There are two major players in town regarding the best marketing software to help you manage your customer experience: HubSpot and ActiveCampaign.
HubSpot is a cloud-based CRM (customer relationship management system) that helps business owners align their:
- Teams of sales and marketing
- Encourage the sales process.
- Boost the return on investment (ROI) of their inbound marketing campaigns
Similarly, ActiveCampaign helps business owners improve their customer experience by combining email marketing, marketing automation features, sales automation, and cloud-based CRM strategies.
While there are some similarities between the two automation platforms, there are some significant differences. That’s why, in this comparison, we’ll look at what each of these competitors has to offer so you can decide which (if either) program is best for you.
Let’s get into this HubSpot vs. ActiveCampaign comparison without further ado.
A Quick Comparison of Features and Pricing
The pricing for HubSpot and Activecampaign is based on the number of marketing contacts and the features you require.
The cost of keeping 1,000 marketing contacts on your books is reflected in the pricing below.
However, you’ll be pleased to learn that both companies offer several free tools that you can use right away, which we’ll go over in more detail below.
HubSpot
Free Tools
HubSpot’s free marketing, sales, and general administration capabilities, such as task tracking, client record storage, and automation, are one of its best features.
We’ve selected a few of the highlights below:
- Email, landing page, and live chat themes that can be customized
- You can send 2,000 emails per calendar month (branded by HubSpot).
- Per the client form, you can send one automated email.
- All of your advertising initiatives can be synchronized.
- Access to a customer database where you may keep track of all your marketing contacts and their information.
- You’ll have access to a shared inbox and a team email account to improve collaboration.
- CRM features include live chatbots, in-app calls, customer issue tickets, and an email scheduler.
- A reporting dashboard that shows you how well your marketing is working.
These features are available regardless of the pricing plan you choose. Any limitations put on these functionalities are usually lifted with the purchase of one of the following paid plans:
- Starter – starting at $45 per month: A shared team mailbox for managing client engagement, a social media reporting dashboard, and basic automation tools are all available here.
- The Professional package includes customer support, bespoke reporting, and advanced marketing automation capabilities, which start at $800 per month.
- Enterprise – starting at $3200 per month: You also gain access to collaboration and workflow tools, as well as advanced reporting capabilities, in addition to everything listed above.
- Regardless of which pricing plan you select, the cost rises incrementally at a rate of $45 per month for every 1,000 contacts you have.
Activecampaign
Free Tools
Free templates for emails, ads, forums, and webinars are available. Sales forms, calendars, customer lists, and reporting are all accessible as templates for your sales staff to use.
Although Activecampaign’s free offering is primarily template-based resources, it’s worth noting that all of its plans come with a 14-day free trial.
Again, the expenses below are based on 1,000 marketing contacts when comparing pricing options. Though at each price range, you can add more contacts:
- Lite – $30 per month: You’ll get a CRM, email templates, and rudimentary automation at this pricing.
- Plus – You also receive third-party integrations, collaborative features, and advanced reporting for an additional $70 each month.
- Professional – $187 per month: Includes performance reports, predictive analytics, and team onboarding.
- Enterprise – $323 per month: This plan includes everything listed above, as well as custom reporting and customer service. You’ll also have your email address.
Marketing Features
Let’s compare the marketing aspects of each organization now that we have a generic understanding of their features.
HubSpot Marketing
Blog
HubSpot includes an integrated blog manager that allows users to create, optimize, and publish blog content directly from the HubSpot CMS (more about this below). You can schedule blog entries from the same dashboard where you control social media updates. You can link your social media accounts to your blog from here, allowing you to automatically share content on these platforms as soon as your blogs go live.
Another great feature of blogging is SEO optimization. To help you outrank your competitors, the blog page builder generates on-page SEO recommendations for relevant keywords automatically. Furthermore, you can use HubSpot’s CMS to send subscribers automatic email notifications whenever new content is published, ensuring that they never miss a post.
HubSpot’s drag-and-drop editor makes it exceedingly simple to create a campaign when it comes to email marketing. Images, columns, and dividers can be used to personalize the layout of these emails. You can also include call-to-action buttons and your custom branding (i.e., logo and colors).
