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.

Equisoft

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Equisoft is another CRM solution specifically designed for financial advisors. It is the only CRM that aggregates client and product data from gateways with insurance and investment platforms—giving advisors a full view of all client data at a glance.

Contactually

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Contactually is a real estate CRM that focuses on relationship building and automation to help realtors get more business and more referrals from their sphere. Contactually knows it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of your contact list. When you get overwhelmed, you miss opportunities.

Zoho CRM

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Zoho CRM is the name of an on-demand, SaaS-based customer relationship management (CRM) software solution designed to manage sales, marketing, contacts, customer support and other business functions.

Nutshell

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Nutshell is a sneaky powerful cloud-based CRM and sales automation tool for small businesses. The Nutshell platform offers sales process and collaboration tools, email sync with Gmail and Outlook, fully customizable reporting, and a flexible UI that can fit nearly any sales model.

KeyOffice

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Best for small companies and self-employed persons who are looking for a secured and dedicated all-in-one application to run their daily business.

Agile CRM

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Agile CRM is an all-in-one, affordable, next-generation CRM software that is globally trusted by 15,000+businesses. This All-in-One CRM is an ideal tool for contact management, closing deals, organizing telephone services, appointment scheduling, improving project management, and adding gamification effects to your business organization.

Zendesk

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Zendesk is a service-first CRM company that builds software designed to improve customer relationships. As employees, we encourage each other to grow and innovate. As a company, we roll up our sleeves to plant roots in the communities we call home.

OPAL CRM

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OPAL CRM is a unique CRM Software to track and Manage Leads offline and online in a single window. It allows auto segmentation of leads, High performing CRM software for Enterprise and Small businesses. It is easy to use and fits in all budgets. It is used to streamline the everyday process of tracking the leads and Extendable Enterprise needs.

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.

Redtail CRM

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Redtail CRM - web-based Client Relationship Management software, integrates widely and deeply with other popular tools in the financial services industry.

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