Mark Fairlie

Crisis management and brand health

Crisis management is how companies attempt to seize the narrative and minimize damage following an emergency. In a crisis, it’s crucial businesses use sentiment analysis to find out how their brand’s supporters and detractors are reacting to the situation. They can also conduct analyses at regular intervals after the crisis passes to determine whether consumers have moved on from the incident.

For example, in 2019, Gillette experienced a PR disaster with its “The Best Men Can Be” video campaign, which addressed toxic masculinity, sexual harassment and bullying. The video got 1.5 million dislikes on YouTube and the company saw its YouGov BrandIndex buzz score drop by more than five points, plunging it into a negative rating. But the bad buzz eventually died down and a few months later, sentiment analysis of the follow-up campaign “#MyBestSelf,” featuring a transgender man being taught to shave for the first time by his father, indicated very positive consumer reactions.

In this case, Gillette recognized consumer sentiment to its maligned “The Best Men Can Be” campaign and was able to restrengthen the company’s brand health by adjusting its marketing content.

Digital PR

The goal of digital PR is to create a constant buzz about a particular brand and its products or services. You can measure the volume of content and consumer sentiment toward your brand and the stories people are talking about with sentiment analysis.

“By listening to conversations being held online, a company can understand consumer emotions and give them a connection that goes well beyond whether a product simply sells well or not,” said Nie-Rouquette, who offered examples for the retail sector.

“Retailers can monitor their customers’ reactions and feedback to push content for ‘virality’ or exercise a damage control strategy during crisis management. Retailers such as Walmart, Target and Costco use sentiment analysis to understand what their customers care about and leverage that information to reposition their products, create new content or provide new products and/or services.”

Benefits of using sentiment analysis

A well-conducted sentiment analysis can pay dividends for a business. Some of the many benefits include several factors.

Improved customer insights

One of the main draws of sentiment analysis is to better connect with customers to see how they view the business. Sentiment analysis can help with:

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• Understanding customer preferences through evaluating reviews, social media posts and online comments. This can help businesses understand what customers like or dislike about their offerings, marketing strategies, communication styles and more.
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• Identifying pain points customers may experience interacting with the brand, such as customers having poor experiences with a business’ web layout.
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• Boosting customer satisfaction by using insights to improve areas of complaint and to focus on areas of the business that customers like.
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• Improving customer loyalty by tracking and responding to broad consumer sentiment.
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Better market research

Sentiment analysis can also help a business measure how it stands in the eyes of current and prospective customers compared to other businesses:

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• Competitive analysis helps businesses see how they are being discussed relative to other businesses in the field.
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• Trend analysis helps businesses see any changes in public perception or notable shifts in consumer sentiment.
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• Social media engagement tracking can help businesses identify what type of posts resonate with potential customers. It can also help identify reactions, positive or negative, to new marketing or brand strategies.
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Enhanced brand management

Related directly to market research is sentiment analysis’ help in brand management:

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• Reputation management can help businesses keep an eye on various platforms for any negative feedback, including changes in the frequency of such postings. This can allow businesses to manage their brand proactively before sentiment changes too drastically.
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• Crisis management helps businesses catch early negative reactions toward potential bad publicity, allowing for timely reactions to bad PR.
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Improved product development

Sentiment analysis can help businesses prioritize product development and features based on customer desires:

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• Prioritizing features becomes simpler with thorough sentiment analysis, as businesses can be sure they are developing or iterating upon actual consumer wants.
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Content personalization

Sentiment analysis can also help drive content personalization, leading to better results for a business:

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• Better marketing localization can help businesses expand to new locales or regions. By tracking sentiment, businesses can localize their marketing campaigns to attract the local audience.
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• Improved targeted marketing is also possible with sentiment analysis helping businesses understand consumer sentiment, allowing for iteration of materials to better suit the targeted market.
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What’s the future of sentiment analysis?

Sentiment analysis is still a developing field. There are likely to be several new developments as better tools and techniques are developed and refined.

Improved algorithms and techniques

As sentiment analysis develops, new tools and better algorithms are likely to be developed. These improved tools and techniques are likely to lead to significantly more capable tools. Future sentiment analysis is likely to benefit greatly from the further refinement and development of AI-associated technologies. In particular, the natural language processing (NLP) computer science subfield is likely to yield dividends, as it is focused on teaching machines to understand and interpret human language.

Advancements in NLP can allow for sentiment analysis to become better at understanding context and emotion. Currently, sentiment analysis can be constrained to understanding basic sentiments, such as positive or negative, while future developments may allow the analysis to track more detailed emotions like joy, excitement, anger or frustration.

Similarly, better NLP techniques could allow for sentiment analysis to parse the context better of language. This could allow for a more accurate understanding when a person writes sarcastically, for example, which is currently difficult for algorithms to parse. This will also help algorithms detect implicit sentiment, which may be difficult for current analysis techniques to pick up on.

Lastly, improved algorithms could also allow for enhanced analysis or nontext fields. This could allow for analysis of images, videos and audio recordings.

Individual sentiment analysis

MacPhedran said the next generation of sentiment analysis is very exciting.

“Microservice APIs are able to measure emotion in written content, but also voice and facial expressions. For the sake of the example, assume that we have a CRM [customer relationship management] system that knows users’ social handles and has an image of the customer usable, with customer permission, for personalization based on facial recognition.”

With that knowledge, your business could better gauge that individual customer’s sentiment and target conversion strategies accordingly. [Learn more about facial recognition advertising.]

Prioritizing big data

You may need to invest in this analysis technology now or risk being outcompeted in the future simply because one company didn’t have key consumer data and another did. A business’s insights and, therefore, its success, will be limited by how much data it has.

“Because the backbone of sentiment analysis utilizes big data, using datasets that are comprised of thousands upon thousands of data points, retailers need to have enough data available (including customer conversations and reviews) to gain actionable insights,” Nie-Rouquette said. “So, in some cases where data is scarce, sentiment analysis might not provide good insights because of the lack of statistical validity.” [Related article: Big Data vs. CRM: How Can They Help Small Business?]

That’s a fixable issue and one that companies should address if they want to receive the maximum benefits of sentiment analysis.

“With the availability of data on various online sources, companies (and especially retailers) can leverage sentiment analysis to gather insights that would not be possible using traditional marketing methodologies,” Nie-Rouquette said.

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Best tools for sentiment analysis

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There are a wide range of sentiment analysis tools available for small businesses. Virtually all sentiment analysis tools can scan social media networks looking for mentions of your brand and your competitors. You get information back on the volume of content and whether that content was positive, negative or neutral.

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You can also plug sentiment analysis apps into your email server and live chat systems, giving the apps instructions on what to do depending on how they interpret the message and the sentiment behind it.

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Some notable sentiment analysis tools include:

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• Microsoft Azure AI Language: Microsoft’s AI language offering comes packaged with a range of features, including the ability to recognize core concepts, provide summaries, track sentiment, process unstructured data and categorize text automatically. This is an extremely powerful and flexible tool. However, for some businesses, it may be too complex with too many capabilities beyond just sentiment analysis.
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• IBM Watson Natural Language Understanding: This AI-powered tool uses deep learning techniques to extract meaning and metadata from text sources. IBM Watson can be integrated into an existing data pipeline to pull out text analytics, classifications, emotions, sentiment (in beta) and more.
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• Qualtrics XM Platform: Qualtrics is an experience management platform powered by generative AI tools. The customer-facing platform is focused on improving customer care by supporting frontline team members. This allows for reviewing customer sentiment during initial chat on the website, monitoring website interaction and reviewing customer sentiment across a range of websites and channels.
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• Sprout Social: Sprout Social is primarily a social media management tool. As it integrates and manages well with a brand’s social media accounts, it can compile data relevant easily to sentiment analysis across social media. This helps with tracking real-time consumer sentiment as well as competitive analysis.
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• Medallia: Medallia is a customer and employee experience management platform. The tool features its own native AI tool, Athena. Athena uses NLP to extract sentiment from across a range of channels, including customer surveys, short message service messages, emails, reviews and social media interactions.
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• Awario: Awario is a brand monitoring tool focused on a brand’s reputation on social media. It integrates with all of a company’s social media channels and then provides insights based on sentiment. Beyond tracking sentiment, Awario can help flag mentions or trends that may need immediate responses as well as tracking the reaction to marketing campaigns and new rollouts.
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• Meltwater: Meltwater offers a full suite of tools to help with brand management, business intelligence and social media listening and analytics. Among Meltwater’s offerings is the Meltwater API, which is focused on enterprise-level analytics. The API allows Meltwater customers to pull in data from over 10 million content sources, such as social channels and open web data to track overall sentiment.
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The value of sentiment analysis

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Sentiment analysis can be invaluable to a small business. For a company to succeed, it must be aware of how the marketplace is receiving its products and services. Sentiment analysis can tell a business how customers are feeling about the brand and its offerings. With that knowledge, companies can develop sales strategies that take into account consumer sentiment.

