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Collaboration software has become a must-have tool for businesses today.
With teams scattered across different locations working remotely, these tools ensure that everyone can communicate and collaborate effectively. From simple check-ins and real-time status updates to ongoing project management, collaboration software can accommodate businesses of all shapes and sizes.
Your organization can even use collaboration software to improve the way you work with clients, contractors, and stakeholders in your business.
By leveraging collaboration tools, everyone will benefit from improved workflows and have greater access to crucial information.
But in order to take advantage of these benefits, your first task will be finding the right collaboration software for your business—and there are a ton of options out there.
To make your decision easier, use the buying guide and recommendations that I’ve reviewed in this post.
As previously mentioned, there are lots of different collaboration tools available on the market today. With dozens, if not hundreds of options to choose from, narrowing down the best option for your business can feel like a tall task.
To ease the buying process, I’ve identified the top factors that must be considered as you’re evaluating different options. I’ll quickly explain each one in greater detail below.
Collaboration software comes in all different shapes and sizes.
You’ll come across solutions built for project management, while others are made specifically for instant messaging or video conferencing. There are even some all-in-one solutions on the market today.
The best option for you will depend on the needs of your business. Some of you might just need an internal messaging tool, as opposed to a platform for document storage or task management. We’ll discuss the different types of collaboration software in greater detail a bit later in this guide.
How large is your company?
In addition to the number of people on your team, the amount of teams, departments, and other segments should also be taken into consideration.
For example, you might want to have a tool that every single person within your organization can use to contact another employee. But files being shared by the accounting team or human resources department shouldn’t be available for your marketing team to access. Your sales staff shouldn’t be able to access sensitive financial records.
So make sure the software you’re considering allows you to create different groups for each department or project. You’ll also want to look for features to manage permissions and access for each individual user.
Collaboration software should be making your life easier, not more difficult.
There are some tools out there that are undoubtedly more complex than others. Depending on your needs and the technical skill level of the end-users, that’s fine. Any time you’re using new software, there will always be a learning curve. So you’ll need to keep that in mind.
However, after the first couple of weeks or months using the software, your entire team should be fairly proficient. If not, it could add complexity to your processes, as opposed to boosting performance and productivity.
I strongly recommended that you take advantage of demos and free trials. This will truly give you a better understanding of which options are the easiest to use.
This piggybacks off of our last point. The best collaboration software will make it easy for you to stay organized.
Depending on the software in question, there might be task cards, folders, groups, or other ways to keep everything in order. How can you jump from one project to another? Will users easily be able to find a file or document that was shared by a coworker? Can supervisors and project managers keep track of everything at a higher level?
At scale, the way everything gets organized within your collaboration software is amplified. If you’re just running a small team with five users working on a single project, this may not be important. But when that number jumps into the hundreds or thousands, staying organized becomes critical.
Your collaboration software should seamlessly integrate with other tools and software that your company is using.
From CMS to CRMs, email software, cloud storage services, and more, make sure you check out those integrations before you finalize your decision. It’s easier to use collaboration software if everything can be managed and accessed from a single platform. Otherwise, users will have to bounce back and forth between different tools, which isn’t ideal from an efficiency standpoint.
Before we jump into the reviews and recommendations, I want to clearly identify and explain the different types of collaboration tools on the market today. Here are some of the options that you’ll come across as you’re browsing around:
As the name implies, project management software is designed for teams that are working on different projects. A project can be defined as something with a clearly defined start and end date.
This could be anything from a full-scale app development project to a smaller marketing campaign.
Project management tools allow your teams to work on projects collaboratively while sometimes automating tasks. If this is what you’re looking for, make sure you find a solution that fits your project management style (lean management, agile management, Kanban boards, Gantt charts, etc.).
Lots of project management tools are branded as an all-in-one team collaboration solution.
Some solutions are made specifically for sharing files and documents.
With these tools, team members can transfer, distribute, and customize access to shared files. A file could be anything from an image to a PDF or even larger files like software, videos, or ebooks.
It’s much easier and more secure to manage files and collaborate with a cloud tool as opposed to transferring files via email.
Messaging tools are ideal for teams that want to benefit from real-time communication. If you need a quick answer or want to communicate back and forth with a coworker, an instant message is definitely more efficient than an email.
These are also great for group chats where multiple members can communicate in real-time with each other. Again, it’s a better alternative to traditional email.
Some collaboration tools will have built-in instant messaging features, while others specialize in instant messaging specifically. Not every collaboration software includes team messaging.
Conference calling software takes real-time communication to the next level.
Aside from instant messaging (or in addition to instant messaging), these tools allow teams to collaborate using voice and video chat. You can even benefit from extra features like screen sharing, presentation mode, etc.
Businesses use conferencing calling software for both internal collaboration, as well as collaboration with clients, contractors, stakeholders, and more.
Generally speaking, coordination tools are a component of collaboration software.
