When organizations compare the merits of different marketing automation platforms (MAP) it’s important to consider a number of factors, and frankly, factors that are not specifically related to the software itself. For instance, it is important to understand what the ultimate goal for the organization actually is by acquiring a new MAP. The size, complexity, and sophistication (maturity) of the organization is equally important. A third consideration is the organization’s existing infrastructure such CMS, CRM and social platforms. To a degree all of these factors are at least or possibly more important than the features and functions of the software itself.

For many years, marketing and sales have operated in silos as marketing’s role in many cases was nothing more than generating leads to “toss over the wall” to sales. However, in today’s data-driven world it’s more critical than ever for marketing and sales to work hand in hand to ensure the most efficient and effective delivery of not only new but also returning or repeat customers.

Determining whether lead generation, lead nurture and conversion, revenue growth, customer satisfaction, loyalty or something else is the main priority for the organization is a key input to guiding your decision. As organizations grow, so do the demands on their marketers – dealing with multiple lines of business, multiple geographies, or complex buying patterns. Given these new requirements it’s important to evaluate any marketing automation solution in this context.

Hubspot

HubSpot is praised for its easy setup, ease of use, and general simplicity. It is also lauded for a robust feature set including CMS, social media posting, and CRM (some additional costs required). Surprisingly, our research indicates that while the marketing capabilities are in fact strong and user friendly, many if not most HubSpot customers do not actually use the Hubspot CMS or the social posting features and find them to be underpowered or redundant relative to their needs. Many find the Hubspot CRM to be ineffective for complex (eg. Hierarchical) account management or complex audiences and buyer journey scenarios.

Where HubSpot offers strong marketing and lead generation capabilities, it is less effective for full customer life cycle management or complex lead management that requires frequent back-n-forth between marketers and sellers. Most buyer journeys today involve many touch points from web to social to e-mail to in-person to good old fashioned phone calls. It’s important that all of these interactions are managed concurrently and visible within a single database.

Dynamics 365 Customer Insights

Dynamics 365 Customer Insights is praised for its robust flexible and configurable functionality serving organizations of many shapes and sizes. Dynamics is able to adjust process flows, attributes, and dynamic communications to meet the needs of many different industries. This robustness does come with some complexity for setup and training, but often returns these initial investments through stronger strategic alignment and overall effectiveness in impacting enterprise revenue.

Dynamics 365 Customer Insights is part of the larger Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement platform, offering sales and customer service functionality, all within a single common database. For organizations with broad product or service offerings, global consent/compliance requirements, or highly segmented target audiences, Dynamics 365 Customer Insights offers robust and flexible capabilities.

Let’s get into the key features, strengths and weaknesses of each solution.

Core Focus & Capabilities

HubSpot
Primarily focuses on inbound marketing and sales. It offers a comprehensive suite of tools, including:

• Marketing Automation: Email marketing, landing pages, social media management, content creation, SEO, and advertising.
• Sales CRM: Contact management, lead nurturing, deal tracking, sales forecasting, and customer service.
• Customer Service: Live chat, email support, help desk ticketing, and customer feedback collection.
• CMS Hub: Website building and management, blogging, and content hosting.

Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Journeys
Focuses on orchestrating personalized customer journeys. It leverages AI and machine learning to:

• • Unify Customer Data: Integrate data from various sources (CRM, ERP, marketing automation, social media, etc.) into a single customer view.
  • Customer Segmentation: Create detailed customer segments based on demographics, behavior, and preferences.
  • Journey Orchestration: Design and automate personalized customer journeys across multiple channels (email, SMS, push notifications, etc.).
  • Predictive Analytics: Forecast customer behavior, identify high-value segments, and optimize journeys for maximum impact.

Key Differences

Core Functionality
HubSpot: Emphasizes inbound marketing and sales with a broader range of tools, including website building, social media management, and content creation.

Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Journeys: Specializes in customer journey orchestration, leveraging advanced analytics and AI for personalized experiences.

Data Focus
HubSpot: Primarily focuses on marketing and sales data within its own ecosystem.

Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Journeys: Unifies data from diverse sources, providing a 360-degree view of customers for more comprehensive journey mapping.

Journey Orchestration
HubSpot: Offers basic journey mapping capabilities, primarily focused on email marketing workflows.

Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Journeys: Provides advanced journey orchestration capabilities, allowing for complex, multi-channel journeys with AI-powered personalization.

AI & Predictive Analytics
HubSpot: Offers basic AI capabilities, such as lead scoring and predictive contact scoring.

Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Journeys: Leverages powerful AI and machine learning for advanced predictive analytics, customer segmentation, and journey optimization.

Integration
HubSpot: Integrates with a wide range of third-party applications, but primarily within the marketing and sales ecosystem.

Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Journeys: Seamlessly integrates with other Microsoft products, such as Power BI, Azure, and Teams, offering a more cohesive experience within the Microsoft ecosystem.

User Interface
HubSpot: Generally considered more user-friendly and intuitive, with a clean and modern interface.

Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Journeys: Can have a steeper learning curve, with more complex features and a more technical interface.

Pricing
HubSpot: Offers a tiered pricing model with a free plan, making it more accessible to small businesses.

Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Journeys: Typically more expensive, with pricing based on the number of audience contacts.

Use Cases

HubSpot
Ideal for:

• Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) looking for a comprehensive marketing and sales platform.
• Companies focused on inbound marketing and lead generation.
• Businesses seeking a user-friendly and affordable solution.

Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Journeys
Ideal for:

• Large enterprises with complex data needs.
• Companies seeking advanced customer journey orchestration capabilities.
• Organizations that heavily rely on the Microsoft ecosystem.
• Businesses focused on personalized experiences, AI-powered insights, and predictive analytics.

Detailed Comparison

Choosing the Right Platform

The choice between HubSpot and Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Journeys depends on your specific business needs and priorities:

Choose HubSpot if:

• • You need a comprehensive marketing and sales platform with a user-friendly interface.
  • Your primary focus is on inbound marketing and lead generation.
  • You have limited data integration needs and require a more affordable solution.

Choose Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Journeys if:

• • You need to orchestrate personalized customer journeys across multiple channels.
  • Your priority is advanced analytics and AI-powered insights for customer engagement.
  • You are heavily invested in the Microsoft ecosystem.
  • You require sophisticated journey orchestration capabilities and predictive analytics.

Both HubSpot and Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Journeys offer valuable tools for businesses to improve customer relationships and drive growth. The decision about which marketing automation solution is right for your organization comes down to several key factors: 1) the nature of your organization and steps needed to acquire customers, 2) the type and nature of customers your organization serves such as consumers, accounts, complex accounts or combinations of each of these and, 3) the size and complexity of your organization and team structure related to geographies, lines of business, and service or product complexity.