Going to implement marketing automation and considering SalesForce? We advice to view similar platforms to make a decision.

When clients choose marketing automation software, in most cases they are looking for functionality for email builder, marketing lead database, landing page builder, lead scoring, segmentation etc.

Comparing SalesForce with competitors people pay attention to the automation builder, customer data platform, chatbots, conversations, survey builder, segmentation, number of triggers and actions and so on.

We’ve compiled a list of top 10 competitors that are very resembling in cost and features to SalesForce. The list is based on popularity, so if SalesForce doesn’t suit you in any way, here you can easily select the best variant for you.

E2 Shop System

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We help shops and manufacturers of all kinds and sizes work smarter for improved efficiencies, greater flexibility and bigger profits.

OfficeClip

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OfficeClip LLC is a leading provider of web-based business solutions for small and medium businesses. We provide integrated solutions to manage customers, employees, and projects. OfficeClip has a suite of different applications like Timesheet and Expense tracker, Contact Manager, and Support Desk.

Realvolve

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Realvolve is a Real Estate contact relationship manager (CRM) that helps agents manage contacts, listings, escrows, tasks, files, and important dates. Realvolve keeps real estate agents and brokers organized, effective, and mobile.

Apptivo

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Apptivo is the perfect small business suite for google apps. Apptivo has CRM, Project Management, Invoicing, Timesheets and more. Apptivo's business suite consists of 40+ apps that are integrated and seamlessly work with each other. The information is shared across apps, so data once created can be used everywhere improving overall productivity.

EngageBay

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With a limit of 1,000 contacts and 1,000 emails/month, Enagebay CRM suggests its users the cheapest paid plans of the 3 providers. The basic plan will cost you $12 a month per user, and it includes 10,000 contacts and the same amount of emails.

RUNO

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RUNO is a Modern Mobile CRM with a complete Calling Solution for your outbound and tele-sales team. With this mobile based business CRM (Telecalling + Sales), your team can be more efficient on the move. No need for laptops/Desktops. Just a power packed mobile app! From Business calls, to emails, to meetings; every interaction and every prospect is tracked till closure

ActiveCampaign

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ActiveCampaign is a platform that helps businesses automate customer experiences and build meaningful connections with their customers. Since 2003, ActiveCampaign has created tools that are both powerful and easy to use – because growing businesses don't always have the time to set up new tech. Today, 80,000+ businesses use ActiveCampaign for their email marketing, marketing automation, or CRM.

Sendible

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Sendible is an all-in-one social media management tool. The SaaS platform simplifies the process of planning and executing multi-platform social media marketing campaigns.

Propertybase

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Propertybase is the industry's most comprehensive suite of tools including CRM, Back Office, Lead Generation, Marketing & More make every step from search to sold an intelligent and seamless experience.

Malinko CRM

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With Malinko CRM software it is possible to organize today’s plan for tomorrow. The CRM is customer-centric and allows you to hold your customer database, like data, dropdowns, notes, etc. The tool is ideal for powerful reporting, maintaining custom reports, employee reports, and contact-based reports.

Junxure

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Junxure is the on-premises CRM solution for financial advisors. It was created exclusively for financial advisors based on the experiences of a financial advisor.

How to choose SalesForce substitute

Many marketing automation platforms are resembling each other. Software with the same features can differ in cost by 2 times. The first feature you should look at is the availability of node interface. This is a basic feature of marketing automation apps and if it doesn’t include this feature, most likely this software isn’t ready yet. All node interfaces look almost identical. It's important not to pay attention to the UI, but look at the features.

In a month, you'll get used to the UI, but the missing features will always annoy you. Changing marketing automation software is very time-consuming. If you have the usual email chains set up, it's not that hard to change platform. But if you've already set up integrations, workflow, and have complex funnels, it can take years to replace the tool. That's why you should be attentive to study SalesForce competitors.

What to pay attention to when investigating the flow builder? It has 4 important features categories.

1. Triggers. For example, "Form submit" is a trigger that starts a funnel. The most often used triggers are: opening an email, clicking a link in an email, reaching a goal, adding or removing a tag, closing a deal, visiting a page, etc. In each system for marketing automation this set may differ. The more, the better.
2. Action. For instance, "Send email". This is the most standard action you can have. The most popular actions are: add or remove a tag, send a text message, send a messenger message, set a salesperson task, update a transaction, notify someone by email, move a transaction to another stage, etc.
3. Delay. For example, "Wait 3 days. Subscriber submit the form on the website and get in the marketing automation app (Trigger), the system sends a Welcome email (Action). After that the tool waits 2 hours (delay) and sends a second email. This is the most simple automation. But there are other variants. For example, "Wait until something happens". Or wait until January 20th, or wait until 10 PM in the subscriber’s time zone.
4. If/else. For example, "If a lead, has the tag "Purchased product #1", send the email, if the subscriber doesn't have the tag "Purchased product #1", wait 4 days and send the email. The most often used if/else parameters are: visited the site page, bought certain items, opened certain emails, user field the user card matches some requirements. This is information according to which you can segment the subscriber base.

Analyzing the automation builder, you should look carefully at all four categories of features. The more, the better. Usually it appears that powerful marketing automation software with the greatest number of features look uncomfortable. New platforms look nice, but they have few features. You look into the tool you want to use very deeply. Otherwise, it will be very hard to change it in the future.

After you've analyzed the automation builder, you need to whether there are integrations with the platforms you need. Fortunately, Apiway can help you. In most cases, apps like SalesForce are the core of business IT infrastructure. It's like a digital hub for all your customer. This type of app is like an tree, which is putting its tentacles into other software. Software like SalesForce has to integrate with most other ones. Or you’ll have to spend a lot of money and time making custom integrations.

Also those who are looking for alternatives to SalesForce use tools from other categories like chatbot software, helpdesk software, CRM system, lead management software