I’m referring to features like time tracking, scheduling, calendars, status updates, etc. For example, a collaborative calendar can help you understand everyone’s availability in real-time without having to disturb them. It improves efficiency when scheduling meetings or similar tasks.
Most collaboration software will have features for real-time status updates as well. So when someone completes a task, they won’t have to notify everyone about their progress. That information will be available within a general feed.
Slack is a name that many of you might already be familiar with. It’s quickly become the go-to platform for internal business messaging over the past few years.
Whether you’re working remotely or in a traditional office environment, Slack will be a great option to consider.
More than 750,000 businesses trust Slack for team collaboration. Here’s a quick overview of some of its noteworthy features and highlights:
Plans start at just $6.67 per user per month. All plans come with unlimited messaging. Regardless of your team size or industry, Slack is the best collaboration tool for team messaging.
Trello is a simple solution for task management. For ongoing work and projects alike, it’s one of the best ways for your entire team to collaborate and stay organized.
With the help of Trello’s boards, cards, and lists, businesses across any industry can use this platform to improve productivity.
Here’s a quick explanation of what you can accomplish with Trello’s collaboration software:
Trello is powered by Atlassian, a global leader in the software and project management space. So you know that it’s a solution you can count on. That’s why more than one million teams across the globe rely on Trello.
This collaboration software is free for up to 10 boards with unlimited cards and lists. Paid plans start at $9.99 per user per month.
Flock is another collaboration tool with a primary focus on messaging. But it’s a little bit more advanced than Slack in terms of the features and capabilities.
The software is great for teams that work collaboratively from remote locations.
With Flock, you can keep all of your messages, apps, and productivity tools organized from the same place. Here are some of its features that are worth highlighting:
For small teams, Flock is free with 10 channels included. You’ll also get unlimited 1:1 and group messages. Paid plans start at just $4.50 per user per month, which is a great value.
Try Flock for free with a 30-day trial.
Zoho Projects is one of the most popular and easy-to-use collaboration tools on the market today. The software makes it easy for teams to collaborate, plan, and track work more efficiently.
As a cloud-based solution, you can use Zoho Projects to collaborate and manage tasks from anywhere.
Compared to other tools out there, Zoho Projects is loaded with robust features. Here’s a quick overview of some of my favorites:
Zoho Projects even has industry-specific solutions for categories like software development, real estate, construction, marketing, education, and more.
Plans start at just $3 per user per month (with a minimum of six users). You can try it for free with a 10-day trial.
Wrike is a powerful and versatile project management solution. The software makes it easy to give your team complete control and visibility over projects and tasks.
If you’re looking for collaboration software with a primary emphasis on project management, this will be a top choice for you to consider.
Wrike is trusted by 20,000+ companies across the globe, including some big names like Dell, Google, Airbnb, and Siemens. Let’s take a closer look at some of its features and benefits:
Wrike is a popular choice for marketing teams, creative professionals, and product development teams. However, it’s versatile enough to accommodate the needs of really any business type.
The software is free for up to five users. But you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan to take full advantage of the project planning and collaboration features. These start at $9.80 per user per month. Try it free for 14 days.
For those of you who need collaboration software for conference calling, look no further than BlueJeans. It’s a simple and safe way to empower your remote staff with audio and video conferences.
Brands like Zillow, Facebook, ADP, Intuit, and National Geographic all trust BlueJeans for team collaboration.
Let’s take a closer look at what makes BlueJeans so great for collaboration:
Plans start at just $9.99 per host per month. If you’re not quite sold just yet, you can have unlimited access to BlueJeans and all of its features for free with a 7-day trial.
Collaboration software makes it easy for your entire business to stay organized and connect with each other in real-time.
To find the best software for your business, start by reviewing the buying guide I highlighted at the begging of this article. Then go through the recommended options above to narrow down the best tool for you.
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Business intelligence software has become a necessary tool in the era of big data.
Your organization collects tons of data about your customers, website, and total health of the company. But without BI software, making sense of that information is nearly impossible. This software exists so you can analyze various data sets and make data-driven decisions.
For example, you can use BI software to predict consumer buying behavior or project the financial impact of an operations decision. Rather than waiting for a quarterly or annual report, you can leverage BI software for real-time data insights.
Due to the complexity of business intelligence software, the vast majority of tools in this category are designed for large organizations, SMBs, and enterprises.
Finding the right BI software for your business can be challenging if you don’t know what to look for. I’ve created a simple buying guide with features, factors, and elements that must be taken into consideration as you’re shopping around. Keep an eye out for the following aspects of BI software as you’re comparing solutions and narrowing down your options:
Remember, the number one reason why companies invest in BI software is to make sense of their data. So it’s only natural that data reporting itself would rank so high on our list of factors to evaluate.
The best BI tools turn complex data into visuals that are easy to understand. You can view this information from real-time dashboards or turn them into individual reports.
