Hubspot Vs Active Campaign: Which Makes More Sense for Accounting Firms?
Your marketing team has a decision to make: Hubspot vs Active Campaign. What are you going to pick? Let’s get to it upfront, Hubspot is an elite option for an inbound marketing software – but it’s far from the only one. This week, we’re looking at the difference between using Hubspot and Active Campaign. Which one is right for your accounting firm? Let’s dig into it.
Hubspot is best in class when it comes to customer platforms
Hubspot does it all. Custom reporting, building email campaigns, organizing socials, and getting your teams organized. They advertise that they’re a CRM “that connects everything scaling companies need to deliver a best-in-class customer experience into one place.” and to be honest, they’re right!
Hubspot is crafted so that each of its various facets are integrated with each other – that’s a big deal when you’re trying to keep your customer’s journey as smooth as possible.
Pricing structure: Hubspot can get very expensive very fast
The starter level of Hubspot is $18 a month. That gets you a thousand contacts for your email database, two paid users, a CMS Hub starter, and the commerce hub. While that can be OK for some businesses, it’s pretty barebones for most folks looking for an all-encompassing inbound marketing tool.
The problem is that the next level up is the Pro level which STARTS at $800 a month. While it’s going to get you much more (more on that in a second), it’s also a pretty big pill to swallow when budgeting for your tech stack.
The $800 level can get complicated fast
In our experience, businesses often get to the $800 level and then don’t really need to utilize everything that Hubspot has to offer. Part of that is because it’s a complex tool to use. While it isn’t as difficult as Salesforce, there’s a pretty steep learning curve. On top of that, if you’re not implementing it well right off the bat, it can be extremely hard to course correct. We have clients who now hire Hubspot consultants expressly because they weren’t clear on how to best use it at the jump. Either way, you’ll probably need a dedicated person on your staff to take full advantage of what it has to offer.
If you’re a serious firm that has over $3 million in annual revenue, Hubspot Pro is your best option – with a caveat
If you’re an accounting firm who needs a robust inbound marketing platform and has over 3 million in revenue – Hubspot is the best choice, with a caveat. You’ll want to also make sure that you’re able to invest in the proper training and people to use it correctly. This isn’t a half-in, half-out situation. It’s got all the bells and whistles, but it’s complicated. It’s an amazing platform, but it’s not always the most intuitive situation.
Active Campaign is 80% of Hubspot at $50 a month
What you’re getting: Active Campaign is an easy place to start if you’re a beginner with these tools. They offer a pretty robust selection of services at the $50 level (with optional higher tiers as well). What does it include? Email automation, landing pages, reporting, conditional content, and a ton of e-commerce integrations.
What you aren’t getting: That said, their analytics aren’t nearly as easy to read as Hubspots, which makes it extremely easy to track the customer journey. In Hubspot you know every blog they’ve seen, everything they’ve downloaded. Active Campaign can’t do that in the same way.
What is the best CRM for accounting firms: Active Campaign or Hubspot?
Hubspot is best in class (the pro version) for mid to large accounting firms. It offers all the features you’ll need to track your customer’s journey. While some folks might balk at the price, if you’re a growing firm with more than $3 million in annual revenue, this is probably something you’ll want to invest in – just know that the learning curve is steep.
Active Campaign is best for smaller firms or ones just starting to track their leads. While it doesn’t offer everything Hubspot does, the friendly price (nearly $750 less a month) can make it attractive to those folks. That said, if you really want to have all the bells and whistles, you may be left wanting.