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Going forward with sentiment analysis

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Sentiment analysis is a dynamic subject area of technology undergoing rapid evolution in part due to the AI boom. Current techniques are already highly able to benefit businesses of all sizes by measuring consumer sentiment. This can help businesses identify pain products in their offerings or brands while also highlighting what consumers love about them.

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While current sentiment analysis techniques are somewhat limited to determining if sentiment is merely positive, negative or neutral, future advances in NLP and sentiment analysis algorithms should allow for a much deeper understanding of business. Such data is likely to be priceless for companies as they can get real-time information on how their consumers feel from social media channels, open web reviews, customer surveys and interviews.

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Although sentiment analysis may be difficult to implement fully in-house, numerous third-party applications and software make the process of analysis simple and an integral part of any future business strategy.

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Jeremy Bender and Brian O’Connell contributed to this article. Source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.

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When they first launched, customer relationship management (CRM) systems were designed to help businesses look after their clients better. Since then, their scope has extended into almost every business area, from sales and marketing to inventory management.

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Two of the most popular and best CRMs available on the market today are HubSpot and Zendesk. In this comparison, we review each one side by side to help you decide which is the most suitable for your business.

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HubSpot vs. Zendesk compared

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Here’s a comparison of HubSpot and Zendesk at a glance.

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\n Criteria \n	\n HubSpot \n	\n Zendesk \n
\n Starting prices \n	\n Free \n	\n $19 per user, per month \n
\n Free trial \n	\n 14 days \n	\n 14 days \n
\n Sales and marketing tools \n	\n Multiplatform campaigns, active lists and online lead capture \n	\n Multichannel, power dialer, smart lists and data enrichment \n
\n Customer service features \n	\n Detailed customer data, multichannel support and self-service option \n	\n Customer interaction logging, sophisticated ticketing and self-service option \n
\n Workflows and automation \n	\n Prebuilt sales workflows, case resolution workflows and referral program management \n	\n Two types of automation, side conversations, light agents and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven workflows \n
\n Data and analytics \n	\n Attribution reporting, historical reports and 13 prebuilt business reports \n	\n Dashboard data customization, customer service quality analysis and two reporting outputs \n
\n Apps and integrations \n	\n 1,000 apps, webhooks and robust application programming interface (API) \n	\n 1,000 apps, API integration and knowledge base themes \n

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Who do we recommend HubSpot for?

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HubSpot is one of the best CRM platforms on the market for companies that want better results from their sales and marketing teams. It combines a depth of functionality with real ease of use, even on complex tasks like launching A/B test marketing campaigns and managing search engine optimization. Its built-in CRM data analytics are second to none and these insights will give your teams what they need to generate more leads and close more deals:

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• HubSpot integrates extremely well with other business software to sync and streamline your operations.
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• Your HubSpot account can grow as your workforce grows, with no cap on limited-access user accounts for employees.
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• HubSpot is known for its extensive online resources on all things marketing.
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Read our complete review of the HubSpot CRM to find out more about what the platform offers in-depth.

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The lead generation dashboard on HubSpot gives an overview of your contacts. Source: HubSpot

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Who do we recommend Zendesk for?

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Zendesk excels for companies wanting to provide first-class after-sales service to customers. Its multichannel ticketing system is a standout and its smart routing means clients get through to the right staff member when contacting your business. Zendesk will reduce staff workloads and enable quicker complaint and query resolution. The AI built into the system is particularly helpful, providing agents with on-screen prompts to increase the chance of a first contact resolution. Zendesk’s AI will even help you build out an effective self-service customer portal. This solution also benefits from a highly usable and flexible sales and marketing platform:

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• Zendesk allows you to pay attention to the entire customer lifecycle, not just the sales pipeline.
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• Zendesk can combine the best of a traditional CRM with a customer service platform.
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• Zendesk’s collaboration tools make it easier for teams to work together to improve sales and customer service.
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To learn more about the platform and its features, read our up-to-date review of the Zendesk CRM.

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The main dashboard within Zendesk shows statistics on customer interactions and related information. Source: Zendesk

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HubSpot vs. Zendesk comparison

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We’ve analyzed HubSpot and Zendesk across five key areas ranging from sales and marketing to apps and integrations, in addition to the all-important pricing.

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Pricing

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HubSpot

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\n Plan \n	\n Starting Price per Month \n	\n Features \n
\n Free Tier \n	\n Free \n	\n \n Basic search engine optimization (SEO) recommendations \n Send 2,000 emails per month with HubSpot branding \n Live chat with HubSpot branding \n \n
\n Starter \n	\n $30 for two users \n	\n Everything in the Free tier, plus: \n \n 1,000 properties for records \n 10 dashboards (with 10 reports each) \n 1,000 static lists \n 2 sales suite pipelines \n 25 active lists \n Document storage \n Email marketing and retargeting (no HubSpot branding) \n Forms (no HubSpot branding) \n Landing pages \n Live chat (no HubSpot branding) \n Payment processing \n Sales content analytics \n Sales automation tools \n \n
\n Professional \n	\n $1,600 for five users \n	\n Everything in Starter, plus: \n \n A/B testing \n Access to Marketing Hub, Sales Hub and Service Hub Professional with 5 paid users \n Customer reporting \n Contact center attribution \n Deal and company scoring \n Dynamic personalization \n SEO analytics \n \n
\n Enterprise \n	\n $5,000 for 10 users \n	\n Everything in Professional, plus: \n \n 10,000 marketing contacts \n 10 paid users on Marketing Hub, Sales Hub and Service Hub Professional \n Additional tools and higher allocations of individual features like email marketing, list segmentation and so on \n \n

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The prices shown above are for the HubSpot CRM suite with annual prepayment. A monthly payment option is available, but it’ll cost you a lot more. At between $320 and $500 a head on the higher-level plans, HubSpot is already a significant investment. However, it’s intuitive, feature-packed and highly customizable.

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Keep in mind, though, that there are other fees to factor in over and above costs related to plug-ins and apps. For example, there’s a $3,000 onboarding fee on the Professional tier. There are other fees tied to API calls, a WhatsApp integration and dedicated IPs. As a result, it can be hard to see how much the service will truly cost you at the outset.

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Zendesk

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There are two interoperable CRMs in Zendesk: one focused on sales (Zendesk Sell) and one on customer service (Zendesk Service). We’ve broken down the pricing accordingly.

