Inbound Marketing Solutions: HubSpot Vs. Unica

Unica has been in the marketing automation business since 1992. Purchased a few years ago by IBM, the platform now augments IBM?s extensive stable of technology products and services. IBM Unica is often compared to HubSpot, an industry giant in its own right when it comes to inbound marketing solutions.

On the surface, HubSpot and IBM Unica may seem very much the same. Both are highly versatile, taking a comprehensive approach to marketing automation. Both facilitate collaborative work among users and provide integrated data reporting capabilities to analyze results. Yet they are not the same when it comes to helping your company realize the benefits of inbound and customer-relationship marketing.

HubSpot is designed to smooth the way for marketers, providing lots of features and tools for end-to-end content management and analysis. Everything is focused on functional simplicity. IBM Unica is known for its focus on marketing resource management and enterprise marketing management, catering to larger companies.

HubSpot Overview

Positives:

• All modules are accessed from a single access point and ?read? data from one another. That makes the system easy to learn and efficient to use.
• Wide range of tools and tactics to support both top-of-funnel and mid-funnel strategies.
• Email, blogs and landing pages automatically include responsive design and mobile optimization.
• Email marketing work flow management includes scheduling and auto-responders.
• User-friendly tools for social media, SEO and content management, including website, landing pages, CTAs, blog and lead scoring and management.
• Multiple, customizable templates.
• You can capture data from Google Analytics, Adwords and other sources, making it easy to evaluate visitor behavior and campaign results, align sales and marketing and calculate ROI.
• Valuable for smaller businesses or those new to inbound marketing, with advanced features and tools that benefit more experienced marketers and larger companies.

Negatives:

• Critics complain about a lack of advanced tools; however, external apps can often be used.
• No real built-in customer relationship management (CRM), but third-party platforms can be integrated. HubSpot?s Pro plan includes SalesForce integration.

IBM Unica Overview

Positives:

• The power of IBM stands behind this ?omni-channel? marketing solution.
• Campaign and digital marketing modules support creation, distribution and measurement of personalized multi-channel content.
• Tools to optimize individual contact strategies and track customer behavior over time.
• Track campaigns, including budgets and expenses, with a single tool.
• Local marketing teams can access and customize corporate marketing campaigns.

Negatives:

• Critics complain that the software is not very user-friendly or intuitive.
• The software rates well below HubSpot in every category on G2 Crowd and has a rating of only 3.5 stars on TrustRadius (compared to HubSpot?s 4.6).

Pricing

• HubSpot offers three pricing options. The entry level starts at $200/month for 100 contacts, payable annually. There is a one-time set-up fee of $600, and incremental contact levels cost $100/1000. The Pro level has a $3000 set-up fee and starts at $800/month for 1000 contacts, also payable annually. Incremental contacts are $50/1000. The Enterprise level package starts at $2400 per month.
• Unica does not publish their pricing, but cost depends on your company size and which software products you want to include.

Summary

Whether HubSpot or IBM Unica turns out to be a better choice for your company depends on the size of your business, your marketing goals and the skill level and time commitment of your staff. Budget matters, too, because no inbound marketing solution will be a good investment unless it is both efficient and cost-effective. Find out more about the top marketing automation software platforms by downloading our FREE eBook. Just press the button below.

Marketing Matters Inbound?is an inbound marketing firm specializing in online conversions, content?strategy, call-to-action mapping and traditional media placement. Our experience in?B2B digital?marketing?and traditional media allows us to deliver results through a strategic media mix. We believe in?aligning and merging marketing and sales/operations for optimal return on your marketing investment.