Being able to share these reports with decision-makers, stakeholders, clients, and other members of your team is also something that must be considered. Users that generate the reports won’t always be the people making sense of that information. So the reports must be easy enough to comprehend by the final decision-makers.
How are you going to integrate your existing data with your BI solution? Where is that data located?
Don’t make things more confusing for yourself. Make sure you find a business intelligence tool that makes it easy for you to connect with your existing data sources. It’s worth noting that not every business intelligence software on the market will integrate with specific databases. So don’t make assumptions; always double-check that your data is compatible with the software in question.
Your BI software should seamlessly integrate with help desk tools, CRM, ERP software, advertising networks, and more. The best tools should accommodate cross-platform access to every user as well.
Some business intelligence software will improve the way you collect data as well.
Your in-house developers or IT department might want to implement custom application development into your processes. Certain tools will have pre-built analytics apps for you to use. Other solutions offer developers an open API, making things easier for developers to customize apps with unique rules.
Unlike other types of business software on the market today, BI tools are a bit more complex. Getting started isn’t really as simple as clicking “sign up” and being done.
These solutions are highly customizable and built specifically for your business. The deployment process could potentially take weeks, depending on the software you choose. You’ll be faced with options for on-premises deployment, hybrid server deployment, desktop software, and cloud software deployment.
Cloud software is a great option for businesses on a tighter budget. This deployment method makes BI tools more easily accessible to smaller companies. But large organizations with complex data sets and custom needs would likely benefit more from on-site deployment.
Again, BI software can be complicated.
If it’s your first time using this type of software, don’t overwhelm yourself with a solution built for seasoned veterans.
Think about who will be using the software on a day-to-day basis. Is it your IT team? Sales reps? Product managers? Developers and tech-savvy individuals won’t have as steep of a learning curve as the average user.
Just make sure you understand the difference between tools that require advanced technical knowledge and software for beginners. Beginners should avoid software that’s built for data engineers.
Business intelligence software can be segmented into different categories based on its primary functionality or toolset. Here’s a quick overview and explanation of the most popular types of BI software available on the market today.
As the name implies, data visualization software helps you analyze complex data sheets with visual tools. Visual reporting is arguably the best way to make sense of large sets of data. You can turn huge data sets into meaningful reports in a matter of minutes. This makes it much easier for decision-makers to analyze the insights.
Business process management software is a component of business intelligence. These tools are also a core component of operational management and intelligence.
BPM software leverages automation and improves the efficiency of day-to-day processes. You can find business process management functionality within BI software.
OLAP software leverages tools that help analyze data from several sources. These interactive solutions provide a multidimensional view for each user (such as different department heads). OLAP tools will consolidate and aggregate different operational data.
Embedded BI software is exactly what it sounds like. These tools are integrated directly within your applications for process management. They can also be embedded in operations portals, websites, portals, and other types of business-related systems.
ETL (extract, transform, and load) software combines data from different sources into a single dashboard. Then the software will blend these various data sets and make sense of them in terms that the end-user can understand.
You can use data mining tools to identify patterns in your data sets. Data mining software typically leverages tools like machine learning and AI to uncover these patterns for data-driven decision making.
TIBCO Jaspersoft is a developer-friendly business intelligence solution. The software uses embedded BI, which brings the power of business intelligence directly into your company’s applications.
The dashboards are ultimately displayed within the interface of the application to enhance the end-user experience and improve decision-making in real-time.
More than 500,000 developers across different industries use TIBCO Jaspersoft to improve applications for millions of users. Here are some of the other reasons why this BI tool ranks so high on my list:
The tool is a bit unique in the sense that it’s built for developers but enhances the decision making for end users. If you don’t have a technical background, you won’t really be qualified to deploy this on your own.
Try TIBCO Jaspersoft free for 30 days to see if it’s right for your business before buying.
Entrinsik Informer is perfect for large organizations that collect data from multiple sources and need to make sense of that information within different departments.
The software makes it easy for you to connect data from the cloud, spreadsheets, unstructured web data, traditional databases, enterprise applications, and more, and aggregate it within a single source.
It’s a popular choice for manufacturing, insurance, distribution, education, and government organizations. Noteworthy features and highlights of Entrinsik Informer include:
For businesses seeking a fast and simple way to discover intelligent data, this will be a top choice to consider.
Users across your entire organization, such as department managers, business users, industry partners, data scientists, executives, database admins, and more, can all see unique information within Entrinsik Informer based on their needs and role.
Schedule a free demo to learn more.
More than 500,000 companies and 2+ million users rely on Zoho Analytics for business intelligence. It’s trusted by well-known brands like HP, Hyundai, Ikea, and Suzuki.
Compared to other solutions on our list, Zoho Analytics is definitely a bit more user-friendly. If you’re just getting your feet wet with BI software, this tool won’t have as steep of a learning curve.
