B2B Connection

Today, we awarded the 2019 TrustRadius Top Rated badges for Live Chat Software. The TrustRadius Top Rated awards are the most trusted in the industry because they are an unbiased reflection of customer sentiment, based solely on user feedback and satisfaction scores. Top Rated awards are the voice of the market and are not influenced by analyst opinion, the vendor’s company size, popularity, or status as a TrustRadius customer. Here are the winners: LiveChat LiveChat is a web-based customer service app and chat tool that integrates with a wide variety of third-party apps to provide a live conversation alternative to a phone call. LiveChat features automated greetings, canned responses, as well as a ticketing system and group management features on higher priced tiers.  LiveChat is used primarily by service and sales agents across companies of all sizes and industries, and is priced on a per-agent basis.  Users on TrustRadius praise its simplicity and reliability, making it quite useful for large centers that need an easy to use, straightforward live chat tool that requires very little training for successful agent onboarding. “LiveChat is the most suitable Helpdesk solution for teams. Be it small startup teams, medium-sized organizations, and large organizations; the […]

Today, we awarded the 2019 TrustRadius Top Rated badges for Landing Page Software. The TrustRadius Top Rated awards are the most trusted in the industry because they are an unbiased reflection of customer sentiment, based solely on user feedback and satisfaction scores. Top Rated awards are the voice of the market and are not influenced by analyst opinion, the vendor’s company size, popularity, or status as a TrustRadius customer. Here are the winners: Unbounce Unbounce is an application used to build pop-ups, “sticky bars,” banners, and landing pages. It connects marketing campaigns to tested and optimized landing pages that are separate from the company website and are designed to maximize conversion. For building landing pages Unbounce provides a drag-and-drop editor, video embedding, and Unbounce’s own “lightbox” functionality – a user-triggered element which allows forms or media to be placed in the landing page, without making it seem cluttered.  Across TrustRadius, Unbounce is reviewed primarily by users working in a marketing role (61%). Roughly half of Unbounce reviewers come from small companies (52%). Reviewers praise Unbounce’s landing page templates, easy-to-use code-free editing tools, and its advanced A/B testing and conversion tracking capabilities. “Unbounce is used by our marketing department to quickly […]

Today, we awarded the 2019 TrustRadius Top Rated badges for Blogging Platforms. The TrustRadius Top Rated awards are the most trusted in the industry because they are an unbiased reflection of customer sentiment, based solely on user feedback and satisfaction scores. Top Rated awards are the voice of the market and are not influenced by analyst opinion, the vendor’s company size, popularity, or status as a TrustRadius customer. Here are the winners: WordPress  WordPress is a publishing platform popular among individuals and companies of all sizes for hosting blogs or getting websites off the ground quickly. It is open source and features ready-to-use themes, a mobile app for publishing on the go, and many plugins supplying a wide variety of features at little to no cost. Although programming knowledge is not required to use WordPress, experience with it enables users to further customize website design though code manipulation. WordPress also allows several blogs to be hosted in one installation, and enables users to host, control, and moderate their own blogging communities through a single dashboard. It also has features like SEO plugins, and can automate website management and online marketing, bringing visitors from search engines and social networks to users’ […]

Today, we awarded 2019 TrustRadius Top Rated badges to a number of outstanding marketing tools. The TrustRadius Top Rated awards are the most trusted in the industry because they are an unbiased reflection of customer sentiment, based solely on user feedback and satisfaction scores. Top Rated awards are the voice of the market and are not influenced by analyst opinion, the vendor’s company size, popularity, or status as a TrustRadius customer. While many software categories have multiple products that earned a 2019 Top Rated badge (find them all on our blog here), this year eight marketing software categories have only one Top Rated winner. These products stand above the rest in each of their respective categories. Without further ado, here are the eight marketing categories and their stand-out products:  Content Marketing Software – PathFactory  Marketing Resource Management Software – Adobe Campaign Mobile Marketing – EZ Texting Public Relations (PR) Tools – TrendKite Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Tools – Google Ads Social Media Advertising Software – Facebook for Business Social Media Analytics Tools – Sprout Social Tag Management Solutions – Google Tag Manager Here’s a closer look at these outstanding marketing tools:  PathFactory (formerly LookBookHQ) PathFactory is an analytics-centric B2B content […]

Today, we awarded the 2019 TrustRadius Top Rated badges for All-in-One Marketing Platforms. The TrustRadius Top Rated awards are the most trusted in the industry because they are an unbiased reflection of customer sentiment, based solely on user feedback and satisfaction scores. Top Rated awards are the voice of the market and are not influenced by analyst opinion, the vendor’s company size, popularity, or status as a TrustRadius customer. Here are the winners: HubSpot HubSpot provides a complete inbound marketing platform that when bundled with the free HubSpot CRM presents a total integrated solution, with pricing not out of reach for SMBs. Beyond its familiar marketing automation features, HubSpot’s all-in-one platform provides ad management, live chat and web forms, email campaign management, as well as site analytics and A/B testing. HubSpot also offers companies a range of extra features such as a conversational bot builder, video hosting, smart content for a personalized viewer experience, and advanced analytics. One thing that distinguishes HubSpot is that it provides a marketing automation solution affordable for small businesses, but doesn’t compromise on feature breadth or complexity. A large majority (71%) of HubSpot users on TrustRadius are from small businesses. HubSpot reviewers enjoy the free […]

