B2B Marketing Tools: Market Leaders & Cheaper Alternatives

As the end of 2022 is fast approaching, marketing budgets fall under heavy scrutiny. 72% of marketers already say they’re not going to spend more in 2023.

So, if you don’t want all your marketing budget to be spent on tools, it is just time that you think of cheaper alternatives for your tech stack.

Having a limited budget for campaigns and strategies shouldn't hinder you to reach your target market and generate more revenue. Instead, it would actually be great if you check on alternatives that may not be as popular as the usual “top of mind” but can offer you the same essential solutions that would still suit your needs.

Let’s explore popular tech products and their cheaper alternatives for client relationship management, sales prospecting, SEO, competitor research, account-based marketing, intent data, and email marketing.

CRM Tools: HubSpot vs Pipedrive

The backbone of your B2B company, CRM is where you store, share and make use of your client data. Having to change CRM is one of the scariest nightmares for everyone from sales, marketing, or C-level - this means you should choose carefully and take into account both the price and the features.

When it comes to CRM, Hubspot is the top-of-mind tool. They have been in the business since 2005 and have undeniably proven their might in the CRM field. But the pricing might be a little too much for start-ups or budget-constrained companies.

Pipedrive, which was founded in 2010, offers a competitive package of $49.90, half the price of Hubspot but also promises a wide range of integration and a super-simple interface with straightforward key features and effortless setup.

Pipedrive features include:

• Customizable pipelines
• Lead and deal management
• Data import/export
• Basic meeting scheduler
• Contacts map
• Sales Assistant AI
• API access
• Deal and Activity reports
• Visual dashboards
• Shareable dashboard links
• Two sets of user permissions
• Native mobile Android and iOS apps
• Security dashboard
• Two-factor authentication
• Automatic call logging
• Apps marketplace with more than 250 integrations
• Contact and Calendar sync with Google and Microsoft

Sales Prospecting Tools: Zoominfo vs Snov.io

Finding potential customers is a must for all businesses to keep afloat and automating it is a huge relief for all. Zoominfo is widely known for this as it boasts patronage from more than 30,000 plus businesses worldwide. However, Zoominfo price is one of the top concerns - along with the fact that the platform isn’t offering any cheaper options for different use cases. If you just want contact data, you’ll need to pay for the full functionality anyway.

An alternative to Zoominfo is Snov.io - a tool that keeps a great competitive advantage as it offers a package of only $39 per month with prospecting, contact data, and cold outreach capabilities.

Snov.io features include:

• Email Verifier
• Email Tracker
• Email Drip Campaigns
• Web Technology Checker
• API
• Technology Checker
• List management
• Lead enrichment
• Bulk Verification
• Unlimited Team Seats
• 3000+ Integration
• Unlimited Data Export
• REST API
• Webhooks

SEO and Competitor Analysis: Semrush vs KWfinder

If you want to monitor your online presence and your search performance, you need an SEO and competitor analysis tool that helps you:

• Track your rankings for relevant keywords
• See how you perform against your top competitors
• Identify new keywords for your SEO and content strategy
• Create content that is relevant to both people and search engines

As for the SEO brand war, Semrush leads the race for all companies who are serious about online visibility. However, the price is quite high as Semrush has a lot of tools for different marketing needs: search and display advertising, content writing, social media posting and PR monitoring. If you need just a keyword tool, then it makes sense to have a look at cheaper tools like KWfinder.

KWfinder features include:

• Find long-tail keywords
• Find your competitor’s keywords
• Google Suggest keyword source
• Organize keywords with keyword lists
• Import keywords in bulk
• Filter keywords that aren't profitable
• Local keyword research
• The most accurate keyword difficulty
• Search volume and keyword metrics
• SERP analysis and SEO metrics
• Keyword Planner alternative

ABM and Intent Data Tools: 6sense vs N.Rich

As the marketing strategy evolves and becomes more concise on its target audience, ABM is now considered to be more efficient when it comes to ROI since you only target only the ones within your market - and, specifically, those who are primed to spend. 

6sense is a name that dominates this game. This revenue AI eliminates the guesswork to arm your team with data that is highly converting into revenue. As promising as it sounds, it’s a little pricey for start-ups and those who are set off to explore this strategy in their stack. 

Those who wanted to veer away from the spray and pray technique must give a deeper look at how ABM could support their team by identifying the market that is highly to convert into profit and exhaust efforts in making sure that they are widely seen by these accounts. 

N.Rich, one of the most cost-efficient ABM tools of today, is much more affordable while having the same essential ABM features, such as:

• Account list builder
• ICP builder
• ABM advertising platform
• Intent Data
• Account-based analytics
• CRM integrations

With a 4.8 G2 review score, N.rich is said to have the most friendly interface that can easily be customized depending on your target market or industry.

N.Rich features include:

• GTM platform essentials (ICP builder, account lists, ABM advertising, account intelligence and analytics, CRM integrations) with 60% of the investment
• Generate 10X results from ABM advertising
• Combines ICP, intent (1st party and 3rd party), advertising, and attribution in one tool 
• Content syndication to engage directly with more decision-makers who never click ads or fill out website forms
• API that connects your ABM data with other systems or sources

E-Mail Marketing Tools: Mailchimp vs Sendinblue

In the marketing landscape, each customer would want to experience personalized communication and one of the easiest ways to reach them individually is through email. 

One of the most popularly used tools for email marketing is Mailchimp. But as this strategy has been widely implemented, more and more automation has sprouted and more companies have claimed to be the best in this niche. 

One of the solid Mailchimp alternatives is Sendinblue which has the features you would need to run an email marketing campaign of any scale. The best part: it’s priced 2x lower than the plan offered by the top competitor.

Sendinblue features include:

• Premade workflows
• Custom workflows
• Custom notification emails
• Send SMS
• Dedicated IP
• IP Pool Management
• Customization of SPF, DKIM, DMARC
• Inbox Test

Final Thoughts

Marketing as a whole is a never-ending process and if you are a digital marketer, one thing is for sure — you will want to explore certain tools that can make things easier to boost your marketing strategies and ROI.

As the competition in every industry gets tighter, more and more alternatives are springing out. Some names are already big on it and to mention a few that are not yet making waves but are packed with features that can help you get ahead of the curve without breaking the bank.