My favorite part about Zoho Analytics is the visual reporting. Non-technical users can easily navigate within the platform to create and view custom reports that are easy to comprehend. Other features and benefits include:
You can even access your BI reports on the go with the Zoho Analytics app, available on iOS and Android.
Zoho Analytics is the best beginner-friendly BI software on the market today. Plans start at $22 per month, and you can try it free for 15 days.
Sisense is one of the most popular BI tools on the market today. It’s used by developers, business leaders, product managers, and data professionals alike.
The software is trusted by 10,000+ companies, including well-known brands like GE, Verizon, Motorola, Wix, Hewlett Packard, and the Salvation Army.
Sisense has industry-specific solutions in categories like retail, healthcare, government, manufacturing, marketing, supply chain management, and more. They also have solutions that are tailored toward specific departments within your organization.
Noteworthy highlights of Sisense include:
Users of any technical skill level can use Sisense to transform complex data sets into interactive dashboards. Watch the demo and request a free quote to get started.
Chartio is a cloud-based BI solution. It empowers users of varying technical backgrounds to analyze data from business applications.
The tool makes it easy for you to simplify data with charts and dashboards for more informed decision making.
Here’s a closer look at some of the top reasons why your business should consider using Chartio for business intelligence:
Chartio also provides exceptional support. They view themselves as a strategic partner in your success. So they provide you with live training, extensive documentation, and access to experienced data advisors.
Plans start at $40 per user per month. You can try Chartio free for 14 days with a no-obligation trial.
Tableau is an industry leader in the business intelligence space. The software is trusted by individual analysts, small teams, large organizations, and everything in between.
They offer a wide range of BI tools, including Tableau Desktop, Tableau Online, Tableau Server, Tableau CRM, embedded analytics, server management, data management, and more. The list goes on and on.
In addition to the extensive product offerings and use cases, Tableau also has industry-specific solutions, and tools based on different types of technology, making it the most versatile software in this category.
Top features of Tableau include:
Overall, Tableau is robust and feature-rich. The only real downside is that it can be tough to figure out with so many capabilities. But it can still be used by developers and non-technical users alike.
You can try Tableau for free with a 14-day trial.
Business intelligence software has rapidly gained popularity over the past few years. If your organization is ready to take your data analysis to the next level, I strongly suggest investing in a BI solution.
Which business intelligence tool is the best?
Just use the buying guide I outlined at the beginning of this article to help narrow down your options. Then start by exploring the top picks reviewed above.
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Marketing campaigns get more complex by the day.
Which… is great news for the consumer experience but a nightmare for you as a marketing manager handling thousands of moving parts (and countless employees) on a daily basis.
To put it lightly, there’s a lot going on behind the scenes.
Especially complex technical challenges that most consumers and employees will never see or fully understand.
But thankfully more and more automation tools are popping up to make your life a bit easier.
However, that means choosing the best marketing automation software for your business and team is harder than its ever been.
From enterprise-grade solutions to the most affordable options, my team and I have researched, tested, and used just about every software you can imagine. And I can honestly say… that’s not an exaggeration.
But the good news is that I narrowed it down to my top six recommendations, reviewed them, and developed an all-inclusive list of what to consider when making your final decision.
I stand behind all of my top recommendations. However, choosing the right one for you isn’t always easy because it depends on various factors.
So, before we dive in, let’s talk about how to narrow things down and find the best marketing automation software for your business.
B2B businesses have different marketing needs than D2C companies.
Furthermore, marketing agencies present a new set of marketing automation challenges. Because of that, specialized software may be necessary to meet your specific needs at a reasonable price point.
The size of your business matters too. Large companies run complex, massive-scale campaigns and have bigger pockets. So, small business tools aren’t a good match.
However, smaller companies will probably find enterprise-grade features confusing and wildly out of budget, which is why those small business tools exist in the first place.
So, pay attention to who the software is built for when making your final decision.
Most pricing plans depend on the number of contacts or leads you have. The larger your list, the more you need to pay to maintain it and stay in touch with them.
If you have tens or hundreds of thousands of contacts, enterprise-grade solutions are probably more cost-effective. However, that’s not the case if you have a few hundred or even a few thousand leads on your list.
Just be sure to keep this in mind and remember that specific plans may limit the maximum number of contacts you can have.
And if you hit those limits, you’ll need to upgrade to a higher plan or pay an extra fee.
Different marketing automation software supports various marketing channels.
And there’s no one-size-fits-all solution.
From SMS and email marketing to social media and push notifications, it’s crucial to choose a software that handles everything you need.
Smaller businesses with simple campaigns may not utilize a wide range of channels and can get away using a more affordable tool.
However, large businesses with complex campaigns spanning numerous channels need something more robust to manage all the moving parts.
Furthermore, some software includes varying channels in different pricing tiers. So, you may start on one level and need to move up to gain access to more marketing channels. Or you may need to move to (or integrate) a new tool altogether.
It may help to map out your upcoming campaigns and decide which channels you plan to use.
