The 20 Best CRM Tools for Marketing Agencies

CRM tools can help you keep track of current customers and leads. The programs also help integrate data across departments. But with so many options, how can you find the best CRM tools for marketing agencies? Today, we’re going to help you decide by covering topics like:

• What Is CRM Software?
• What Can You Use a CRM Program for in Marketing?
• Why Use CRM Software?
• What Makes a CRM Program “The Best?”
• 20 Best CRM Programs for Marketing Agencies

What Is CRM Software?

Customer relationship management (CRM) software allows you to communicate with all your leads and clients in one place. With these tools, you can centralize both data and tasks to make communication easier for your team. CRM platforms for marketing can differ from standard CRMs because they put a larger focus on strategies that help generate new leads. Most CRM programs have cloud-based apps, which allow you to access them on multiple devices with a login or browser extension. Some also have mobile apps that serve the same purpose.

Related: A Complete Guide to Content Marketing Platforms

What Can You Use a CRM Program for in Marketing?

There are specific marketing features a CRM program can help you manage. Some of these areas include:

• Ads: Create templates for pay-per-click (PPC) or social media ads.
• Audience segmentation: Sort the leads you collect into different categories and better understand their needs to nurture them into paying customers.
• Automation and workflows: Set triggered events for certain areas of the sales and marketing funnels without conducting them manually.
• Data: Share metrics, test results, and other tracking information to keep you aware of how campaigns and leads behave.
• Emails: Connect with customers and leads through emails, design campaigns, and specific prospect reminders.
• Landing pages: Build and design customizable landing pages or templates to attract and entice leads.
• Search engine optimization (SEO): Optimize text based on your keyword lists/clusters when creating ads, landing pages, or newsletters so they have a better chance of appearing at the top of search engine results pages (SERPs). For example, you may use this feature to optimize a landing page for your newsletter sign-ups.

“CopyPress gives us the ability to work with more dealership groups. We are able to provide unique and fresh content for an ever growing customer base. We know that when we need an influx of content to keep our clients ahead of the game in the automotive landscape, CopyPress can handle these requests with ease.”

Kevin Doory

Director of SEO at Auto Revo

Why Use CRM Software?

CRM software allows you to automate some of your repetitive processes. This can make your team more efficient with less work. It frees up your time for other human-necessary tasks. CRM programs allow you to have all the tools and information you need to run your marketing and sales campaigns as effectively as possible. This means you can collect more leads and close more sales. Most programs also allow you to individualize your workflows and campaigns. This provides more lead customization, which keeps customers coming back for that personalized experience.

What Makes a CRM Program “The Best?”

Image via Unsplash by @austindistel

The best CRM is the one that has the right features for your business. We can’t tell you which is “the best” because each company has its own unique needs. But we can provide you with a list of options and their features, and give you suggestions on how to review and analyze each one to determine which is the right choice for your brand. Some factors to consider when reviewing each CRM program include:

• Pricing: Does the program have a free version or free trial? Does the plan that offers that feature you want fit into your marketing budget?
• Features: Does the program provide all the features you need for sales, marketing, engagement, and scalability?
• Ease of Use: How familiar are you with professional software and technology? Are the dashboards and workflows intuitive for the user?
• Integrations: Does the CRM integrate with other tools you already use?
• Support: Does the program offer onboarding support from the company? What is its customer service like beyond setup?

20 Best CRM Programs for Marketing Agencies

Here are 20 CRM software programs that may be the best choice for your company:

1. Act!

Act! prides itself on simplicity. The program is a good choice for marketing and sales teams who aren’t concerned with the fancy aspects of CRM software and technology. They just want the right tools to get the job done. Act! offers three packages: Essentials, Standard, and Expert. Each new tier increases in features and pricing. Some highlights of this program include:

• Marketing automation
• Campaign creation
• Email marketing
• Mobile apps for Apple Store and Google Play

2. ConvergeHub

ConvergeHub offers marketing, sales, billing, and support features. The program completes tasks like support ticketing, contract generation, lead attraction, and prospect nurturing. It also offers administrative features like sending quotes, creating invoices, and document storage. ConvergeHub allows for customization, so teams can build their own workflows that fit their needs. The service offers four paid plans: Starter, Pro, Premium, and Industry. The first three offer per user per month pricing. To use the Industry plan, contact ConvergeHub’s sales team. Highlighted features include:

• Billing and payment tracking
• Personalized campaigns
• Salesforce automation

3. Creatio

Creatio provides a platform for CRM and process management. It boasts a low-code interface, meaning you don’t have to be a professional coder or computer programmer to use it. You can use the software solutions for service, sales, and marketing. These features come individually, or you can combine them to work on a single platform. Pricing has three tiers: Team, commerce, and Enterprise. Contact the Creatio sales team for CRM bundle pricing on all three services. Important program features include:

• Analytics
• Project management
• Sales forecasting
• Opportunity management
• Lead management
• Invoices and orders

4. Copper

Copper is a good CRM for small agencies and businesses. It may be ideal for those with priorities of growing customer relations and managing leads. This program integrates with Gmail and other Google apps. It also lets you view and manage relationships and sales from email threads. Cooper offers reminders to reconnect with certain clients or share follow-up information so you don’t miss a potential lead or sales opportunity. The software has three plans: Basic, Professional, and Business. With each new tier, you can manage a larger number of contacts for a price increase. Feature highlights include:

• Bulk emails
• Email template creation
• Automated workflows
• Integration with G Suite
• Integration with other third-party apps
• Sales forecasting
• Reporting

5. Drag

Drag lets teams manage their workflows in Gmail. Acting as a CRM is just one of its functions. You can also use it for project and task management or to run a help desk. Drag allows you to stop switching between your sales CRM and your email so that you can share group messages instead, and collaborate with your team.

Add notes to emails for yourself or team members to include more information about specific negotiations or clients. Freelancers and single users can use Drag for free. Teams and agencies that want more features can pay a monthly fee per user. Feature highlights include:

• Shared inboxes
• Integration with Google Groups and calendar
• Productivity features, like color-coding, tags, and filters
• Email sequences
• Email tracking templates
• Collaboration features, like internal team chat, email drafts, and alias replies

6. Drip ECRM

Drip ECRM is a CRM service created for eCommerce businesses. It can help your team with simple business needs, like forms and email marketing. You can use it for both lead collection and retention. Pricing plans increase based on the size of your contact list. Important features of Drip ECRM include:

• Form creation
• Email marketing automation
• Customer retention
• Follow-up reminders

7. EngageBay

EngageBay offers solutions for sales, marketing, and service. It’s best for agencies looking to centralize all their lead activities, such as acquisition, engagement, nurturing, and conversion. You can use it free for up to 1,000 contacts and 1,000 branded emails. For more access, choose from one of three paid plans: Basic, Growth, and Pro. Each one charges per user per month. Important EngageBay features include:

• Landing pages
• Live chat
• Appointment scheduling
• Email marketing and sequences
• Lead capture forms
• 360 Degree customer view across all departments

8. GoSquared

GoSquared can help with your business growth. The program has customer engagement modules for marketing and sales. It has a heavy focus on lead collection and segmentation. Choose from four plans: Starter, Standard, Pro, and Scale. The Scale plan is the most advanced and customizable, but you must contact the vendor for pricing information. Feature highlights include:

• Analytics dashboard
• Audience segmentation
• Lead data collection
• Follow-up reminders

9. HubSpot CRM

HubSpot’s CRM tool helps you focus on your sales pipeline. It generates reports on topics like productivity, sales, and individual team performance. This service is free for unlimited users and up to 1 million contacts. Key features of the HubSpot CRM include:

• Deal tracking
• Live chat
• Prospect tracking
• Team insights
• Email notifications
• Email tracking
• Meeting schedules

10. Insightly

Use Insightly for customer engagement, sales and marketing goal alignment, and project management. You can also use the program to track your marketing spending and calculate the return on investment (ROI) of your campaigns. There are three plans for Insightly: Plus, Professional, and Enterprise. Each one charges per user per month. Plus has the fewest features and Enterprise has the most, which reflects in the price. You can also contact the sales team to learn more about CRM and marketing bundles. Key features include:

• Email templates
• Event and task management
• File attachment from cloud storage
• Opportunity, contact, and lead management
• Mass emailing

11. Intercom

Intercom calls itself a “conversational relationship platform.” Its goal is to boost customer satisfaction through human engagement. The program has a focus on chatbots and targeted messaging. The Intercom Starter plan includes the basic program. You can add on the Product tour for an additional fee, or contact the sales team to learn about the Conversational Marketing plans. Important features include:

• Chatbots
• Lead generation
• Targeted messaging
• Customized sales representative selection
• Data syncing with third-party apps