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\n Zendesk Sell Plan \n	\n Price per User, per Month \n	\n Features \n
\n Team \n	\n $19 \n	\n \n 2GB of document storage \n 2 sales pipelines \n 50 minutes of talk time \n Call recording \n Custom deals \n Duplicate detection \n Email tracking \n Offline mobile access \n Prebuilt reporting dashboards \n Public apps and integrations \n Required fields \n Sales triggers \n Single sign-on \n Smart lists \n Tasks \n Text messaging \n \n
\n Growth \n	\n $49 \n	\n Everything in Team, plus: \n \n 10 sales pipelines \n 1,000 enrichment credits \n 25 prospecting credits \n 5GB of document storage \n 50 sales sequences \n Advanced reporting \n Bulk emailing \n Company phone number \n Custom apps \n Premium API access \n Product and price book \n Round-robin distribution \n Sales forecasting \n Scheduled reporting \n Unlimited email templates \n \n
\n Professional \n	\n $99 \n	\n Everything in Growth, plus: \n \n 10GB of document storage \n 20 sales pipelines \n 150 prospecting credits \n 300 sales sequences \n 3,500 enrichment credits \n Automated power dialer \n Call scripts \n Custom notifications \n Lead and deal scoring \n Task automation \n \n
\n Enterprise \n	\n $150 \n	\n Everything in Professional, plus: \n \n 10,000 enrichment credits \n 25GB of document storage \n 300 prospecting credits \n Direct dial phone \n Unlimited sales pipelines \n Unlimited sequences \n \n

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\n Zendesk Service Plan \n	\n Price per User, per Month \n	\n Features \n
\n Team \n	\n $55 \n	\n \n Analytics dashboard \n Help center \n Standard chatbots \n Ticketing system \n \n
\n Growth \n	\n $89 \n	\n Everything in Team, plus: \n \n Customer self-service portal \n Service-level agreements \n Customer satisfaction ratings \n \n
\n Professional \n	\n $115 \n	\n Everything in Growth, plus: \n \n AI add-ons \n Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act compliance \n Intelligent insights and suggestions \n \n
\n Enterprise \n	\n Quoted-based \n	\n Everything in Professional, plus: \n \n AI-powered content cues \n Content blocks \n Contextual workspaces \n Customized agent roles \n Developer sandbox \n \n

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Prices shown are for annual subscriptions — monthly subscriptions cost around 20 percent more. Zendesk has no free plan like HubSpot does, but it does offer a 14-day free trial.

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Some of the most valuable features attract an extra charge, like $50 per user, per month for Advanced AI (only available to Professional and Enterprise subscribers), while the ticketing system costs $19 to $115 per agent per month.

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Sales and marketing tools

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HubSpot

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• Marketing platform: Run email marketing and text message marketing campaigns as well as paid search like Google Ads from the dashboard. The SEO tools are very impressive and should help your company website rank higher.
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• List management: We loved the dynamic “active lists” that add or remove prospects from “hotlists” according to their actions. The data segmentation is intuitive, allowing you to create super-responsive marketing lists based on factors like past interactions, psychographics and demographics.
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• Lead nurturing: HubSpot’s lead scoring helps your sales representatives prioritize which deals to close first. The document-sharing tool is excellent if you need a signature when making the sale. We like how the online lead capture form can also distribute contact details to the most appropriate salesperson. [Check out our picks for the best document management software if you’re especially interested in e-signatures.]
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Zendesk

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• Marketing suite: You can run multichannel campaigns, including text and email, through Zendesk, although the social media marketing integration on the platform could be improved. We appreciated the power dialer in Zendesk Sell for telemarketing campaigns.
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• Client data handling: We were impressed by the “Smart List” feature in Zendesk, which allows you to create and save segmented databases so you can run separate campaigns for different audiences.
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• Lead handling: Enrich your existing marketing data with details of 350 million prospects for even more precise campaigns. We love how you can program different stages in the Zendesk Reach feature to take a lead right up to the point of sale using advanced automations like personalized email sequencing.
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The deal pipeline management feature in HubSpot allows you to study changes in sales over a given period. Source: HubSpot

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Customer service features

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HubSpot

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• Detailed customer records and tickets: HubSpot records every customer interaction so your sales and service reps can understand clients better when they get in touch. The amount of information you can hold on both prospects and existing customers is stellar. We were very impressed at how the AI functionality gives you in-call tips to speed up problem resolution and inquiry handling.
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• Multichannel support: Customers want to contact you their way — whether by phone, email, short message service (SMS) or live chat. You can offer all of these contact methods with HubSpot and when the system recognizes a customer, the interaction will be stored in their record for future reference.
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• Self-service options: We loved the knowledge base option in HubSpot, which allows customers to find the answers they’re looking for without having to contact you directly. You can add a searchable database of blogs, documents, videos and more that customers can access 24/7. Clients can also set up a ticket on the customer portal and track its progress.
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Zendesk

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• Comprehensive customer interactions: We like how agents using Zendesk can handle conversations easily with customers across different channels, including phone, email, SMS and WhatsApp. The built-in AI is first class in helping agents solve client issues faster through on-screen tips and suggestions.
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• Sophisticated ticketing system: Tickets can be raised through any channel, including social media and community forums and managed across multiple channels until resolution. We like how managers can route tickets automatically to the right agents based on their knowledge and expertise.
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• Customer self-service: Build a robust and detailed knowledge base, known as Zendesk Guide, so customers can find their own solutions independently. Upload blogs, videos and more to educate clients on how they can get even more out of your products and services to enhance customer loyalty.
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Workflows and automations

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HubSpot

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• Sales and marketing: HubSpot comes with 36 customizable prebuilt sales CRM workflows you can adapt. For example, You can make sure you respond quickly to a new query with an automatic notification to the sales manager when an online lead comes in. Other useful automations include email drip campaigns, lead scoring, customer profile enrichment and automatic lead assignment.
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• Customer support: Improve after-sales support by customizing and automating case creation, resolution and escalation workflows. Get customer feedback on how well you’re doing by sending out business surveys and questionnaires to customers once an issue has been settled.
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• General business workflows: Set automated workflows across your company on tasks as diverse as validating email addresses to invoicing to managing customer referral programs.
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Zendesk

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• Sales automations: We love the smart event- and deadline-based customizable automations on Zendesk that help sales teams push deals from the point of inquiry to the close. Teams can set their own stages of sale on the platform and associate automations with individual stages like email follow-ups and follow-up call prompts.
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• Customer services: Use “side conversations” to bring in a colleague to help a customer out in a three-way conversation. The “light agent” feature does the same but the customer can’t see your colleague’s input. We were also impressed by how customers can create their own service tickets, even via social media.
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• Business improvement: Zendesk’s new Sunshine development platform is excellent, allowing users to build advanced, customizable workflows and intelligent messaging channels using AI conversational tools and in low-code environments.
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The intuitive workflow automation building in Zendesk lets you set up automatic actions with different triggers. Source: Zendesk

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Data and analytics

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HubSpot

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• Sales and marketing: We like how HubSpot handles attribution reporting, meaning marketers know where leads have come from and which campaigns are more likely to generate sales. We also appreciate how HubSpot allows interaction between sales and marketing teams for more conjoined planning.
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• Customer services: Get live reports on a range of customer service metrics, including customer feedback, service ticket progress and team and rep ticket conversion rates, to discover where you’re doing well and where you can improve after-sales care. [Learn about conversion tracking.]
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• Business performance: HubSpot provides 13 detailed reports out of the box to senior managers on issues ranging from social media engagement rates and lead tracking to general profit and loss statements and inventory management. [Find out the benefits of using CRM software for lead management.]
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Zendesk

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• Sales and marketing: We like how sales and marketing managers can populate the team dashboard with key performance indicators and performance data like sales funnel dropout and take advantage of sales forecasting tools that help reps choose which deals are likely to close (“win likelihood”) and for how much. We were impressed at how the configure, price, quote tool handles live quote updates on more complex deals.
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• Customer services: A highlight of the platform is that managers can monitor how well service reps are performing via metrics like time to answer calls, outstanding customer service issues and how long it takes to resolve tickets.
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• Business reporting: We appreciated how easy it is to create customized reports on a wide range of metrics, like new account creation, expected revenues, booked sales volumes and time to answer calls. Managers can add tables and charts to reports to make them more easily digestible.
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Apps and integrations

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HubSpot

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• Large app marketplace: The number of third-party and native apps for HubSpot is impressive, totaling over 1,000. Each app is given its own category, which makes it easy to find and compare plug-ins with the functionality you want.
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• Sales and marketing focus: Given HubSpot’s sales and marketing focus, we were impressed by how many relevant apps there were on the platform, ranging from WordPress and Canva to Shopify and LinkedIn Sales Navigator.
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• Robust API and data integration tools: Connect other business apps and tools like Google Contacts, Stripe and Airtable however you want with HubSpot’s comprehensive API. We liked the webhooks, which simplify and improve real-time data updates between HubSpot and other programs.
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Zendesk