Automation is at the heart of every tool on this list. But some offer more advanced automation features than others.
Do you need to score leads and prospects? Maybe you want to combine SMS, email marketing, and Facebook ads in the same customer journey. Or perhaps you need the ability to send hyper-targeted emails on autopilot.
Regardless of the complexity of your campaigns, don’t forget to consider:
You may not need all of them, and some tools don’t include them. So it’s critical to understand what you need (and don’t need) before making your decision.
It’s not uncommon for marketing automation software to include a handful of features typically found in a CRM tool, like live chat or customer support capabilities.
Before making a final decision, it’s essential to understand which additional features you need to fill the gap between marketing and sales or customer service.
You may already have these systems in place. So, you won’t need these additional features. But if you don’t, you might be able to save money, hassle, and time by choosing a software that includes everything you’re missing under one roof.
Hubspot is an excellent example of this.
It includes customer service, sales, and marketing automation tools in a centralized location to streamline data movement and foster automation across your entire business.
Marketing comes in all shapes, sizes, and complexities.
From physical mailers and print campaigns to social media and email marketing, the best marketing automation software helps you build, automate, and optimize all types of marketing campaigns.
Marketing automation software is often confused with customer relationship management (CRM). However, the two aren’t the same or interchangeable.
CRM software focuses on sales activities, while marketing automation software focuses on marketing tasks. Going further, marketing automation software is for generating, nurturing, and qualifying leads.
On the other hand, CRM software is to close the sale and foster communications or relationships after the sale.
In a perfect world, the two systems play well together and create a seamless flow of data from your marketing team to your sales team.
Taking things further, there are numerous subsets of marketing automation software, including:
Each different tool is powerful on its own. But true marketing automation software lets you create and optimize customer journeys across marketing platforms for varying complexity campaigns.
Around here, we’re big fans of Freshworks (if you couldn’t tell).
Freshmarketer is their intelligent marketing automation platform built to help small to midsize businesses save time, attract the right people, nurture their audiences, and make more money.
It’s my #1 recommendation for most users—and for a good reason.
From awareness to retention, you get all the automation features you need to gain more leads, turn those leads into customers, and keep those customers around for life. All while doing less work with better results.
Plus, you don’t need any technical skills or a dedicated support team to get started. And it takes about a minute to get up and running.
You also get access to incredible features like:
Furthermore, the software seamlessly integrates with Freshworks’ other tools, so it’s an excellent choice if you currently use or plan to use any of their business software.
You can try Freshmarketer on their limited free forever plan or a 21-day free trial of their paid plans, which are incredibly affordable and accessible for businesses of all sizes. However, they depend on the number of contacts you have, so keep that in mind.
Their plans include:
Just remember the cost for each plan goes up after you max out your 1,000 contacts.
As a B2B business, you market to other companies, which presents a unique set of marketing challenges. As such, you need a marketing automation tool built for the job.
Pardot exists to help B2B companies build relationships and turn those relationships into revenue. Plus, it’s a fantastic marketing automation software built around the world’s #1 CRM.
So, you know you’re in good hands.
From lead generation to sales alignment, the software offers a wide range of features, including:
Furthermore, over 2.8+ million worldwide users rely on Pardot for their marketing automation needs, making it one of the most popular platforms on this list.
But it is a bit expensive, so it’s best suited for larger businesses. Their paid plans include:
They also offer a few add-ons that come free in the Premium plan. Those add-ons include Salesforce Engage ($50/user per month), Analytics Plus ($3,000/month), and Engagement History ($300/year).
All plans and add-ons are billed on an annual basis.
Email is one of the most important aspects of digital marketing. All the tools on this list include email marketing in one form or another, but ActiveCampaign specializes in it.
So, it’s an excellent option if you want to hone in and focus on improving your email marketing strategy. It’s also a super affordable tool that includes numerous automation features for leads anywhere in your funnel.
With that said, they also offer omnichannel automation, including instant messaging and SMS, live chat, and Facebook.
So, you’re not limited to just email marketing automation with ActiveCampaign.
Their most popular features cover leads at every point in the funnel, including:
You can also set up numerous types of emails like autoresponders, targeted or triggered emails, broadcasts, scheduled emails, and automated funnels.
And you can design those emails using their intuitive drag and drop designer, or start from one of their 25+ pre-made mobile-responsive design templates.
Whether you’re just getting started or interested in scaling and optimizing your email marketing strategy, ActiveCampaign is an excellent choice. They offer everything you need to capture, nurture, and close leads at scale.
ActiveCampaign offers four plans, with the price of each starting at:
Each tier includes more advanced features, and pricing is based on the size of your list, starting for up to 500 contacts.
So, keep in mind that you will have to pay more than the prices above as your list grows.
Acoustic offers an array of marketing automation products for centralized cross-platform multi-channel marketing. From personalization and email campaigns to web content management and experience management, they offer something for everyone.