12. Mailchimp

The Mailchimp email subscription service also has management, creative, and marketing tools. It includes marketing automation and integrations with other Mailchimp apps and services. This tool allows you to access conversion histories, create contacts from lead forms, and segment your audience. Use Mailchimp for free with limited features, or choose from one of three paid plans: Essentials, Standard, and Premium. Key features include:

• Salesforce automation
• Segmentation filters
• Data importation
• Automated workflows
• Contact creation
• Conversion logs from charts, emails, and phone calls

13. Monday.com

Monday.com focuses on automating repetitive tasks so you can spend more time on human-based sales and marketing interactions. Its focus areas include contact and lead management, lead capturing, marketing activities, customer onboarding, and project management. You can use this program for free or choose to upgrade for more features by paying per user per month for an advanced plan. Interesting features include:

• Document and email storage
• Sales tracking
• Email synchronization
• App integration with services like Gmail, Shopify, Microsoft Office, and OneDrive
• Landing page and contact form creation
• Customized workflows
• Automated email marketing
• Pipeline management

14. Nimble

Nimble helps teams and individuals manage their contacts. It works with Office 365 and Google Suite. Nimble also integrates with calendars and email clients to make for more swift closing deals. It lets you nurture leads across third-party platforms, email, and social media. Nimble has just one plan you can pay for per user and per cycle. You can choose to pay monthly or annually. Some features include:

• Contact management
• Calendar synchronization
• Custom fields
• Email templates
• Email tracking
• Marketing and outreach capabilities
• Unified inbox

15. Nutshell

Nutshell has two separate modules for sales and marketing. You can combine the two to work together across departments. This program works best for email marketing and communications. Nutshell has three plans: Sales Starter, Sales Pro, and Marketing. The Marketing plan pricing depends on contracts, so contact the vendor for more information. Key nutshell features include:

• Data importation
• Email templates
• Audience segmentation
• Automatic triggers
• Analytics

16. OnePageCRM

OnePageCRM is a solution for small businesses and startups. It’s also good for companies with plans for slower growth or scaling priorities. This program guides teams along the customer journey through sales and marketing processes. It has two pricing plans, Professional and Business. Key features for OnePageCRM include:

• Email templates
• Marketing automation
• Lead generation automation
• Google and iOS mobile apps

17. Spiro

Spiro helps you automatically prepare your sales pipeline. You can create contacts, prioritize opportunities, and recommend decisions for each one of your clients. It also has report features for managers that focus on sales conversion. For pricing tiers, contact the Spiro sales team. Important features include:

• Lead creation
• Account insights
• Opportunity updates
• Reminders

18. Thryv

Thryv is a solution designed for small businesses. It can help teams stay organized, automate processes, reach more leads and customers, and even get paid faster. The program uses text and email reminders, customer engagement, and appointment scheduling to make all these things happen. For information about plans and pricing, contact the company’s sales team. Helpful Thryv features include:

• Reputation management
• Document storing
• Document sharing
• Appointment scheduling
• Invoice and estimate generation
• Marketing automation

19. Zendesk Sell

Zendesk can help increase sales and improve your customer relationships. It’s good for companies looking to merge marketing and sales functions without heavy IT processes. The program tracks user behavior and sends relevant responses to leads automatically. It filters leads in real-time and gives you the most information it can collect about a customer’s interaction with your business. Zendesk Sell offers a free trial and payment plans per user per month. Key features include:

• Pipeline management
• Automated email marketing
• Lead and account management
• Targeted list building
• Email templates
• Email customizations
• Notification triggers
• Marketing tool integration

20. Zoho

Zoho helps businesses that want high-level customization with their CRMs. This program allows for data collection through customized forms and automated email segmentation. The campaign manager helps with budgeting and monitoring for marketing strategy. Zoho offers three plans: Free, Premium, and Enterprise. Both paid plans have a 10-day free trial and payment per user on a yearly or monthly basis. Features include:

• Automated email marketing
• Pipeline management
• Form customization
• Email list generation
• Integration with services like Google Ads, LinkedIn, and Mailchimp
• Customer segmentation

If you want to spread product, service, or brand awareness to your audience, a CRM tool can help. When you’re ready to create content to draw leads to your website, leave it to CopyPress. Start a call with us to learn how we help both marketing teams and agencies get the content marketing results they crave and pieces their audiences love.

Christy Walters

CopyPress writer

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