Salesforce operates as both a CRM platform and a marketing solution provider. The features included with a Salesforce subscription are hence more innovative and expansive. While Constant Contact offers fewer features and services to its clientele because it operates primarily as a marketing solution provider.
Constant Contact vs Salesforce
The main difference between Constant Contact and Salesforce is that Constant Contact offers fewer features and services, while Salesforce offers a vividly variegated list of features and services to customers. Salesforce allows the user to track web activity, create quotes, and create membership sites. It also provides users with the option of bi-directional CRM syncing. All these features are absent from the narrow list of features offered by Constant Contact.
Comparison Table Between Constant Contact and Salesforce
| Parameters of Comparison | Constant Contact | Salesforce |
| Features | Constant Contact offers fewer features than Salesforce because it primarily operates as a marketing solution provider. | Salesforce offers more features than Constant Contact because it operates as both a CRM and marketing solution provider. |
| Integrations | Constant Contact allows fewer integrations. | Salesforce allows more integrations. |
| Refund Policy | Constant Contact has a refund policy. | Salesforce does not have a refund policy. |
| Price | Constant Contact is cheaper than Salesforce. | Salesforce is more expensive than Constant Contact. |
| Customer Size Suitability | Ideal for firms with smaller customer bases. | Ideal for firms with small, medium, and large customer bases. |
| User-Friendly | More user-friendly than Salesforce. | Not as user-friendly as Constant Contact. |
| Interface | Offers a better user interface than Salesforce. | The user interface offered by Salesforce is not as good as Constant Contact. |
| Performance | Constant Contact performs better than Salesforce. | The Performance of Salesforce is good but it remains inferior to the performance of Constant Contact. |
What is Constant Contact?
As an online marketing company based in Massachusetts, Constant Contact was founded in 1995. The company is a leading player in the field of initiating online marketing campaigns and specializes in curating email marketing strategies.
Constant Contact is a trusted name in the online marketing world that helps companies operate in a more systematic and smarter way to optimize their sales. It endeavors to create an online brand image for companies and expand their existing clientele.
The forte of the firm lies in the domain of social marketing, e-commerce, and the creation of websites with in-built marketing tools. Constant Contact is empowered by a sophisticated AI-Website Builder, which creates optimized websites for clients.
The analytical tools offered by the company allow users to track the success rates of such campaigns in real-time. Constant Contact also offers free email templates for users to download and customize. It helps clients create social media-centric advertisement campaigns that optimize traffic flow to their websites.
What is Salesforce?
The California-based online software company Salesforce is the world’s leading CRM platform. As a Customer Relationship Management enterprise, Salesforce unites a whole fleet of services into a single suite. By integrating the domains of marketing, sales, e-commerce, and other services, Salesforce provides a one-stop-solution to the CRM needs of companies.
The goal at Salesforce is to provide firms with the opportunity to use one integrated solution so that their teams can operate from anywhere in the world. Salesforce -powered by Customer 360- is hailed for its unparalleled marketing campaigns.
It allows clients to assimilate their datasets both inside and outside their CRM systems. A real-time data analytics tool called Tableau is also provided by Salesforce to help clients track their progress. Digital marketing enabled smarter operational systems are ideated and implemented by Salesforce.
Moreover, Salesforce helps clients provide top-class customer service to their diverse customer bases. Companies like Unilever, Humu, BBVA, Brunello Cucinelli, and others use Salesforce to empower their marketing campaigns as well as streamline their CRM requirements.
Main Differences Between Constant Contact and Salesforce
- The main difference between Constant Contact and Salesforce is that the former does not offer certain features offered by the latter. As a company catering to both the CRM and marketing needs of firms, Salesforce offers features like web activity tracking, bi-directional CRM syncing split testing, quote creation, and creation of membership sites. These features are not offered by Constant Contact.
- The two also differ in terms of integrations. Salesforce offers more integrations than Constant Contact. Netsuite, SAP, and Oracle integrations are not provided by Constant contact.
- Salesforce does not have a refund policy, while Constant contact has a refund policy.
- Constant contact is known to provide more cost-effective plans, while Salesforce offers plans at a higher price point.
- Constant contact is ideal for firms with smaller customer bases, while Salesforce is suited for firms with small, medium, and large customer bases.
- Constant contact is more user friendly than Salesforce. Salesforce has a time consuming and cumbersome process of initial integration and set-up. Alternatively, configuring Constant Contact is a relatively simpler task.
- Constant Contact offers a better user interface than Salesforce. Constant Contact is more user-friendly and easy to operate, while operating Salesforce can be quite arduous.
- Constant Contact provides better performance than Salesforce. Customer reviews suggest that the overall performance of Constant Contact is much better than Salesforce.
Conclusion
Constant Contact and Salesforce are both reputed platforms that provide quality marketing solutions. However, Salesforce is much more than simply a marketing service provider. It is a formidable player in the CRM arena.
The services offered by Salesforce are quite diverse and expansive. Apart from email marketing solutions, the firm caters to businesses of all sizes, helping them streamline their customer relation strategies. Salesforce is a top choice for most enterprises, as it offers multiple integrations and optimized solutions.
Conversely, Constant Contact mainly functions as a marketing platform that helps clients sell their products and services in a smarter way. Limited number of features are offered by Constant Contact at reasonable price points, making it a good choice for startups and smaller firms.
An individual firm’s choice between the two will be determined by the needs of the company. If cost-effective marketing strategies are the most important requirement of the firm, then Constant Contact may be better, while if the firm is looking for a more holistic platform that combines its marketing and CRM concerns, then Salesforce may be better suited for the job.
References
- https://heinonline.org/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/gpsolo33§ion=16