Acoustic Campaign is their marketing automation tool, encompassing mobile apps, push notifications, SMS, group chats, social media, ads, email, print campaigns, and more.
You can also combine this with Acoustic Personalization and Acoustic Analytics for a powerful combination of campaign management, data, and using that data to deliver the right message at the right time.
With Acoustic Campaign, you get access to powerful features, including:
Furthermore, they have a community forum where you can publicly ask questions. They also provide an online academy packed full of educational videos and training so you can get the most of your custom automation package.
Note: Acoustic is built for moderate to large volume campaigns with countless moving parts. So, it’s perfect for businesses managing complicated campaigns across numerous channels.
But it’s overkill for a lot of businesses and anyone running single-channel campaigns.
Pricing isn’t available online, and you have to schedule a consultation to learn more. So, keep in mind that you won’t be able to sign up and get started immediately.
If you’re looking for an easy way to automate your sales, customer service, and marketing processes, Hubspot Growth Suite is an excellent and affordable solution.
And the best part? Hubspot goes beyond automating your business processes. It also helps integrate and optimize different departments in one centralized location, thus streamlining your entire business’s workflow.
This means teams don’t have to jump from software to software to get the information they need, and you can automate the data transfer process from one team to the next.
However, their marketing automation capabilities are powerful on their own, with features like:
Hubspot offers basic features, like emails, landing pages, forms, and live chat capabilities for unlimited users absolutely free. So, you can try it out without spending a penny.
Alternatively, you can sign up for a free demo to see all of their advanced features in action.
The Growth Suite (sales, marketing, CRM, and customer service) starts at $50 per month for two users and up to 1,000 contacts, making it extremely affordable for most businesses.
But they also have advanced plans for larger and more complex campaigns, including:
Each 1,000 contacts after your initial 1,000 cost $16.67 per month. And you can add more users to your sales and service hubs for $8.33 per user/month.
Plus, if you’re a current member or alumni of Hubspot’s approved incubator, accelerator, or Venture Capital partners with a round of Series A funding under your belt, you can get up to 90% off your first year.
As a marketing agency, you handle marketing campaigns for several clients (if not hundreds of them) at any given time. As such, you need marketing automation software with the ability to manage everything, including your own marketing campaigns, in one place.
And Act-On offers the perfect solution.
Their scalable software features unique child and parent campaign capabilities, meaning you can easily manage and handle all of your client accounts from a single Act-On login.
Plus, you can completely brand and customize everything to deliver custom reports to clients in just a few clicks.
With Act-On, you can learn more about your clients’ audiences to personalize and tailor their message to match. Not only does this make their life easier, but it also means your team can work less to produce better results.
When you sign up, you get access to powerful marketing features, including:
Plus, you can build custom real-time analytic dashboards for internal and external use, so you and your clients always know what’s going on.
Furthermore, you can use this information to improve customer ROI, build better technology stacks, and optimize entire marketing campaigns on behalf of your clients. From lead gathering and nurturing to transferring contact information to sales, you’re in good hands.
Sign up for a free demo to learn more and get started today!
Freshmarketer is my top recommendation for most businesses. It’s built for small to midsize companies interested in automating their marketing processes to grow their businesses and save time.
Plus, it’s affordable, easy to use, and packed full of powerful automation features.
However, it’s not the perfect solution for everyone. So, don’t forget to use the criteria we talked about as you sort through finding the best marketing automation software for you and your team.
What are your favorite marketing automation tools?
The post Best Marketing Automation Software appeared first on Neil Patel.
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Unorganized support teams are a nightmare for everyone involved.
From two agents wasting time on the same request to customers or employees sitting around for hours waiting on an answer, things can get really hectic without the right tools and software. And it could even damage your reputation forever.
You don’t want that and I don’t want that for you, either.
However, choosing the best help desk software for your team isn’t an easy task. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of options to choose from.
So to help make your life a bit easier, I looked at dozens of the top options on the market and narrowed it down to my top six recommendations.
From small customer support teams to IT services and mobile field support, this guide covers it all. By the end of this post, you’ll know exactly which help desk software is right for you, regardless of your situation.
Before we dive into my top recommendations, let’s talk about what makes these tools great and what to look for when deciding which help desk software is right for you and your team.
There are tons of options to choose from, so don’t forget to keep these considerations in mind as you go through the process.
Help desk software exists for a number of reasons, like internal employee support and external customer support. Furthermore, different tools include varying features depending on your use cases.
So, it’s essential to consider how you plan to use the software before making a decision.
How many support agents do you have? Most help desk software charge by the agent, so you need to have a good idea of the number of seats you need.
Some providers also impose agent limits on specific plans, so you’ll have to upgrade to a higher tier if you need to add more agents to your account. This upgrade can be extremely pricey, especially if you’re not expecting it.
So, make sure to choose a plan that offers a bit of breathing room as you grow.
Tickets help you organize, route, and store help desk inquiries. So, you should make sure your software includes basic ticket management systems to help make the process faster and easier.