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• Sizeable app store: Choose from over 1,000 prebuilt plug-ins separated into 16 categories. Find the one you want easily via the search bar.
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• API integrations: The API documentation is thorough and will greatly help developers create custom apps. Be aware there is a monthly API call limit and you’ll be charged for exceeding it.
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• Knowledge base themes: If you choose to build a knowledge base for your customers, you can choose from over 150 prebuilt themes to give it the look and feel you want.
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HubSpot vs. Zendesk Recap

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Choose HubSpot if…

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\n
• You want to drive better performance from your sales and marketing teams.
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• You need a CRM that can scale easily as your business grows.
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• You’re looking for a CRM that will integrate easily with your other business software.
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Choose Zendesk if…

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\n
• You want to generate more revenue from existing customers by providing excellent after-sales service
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• You need to manage how you gather and analyze customer satisfaction better.
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• You’re looking for a platform that a small sales and marketing team can use to centralize their campaigns.
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\n\n\n\n \n"}},{"_index":"wp-index-bnd-prod-content","_type":"content","_id":"39311","_score":2,"_source":{"canonical":"https://vaylees.com/salesforce-vs-monday","displayModified":"2024-06-05T19:03:16Z","docType":"article","editorsPick":false,"href":"salesforce-vs-monday","id":"39311","ID":39311,"isSponsored":false,"published":"2024-01-05T18:54:55Z","site":"bnd","stream":"Find out how Salesforce and monday differ and which highly rated CRM platform is more suitable for your business.","subtitle":"Find out how Salesforce and monday differ and which highly rated CRM platform is more suitable for your business.","title":"Salesforce vs. monday: Definitive Comparison","author":{"displayName":"Mark Fairlie","email":"mark@westbournestudios.com","thumbnail":"https://images.vaylees.com/app/uploads/2022/04/15095618/mark-fairlie.png","type":"Senior Analyst"},"channels":{"primary":{"name":"Find A Solution","slug":"find-a-solution"},"sub":{"name":"SMB Solutions","slug":"technology-solutions"}},"meta":{"robots":"index, follow","description":"This comparison guide pits Salesforce against monday, analyzing the CRM platforms side by side to help you make the best choice for your small business."},"thumbnail":{"path":"https://images.vaylees.com/app/uploads/2022/12/22120649/salesforce-service-cloud-visual-remote-assistant.png","caption":"","alt":"Salesforce Service Cloud Visual Remote Assistant"},"content":"\n

Some customer relationship management (CRM) systems, like monday sales CRM, excel in a limited range of functions. The software is superb for helping businesses improve how they market and sell their products and services and how they look after their customers post-sale. Others, like Salesforce, are just as effective but substantially more comprehensive. What really distinguishes Salesforce is that the CRM system can be an integral part of a much larger, enterprise resource planning-like system that manages and monitors almost every function within your business.

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In this comparison, we review Salesforce and monday, two of the best CRM platforms available today, side by side to help you decide which is the better option for your business.

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Salesforce vs. monday Compared

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Here’s a quick comparison of the main points for Salesforce and monday.

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\n Criteria \n	\n Salesforce \n	\n monday \n
\n Starting prices \n	\n $25 per user per month \n	\n $12 per user per month \n
\n Free trial \n	\n 14 days \n	\n 14 days \n
\n Sales, marketing and customer service \n	\n Multichannel marketing suite, sales prospecting, post-sale client management \n	\n Multichannel marketing, user-defined deal and post-deal stages, lead scoring \n
\n Omnichannel communications \n	\n Full email integration, phone and social media communication, extensive multichannel options \n	\n Third-party email client, phone/VoIP platform, multichannel messaging \n
\n Workflows and automations \n	\n Automation customization, AI-driven automation suggestions, developer suite \n	\n Workflow automations, team collaboration, post-sale workflows \n
\n Data, reporting and analytics \n	\n Informative dashboards, data reliability, in-depth forecasting \n	\n Customizable dashboards, range of visualizations, KPI tracking \n
\n Apps and integrations \n	\n Huge app store, API platform, innovative add-ons \n	\n Good app selection, Zapier and Make integrations, API \n

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Who Do We Recommend Salesforce for?

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Salesforce is the market-leading CRM system for midsize and large businesses, and it’s easy to see why. It’s capable and powerful enough to help coordinate and integrate departments, such as sales, marketing and customer service.

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Salesforce handles a vast range of functions, including CRM workflow automations and lead management, either natively or via a plug-in from its enormous app store. Salesforce has everything a developer needs to customize the Salesforce CRM system to fit their exact requirements. For companies that want to generate more leads and improve conversion and reorder rates, Salesforce is an excellent enterprise solution that connects seamlessly to other critical business software.

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• Salesforce is scalable, so you can expand your CRM functionality as your business grows.
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• The Salesforce CRM can be used to house all customer data and act as a single source of information for all departments.
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• Salesforce’s Einstein AI tool is great for generating sales predictions and recommendations.
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Read our full review of Salesforce CRM for more information.

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A dashboard for a sales executive using Salesforce showcases their pipeline and sales opportunities. Source: Salesforce

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Who Do We Recommend monday for?

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Not every company requires an enterprise solution like Salesforce. Instead, they need a simple, user-friendly and capable platform that helps them bring in more leads, turn more of them into sales and look after their customers. Monday fits that bill perfectly.

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Although monday may be best known for its project and performance management tools, monday sales CRM is an excellent solution for sales teams. The intuitive platform helps sales teams convert leads into customers. It can be easily customized to mirror your business’s existing processes, and the workflow automation features are great for streamlining sales operations and saving time. It’s very budget friendly, too.

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• monday sales CRM combines the best of project management and sales technology into one solution.
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• monday can integrate with Salesforce for greater service.
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• All four packages include access to 24/7 customer support.
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See our monday sales CRM review to find out more.

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A customized dashboard for a real estate agent in monday sales CRM can show their sales, commission and more. Source: monday.com

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Salesforce vs. monday Comparison

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We compared pricing and five significant feature groups across the Salesforce and monday CRM platforms so you can evaluate which platform is more suitable for your business.

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Pricing

\n\n\n\n

Salesforce

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\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\n Plan \n	\n Price per user per month \n	\n Features \n
\n Essentials \n	\n $25 (up to 10 users) \n	\n \n Account, contact, lead, task and opportunity management \n Auto-assignment of leads to a nominated representative \n Automatic capture of contact information from web leads \n Customizable reports and dashboards \n Duplicate-data prevention \n Email integration with Gmail and Outlook \n Mass email marketing campaigns \n Salesforce mobile app \n \n
\n Professional \n	\n $80 \n	\n All Essentials features, plus these: \n \n Collaborative forecasting \n Developer sandbox \n Enhanced roles and permissions \n Lead registration \n Pipeline management \n Quote and order management \n Rules-based lead scoring \n \n
\n Enterprise \n	\n $16 \n	\n All Professional features, plus these: \n \n Advanced reporting \n Lead opportunity scoring \n Sales teams and territories setup \n Workflow and approval automation \n \n
\n Unlimited \n	\n $330 \n	\n All Enterprise features, plus these: \n \n 24/7 support \n Einstein AI-powered sales insights \n Sales cadence setting \n Sales engagement hub \n \n

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With the exception of the Essentials plan, you must pay your subscriptions annually in advance.

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Even though it has a low entry point, Salesforce is among the most expensive CRM solutions on the market. Many third-party apps — plus native features, like Einstein AI, sales dialer and CPQ — are paid add-ons. This may make it harder to judge how much Salesforce will cost you from the outset. It also may make this CRM system unaffordable for some smaller companies. Fortunately, Salesforce offers a 14-day trial so you can see if this CRM is the optimal choice for your business.

