8 Best Marketing CRM Tools for More Effective Marketing Strategies in 2023

There are many types of CRM for different teams or needs, even though it’s traditionally used by sales teams. All of these benefits come together to help companies offer better lead and customer experiences, ultimately boosting lead conversion rates and customer lifetime values. Pipedrive is best for small businesses that need a strong core set of basic CRM features, but don’t want all the fuss that comes with a more robust system.

• By integrating various tools, SaaS CRM software centralizes data and facilitates a holistic approach to customer management and business operations.
• SaaS CRM systems enable startups to build and maintain strong customer relationships by providing comprehensive insights into their preferences and behaviors.
• This helps you get complete control over your pipelines and manage everything in a breeze.
• With the rise of remote work and on-the-go entrepreneurship, mobile accessibility in a CRM is no longer just a ‘nice-to-have’ — it’s a necessity.
• It lets you manage customer data, sales, projects, and even offers a generous free version that comes with unlimited leads, deals, contacts, and companies.

Or, if you’d prefer to keep things simple, Pipedrive is very easy to use and implement. It’s worth noting that some HubSpot CRM users find the platform to be a marketing-first CRM with sales playing second fiddle. That could be a strength for companies that need both, plus customer service software, searching in a field of players specializing in sales. Businesses searching for customizations — with the technical staff to implement them — might find a better CRM solution in Salesforce at a similar price point.

Best for Multichannel Communication

Look for a CRM software that works with your existing tools, like QuickBooks, Google Workspace, or Microsoft 365. You can keep using tools you love, like Zoom, Asana, or MailChimp, or manage your CRM from your inbox if that’s where you spend the most time. Once a lead is entered, you can nurture the lead with email proposals, calendar scheduling, and proposal and contract management to seal the deal.

It also comes with powerful workflow management features that can help you to streamline your operations and save time. Monday.com is a project management system designed to give you a flexible and transparent way to organize your work. With a highly visual scheduling interface and customizable workflows, Monday.com adapts to the unique way members of your team approach their projects. And of course, Zoho CRM also integrates seamlessly with all the other tools in Zoho’s cloud software suite, so it’s the natural choice for existing Zoho users. Pipedrive is intended for sales teams, so companies looking for robust marketing and reporting may want to look elsewhere. If your small business is ready to boost its sales efforts, there’s a lot to like about Freshsales by Freshworks.

How We Selected the Best CRMs for Startups

This cloud-based solution integrates sales, service, marketing, social media, and more into one centralized hub. It provides key metrics, reports, analytics, and marketing tools, all at different pricing levels. The HubSpot CRM Suite is complete as an all-in-one solution for startups to manage sales, marketing, content, and customer service in one system. It has the best freemium plan, which includes tools from each module, e.g., blog management, email campaigns with automated deployment, third-party integrations, and an appointment scheduler.

You don’t have to make a large investment in physical IT infrastructure or hire IT staff to manage your CRM. Many CRM solutions are available as software as a service (SaaS), which means that you only pay for what you use and can stop using it at any time. With each one, you’ll have to compromise on features or limits to users or storage, for example. Zoho CRM, monday.com and EngageBay are Forbes Advisor’s picks for the best free CRM plans. Out of the best CRM software for small businesses on our list, Zoho CRM, is the easiest to use. It offers a simple and intuitive interface as well as helpful tutorials to get you started.

How to solve critical challenges you may face with SaaS CRM?

Its robust set of features enables the automation of various sales and marketing processes, empowering sales representatives to prioritize essential tasks and interactions. With its accessibility and flexibility, SaaS CRM systems have become indispensable for startups aiming to manage customer interactions and drive business growth efficiently. In addition to firsthand experience with these startup CRM systems, we evaluated what actual users say about each product according to online reviews. These criteria show how real users felt about each product’s features and value for the price paid.

Without this powerful feature, startups would be running blind — unable to identify which marketing tactics are working — resulting in a waste of time and resources. You can then craft messages tailored to each segment, making it easier to establish relationships with potential clients. Without this feature, you’d be missing out on a huge opportunity to increase conversions and grow your business. Besides all this, Monday Sales also stands out for its customer segmentation and personalization tools. This allows you to group customers into different segments based on their behavior, interests, or demographics.

What is an open-source CRM?

Some of the CRM products we review here tout a “highly customizable interface.” That means a lot more than simply changing the look. Next to data gathering, a CRM’s next-most important function is as a workflow hub. That means you can decide which data you want to collect, who should provide it, when they should offer it in your usual sales flow, and where it should wind up. A study published in 2022 by Validity surveyed more than 600 CRM-using organizations globally. When asked how CRM data impacted sales, 75% of respondents said that poor quality data had cost their firms customers. Another 44% estimated their businesses had lost at least 10% in annual revenue that was directly attributable to bad CRM data (see graphic below).

Additionally, the platform’s robust set of team-oriented features and customization options may not be of much use for smaller teams. Overall, FreeAgent is a great choice for startups looking for a highly versatile CRM platform that you can customize to your and the sales team’s liking. Besides, you can integrate FreeAgent with 100+ applications, with the ability to expand your crm for startups options through Zapier. Overall, Close is an excellent option for improving your customer interactions. It provides small business organizations with all the tools necessary to maintain relations with their customers across multiple channels, and ultimately create a loyal customer base. Users generally report that Zoho’s customer service is often slow and not always helpful.

Streak (best for startups that need CRM integration within Gmail)

Furthermore, these tools enable businesses to measure and analyze the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns, providing valuable insights for future improvements. They also create tools for marketing, sales, and customer experience teams. Their main tool is a CRM system, which includes contact management, email marketing, and sales automation features, just to name a few. Customize your sales and marketing processes with the help of an advanced marketing automation builder.

It allows users to create and manage sales pipelines, leads, and deals. These tools and the AI sales assistant are offered in even the most basic plan, which is unfortunately not free. Our ratings consider factors such as transparent pricing, pipeline and dashboard customization options, compatibility with third-party integrations, access to customer support and user experience. Freshsales is a contact management platform with plenty of cutting-edge solutions for startups to grow their operations quickly. It balances affordability with a rich set of lead-focused features like personalized lead engagement, lead scoring, and other free and paid tools to find new potential customers and scale the business. Growing startups wanting an affordable CRM that provides powerful features will enjoy using Freshsales.

Top Picks for the Best CRM for Startups

The platform offers Kanban boards, Gantt charts, and other visual features to help your business prioritize certain tasks. Bitrix24 has a 4/5 rating, its users love the collaboration tools and ease of integration with other platforms. DashClicks’ Contact Management CRM allows you to add, manage, and segment all your business contacts and organize your sales process. With ClickUp, you can plan and track tasks with flexible project management that’s suited to your business’s needs. ClickUp has 4.7/5 stars and its users enjoy the customization options and team collaboration features.