5 Best CRM for Ad Sales

So you want answers, and you want em’ fast. Here they are:


Quick links for the Best CRM Software

1) Best Overall 🏆

Monday.com

Customize your workflows to track all aspects of the sales cycle, from lead gen to post-sale support.

Read Review

2) Good Plugins🥈

Hubspot

Hubspot is the undisputed king of full-stack marketing software. With solid CRM features.

Read Review

3) Most Features 🥉

PipeDrive

A sales-focused CRM that uses AI to automate repetitive tasks and manage leads and sales.

Read Review


So, you are in the market for a CRM that suits ad sales.

Ideal, because in this article we have our compilation list for our top picks, and we compare the features and pricing for you. 

If you just want the best choice, we’ve added that right at the top of the article as this was what is most requested by our customers. So, that’ll be the “can’t go wrong” option. 

Otherwise, feel free to explore all the options we’ve reviewed on the market to find something that might fit you a little better.

Enjoy the list!

What CRM would you recommend?

In short, It’s Monday.com CRM

It’s very well rounded, well priced, feature-rich with a large community of support and a very top-notch set of tutorials for every use case. You can’t go wrong with Monday.com. It’s the software we use with our clients at our ad agency.

“🚀Try Monday.com CRM For Free, It’s my favorite webinar software to use and recommend.” -Scott Max

Monday.com is a user-friendly CRM platform that provides advanced solutions with its robust marketing tools. It allows larger companies with complex workflows to perform efficiently and produce nifty results. Monday.com has you covered for your: Service, Sales, CMS, Operations, and Marketing needs.

For more details, read our Monday.com Review.

The best CRM specifically for ad sales

Ad sales are a primary source of revenue for publications. Magazines and newspapers often sell spaces within their digital or physical copies to businesses interested in marketing their services. A CRM that allows you to connect with several leads will be the perfect fit for this category. Have a look at the products below to choose the best CRM for ad sales:

1. Creatio

Creatio is defined as a tool that allows the management of each client, in a particular way, at each stage of the life cycle. From the initial origin or lead, through the moment the sale is generated and up to the after-sales service. It has a simple, friendly and responsive interface that, at a glance, allows the particular situation of each client to be conceptualised. In addition, it allows the processes between marketing, sales and customer service to be connected.

Creatio Features

Creatio is designed; for businesses looking to expedite their sales and marketing services. It enables a seamless transition to the CRM and requires no coding while also providing a marketplace where users can avail templates and relevant applications. You can orchestrate customer journeys with Creatio and maximize the ROI by marketing your product to the right audience.

Here are some central features offered by Creatio:

  • Marketing Plans: It is the hub of all your marketing strategies throughout the years, where you can access each activity, schedule meetings, and sort data. You can create new entries or update the older ones to meet your current requirements. You can also set access permission and distribute the workload among the organization effectively.
  • Website event tracking: Creatio lets you track specific user actions on your website; to help you know the customer preferences and structure your marketing tactics accordingly. You can add commands to remind the customer about the cart items and nurture them towards a potential purchase. You have to enter the unique tracking code into your website’s source code and set the guidelines to get started.
  • Case appraisal: Here, you can access all customer-related queries, assign cases to employees, and import new data from your system. You can access each inquiry to see the relevant details and progress, add new attachments or escalate the incident to a higher authority. It allows you to satisfy the customer by providing a quick resolution.
  • Service Changes assessment: Creatio gives you access to all the recent changes made in the interface and the system. You can see who assigned the work to whom and add notes to inform the responsible entity about the nature of the task. Moreover, you can also sort these changes according to the execution time and priority level.
  • Knowledge base: It is the perfect place for your employees to find educational material regarding the company’s working process, plus add new relevant content for other users. As an administrator, you can set access rights and tag the articles to make them easily discoverable.
  • Sales homepage: Here, you get an in-depth analysis of the sales process and recent negotiation activities. You can see how many leads have been; converted or lost and formulate a plan to close more opportunities. Moreover, you can access the sales pipeline through the homepage and group the leads according to the phases.

Creatio Pricing

Creatio allows you to customize the plan, so you only pay for the services you require. There are three tools available in Creatio: Marketing, Sales, and Service. To get a quote, Fill in the relevant details. You also have to add a “Support package” to get technical assistance from the Creatio team. You can opt for a “Basic”, “Business”, or “Premium” plan, which cost 5%, 12%, and 20% of the subscription package, respectively.