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monday

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\n Plan \n	\n Price per user per month \n	\n Features \n
\n Basic \n	\n $12 (minimum of three users) \n	\n \n Customizable pipelines \n Dashboards (one included) \n Deal management templates \n iOS and Android mobile apps \n Lead management templates \n Unlimited boards \n Unlimited contacts \n \n
\n Standard \n	\n $17 \n	\n All Basic features, plus these: \n \n Advanced contact and deal management \n Dashboards (five included) \n Email integration (two-way) \n Invoicing \n Quotes \n Automations and integrations \n \n
\n Pro \n	\n $28 \n	\n All Standard features, plus these: \n \n Email tracking \n Mass emails \n Sales analytics \n Sales forecasting \n \n
\n Enterprise \n	\n Custom quote \n	\n All Pro features, plus these: \n \n Advanced analytics \n Enterprise-grade security \n HIPAA compliance \n Lead scoring \n \n

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In contrast to Salesforce, monday is a very budget-friendly option. You must pay for a minimum of three users. After that, pricing goes up in increments, with choices of five, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 100 or 200+ users. This arrangement may mean that you restrict access to selected users or pay for more users than you need if you want everyone to have access.

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monday also offers a free trial, but Salesforce and other competing CRM platforms may be better options for enterprises that want 100 or more seats.

\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n

Sales, Marketing and Customer Service

\n\n\n\n

Salesforce

\n\n\n\n

\n
• Multichannel marketing: We love the choice Salesforce gives you for running online ads, telephone marketing, text message marketing and social media marketing campaigns straight from the dashboard. You can send 5,000 emails a day via the platform. It’s really easy to segment customers for more targeted campaigns, using criteria such as VIP customers, region and, where applicable, line of business.
\n\n\n\n
• Lead handling: Set up your own deal stages and monitor progress in real time. You can get live and updated predictions on when individual deals may close and for how much. You can also personalize the selling process by including extra data in custom fields for each prospect.
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• Post-sale features: Get access to customers’ complete histories right when they contact you. You can also stay in touch by setting up email newsletters and follow-up promotional emails. Salesforce CRM also perfectly integrates with Service Cloud, the vendor’s more focused customer service solution. [Read our Salesforce Service Cloud review.]
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monday

\n\n\n\n

\n
• Full marketing suite: Run SMS (text message), WhatsApp, social media, pay-per-click ads, email marketing campaigns and more from within the monday platform (though some channels require integrations). We were particularly impressed by the email template, drag-and-drop email builder and PhoneBurner app for telemarketing campaigns.
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• Salespeople tools: Sales staff will appreciate the lead-scoring tool to help them prioritize which deals to chase. They can also tag leads with helpful prompts — like “follow-up after (x) months,” “closing” and “qualified” — to better manage the sales process. We liked the configurable dashboards and the ability to track key performance indicators (KPIs), targets and other real-time metrics.
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• After the sale: We like how monday completes the sales cycle with workflows specifically for invoicing and sending out contracts. These client onboarding features provide a smooth and stress-free customer experience, a key step in building relationships with clients who buy again and again.
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\n\n\n\n

Winner: Salesforce

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Salesforce is the clear winner for businesses that need complete control over all areas of their marketing, sales and customer service efforts in one system. However, monday has many strong CRM features — more than enough for a small business.

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Omnichannel Communications

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Salesforce

\n\n\n\n

\n
• Comprehensive email integration: You can email via your Gmail, Outlook and standard IMAP and POP3 accounts from within the Salesforce CRM. We like how the interface makes it easy to send and receive emails. You can also create professional-looking emails from the generous supply of templates.
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• Phone and social media features: We like how easy it is to make and receive calls across different devices, thanks to tools like the click-to-dial function. The native and third-party plug-ins to Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn are excellent for real-time two-way customer communication.
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• Extensive multichannel capabilities: We appreciate how intuitive Salesforce has made it to contact customers by SMS, MMS, WhatsApp and other private messaging platforms — something clients are increasingly demanding from the firms they do business with.
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\n\n\n\n

monday

\n\n\n\n

\n
• Email integration: Seamlessly integrate your Gmail, Outlook and other accounts with monday CRM so your staff can send, receive and manage their emails from the dashboard as well as sync their calendars.
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• Voice communication: Your staff can make and receive phone calls to prospects and customers from within the platform. We like that monday makes it simple to add notes to contact records, set follow-ups and even record calls.
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• Multichannel messaging: Send and receive text messages through Twilio, and use other plug-ins from the app store to contact customers on platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.
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Sending an email from the dashboard in monday is similar to using most email products. Source: monday.com

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Workflows and Automations

\n\n\n\n

Salesforce

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\n
• Customizable and dynamic automation: We like how granular and specific you can make automations. For example, you can trigger alerts for reps to gather specific information from a lead before the prospect moves to the next stage. With the right plug-ins and subscriptions, there are also many opportunities to create custom workflows in other areas of the business.
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• AI-driven task automations: Einstein, Salesforce’s artificial intelligence tool, is the most advanced we’ve seen in any CRM system. We love how Einstein’s Next Best Action feature makes suggestions for streamlining and improving workflows.
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• Great developer tools: Developers will really appreciate Salesforce’s efforts to make it easier to create custom apps. We really like the drag-and-drop editor in Flow Solutions for building out complex automations. The pre-built Bolts in the app marketplace will save dev teams a lot of time, too.
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\n\n\n\n

monday

\n\n\n\n

\n
• Sales workflow automations: We were particularly impressed by how you can customize workflows and processes across multiple sales pipelines. This will help reps stay organized and on top of each deal. You can program time-saving tasks at each stage of the sales cycle, like sending follow-up emails when a deal moves to a new stage or the lead status changes.
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• Enhanced team collaboration: We appreciate that managers can share customer dashboards with their teams, allowing them to see real-time deal progress, sales figures and other metrics. Sales reps view prospective deal values and a closing probability for each to help them organize their time better.
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• Post-sale automations: Stay in touch with customers with smart automations, like automatic post-purchase “thank you” messages, regular email newsletters, subscription renewal reminders and even birthday emails. We like that you can set reminders for sales and customer service reps to follow up and stay in touch, which is vital to winning loyalty and repeat business.
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Workflows in the Salesforce CRM with Einstein AI use artificial intelligence to build automations. Source: Salesforce

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Data, Reporting and Analytics

\n\n\n\n

Salesforce

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\n
• Informative dashboards: Salesforce’s customizable dashboards are excellent. They enable reps and managers to track conversion rates, sales trends, customer satisfaction levels and more. The platform comes with dozens of modifiable reports that you can tailor to get the exact information you need.
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• Data reliability: We were impressed by Salesforce’s attention to data accuracy. The company’s Duplicate Management and Data Integration services identify and replace incorrect customer information from third-party sources.
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• In-depth analytics and forecasting: The granularity of the data analysis and sales forecasting in the Salesforce CRM is stellar. The Collaborative Forecasting feature is excellent for setting sales KPIs and letting users analyze revenue trends and team performance. Whatever Salesforce tracks, you can analyze it to find potential improvements.
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\n\n\n\n

monday

\n\n\n\n

\n
• Customizable dashboards: We really like how you can add custom widgets — like calendars, deal timelines and upcoming tasks — to users’ dashboards. This functionality helps staff stay organized and on top of tasks.
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• Flexible, eye-catching visualizations: The graph and chart options on monday are great for illustrating important data points. You can use Kanban for deal management, Gantt for timelines, Cards for quick summaries, and Files for document organization.
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• KPI tracking: monday excels at providing sales teams with real-time insight into where every deal is in the sales pipeline. Managing sales teams is complex, so we appreciate that the platform flags star performers and training opportunities.
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Apps and Integrations