The HubSpot marketing hub is where all of HubSpot’s marketing tools can be found. HubSpot’s CRM software is used to run it. All of the marketing, sales, customer support, CMS, and operational technologies covered here may be found in HubSpot’s CRM. You can track outgoing emails on the email side of things, and when you receive or send an email, it syncs with your client information in HubSpot’s CRM. Then, using Hubspot’s reporting features, you can keep track of your open and engagement rates to figure out which content appeals to particular customers.
The CRM stores contact information, such as a person’s name, other details, and previous transactions, which you may use to send personalized emails.
Furthermore, you can send automated email responses and more complex email sequences based on how visitors interact with your website. For example, based on their previous interactions with your brand, you may send them an email with blog pieces or items that they would be interested in. HubSpot can even produce the most relevant subject lines, links, items, and CTAs for that customer, as well as schedule an email for them based on when they’re most likely to open it.
HubSpot’s email marketing platform can be integrated with your current email provider, such as Mailchimp, or utilized directly from your HubSpot CRM.
Social Media
With HubSpot’s social media manager, you can manage all of your social media scheduling, posts, and marketing assets (such as photographs and videos) in one place.
After that, you can schedule and publish material to:
- Your blog
Machine learning technology is used by HubSpot’s social media manager and other tools to generate intuitive insights such as recommendations on the ideal time to post for maximum interaction. It also has a connection to your CRM inbox. When people respond to any of your social postings, blog entries, or emails, you’ll be able to see and track all of them from the comfort of one inbox. Finally, your social media accounts are linked to HubSpot’s analytics, allowing you to track KPIs, including visits, lead generation, and conversions.
ActiveCampaign
Blog
While ActiveCampaign doesn’t have any blogging tools, it does have a large number of third-party integrations that can help you with this.
Consider the following example:
- WordPress
- Shopify
- Squarespace
- …only to mention a few!
ActiveCampaign, like HubSpot, features a drag-and-drop email builder that allows you to generate branded, personalized emails. You can deliver communications to specific client segments or your entire audience in a general broadcast.
You may also build up automated emails sent out in response to specific consumer behaviors at specific points in your sales funnel. This makes it much easier to convert interested leads into paying customers when done correctly.
ActiveCampaign also has predictive content and sending capabilities. Predictive content, for the uninitiated, rewords copy based on the audience. It then sends your email when the recipient is most likely to open it. Alternatively, third-party connections such as WooCommerce, Zapier, and Facebook can be used to plan emails.
Social media
While ActiveCampaign does not allow you to post directly to social media, it does offer extensive tracking and automation. When you connect your social accounts, for example, ActiveCampaign provides insights into how people interact with your brand across all of your social media platforms. They’ll also assign a score to customer engagement.
You can use dynamic email content that changes based on list segmentation and split testing flows to create personalized follow-up responses with this information. You will be in a better position to send the most relevant email content to that specific audience.
ActiveCampaign also has a drag-and-drop automation builder and a visual marketing funnel. This tool can automate email, SMS, and Facebook ad campaigns. Alternatively, you can create responses based on specific user behaviors, lead scoring, or any stage of the customer lifecycle.
Workflow and Collaboration Features
Now let’s switch gears and compare HubSpot and ActiveCampaign’s workflow and collaboration features:
HubSpot
- Document management: You can construct a document library that your entire team can access, update, and refer to.
- Shared Inbox: Benefit from a shared mailbox that all members of your team may access.
- Third-party integrations: From HubSpot, you can send Slack messages, Zoom invites, and Asana tasks.
- Permissions: You can divide your workflow and assign assets to various team members. This allows different department employees to focus on their jobs while still working on the same project simultaneously, allowing you to finish your projects faster!
ActiveCampaign
- Shared customer/contact database: While on the go, your team can access contact information, deal history, and updates on customer activity and engagement thanks to ActiveCampaign’s mobile app.
- Task assignment: Based on the prospect’s behavior, you can allocate tasks to team members.
- Permissions: You can choose which team members have access to which sales pipeline.
- Team messaging: You can tag teammates in messages and discuss active agreements using the app.
- Integrations with third-party apps: ActiveCampaign works with over 870 apps, including Calendly, Zoom, and Gmail.
CRM
The CRMs of HubSpot and AtiveCampaign are next on our list of comparisons:
HubSpot
HubSpot’s CRM includes a visual dashboard that serves as a one-stop-shop for your company’s marketing, sales, customer support, content management, and operations. As previously said, this CRM also includes marketing and collaboration functions. However, we’ll concentrate on aspects related to sales management, client interaction, and customer care in the sections below:
Engagement
HubSpot’s customer profiling software compiles information on potential prospects based on their interactions with your company’s email and website. It then assigns these leads a score based on your chosen interaction metrics and saves the data in a database linked to your sales and marketing suite.