2. amoCRM

The specialization, and the detail that makes it peculiar, of amoCRM is the messaging. Thanks to its technology it adds a complete set of messaging applications to its arsenal, allowing it to respond quickly to potential customers and generate more sales. You can identify the progress of each potential customer, get a preview of the task status and get an overview of the overall sales status. It also has a mobile app.

amoCRM Features

amoCRM stores contact information regarding potential customers and leads, allowing businesses to increase their clientele base. It offers a plethora of options to simplify the tasks related to sales and marketing; while also providing analytical tools to keep track of every lead.

Here’s a list of features that you can use inside amoCRM:

  • Pipeline: It allows you to arrange leads based on how advanced the negotiations are. Whenever you create a new lead, it gets added to the “Initial Contact” section and can be moved; to further stages later on. Also, you can use the Digital pipeline to add lead sources like messaging applications, Email addresses, and Web forms, which will automatically move any inquires on the added source to the “Incoming Leads” section.
  • Salesbot: It gives an automated response to all inquiries and is customizable so you can pre-enter the instructions. Salesbot is a great tool to engage with potential customers during off-hours and is accessible in every section of the Pipeline.
  • Analytics: It provides a detailed assessment of all sales leads with an option to filter out the results you don’t want to see. You can check the Win-Loss record of every sales rep and generate client reports with the advanced filter options. Moreover, you can see what happens to negotiations at various stages and get a detailed analysis, which forecasts your future sales.
  • Digital Pipeline: It saves you the trouble of cold-calling by automatically nurturing the client towards making a purchase and keeps you in touch with the latest advancements. You can add automated actions such as email responses or social media advertisements to every stage and set a reminder to call the client if the negotiations move swiftly. 
  • WebForms: You can create web forms on amoCRM without any programming knowledge and customize every detail; as per your company’s requirements. This webform will integrate amoCRM with your website and move every submission to the “Incoming leads” section.
  • Business Card Scanner: It’s a great tool to automatically add client information to the leads: from business cards. All you need to do is click an image of the card, and the system will automatically add it to the “Leads” section after recognizing it.
  • Collaboration: Some of your business partners or employees may not use amoCRM, so for such instances, you can communicate through Lead cards by sending mail. The receiver will get a link that redirects to the lead card and gives access to the amoCRM.

amoCRM Pricing

amoCRM has 3 pricing options available depending on your requirements: Base Plan, Advanced Plan and Enterprise Plan. The Base plan offers intrinsic features and is priced: at $15 per month; The Advanced subscription is worth $25 per month and offers added benefits like widget creation, whereas The Enterprise Plan allows you to use amoCRM to its maximum capabilities: and is worth $45 per month. All these prices are applicable only for a subscription period of 6 months or longer.

3. Pipedrive 

The Pipedrive CRM tool is intuitive and easy to use, providing a wealth of data of interest and future forecast for your customers and their interactions. It is a tool very focused on the sales area, not so much on marketing, and has a paid subscription. Currently, some of your customers are Amazon, Skyscanner or Vimeo. We have tested it to make an educational video on Youtube and have raised a special offer for readers of Marketing4eCommerce 1 month free trial (usually 14 days) and 25% discount on the first purchase. You can take advantage of it at this link.

Pipedrive Features

Pipedrive makes sales-related tasks easier by fetching leads 24/7 and emphasizes the right opportunity so you can convert it into a deal from the sales pipeline. Pipedrive has a flexible and user-friendly interface that simplifies the transition to the CRM tool for businesses, lessening the workload of the sales team.

Here are some features offered by Pipedrive:

  • Lead Management: Pipedrive offers an unsophisticated sales pipeline with several functionalities that provide a fully visual sales experience to improve efficiency and close deals faster. Users can track opportunities through all stages of the sales funnel and customize the dashboard to move all leads at one place for smoother interaction and prioritization. Moreover, Pipedrive provides users with an AI-powered sales mentor for personalized insights.
  • Communication Tracking: Pipedrive allows businesses to manage contacts and group them into “People” and “Organization” so the sales representative knows the clients’ role in the company and approaches them accordingly. Pipedrive provides a visual representation of call history and other modes of communication with the client giving a cutting edge to your business in negotiations. You can also make outbound phone calls within the Pipedrive and auto-link them with the relevant contacts.
  • Sales Automation System: Pipedrive allows users to automate every sales process and take their business to the next level. You will be notified: at the earliest about any changes to the lead phases and account settings to prevent misuse of your CRM. Pipedrive’s Automation sends customized notifications to the clients at the right time to increase the chances of getting engagement and successfully closing a deal.
  • Insights and Reports: You can create customizable fields for analytical reports regarding deals, leads, revenue, activities and add them to the dashboard for quick access. Pipedrive also offers employee management services to create goals for teams and individuals. It helps in evaluating the performances and assigning the tasks based on merit, which increases the chances of getting a positive outcome for every sales opportunity.
  • Privacy and Security: Pipedrive offers a dedicated security dashboard to give users complete control and transparency over user permissions and privacy settings. You can see how many users are logged in to the Pipedrive account and prevent mischievous entities from getting hold of your data. Moreover, you can see how recently the password has been altered, devices using your account and whether there has been any attempt to change the admin settings.