\n\n\n\n

Salesforce

\n\n\n\n

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• Very large app store: Choose from thousands of apps (including many free apps) covering an extensive range of use cases and industry sectors. The search bar and drop-down menus make it easy to find what you’re looking for.
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• API platform: In addition to Salesforce’s excellent Bolts and Flow Solutions mentioned above, developers will really appreciate the dev console, where they can write code, test and debug new features without affecting the core CRM.
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• Innovative add-ons: Salesforce used to have a reputation for being hard to use, but its recent embrace of drag-and-drop, low-code and no-code functionality has been executed superbly. The Components in the AppExchange are welcome, too — they’re selections of reusable code that developers can use to build custom apps.
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\n\n\n\n

monday

\n\n\n\n

\n
• Good selection of apps: monday offers around 200 integrations, including Slack, Microsoft Teams and Google’s suite of business tools. There’s a good selection of marketing integrations, too, including HubSpot, Mailchimp and Hootsuite.
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• Zapier and Make integrations: There are many pre-built Zapier and Make plug-ins to make it easier to connect to other apps, like e-commerce platforms and customer service software. However, you may need to hire a freelance coder to build some of the connections for you.
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• Robust API: We were impressed by the accessibility of monday’s open API and its accompanying software development kit. You can use both to create tailored data and connections to other apps, like accounting software and email marketing platforms.
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Salesforce vs. monday Recap

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Choose Salesforce if …

\n\n\n\n

\n
• You want a scalable CRM system that will grow with your business and connect to the broadest selection of other business apps and software.
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• You need your CRM system to be as customizable as possible so you can fit it into your existing business processes.
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• You’re looking for a proven set of tools to improve sales, marketing and customer service teams’ performance.
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Choose monday if …

\n\n\n\n

\n
• You want a CRM system for improving revenues and customer retention but don’t need an enterprise CRM.
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• You have a tight budget per user per month.
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• You’re looking for a CRM that you can modify slightly without incurring developer expenses or a steep learning curve.
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\n\n\n\n \n"}},{"_index":"wp-index-bnd-prod-content","_type":"content","_id":"3752","_score":2,"_source":{"canonical":"https://vaylees.com/7257-yelp-small-business.html","displayModified":"2024-08-13T20:24:49Z","docType":"article","editorsPick":false,"href":"7257-yelp-small-business.html","id":"3752","ID":3752,"isSponsored":false,"published":"2014-10-09T20:47:00Z","site":"bnd","stream":"Yelp is the second most popular online review site in the U.S., with half of Americans consulting it before they make a purchase. Here's how to make the most of Yelp.","subtitle":"Yelp is the second most popular online review site in the U.S., with half of Americans consulting it before they make a purchase. Here's how to make the most of Yelp.","title":"Making the Most of Yelp: A Small Business Guide","author":{"displayName":"Mark Fairlie","email":"mark@westbournestudios.com","thumbnail":"https://images.vaylees.com/app/uploads/2022/04/15095618/mark-fairlie.png","type":"Senior Analyst"},"channels":{"primary":{"name":"Grow Your Business","slug":"grow-your-business"},"sub":{"name":"Sales & Marketing","slug":"sales-marketing"}},"meta":{"robots":"index, follow","description":"In this guide learn what Yelp is, how to make the most out of business listings and how best to handle bad customer reviews."},"thumbnail":{"path":"https://images.vaylees.com/app/uploads/2022/04/04082451/1554240958.jpeg","caption":"Gil C/Shutterstock.com ","alt":""},"content":"

Nearly 4 in 5 Americans regularly read reviews of local businesses before visiting or making a purchase and, according to BrightLocal, an even higher proportion of consumers are likely to use companies that respond to their online reviews. That’s why it’s extremely important to take advantage of top review sites like Yelp to successfully market your business locally.

\n

What is Yelp?

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Yelp is a crowd-sourced review site that launched in 2004, and is accessible online and via its app. The website features listings for millions of companies and targets customers in a specific region. Users can rate local businesses and leave comments on their performance. [Related article: How to Reach Your Target Customer]

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Yelp does not verify user reviews; however, it uses a sophisticated algorithm to detect fake or malicious postings. Yelp is a popular website, generating more traffic than YellowPages.com and WhitePages.com, so it’s a great way to attract potential customers and convert them into buyers.

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How can I use Yelp for my small business?

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Yelp can be a great resource for small businesses, but you have to be proactive to get the most out of it. We recommend following these four steps to utilize Yelp for your company’s growth.

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1. Claim your business Yelp page.

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“Chances are, if you haven’t already created a Yelp listing for your company, someone else has,” said Rochelle Sanchirico, global director of SMB marketing at Spotify. She suggests doing a search to see if a listing for your business has already been created, perhaps by a customer.

\n

Yelp also prompts you to find your business at the beginning of the registration process. “If your business is already listed, Yelp allows business owners to claim or ‘unlock’ their business page,” Sanchirico said.

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To claim your business name, go to the Yelp claim page and enter your company’s name. Yelp will search its database to see if it already has a listing. If it does, follow the on-screen prompts to claim it. If it doesn’t, click “Add to Yelp for free” to begin registering. You’ll then be taken to an account creation page where you can enter your business details. Then you’ll receive a code either by email or phone to verify your identity.

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2. Optimize your Yelp page.

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Setting up your Yelp page takes minimal effort, but it’s just the beginning of the process if you truly want to take advantage of your listing. After all, a basic, no-frills listing is unlikely to attract many customers. Yelp offers a number of customization and optimization options that can enhance your page from a marketing perspective.

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“A picture is worth a thousand words, especially when someone is looking for a good restaurant to eat at or something they might be interested in purchasing,” Sanchirico added.

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With this advice in mind, consider adding imagery to your page that shows off the products you offer. Optimizing the platform won’t just help paint an accurate picture of your business, but it can help customers easily find your company. Here are some of the most effective, free ways to apply your profile:

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• Categorize your business correctly. There are 22 main categories and hundreds more subcategories on Yelp. For example, there are 157 subcategories for “restaurants,” from “Afghan” to “wraps.” You can choose up to three categories for your business. Choosing the correct classifications gives you a much better chance of being found by those searching for your products or services.
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• Write a great business description. You have 1,500 characters to sell your business to page visitors. Here, include your specialties, the experience of your staff and reasons consumers should favor you over your competitors. Network by creating a description of a company you’d be happy to connect with.
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• List your business hours. Let people know when they can frequent your business or the best time to reach you.
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• Include additional information. You can add further information to your profile that customers will find useful, such as whether you have Wi-Fi, on- or off-street parking, allow dogs, or offer takeout.
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• Use relevant keywords. You can make it easier for users to find your page by including applicable keywords for searches.
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• Add photos and videos. Consider featuring pictures that showcase your unique enterprise, including the food you sell, clothing you make or the design of your sales floor. Use one of the best photo editing apps to make your pictures both professional and appealing.
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• Provide your contact information. Add your company’s website URL, email address and phone number to your profile.
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• Keep updating your profile. A Yelp profile that has not been updated lately sticks out for the wrong reasons. Keep your content fresh by regularly highlighting special offers and making announcements.
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• Link to your Yelp profile. You can attract the attention of Yelp’s algorithm by linking back to your Yelp profile from your business’s website.
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• Reward check-ins. Yelp users can “check in” when they visit a business in person. Incentivize visitors to come to your premises by rewarding them with a freebie or a discount on a future purchase. You could even combine offers with a customer loyalty program.
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• Match your NAP information to your Google Business Profile NAP. “NAP” refers to a company’s name, address and phone number. Make sure the NAP on your Yelp profile is the same as on your Google Business Profile for a better chance of being featured in the “local pack,” which is the listing of three businesses with an accompanying map on a Google results page.
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• Provide all locations. If your business operates from more than one physical site, make sure you create a separate profile for each establishment.
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Some of Yelp’s tools do have a price. It’s often worth paying for at least some of these functions, because they present some huge optimization opportunities:

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• Add a call-to-action (CTA) feature. For $2 a day, you can add a CTA button to your page, inviting visitors to book an appointment, print a voucher, visit your premises and obtain a quote. Learn how to develop a CTA.
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• Remove competitors’ ads. You can remove the “You Might Also Consider” section, which features links to your competition on your profile, for $1 a day.
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• Organize images. For an additional $1 a day, you can choose the order in which images appear on your page. Otherwise, Yelp randomly presents your pictures and snapshots customers upload to your listing when they leave a review.
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• Offer Yelp deals. Offer visitors to your profile a discount on products or services. This can stimulate sales, but Yelp charges a 30% commission.
\n
• Sell gift certificates. You can also offer gift certificates to visitors, for which Yelp takes a 10% fee.
\n

\n

3. Attract more Yelp reviews.

\n

Yelp will not reach out to customers requesting reviews; the platform has even gone as far as “outing” businesses that break this rule. But there are plenty of ethical ways to subtly encourage customers to leave positive comments on your page. Here are the best ways of build your Yelp reviews:

\n

\n
• Link your Yelp review page from your company’s website.
\n
• Add a review carousel to your website to highlight the testimonials.
\n
• Use Yelp stickers on your premises.
\n
• Promote your most favorable reviews on your company’s social media channels.
\n
• Give customers a great introduction to your business with a special first-time offer.
\n

\n

Bradford Hines, a digital marketing strategist and founder of YumDomains and HungryKids.org, suggests posting reminders to leave your business a review throughout your website and store.

