In researching web-based CRM options that would integrate with a potential client’s social network-leaning website, this is the preliminary range of options I can come up with:
Level 1: A simple email marketing tool like the web-based MailBuild or MailChimp could easily integrate with the website, capture names and emails, and support mass emails. However, the level of contact information and contact management features provided by this type of tool would be limited. Such plans can cost $5 plus 1 cent per recipient (MailBuild), or from $30 to $150 per month to accommodate 2,500 to 25,000 contacts (MailChimp).
Level 2: The web-based contact management tool Highrise is well known and easy to use. It provides robust contact management, supports import and export of a range of contact information, can create new contacts from web forms (although I need to investigate the extent of this further), and allows for sharing contact information within a group. Highrise’s major limitation is that it currently doesn’t include high quality e-mail marketing capabilities— this could be addressed by manually exporting contacts to a separate email marketing program like MailBuild. Monthly plans for Highrise can range from $24 per month for 5,000 contacts to $99 per month for 30,000 contacts.
Level 3: More robust web-based CRM solutions, like Salesforce, would provide integrated contact management and email marketing capabilities and would be capable of supporting significant growth over time. The main drawback of this type of tool is that it would be more complicated to set up and manage than the options listed above and would likely require additional support.
mattern co. notes 