Pipedrive Pricing

Pipedrive has 4 pricing options for users to choose between depending on their requirements.

The “Essential” plan is priced at $15/month, giving users access to pipeline management, customer support, and data importation.

The “Advanced” plan is priced at $29/month, providing all features of “Essential” plus email scheduling, click tracking, and workflow creation.

The “Professional” plan is priced at $59/month, providing all features of “Advanced” plus call tracking, document creation, and revenue forecasting.

The “Enterprise” plan is priced at $119/month and gives access to all features of Pipedrive.

You can get add-ons to get the most out of the Pipedrive CRM subscription.

LeadBooster add-on starts at $32.5/month upon annual billing and helps large businesses to engage with leads more frequently.

Web Visitors add-on starts at $41/month upon annual billing and helps you recognize how your clients found out about services that can improve your marketing strategy.

4. Netsuite

NetSuite Customer Relationship Management software is a cloud-based CRM that offers a 360-degree view of your customers in real time. NetSuite CRM provides a continuous flow of information across the entire customer lifecycle, from leadership to opportunity, sales order, fulfillment, renewal, up-sell, cross-sell or support.

NetSuite Features

NetSuite has developed over the recent years and was one of the first cloud-based ERP+CRM systems. It is a multi-tenant SaaS solution that helps small and medium-sized organizations grow faster with customizable workflows. NetSuite provides unmatchable visibility and control over your entire business with its cloud-based applications that improve organizational productivity.

Here are some fascinating features that make NetSuite unique:

  • Enterprise Resource Planning: NetSuite provides businesses with complete control over data and resource planning. From handling financial operations to processing order-related information, you can automate all manual workflows with NetSuite’s ERP. You can increase the productivity of an organization with ERP as it provides a clear vision of each business procedure.
  • Global Business Management: NetSuite’s Global business management provides unrivaled visibility into operations in real-time. It allows multi-National businesses to manage complexities due to currency differences, tax policies, and legal conformity. Such organizations need to consolidate in regional areas while adhering to the company’s essence, and GBM makes that happen.
  • Sales Force Automation: NetSuite allows users to automate administrative actions and sales operations, reducing the employees’ workload. You can identify potential issues, create financial projections and track employees’ performance to get a better outlook on your business activities.
  • OpenAir: NetSuite’s OpenAir optimizes resources and employee allotment according to the skills required for a particular task. OpenAir creates various scenarios for every lead to maximize revenue and improve the chances of securing an opportunity. You can automate customer engagement and let OpenAir choose the right employee for each interaction based on past work and favorable conditions.
  • SuiteCommerce: NetSuite helps e-commerce businesses automatically update online orders to the back-end to manage them centrally and reduce the processing time while increasing accuracy. SuiteCommerce allows B2B and B2C websites in unifying the front-end and back-end to remove manual operations and get higher client engagement.
  • Timesheet Management: NetSuite assists Project managers to review time-based tasks and recording the working hours of employees. You can view relevant information like “Start Date”, “Work Done”, and “Estimated completion time” to get an overview of performance. Moreover, you can reassign tasks through Timesheet Management to finish projects urgently.
  • Project Analysis: NetSuite offers analytical tools that provide concurrent updates for every service rendered by your organization. You can track each lead individually to get a better statistical understanding of the client’s requirements. Moreover, you can share reports with colleagues through NetSuite to ensure everyone is on board with project advancement.

NetSuite Pricing

NetSuite does not offer a general subscription plan, and users have to fill in a form mentioning their requirements, business size, and budget. Once done, you’ll be contacted: by the customer executive regarding the best customizable tools for your organizational needs.