\n

“[Place] a sticker on your window, a friendly reminder on your menu and marketing materials, and then the Yelp review plugin in the footer of your website,” he said. “Try linking your Yelp listing in your email signature or on your company website. … If you include a link to your Yelp profile on your ‘thank you’ page after a user fills out a form, you don’t have to worry about hurting conversion rate.”

\n

4. Rank higher on Yelp.

\n

“One of the best ways to ensure that your Yelp listing ranks well is to get as many reviews as possible,” said Brandon Seymour, SEO analyst and owner of Beymour Consulting. “This is particularly the case with search engines. For instance, the more reviews and online presence your business has, the higher it will appear when customers do a search on Google.”

\n\n\n

How do I manage negative Yelp reviews?

\n\n\n

Business owners naturally worry about handling negative customer reviews on Yelp and other platforms. Bad reviews are unavoidable, but how you respond can make all the difference.

\n

If your business receives a bad Yelp review, here are the best ways to address them:

\n

\n
• Don’t take it personally. People are entitled to their point of view, no matter how misguided you believe they are. Make the goal to resolve the dispute rather than proving the critic wrong.\n
\n
• Never let a crisis go to waste. Although a bad review is not an existential crisis, it might feel that way in the first few moments after reading one. Consider the review instead as an opportunity to learn to avoid making the same mistake.\n
\n
• Respond quickly to the review. Try to respond to the patron within two days – one week at the latest.\n
\n
• Be polite whenever possible. Thank the reviewer for bringing the problem to your attention and apologize for their bad experience. Additionally, it never hurts to offer a discount on a future purchase.\n
\n
• Address their concern directly. According to a study by ZenBusiness, 1 in 3 consumers will reverse their review if they feel the company has dealt with it adequately.\n
\n
• Try to take the discussion offline. Dealing directly – but privately – with the customer will, in many cases, resolve the issue. It’s better to avoid having a detailed conversation in public about your business’ perceived failures. Respond to the review to explain how it has been addressed.
\n

\n

Remember that most people will ditch a company over bad customer service, so set the course for a positive relationship right from the start to lessen the chance of earning a negative review.

\n

Yelp FAQs

\n

As you build your Yelp page to attract and retain customers, you may have additional questions about getting the most out of the platform. Here we answer some of the most common questions from Yelp users.

\n

Can you pay to remove poor Yelp reviews?

\n

Yelp typically will not remove poor reviews upon request. However, you can appeal for a review to be removed if it contains hate speech, lewdness, harassing content or threats. Consider engaging in the Yelp Advertising Partner Program to boost sales.

\n

What are some alternatives to Yelp?

\n

Besides the digital marketing opportunities through Google and Facebook, according to BrightLocal, these are the main Yelp alternatives for business reviews and the percentage of consumers who use them to evaluate local businesses:

\n

\n
• TripAdvisor – 36%
\n
• Better Business Bureau – 31%
\n
• Apple Maps – 13%
\n
• Healthgrades – 12%
\n
• Trustpilot – 7%
\n

\n

What advertising options are there on Yelp?

\n

You can pay for your business to be listed at the top of relevant user searches for your products or services. Users reviewing your ads can be targeted by both location and keywords. With Yelp you’re charged every time someone clicks on an ad, just like a Google Ads campaign. Consequently, separate solutions are available for local and national companies. [Learn the difference between advertising and marketing to make the right choices for your business.]

\n\n\n \n\n\n

Is Yelp good for SEO?

\n

Yelp will probably not help your business rank higher in search results, as all links to your website are no-follow links. However, Google is likely to consider a Yelp page a reliable citation source for Google Business Profile purposes. If your NAP details on Yelp are identical to your Google Business Profile, it may increase your chances of being featured in Google’s “local pack.”

\n

Can I remove my Yelp listing?

\n

Yelp often lists businesses in its directory without seeking the owner’s permission first. You don’t really have a choice about whether your business is on Yelp or not – it will not remove your listing even if you request it.

\n

How important is Yelp to my company’s success?

\n

If you’re not taking advantage of the platform, you’re missing out on opportunities to market your company to local customers. If you aren’t engaging with users who leave reviews, your business will seem disconnected from its clientele. Although if you claim your business page, optimize your profile, encourage and respond to reviews, Yelp can be an impactful marketing tool.

\n

Sara Angeles contributed to the writing and reporting in this article. Source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article. 

"}},{"_index":"wp-index-bnd-prod-content","_type":"content","_id":"1358","_score":2,"_source":{"canonical":"https://vaylees.com/6354-digital-remarketing-tips.html","displayModified":"2024-07-30T13:15:43Z","docType":"article","editorsPick":false,"href":"6354-digital-remarketing-tips.html","id":"1358","ID":1358,"isSponsored":false,"published":"2020-01-28T20:36:00Z","site":"bnd","stream":"Remarketing, or targeting consumers who have already visited your website, is an important part of a brand's digital marketing strategy. Here's how it works.","subtitle":"Remarketing, or targeting consumers who have already visited your website, is an important part of a brand's digital marketing strategy. Here's how it works.","title":"4 Tips for Making Your Remarketing Campaign a Success","author":{"displayName":"Mark Fairlie","email":"mark@westbournestudios.com","thumbnail":"https://images.vaylees.com/app/uploads/2022/04/15095618/mark-fairlie.png","type":"Senior Analyst"},"channels":{"primary":{"name":"Grow Your Business","slug":"grow-your-business"},"sub":{"name":"Sales & Marketing","slug":"sales-marketing"}},"meta":{"robots":"index, follow","description":"Remarketing gives online businesses multiple chances to sell to the same consumer, even if they visited once and left. Learn how remarketing works. "},"thumbnail":{"path":"https://images.vaylees.com/app/uploads/2022/04/04072600/marketin_Weedezign_getty.jpg","caption":"Weedezign / Getty Images","alt":""},"content":"\n

Driving traffic to your business website is a major objective of digital marketing campaigns — especially for e-commerce businesses that can turn this traffic directly into sales. Unfortunately, many visitors land on an e-commerce site only to bounce shortly after. Alternatively, sometimes they’ll add products to their cart but leave without checking out.

\n\n\n\n

When this happens, the best approach for online retailers is something called digital remarketing. This tactic focuses on re-engaging users who previously showed some interest in a business’s products and services in hopes of getting another chance at converting a sale. In this guide, we’ll explore digital remarketing and how it works. We’ll also tackle remarketing tactics online business owners can implement to maximize sales.

\n\n\n\n

What is digital remarketing?

\n\n\n\n

Remarketing is a tactic that involves showing ads to people who have visited your website or used your mobile app. This strategy is a particularly cost-effective way to increase your sales conversions. This is because you’re reaching out to customers who have already expressed interest in your products or services.

\n\n\n\n

Digital remarketing is also sometimes called behavioral retargeting; it’s an effective way of promoting your e-commerce store or website through online advertising.

\n\n\n\n

To implement a retargeting campaign, your potential customers must have done the following:

\n\n\n\n

\n
• Visited your site
\n\n\n\n
• Clicked on one of your ads
\n\n\n\n
• Followed you on social media
\n\n\n\n
• Searched Google for you
\n

\n\n\n\n

Remarketing vs. retargeting

\n\n\n\n

Many advertisers consider remarketing and retargeting to be interchangeable terms. However, you should understand the difference before you begin your remarketing campaign.

