the market due to its exceptional functionalities that are aligned with your needs.

But HubSpot Alternatives Come to the Scene: Why? 

For organizations seeking an all-in-one marketing and sales solution, HubSpot is a popular choice. However, in recent times, a large number of businesses are exploring HubSpot alternatives. In spite of having so many features and functionalities, growing SMBs are looking for alternatives. Is it only because of the price? But, it is also true that many productive features of HubSpot are available free of cost, though in the basic phase. This article is an in-depth study on the reasons why growing SMbs are looking for HubSpot alternatives when they are looking for enterprise CRM solutions for their business.

The Limitations of HubSpot: Where it Falls Short? 

HubSpot is a market leader, no doubt. And many of its features are available free of cost But, with the growth of the business, most of these free of cost functionalities fall short to deliver the desired result. And, SMBs need to look for more advanced level plans. That’s the stage when businesses look for HubSpot alternatives. Here are the primary considerations of the customers looking for HubSpot Alternatives. 

  1. Pricing Point: HubSpot's basic features are available free of cost but when it comes to the professional features, the pricing model becomes quite high for the small and medium-sized businesses to afford. While it offers a range of features, the pricing tiers can quickly escalate as businesses require additional functionality or increase their contact database size.
  2. Complexity of the functionalities: In spite of the extensive range of tools and features, HubSpot’s powerful features are too complex to handle. It is often overwhelming for users without extensive training or experience. Not all SMBs can afford this kind of training because the learning curve can deter businesses looking for a more intuitive and user-friendly solution.
  3. Scalability of the product: Marketing and sales evolve with the growing magnitude of the business. At this phase, businesses need to look for features that better cater to their needs Some organizations find that HubSpot's offerings are not flexible enough to adapt and businesses need to subscribe for the necessary features all over again. The existing products fail to get scaled up with the changing requirements.

 Key Factors Driving the Search for HubSpot Alternatives:

  1. Affordability: Many businesses are seeking cost-effective alternatives that can provide comparable features and functionalities without the hefty price tag associated with HubSpot. Lower-cost alternatives can enable organizations to allocate their marketing and sales budgets more efficiently.
  2. Specialized Solutions: HubSpot's broad range of features may not be necessary or relevant for every business. Some organizations prefer alternatives that offer specialized tools catering specifically to their industry or niche, allowing them to focus on targeted marketing and sales strategies.
  3. Integration Capabilities: Businesses often require seamless integration between their marketing and sales tools and other systems, such as CRM platforms or email marketing software. HubSpot alternatives that offer robust integration capabilities can provide enhanced efficiency and streamline workflows.
  4. Ease of Use: User experience and intuitive interfaces are crucial factors in selecting marketing and sales tools. Businesses are increasingly seeking alternatives that prioritize simplicity and ease of use, allowing teams to quickly adopt and utilize the platform without extensive training.
  5. Scalability and Flexibility: As businesses grow and evolve, they require marketing and sales solutions that can scale alongside their expanding needs. Flexible alternatives that offer customizable features and scalable pricing models provide businesses with the adaptability they need to accommodate their changing requirements.

What are the Popular HubSpot Alternatives

  1. ActiveCampaign: Who does not know the name of ActiveCampaign as a marketing automation platform? Its email marketing capabilities are one of its kinds, for which it is chosen as a leading enterprise CRM solution by the users. ActiveCampaign comes with several amazing features and a user-friendly interface. The product is also known for advanced automation workflows, and extensive integration options. Alongside affordable pricing plans, ActiveCampaign is a great solution for SMBs extremely focused on targeted and uber-personalized email campaigns.
  2. ConvergeHub: A powerful B2B All in One CRM platform, ConvergeHub is one of the most talked about HubSpot alternatives lately. It is a sales, marketing, billing and support tool- all at the same time. The product is great for lead nurturing, email marketing, and analytics. ConvergeHub offers excellent third party integration features ( Quickbooks integration being the best of all) helps users with a unified view of every business details, which includes customer interactions, financial transactions, purchase history and more. Although ConvergeHub is great for the SMBs, larger enterprises also opt for it due to the exceptional scalability and customization feature. With all these features, it makes a great HubSpot alternative and for all the right reasons. 
  3. Salesforce Marketing Cloud: Salesforce Marketing Cloud is a truly a scalable and customizable marketing automation platform. It provides robust capabilities for email marketing, social media marketing, mobile messaging, and customer journey mapping. 
  4. Zoho CRM and Zoho Campaigns: Zoho offers a suite of business applications, including Zoho CRM and Zoho Campaigns, which together provide comprehensive marketing and sales functionalities. Zoho CRM focuses on managing customer relationships, while Zoho Campaigns offers email marketing automation and campaign management features. Zoho's affordable pricing and extensive integration options make it an attractive alternative for businesses seeking a combination of CRM and marketing automation capabilities.

Wrapping Up

As much as marketing and sales in the digital landscape becomes vital, companies rely on viable HubSpot alternatives to gain momentum. In spite of having a comprehensive range of tools and features, HubSpot alternatives are chosen when they look for affordable and long-term solutions. 

Alternatively, this is also true that the marketing and sales strategy depends on an organization's business goals. Added to it are the budget constraints and the long-term growth strategies. Being a business owner it is always advisable to evaluate available HubSpot alternatives, considering the unique needs of the business, and conducting trials or demos of the products, so that you can make a diverse choice.