For small and medium-sized businesses, choosing marketing software has been a tough decision. Although just about every company advertised themselves as an all-in-one marketing solution, none have been able to achieve that status.
Both Infusionsoft and Hubspot have great marketing systems, but both have relied on 3rd party software to fill in the gaps for features their clients needed. Both sides had pros and cons and companies had to choose one over the other based on their unique needs.
That’s all changing!
HubSpot vs. Infusionsoft: Which is Better?
Salesforce has a near monopoly on enterprise CRM technology. After acquiring marketing automation and email marketing companies, like ExactTarget, Salesforce has an edge on the large enterprise market.
For small and medium sized businesses, who desperately need marketing automation software, HubSpot and Infusionsoft have been battling it out in the trenches.
As of last year, Infusionsoft held the edge on HubSpot in total customers 12,000 to 8,000 as well as the amount of raised capital. HubSpot, however, geared up with more employees and an an aggressive focus on development and innovation.
The Differences Between Infusionsoft and HubSpot
HubSpot has been working hard on providing the tools to win that “all-in-one” trophy. As a matter of fact, they spent upwards of ten million dollars on R&D in the last year.
Both HubSpot and Infusionsoft have offered email and marketing automation in the past. Both of them do a great job at that and both have historically had their clear advantages.
HubSpot’s Advantage
HubSpot’s main advantage had always been it’s proprietary Content Management System, and now it’s even better Content Optimization System. The features HubSpot’s software offers truly provide a one-stop shop for all inbound marketing needs including deep metrics on all aspects of your marketing campaigns.
Infusionsoft’s Advantage
Infusionsoft held a couple of advantages over HubSpot.
The first advantage was their lower pricing. HubSpot customers pay significantly more than Infusionsoft clients.
Infusionsoft featured their own CRM, allowing you not only to run effective marketing campaigns, but to also tie in all marketing directly with sales.
HubSpot had no CRM. Instead, they integrated with top CRM providers like Salesforce. Where Infusionsoft had it’s own CRM system, it had no CMS. Like HubSpot, they integrated with top platforms, like WordPress, to fill in the gap in their software.
To this point, neither one could truthfully claim they were an all-in-one solution.
HubSpot Changes the Game
Before an audience of more than 10,000 attendees to their annual Inbound Conference in Boston, Brian Halligan made an announcement that completely changes the game.
Channeling the spirit of Steve Jobs, Halligan took a poll to see how many wanted a CRM system in HubSpot. The crowd responded with loud cheers; a heartfelt plea for HubSpot to give them a CRM solution with the same ground-breaking technology in their HubSpot COS platform.
As the cheers died down, Halligan responded with a nod, saying “that’s what I thought.” Then, he announced they had already built such a CRM system. Not only that, but this CRM system is programmed to work for you, completely removing many of the bottlenecks of data entry required from most other CRM systems.
See the video to see how the HubSpot CRM will work in tandem with HubSpot’s COS and the all-new Sidekick to bring a comprehensive suite of software that can finally break down the silos of sales and marketing.
HubSpot CRM Video
HubSpot Sidekick Video
HubSpot vs. Infusionsoft: Who Wins?
HubSpot now stands alone as the true all-in-one software for sales and marketing. For SMB’s the choice between HubSpot, Infusionsoft, and larger players like Salesforce and ExactTarget is a simple one.
We have clients on both Infusionsoft and Hubspot, and we truly try to remain software agnostic when it comes to providing services for our clients. However, it’s getting difficult to remain unbiased as HubSpot continues to break new ground on both functionality, ease of use, and powerful features.
One marketing company partner has released a statement saying they will no longer accept clients that use the Infusionsoft platform. In fact, they have dubbed it Confusionsoft.
To us, Infusionsoft remains a great product, especially for the price. However, if you’re looking for value, HubSpot has taken a major leap ahead and doesn’t look to slow down any time soon.
Conclusion
It’s rare that a company as successful as HubSpot, allows their customers to dictate the direction of the company. HubSpot, however, truly listens to their customers and gives them the tools they need to succeed.
HubSpot is in the same position Apple was in when it launched the iPod years ago. Their future is bright, and innovation seems to come natural. HubSpot has effectively built the industries best all-in-one platform, and they just keep getting better.
If you’re on the fence between Infusionsoft and HubSpot today, to me, the choice is simple. With HubSpot’s new CRM system launching soon, there’s no longer a reason to choose Infusionsoft.
HubSpot 2014 Keynote: Launching CRM & Sidekick