Furthermore, some software includes ticketing features for a wide variety of support channels, including email, live chat, social media, instant messaging, SMS, and more.
An efficient ticketing system is crucial, from automatic ticket creation and organization to smart routing and everything in between.
However, some of the options on this list limit the number of tickets you can create daily or monthly, which may be too limiting for large teams. And you may be better off choosing an unlimited plan instead.
So, keep this in mind as you make your final decision.
What channels do you use to provide support?
Internal support teams may use instant messaging, live chat, or email while customer service teams may utilize social media, SMS, and phone calls.
Regardless of the channels you use, it’s crucial to implement software that handles everything you need.
If you already have systems in place, make sure the help desk software you choose plays well. And if you don’t, consider where your customers/employees hang out and the communication methods they’re most comfortable with.
Furthermore, you should also think about internal communication tools. One agent may need to pass an inquiry on to someone else, or they may need help answering someone’s questions.
So, it’s important to think about how your agents communicate with each other and how you plan to share information from one department to another, as well.
The best help desk software includes a variety of helpful features beyond ticketing and communication. And it’s essential to consider which features you need to streamline and optimize your support systems.
Some typical features and extras include:
It’s also crucial to consider the specific features you need for your use cases.
Internal teams need different things than customer support teams, so keep this in mind as you go through the decision-making process.
Data helps managers and owners understand how your service agents perform and what your customers are asking. Advanced ticket tagging and categorization can also help with the latter.
From there, you can optimize your support process and work on building a self-service knowledge base or in-depth how-to guides to quickly and efficiently answer common questions.
This frees up agents and gives them more time to handle less-common requests.
Furthermore, reports and data visualization help display information in a way that’s easy to understand. This can give you a birds-eye view of your support system and may even help you know how to better serve your team and customers.
There are several different types of help desk software. The best type for you depends on various factors, including the size of your business, your budget, customization, and security requirements.
Cloud or web-based — this is the most common type, and it’s often referred to as a SaaS tool because the user pays a monthly subscription to continue using the software.
Furthermore, everything is stored on the cloud or the provider’s server, so the user doesn’t need additional infrastructure or dedicated IT. Plus, the vendor is in charge of managing and maintaining the software, making it an easy and affordable option for businesses of all sizes.
All of the recommendations on this list offer a cloud or web-based solution.
On-premise — unlike cloud or web-based software, on-premise systems are installed on the user’s servers. Typically, the end-user purchases a license for the software and they’re in charge of management and maintenance.
While they’re harder to install and manage regularly, they tend to be more secure and customizable. So, it’s an excellent option for high-security industries and anyone interested in a hyper-customized solution.
However, this means a dedicated team is required to update and maintain the infrastructure.
Enterprise-grade — these are built specifically for extremely large businesses. They come with a ton of hyper-customizable features and solutions to suit the needs of enterprise businesses with massive budgets.
Enterprise help desk software comes in all shapes and sizes, from single-location businesses to international conglomerates operating worldwide.
For most users, this type of software is 100% overkill.
Open-source — this type of software is best for developers or companies with knowledgeable IT departments because you get access to its source code. This means you can modify how the software works to meet your unique requirements.
Essentially, it’s a more affordable way to get a highly customizable solution, as long as you have the skills and know-how to make it work for you.
If manual email and social media customer service are becoming too much for your team to manage, Freshdesk is a great way to ease the burden.
Its ticketing system is straightforward to use, and it comes with numerous helpful features.
Plus, it’s incredibly affordable, and there’s a limited free forever plan with unlimited agents to try it out before you invest a single penny.
With Freshdesk, you can streamline conversations across channels in one place, create contextual conversations with anyone, automate repetitive processes to save time, automatically share solution articles, and easily monitor your team’s performance.
Furthermore, you also get access to countless support features, including:
On top of that, they also offer several educational courses and a fully-staffed customer support team to help you and your team get the most out of your new software.
Freshdesk has five different help desk plans to choose from, including:
You can start with the free plan to try it out, but I highly recommend upgrading to a paid plan when you can justify it to gain access to more of their advanced features.
Each plan comes with a free 21-day trial to test the waters before making your final decision.
If you need a full-blown customer relationship management (CRM) tool to go along with your help desk software, Hubspot is a smart choice.
And the best part? You can get everything you need to get started for free.
With their free Service Hub, you get ticketing, meeting scheduling, reporting, a team inbox, live chat + chatbots, email templates, and team email connections.
So, it includes everything you need to start optimizing your customer support process.
But you also get several other features like tasks and activities, email tracking, contact website activity, contact management, custom fields, and more.
While Hubspot’s free plan is excellent, their paid plans offer a fantastic suite of amazing features you can use to improve your entire support system further.
Each pricing tier adds more advanced features, but their most affordable plan ($40 per month for two users) includes:
So, it’s quite a step up from Hubspot’s free plan. However, if you meet those limits, you have to upgrade to a higher-tiered plan. The next tier starts at $320/month, so it’s quite pricey.