5. HubSpot

HubSpot is one of the best known CRM tools in the world, and one of the undisputed references in the field of inbound marketing. Hubspot’s CRM functionality allows you to manage all marketing and sales activities as you see fit. For example, it allows us to group by campaigns that generate detailed reports of metrics on the real return on investment in the entire conversion funnel experienced.

In addition, it is a complete CRM tool that is completely free of charge. 56,500 customers in more than 100 countries trust HubSpot for their growth.

Hubspot Features

Hubspot is a user-friendly CRM platform that provides advanced solutions with its robust marketing tools. It allows larger companies with complex workflows to perform efficiently and produce nifty results. Hubspot has five modules: Service, Sales, CMS, Operations, and Marketing, so you can include them in the package as per your business requirements.

Here are some impressive features available on Hubspot:

  • SEO Tools: Hubspot is one of the few CRM services that provide SEO-related analysis for your website’s content. Once you integrate your business website with Hubspot, it automatically scans it and recommends better optimization. Alternatively, you can paste your website’s URL and get an SEO report.
  • Content creation tools: You can create new blog posts for your website and edit the existing ones by simply integrating the website with CRM. Hubspot records all comments and edits made to the original content, so you are always in touch with the changes. Moreover, you can use the editor to start a new blog and add relevant images.
  • CPQ Functionality: Every business needs to create quotations for products or services to assist sales reps in negotiations. Hubspot allows you to do it inside the CRM with its “Quotes Tool”. You can add unit price, discount offers, conditions, regulations terms, or any other information that will benefit the buyer and sales process.
  • Campaigns Tools: Hubspot has several relevant automation tools that enable smooth interaction with clients and organize workflow. You can make posts on social media, send customized emails and run paid search campaigns to get leads on potential customers. It is one of a kind collection with all the necessary marketing tools and a great addition for larger businesses. 
  • Contact Attribution Reporting: Hubspot can help your management team understand the latest trend related to customers’ sales processes and identify the sources that influenced their decision. You can customize the attribution parameters to get different insights into your business and recognize the market-making activities.
  • Data Quality Automation: It allows you to automate properties like; time, date and add new automation to manage the incoming leads swiftly. Hubspot will follow all the pre-entered instructions and give a reminder every it finds a promising opportunity.

Hubspot Pricing

Hubspot offers you the option to create a customized subscription plan by adding the required services. Alternatively, you can choose from the existing bundles and get a general subscription. The “Starter” plan costs $45/month and offers fundamental marketing and sales features. The “Professional” plan starts at $1600/month with advanced marketing tools and customer service software. The “Enterprise” plan offers all available features of Hubspot and is priced: at $4000/ month, with the price set to go up to $5000/month From December 1, 2021.

Why use a CRM at all?

Maintaining consistent information across all channels is crucial for a business. Your teams need up-to-date details regarding the latest operations to maintain efficiency and effectiveness in their tasks. By having a dedicated system; for all your business requirements, you can simplify information management and expedite growth.

CRM solution provides a unified database and processes all your operations within a single platform. It assists your sales team by forecasting revenue and helping them accomplish objectives by closing more deals. CRM is essential to maintain efficient functioning within your organization and reduce the workload of your staff.

Why should you use a CRM for ad sales?

A sales pipeline is a systematic way of pursuing leads that empower salespeople while keeping their managers informed. It simply organizes your sales process and allows you to check the status of every deal.

Having a sales pipeline makes you efficient with your resources and helps your sales team remain confident and motivated.

A magazine’s sales pipeline differs from the traditional ones as they usually sell the spaces within their publications to businesses looking to advertise their services.

CRM helps you track; your contacts, companies and their position in the sales pipeline. It allows you to set metrics for qualifying or disqualifying leads looking to purchase ads in your publication.

Your sales team need to know where the red line is on making a sale and how far they can discount. CRM provides financial insights that enable your sales team to develop personalized offers for businesses interested in buying ads.

The best way to ensure your team has the confidence they require to pursue leads is to empower them with necessary tools that can provide behaviour insights into customer data.

CRM provides your teams with a consistent schedule to connect with leads and allows variation depending upon the release schedule of your publication and ad sales cycle.

CRM for Ad sales, A Summary

CRM allows you to choose the best deals for your publication and build meaningful relationships with businesses. Ad sales are essential for every magazine or newspaper to generate revenue. With a CRM, you can prioritize the leads in a sales pipeline and sell your spacings efficiently.

Creatio allows you to create customized pipelines and follow customer journeys effectively. It is our suggested pick for a CRM that suits ad sales. Visit the website to get started.