The business world is constantly evolving and your business needs to keep up with this change to stay relevant to the market. Whether you are a small business owner or run an enterprise, the logistics can often be intricate and overwhelming. So, you need tools - some sort of help to keep the machine running smoothly. Most businesses rely on business suites that take care of almost everything - from marketing to sales and beyond. One such application suite is Zoho, which we are reviewing today.
Zoho is a comprehensive solution with an expansive scope. Therefore, in this review, we will mostly be looking at its marketing features and trying to figure out if it is a good choice for your marketing. If you’d like us to do an in-depth review of all the Zoho products, do let us know in the comments.
Without wasting another minute, let’s get started!
What is Zoho?
Zoho is a feature-rich cloud-based platform that offers an extensive suite of applications to streamline business processes. As a reliable and scalable solution, Zoho caters to the needs of businesses of all sizes. With a user-friendly interface, it provides an extensive array of applications, covering everything from customer relationship management (CRM) and project management to finance, HR, and marketing.
Now that you know what Zoho is, shall we look at some of its salient marketing features?
1. Zoho Social
It’s Zoho’s social media management app that allows you to manage your social media channels. Like with most social media management tools, you can schedule your posts as per the app’s best-time predictions or your custom posting schedule, manage your posts with an intuitive calendar, respond to queries/mentions/comments in real-time with a focused dashboard, measure your social media performance, and create custom analytics reports or use templates.
Even better, there is a dedicated mobile app so you can handle your social media game on the go. And oh yes, there is direct scheduling support for Instagram.
2. Zoho Campaigns
Take care of your email marketing needs with Zoho Campaigns. Thanks to this app, you can manually send or even schedule customized messages, add appealing designs, and use interactive elements like polls, videos, GIFs, etc. - all of it from a simple drag-and-drop editor.
But wait, there is more! You can test out different versions of your emails in real-time and also create automated trigger workflows (custom as well as pre-built) based on recipient responses such as customer onboarding, follow-up, CRM-triggered, etc. On top of that, there is support for delivery optimization with automatic sending at optimal open times, setting email limits, and domain authentication with Zoho Campaigns.
3. Marketing Automation
Simply put, Zoho Marketing Automation streamlines your marketing and sales process. This tool wields powerful automation capabilities to automate repetitive tasks, nurture leads, and deliver personalized customer journeys. You can create targeted campaigns based on user behavior, track the performance of your campaigns, and optimize your marketing efforts.
The system follows a three-step process - lead generation, lead nurturing, and lead conversion. First, create a targeted campaign and generate leads with effectively designed landing pages, social media posts, sign-ups, etc. Next, nurture those leads by engaging with them on different channels (multi-channel support) including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, email, SMS, and more. And finally, track the performance of each campaign from a single, focused dashboard and analyze which campaigns are worth investing in to convert those leads into high-quality sales.
4. Zoho PageSense
This feature is specifically designed to boost the conversion-driving capabilities of your website. PageSense allows you to set goals for your website and measure them against various metrics. You can monitor and track individual elements of your website such as clicks on dropdowns, buttons, and links. Also, you can identify which pages are responsible for most drop-offs and then optimize them for audience retention. Using heatmaps, you can gain key insights into how visitors interact with your website.
When it comes to optimization, Pagesense enables you to run A/B testing so, when in doubt, you can instantly identify which small changes in your website can lead to improved results. Better yet, create on-site surveys to seek feedback from your visitors.
5. Customer Surveys
The best way to know what your customers expect of you is to just ask them. And Zoho Survey allows you to do just that - by creating custom surveys in a matter of time. The app is equipped with a drag-and-drop interface offering support for over 25 question types, dropdowns, MCQs, rating scales, star ratings, NPS, ranking, and more.
The surveys are SSL-protected and can be shared instantly via social media and email campaigns. Also, you can generate custom reports to visualize the collected data and identify trends. This information can be used to improve products, refine marketing strategies, and enhance customer satisfaction.
6. Pricing
Zoho offers individual pricing for different apps, which is good for customizing your expense based on your specific requirement. For example, for Zoho Social, there are three plans - Standard ($15/mo), Professional ($40/mo), and Premium ($65/mo) - with a 15-day free trial.
Similarly, for marketing automation, there are three plans - Standard ($19/mo), Professional Standard ($29/mo), and Enterprise Standard ($59/mo) for managing 1000 contacts, above which you need to pay more. For email marketing, there are also three plans with a 14-day free trial - Forever Free ($0/mo), Standard ($4/mo), and Professional ($6/mo) for managing 500 contacts; crossing this limit costs extra per month.
If you want to know the pricing of other Zoho products, we recommend visiting the official Zoho website and checking it out on the page for that certain product.
Is Zoho Enough for Your Marketing?
So, finally, the question worth asking! Honestly, it depends on the complexity of your marketing campaigns. Zoho, as a marketing solution, is feature-rich, reliable, and kind of affordable too. But is it a good alternative to dedicated and expensive marketing solutions like SEMrush? Maybe not.
As long as you are a small business owner with limited marketing needs, you should be fine using just Zoho. Still not sure about this platform? Well, you have got nothing to lose for the duration of your trial period. So, knock yourself out:)