Alternatively, you can opt for their Starter Growth Suite, which includes the starter plan for Hubspot CRM, the Marketing Hub, the Sales Hub, and all the service features above.
It starts at $50 per month, so it’s a super affordable way to get access to a ton of different marketing, sales, and CRM features if you need access to all of them.
Note: this is special COVID-19 pricing with regular rates starting at $112.50 per month.
Zoho provides countless business tools to businesses of all sizes in every industry you can imagine.
All of their software is fantastic, and their help desk software is no exception.
From affordable plans at every level and a robust free plan to incredible support features, you can rest assured that Zoho Desk has the ability to scale alongside you as your business grows.
At its core, Zoho Desk is a multi-channel ticketing system. So, you get top-of-the-line ticketing features that let you organize and streamline support inquiries, whether they’re coming from email, social media, live chat, phone, or an online form.
And as your business grows, the need for a self-service knowledge base increases. With Zoho Desk, you can quickly turn support requests into knowledgebase articles in just a few clicks to continuously grow your database.
On top of that, you also get access to a wide variety of features designed to help improve and consolidate your support processes. Some of the most popular features include:
With that said, it’s important to note that lower-tiered plans don’t include every feature. So, be sure to look through each plan’s features before choosing one.
And keep in mind that you may have to upgrade to a higher plan to get what you need.
Zoho Desk plans include:
Sign up for a free trial to see which plan is right for you and your team today.
If you’re looking for a better way to handle IT support, Freshservice is one of the top options on the market. Like Freshdesk, it’s a Freshworks product, so you have a massive brand behind the software.
However, it’s built specifically for IT teams, rather than customer service.
With more people working from home, strong IT support is more critical than ever before. And you may even see an influx of inquiries coming through as people adjust.
Which… is where Freshservice comes in and saves the day. They offer everything you need, including multi-channel support, hardware and software records, contract management, and a top-rated mobile app for iOS and Android.
Furthermore, you can automate agent assignments and approval workflows to help streamline the process. Plus, you also get access to powerful features like:
And you can easily integrate any Freshworks software with Freshservice, along with tons of other third-party software integrations as well.
So, it’s an excellent choice if you already use or plan on using any of their other business tools.
Freshservice offers four different plans to choose from, including:
These prices indicate annual pans paid in advance. They also offer monthly plans for a higher fee, except for the Forest plan.
Try Freshservice free for 21 days to see if it’s right for you!
Field agents have a unique set of challenges vs. support teams in the office or one set location. As such, you need a specialized tool that adapts to meet your needs.
Happyfox is a field service software designed to help you track agents, schedule work, and leverage real-time communications with a fully-featured mobile interface for seamless use on the move.
When agents are continuously traveling from one job to the next, they must have an easy way to share and track status information from one agent to the next.
And the good news is that Happyfox does just that, with a wide range of features like:
And dozens of other helpful features specifically for mobile teams.
Unlike the other options on this list, Happyfox doesn’t display their pricing online. But they offer standard per agent pricing and special packages for unlimited agents, making it suitable for field service teams of all sizes.
For agent-based pricing, they offer four plans with varying feature sets.
And each plan automatically includes SSL security, unlimited tickets, smart rules, knowledgebase capabilities, multilingual support, rich text formatting, and mobile applications.
However, their unlimited agent plans cap the number of tickets you can have in a year. So, you have to decide which option makes the most sense for your situation.
Schedule a live demo to see if Happyfox is right for you and your team today!
If you’re looking for a budget-friendly cloud-based help desk software, Cayzu is exceptionally affordable with paid plans starting at $4 per agent per month.
It’s also straightforward to use. With that said, it’s not the most feature-rich option, but you sacrifice some of the advanced features for an incredibly affordable price.
At just $4 per month, you get access to all the essential features you need, including:
Or you can upgrade to one of the higher plans for just a few dollars ($9 per agent per month) and get time tracking, assignment rules, basic automations, due dates, custom SSL certificates, and more.
And they also offer a freedom plan (up to 70 agents) if you’re interested in an easy way to get all of their features. It starts at $469 per month, but it’s probably overkill for most users.
Plus, over 20,000+ companies (including Verizon, Yahoo, and PBS) trust Cayzu with their help desk needs. So, you’re not alone and you’re in good company when you sign up.
Sign up for a free trial to see if Cayzu’s right for you today!
Freshdesk, Hubspot, and Zoho Desk are my top recommendations for most users. They all offer numerous powerful features at affordable prices for businesses of all sizes.
However, they’re not perfect for everyone. Different situations call for different solutions.
So, don’t forget to use the criteria we talked about as you sort through choosing the best help desk software for you, your team, and your customers.
What’s your go-to help desk software?
The post The Best Help Desk Software (In-Depth Review) appeared first on Neil Patel.