A couple of days ago HubSpot's new software "editions" and pricing went into effect, so I thought I would take a minute to explain the new pricing scheme to our current and prospective clients. The new "Basic", "Professional" and "Enterprise" editions replace the previous "Small", "Medium" and "Large" packages. I'll explain the differences between these new editions, but the new pricing scheme has changed significantly, with monthly fees now depending on both edition and volume of contacts in your system. If you're an existing HubSpot customer, your fees are grandfathered in, but you might want to consider an upgrade. Let's look at some of the details.
First, here's the pricing schedule on HubSpot, and here's a comparative breakdown for the editions.
Well, I'm not a HubSpot spokesman, but here are some observations that I think encapsulate the move:
Think of the new HubSpot pricing as a two-dimensional matrix. The editions, Basic, Professional and Enterprise have different levels of functionality. One important change is that limits on the number of user accounts and lead nurturing campaigns have been lifted across the board. Effective 9/1/11, " from now on, all HubSpot customers will have limits of 50 user accounts and 100 lead nurturing campaigns." Existing customers also continue to enjoy the benefit of unlimited contacts in their marketing database.
Now, instead of one-price-fits-all for the three editions. Pricing within each edition depends on how much you use the system. Customers who have more "contacts" stored in the system now pay a higher monthly fee. I'm assuming the term "contacts" refers to the equivalent of a CRM contact - someone stored in your database that you track as a lead and/or reach out to via e-mail marketing or social media marketing. Maybe a HubSpotter can comment here and define it more precisely.
Of course, this remains to be seen. I think the new scheme is more flexible and more adaptable to a wide variety of customer needs. Our inbound marketing clients all have different challenges and goals. Our value-add is not just to provide them with ongoing strategy and excellent service. We want to leverage the latest tools to improve their inbound marketing results. As HubSpot continuously improves its products, we want to learn them and roll them out to our customers. A good example is the new Performable tools for advanced lead generation and analytics that we will be providing in the coming months. The new pricing scheme gives us a fair and rational way of upgrading our current clients to these cutting edge tools without breaking the bank. It also gives us a leg up in penetrating new markets for our services.
For all HubSpot customers and prospective customers I would look at this as an opportunity rather than a problem. You now have a way of taking your marketing efforts to the next level with the latest marketing automation tools with a pricing scheme that's both rational and scalable. As the new tools and packages evolve, I look forward to keeping you updated from a user's perspective and look forward to hearing from you about your experiences as well.
Image courtesy of HubSpot and the Inc. 500.
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