\n\n\n\n

“Remarketing” is the broad umbrella term, while retargeting is a type of remarketing. Strictly speaking, the types of advertising we’ve described so far are traditionally called retargeting.

\n\n\n\n

“Remarketing” means sending promotional messages to your email marketing contact list of existing customers and newsletter subscribers. For better results from this type of marketing, many companies segment their customers and prospects. They do this via a customer relationship management (CRM) solution for personally targeted campaigns.

\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n

How does digital remarketing work?

\n\n\n\n

To target previous website visitors with remarketing ads, you need to use a “pixel” or “tag”; this is code you insert in the back end of your website. When someone visiting your site with a Google or Facebook account activates this code, you’re able to serve ads to them.

\n\n\n\n

These codes record the following information and send it back to Google and social media networks:

\n\n\n\n

\n
• What a customer was searching for or interested in buying
\n\n\n\n
• Whether they simply browsed, put items into their shopping cart and didn’t complete the purchase, or made a purchase
\n

\n\n\n\n

A remarketing campaign is an essential strategy for converting visitors to customers on your website. However, when this strategy is not managed correctly, it can hurt your remarketing plans. A proper campaign requires that you understand your needs.

\n\n\n\n

Types of remarketing ads

\n\n\n\n

There are three types of remarketing: pixel-based remarketing (based on the tag on your website), list-based remarketing and video remarketing. We’ll explain how each model works.

\n\n\n\n

Pixel remarketing

\n\n\n\n

Let’s say you run an online furniture store with a lighting department. You offer different products, such as floor lamps, desk and table lamps, wall lights, ceiling lighting, pendant lights, and chandeliers.

\n\n\n\n

With standard pixel remarketing, you can show a display ad to people who have visited your site previously. A display ad is a graphical ad that you might see on a newspaper website.

\n\n\n\n

You could also run the following types of “dynamic remarketing” ads for people interested in floor lamps depending on their behavior:

\n\n\n\n

\n
• Nothing added to the shopping cart: If someone didn’t put anything in their cart, you could show them a picture of a floor light they viewed.
\n\n\n\n
• Item added to shopping cart: If someone put a floor light into their cart but didn’t purchase it, you could offer them a 20 percent discount in your ads.
\n\n\n\n
• Item purchased: If someone bought a floor light, you could promote other lighting products from the same brand.
\n

\n\n\n\n

A consumer’s familiarity with your company makes a difference in how they react to your advertising. Statistics show that people are 10 times more likely to click on a remarketing ad than a standard display ad. Some brands have reported a 128 percent increase in conversion rates through remarketing.

\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n

List-based remarketing

\n\n\n\n

With customer list remarketing, Google will match the contact information on a client or prospect database that you previously uploaded. You’re then able to target advertising to consumers who are already familiar with your brand.

\n\n\n\n

In search ad remarketing, you can display ads to past visitors on related follow-up searches.

\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n

Video remarketing

\n\n\n\n

For your business’s YouTube content, you can send additional ads to people who have either visited or subscribed to your channel.

\n\n\n\n

Benefits of digital remarketing

\n\n\n\n

It used to be that only large, data-centric organizations could invest in data mining, according to Raj Beri, vice president of grocery and new verticals at Uber. But small businesses across all industries now have access to the tracking tools necessary to take advantage of digital remarketing.

\n\n\n\n

“With simple-to-use third-party tools and services available now from companies like Google, it has never been easier for small players to set up their own remarketing campaigns,” Beri said.

\n\n\n\n

Remarketing is an accessible tool even for small businesses for whom every online sale counts.

\n\n\n\n

“Remarketing helps to encourage those lost conversions to come back,” said Jeni Garrett, founder of Woodhouse Day Spas. “It is great for small business owners because it has a lower cost per acquisition, so with the impression conversion rates, you are able to move through your sales cycle fast and for a much lower cost.”

\n\n\n\n

Remarketing is helpful in an age where customer attention is limited. Consumers may want to revisit purchase decisions later — remarketing allows them to do that.

\n\n\n\n

“Remarketing is so powerful because it allows marketers the opportunity to continue the conversation that otherwise may have only been a 30-second decision on the part of the consumer,” said Jason Hobbs, founder and president of marketing platform Found.ee (acquired in January 2021 by Downtown Music Holdings). “When someone comes across the website of a small business, the potential consumer’s initial experience may not be enough for [them] to make a decision. That’s where remarketing comes in.”

\n\n\n\n

4 tips for success in remarketing and retargeting

\n\n\n\n

How can you incorporate remarketing and retargeting into your company’s overall marketing campaigns? Industry consensus suggests the following four steps.

\n\n\n\n

1. Segment and go for the larger groups.

\n\n\n\n

Although visitors may have a general interest in your broader range of products and services, many will visit you with just one or two items in mind.

\n\n\n\n

Let’s go back to our previous example of an online furniture store. In addition to a lighting department, it may have departments for bedroom furniture, living room furniture and dining room furniture. It may also stock wall decor and general stylings.

\n\n\n\n

But e-commerce stores should not assume that because someone has shown interest in wall lighting they’ll be interested in finding out about a corner sofa. Focus on the types of products in which a visitor has already shown interest.

\n\n\n\n

To narrow down the target customers most likely interested in a product or service, customer segmentation by product interest, demographics, geographics and other factors is helpful. Customer segmentation performs best with remarketing when we address and satisfy our customers’ immediate needs and wants.

\n\n\n\n

Hobbs also recommends segmenting your list of web visitors by behavior. For instance, if a consumer gets to the last page of an e-commerce checkout process and doesn’t complete the purchase, you should add that person to a different segment for a different messaging set than a visitor who visited only the homepage.

\n\n\n\n

“This consumer was very interested in buying something but decided not to at the last second, perhaps to do a little more price-comparison shopping,” Hobbs said. “That should inform you to run ads that address price-matching guarantees, which will put people back into your e-commerce system so they don’t buy the competition’s product instead.”

\n\n\n\n

2. Mix up your remarketing channels.

\n\n\n\n

Most businesses choose a specific channel for their remarketing campaigns, such as display ads, banner ads, and Facebook or video ads, said Mike Hans, founder and former CEO of Forge Group (now part of TPA Digital). But consumers aren’t on just one channel.

\n\n\n\n

Just as in any other marketing effort, it’s essential to reach consumers where they are. This means spreading your campaigns across various channels, including (and perhaps especially) mobile devices.

\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n

3. Don’t be afraid to test and fail.

\n\n\n\n

Beri says that there’s no straight line to success. How you initially thought about your product and how people use it will change daily. The key is to “fail fast”: learn from what worked and what didn’t, and keep improving your product and business model.

\n\n\n\n

4. Make the most of what you’ve got.

\n\n\n\n

The direct email addresses you have for your existing customers and newsletter subscribers (who may or may not have yet made a purchase) are of tremendous value.

\n\n\n\n

Email marketing campaigns return an average of $36 for every $1 spent. Each represents a personal invitation by someone interested in your products and services to contact them directly.

\n\n\n\n

It’s a good idea to segment your existing lists by product interest and by regular and irregular purchasers to achieve the highest possible returns.

\n\n\n\n

Ensure you send emails frequently and over the most reliable and dependable platforms. The best email marketing software and services often consider unique e-commerce marketing concerns.

\n\n\n\n

Remarketing gives you and your customer another chance

\n\n\n\n

Getting potential customers to your website and maintaining their interest isn’t easy. Timing is also critical yet difficult to pin down. If a potential customer who abandoned their shopping cart visited your site on another day, they might have made a purchase.

\n\n\n\n

Remarketing is a way to ensure potential customers get more than one chance to learn about your brand, find the products and services they need, and purchase from your e-commerce site. Developing a digital remarketing strategy could be key to driving sales your business would otherwise miss out on.

\n\n\n\n

Tejas Vemparala and Nicole Fallon contributed to this article. Source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.

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