You may also set up a live chat and or online meetings with one of Hubspot’s third-party video conferencing integrations to communicate with consumers one-on-one. G-Suite, Slack, and HubSpot, for example.
Sales
You can track the performance of your sales pipeline from the first interaction to the sale using HubSpot’s CRM. You can also use email, social media, and contact forms to track the effectiveness of your sales activities. Finally, you can organize your sales documents, such as purchase orders, lead reports, content that has received a lot of attention, and customer profiles.
Customer Support
The CRM from HubSpot also has the following customer support features:
- Help desk and ticketing: All customer tickets are filtered into a single dashboard that can be easily managed.
- Live chat and chatbot: Before starting a ticketing query or passing them to a live chat agent, the chatbot will connect clients to relevant self-help pages and information.
- Automation: HubSpot’s ticketing system prioritizes and categorizes tickets automatically. After being directed to the appropriate team member, the email will notify the agent about the customer’s history, product specifics, and service difficulties. This ensures that the agent has all the necessary information to offer a helpful response.
ActiveCampaign
The CRM from ActiveCampaign additionally includes a contact database and features to help you automate customer engagement, sales, and service:
Engagement
- Several lead engagement capabilities are included in ActiveCampaign, including:
- Customers can be scored depending on how engaged, interested, and receptive they are to your goods. ActiveCampaign will also notify you when these ratings change, allowing you to focus on leads who are on the verge of making a purchase.
- Win probability: ActiveCampaign calculates the chances of a lead closing a sale and sends emails based on that probability.
- This visual represents where different clients are in their sales journey.
- ActiveCampaign uses testing and automation to test alternative sales methods and automatically responds to different customer actions.
Sales
You may keep track of several sales funnel components, such as discussions, contact data, and site engagements. Furthermore, Salesforce and various other third-party connections can provide detailed analytics on your sales performance, such as conversion rates and revenue estimates.
Customer Support
- Help desk and ticketing: All client tickets are filtered into a single dashboard that can be easily managed.
- Chatbot and live chat: On your website, the chatbot will deliver automatic messages, collect data, and score leads.
- Automation: The HubSpot ticketing system prioritizes and categorizes tickets automatically. After forwarding the email to the appropriate team member, they’ll get a detailed account of the customer’s previous encounters with your company.
Reporting:
Finally, let’s look at the reporting features of HubSpot and ActiveCampaign:
HubSpot
Using HubSpot, you can create reports on email openings, form submissions, and website activity. You can also gain revenue data on specific campaigns and team member performance using HubSpot’s Salesforce interface.
Marketing reporting in HubSpot may also provide detailed and visual reports directly from your marketing assets. This could be content on a website, a landing page, a blog post, or social media. It may then dive down into each piece of content to see who has replied and how they responded to these assets and provide input on what works and what doesn’t. HubSpot, for example, may analyze key metrics like sessions (how long visitors spend on your content) and conversion rates (how many people buy) from similar websites.
ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign has a wide range of sales and marketing reporting capabilities, from lead quality to event tracking. Some of ActiveCampaign’s more detailed reports pinpoint where clients go on your site, what they engage with, and for how long they engage. You can even set up automated events due to this (such as emails or a live chat popup).
Third-party connectors can be used to deliver more detailed reports on sales, revenue, and customer interaction.
Our Final Thoughts
As we’ve seen, these two platforms share many comparable characteristics, yet there are also significant variations between them. Whereas HubSpot focuses on delivering an all-in-one CRM platform, ActiveCampaign primarily focuses on automation. Let’s take, for example, marketing as an example. HubSpot comes with built-in blogging, emailing, and social media features. ActiveCampaign, on the other hand, favors third-party connectors to enhance some of these marketing tools.
In conclusion, Hubspot may be a better alternative for you if you want to handle multiple elements of your organization from one platform, such as sales, marketing, and workflow. If you’re a small firm looking for a more polished sales technique, though, ActiveCampaign is likely to be the superior option.
That concludes our HubSpot vs. ActiveCampaign comparison. We hope that this article has provided you with all of the information you want to select the platform that is most suited to your requirements. Have you selected which CRM software will reign supreme?
