We cover the top seven marketing CRMs and compare their features and strengths
Salesforce is a full-service CRM that can handle all things contact management and lead automation.
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We cover the top seven marketing CRMs and compare their features and strengths
A customer relationship management (CRM) platform provides a centralized place to store contact details for your business’ customers. Your marketing team can use this information to craft targeted campaigns that reach more people and drive more sales. But with so many types of CRMs on the market, it can be tricky to know which one is best for your sales and marketing needs.
We at the MarketWatch Guides team have started the research for you. We tested and rated eight CRMs with marketing features, looking at pricing, customer support and other key factors. We also interviewed marketing experts and surveyed CRM users to get their perspectives on how to find and use CRMs. Keep reading for a look into the insights that came from our in-depth research.
Read our full CRM methodology and see how we test and review products.
We interviewed sales and marketing professionals to understand how they use marketing CRM tools in their day-to-day workflow. They cited workflow automation and integrations as some of the most important marketing features in a CRM system.
We also surveyed 200 CRM users to see what they considered when they searched for a new CRM. Respondents ranked customization, unique features (e.g., AI tools) and customer service among some of the most important factors to consider.
Below, we take a look at some of these key features and factors so that you know what to look for as you consider your marketing CRM options.
When we asked CRM users which feature was most important to them, more than a third said workflow automation. Lead automation, in particular, can be helpful for marketers. For example, as leads come in from your website’s landing pages, your CRM can automatically place them into the groups you have created to organize your customers. You can then set up a separate marketing campaign for each group. Without this automation, you would have to sort your contacts manually.
All of the providers on our list offer some means of workflow automation for lead management and/or marketing.
Even a robust CRM platform has limited communication features, as it’s designed to help with sales more than marketing. However, integrations with email, SMS and voice software can help you make use of the data that your CRM is storing.
All of the CRM providers on our list integrate with Gmail and Outlook, but other integration options vary. Below is a snapshot of some of them. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it should help you get a sense of what to expect.
CRM Provider | Phone/SMS | |
monday.com | Mailchimp ActiveCampaign | JustCall RingCentral Twilio |
Zoho CRM | Zoho Mail ActiveCampaign Mailchimp | RingCentral Aircall Twilio Knowlarity JustCall Vonage |
Pipedrive | Mailchimp ActiveCampaign Brevo MailerLite Constant Contact | Aircall JustCall Textline RingCentral Twilio |
Freshsales | Freshmarketer Mailchimp | Freshcaller Freshmarketer JustCall Toky |
Salesforce | ActiveCampaign Mailchimp Klaviyo | Aircall Twilio Vonage |
HubSpot | Mailchimp MailerLite Zoho Mail | Textline CloudTalk RingCentral Aircall Vonage |
Insightly | Mailchimp Zoho Mail FreshMail Constant Contact Klaviyo | Aircall RingCentral Twilio Vonage |
Zendesk Sell | GetResponse Mailchimp ActiveCampaign | Twilio Vonage Aircall CloudTalk RingCentral Textline |
Artificial intelligence is top of mind for sales and marketing professionals. In our recent survey of CRM users, more than 90% of respondents said that AI tools are either a somewhat or very important part of a CRM’s feature set.
However, not every CRM marketing software offers AI features. Consider if AI-powered tools are important to you as you scan the offerings from the providers in our review.
CRM Platform | AI Tool | What It Does |
monday.com | monday AI | Composes emails, summarizes call transcripts, generates project tasks |
Zoho CRM | Zia AI Assistant | Scrapes the internet to fill in missing information in contact fields, suggests the best times to contact leads |
Pipedrive | AI Sales Assistant | Tracks email opens, sends activity reminders, suggests updates to contact data |
Freshsales | Freddy AI | Scores contacts, generates email copy and can prioritize opportunities |
Salesforce | Einstein AI | Generates emails and summaries, creates customized plans |
HubSpot | HubSpot AI | Generates emails, makes sales forecasts |
Insightly | – | – |
Zendesk Sell | – | Zendesk’s AI features are available for the customer service product only. |
In our survey, respondents highlighted the importance of customer support as part of the overall experience of implementing a CRM. Especially when it comes to comprehensive software like Salesforce, access to customer support is essential for navigating any learning curve you may experience.
Check the availability of customer support for any software you choose. Generally speaking, self-help resources, such as video tutorials and community forums, are available for all plan users. For live phone or chat support, you may have to upgrade to a higher plan. Even then, it may only be available during business hours. The highest plan sometimes comes with an account manager for one-on-one support.
Marketing is a key part of sales; it’s how you get the word out about what your company is selling. Choosing a CRM that can help with both sales and marketing tasks can improve the efficiency of your day-to-day work.
There are numerous CRM solutions on the market. For example, monday.com and HubSpot have automation features, and Zoho CRM and Pipedrive offer customizable interfaces. Freshsales, Insightly and Zendesk Sell excel at reporting, and Salesforce is a robust platform for large businesses.
Regardless of what features you want your platform to have, remember that the best marketing CRM for you is the one that is easy to implement for your team.
A CRM stores the contact details for past, current and potential customers. You can use this information to market your products or services to them.
Marketers don’t need to use CRM software, but it can help them organize customer data so that they know how to market their products and to whom.
Marketing CRM prices vary. Depending on the plan you choose, you should expect to pay anywhere from $15 to $500 per user per month.
Customer relationship management (CRM) tools help businesses bring in new customers and nurture current ones. With different businesses come different business goals and CRM needs. So, the MarketWatch Guides team spent over 100 hours evaluating 13 providers to determine who each CRM is best for. We looked at big names, such as Salesforce and monday.com, as well as small providers, including Liondesk and Less Annoying CRM.
We conducted a survey in 2024 of 200 professionals who were currently using CRM or had used CRM within the past year. We analyzed the results of this survey to determine the following rating criteria:
Visit the full CRM methodology page for more details on our rating system.
If you have feedback or questions about this article, please email the MarketWatch Guides team at editors@marketwatchguides.