Today, we awarded the 2019 TrustRadius Top Rated badges for Customer Experience Management Software. The TrustRadius Top Rated awards are the most trusted in the industry because they are an unbiased reflection of customer sentiment, based solely on user feedback and satisfaction scores. Top Rated awards are the voice of the market and are not influenced by analyst opinion, the vendor’s company size, popularity, or status as a TrustRadius customer. Here are the winners: Pendo.io Pendo is used by developers, product managers, and customer success managers to drive improved customer experience with enterprise applications through its product analytic capabilities. Pendo’s analytics are used to provide instant user feedback to application developers for building user guides and tutorials, as well as user journey and funnel analytics. Pendo is also used to directly conduct polls and customer satisfaction surveys (e.g. NPS surveys) and can deploy guides and provide other targeted in-app messaging (e.g. new feature alerts, promotions, etc.). ‘ On TrustRadius, Pendo users tend to work in the computer software industry (58%), and a majority of users work in midsized companies  (66%). Reviewers on TrustRadius give high praise to Pendo’s UI analytics and in-app NPS surveys, and appreciate the ease with which […]

2019 Top Rated The TrustRadius Top Rated awards are the most trusted in the industry because they are an unbiased reflection of customer sentiment, based solely on user feedback and satisfaction scores. Top Rated awards are the voice of the market and are not influenced by analyst opinion, the vendor’s company size, popularity, or status as a TrustRadius customer. Top Rated Announcements 2019 Customer Support Top Help Desk Software Top Live Chat Software  Top Web Conferencing Software Development Top Functional Testing Tools Enterprise Top Business Intelligence (BI) Tools Top Business Process Management (BPM) Tools Top Collaboration Tools Top Corporate Performance Mangement (CPM) Software Top Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software Finances & Accounting Top Accounting & Budgeting Software Human Resources Top Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) Top Corporate Learning Management Systems Top HR Management Software Top Learning Management Systems (LMS) Top Talent Management Software Top Time Tracking Software Top Payroll Software Top Workforce Management (WFM) Software Information Technology (IT) Top Cloud Storage Providers Top Data Center Backup Software Top Firewall Software Top IT Service Management (ITSM) Software Top NoSQL Databases Top Platform-as-a-Service Solutions Top Low Code Software Top Remote Desktop Sofware Top Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) Software Top System Monitoring […]

Today, we awarded the 2019 TrustRadius Top Rated badges for Event Management Software. The TrustRadius Top Rated awards are the most trusted in the industry because they are an unbiased reflection of customer sentiment, based solely on user feedback and satisfaction scores. Top Rated awards are the voice of the market and are not influenced by analyst opinion, the vendor’s company size, popularity, or status as a TrustRadius customer. Here are the winners: CrowdCompass CrowdCompass, a Cvent company, provides mobile apps to drive in-event attendee engagement and collect event attendee information. It features tools to help conference sponsors and exhibitors gather leads, keep an updated schedule in the hand of every guest, and engage guests with a live activity feed, Q & A, and polls and surveys.   This product is used by marketers and event organizers across industries and at companies of all sizes. A large proportion of CrowdCompass users across TrustRadius are from midsize companies (46%). Reviewers appreciate CrowdCompass for its user engagement (e.g. surveys and polls) and sales tools (e.g. lead capture), as well as personalized messaging capabilities and agenda communication functionality. “CrowdCompass is wonderful for medium to large events with a variety of sessions, speakers, and breakout […]

Today, we awarded the 2019 TrustRadius Top Rated badges for Event Registration Software. The TrustRadius Top Rated awards are the most trusted in the industry because they are an unbiased reflection of customer sentiment, based solely on user feedback and satisfaction scores. Top Rated awards are the voice of the market and are not influenced by analyst opinion, the vendor’s company size, popularity, or status as a TrustRadius customer. Here are the winners: Cvent Event Management Cvent offers their comprehensive event management platform to those organizing conferences of various kinds, as well as equipment rental, shuttle services, hotel booking, and other services associated with managing events. Cvent’s registration handling is a part of its services, praised for its intuitiveness and ease of use for a variety of purposes by event organizers across industries. Its registration features include a branded event website with online registration, on-site registration with badging, secure payment processing, as well as room block management, seating arrangement handling, pre-event engagement, and rich analytics for bookings success and revenue tracking. On TrustRadius, a large portion (40%) of Cvent users come from midsize companies. Reviewers praise Cvent’s robust feature set for hosting multiple large and small events, conferences, or for […]

Tom and Jerry. Teenagers and their parents. Jan and Marsha Brady. Of all the love-hate relationships out there, the one between marketers and their marketing automation platform is a classic—at least in the world of software. While building and managing campaigns through these (often complex) platforms can be difficult and time consuming, these tools are also the bedrock of most marketing campaign activity. In a recent TrustRadius survey, 70% of marketers said that Marketing Automation software was very essential to achieving their marketing goals. Most marketers would probably have a panic attack at the thought of trying to orchestrate a campaign without their marketing software. So it’s important to make sure your company invests in a Marketing Automation platform that is the best fit for your business. However, finding the right one isn’t always easy, especially when there are over 120 products to choose from. Some important questions to ask that can help narrow down your list of products are: What type of marketing-channel access do different platforms provide? Which platforms are the best fit for your contact database, or list size? Which products are within your price range? Does the product allow you to achieve the degree of personalization […]

This is old news. We’ve got new research for 2021. SEE THE NEW DATA Tech is still a male-dominated world. Recently, we published the 163 Voices: Women in Tech Speak Up report to shed light on the experiences of women working in the technology industry. We heard many stories of success, accomplishment, bias, and discrimination. But what are the numbers behind the stories? What are the women in tech statistics every tech employee should know? Check out this infographic for the highlights of the state of women in tech: Key Points About Women Working in Technology: In 2019, women are outnumbered 3 to 1 in tech. (tweet this) Why do women join tech? 37% get started in the industry because of its fast pace. The ability to solve interesting problems (35%) and opportunities for growth (27%) round out the top 3. (tweet this) 43% of female tech professionals don’t think their company invests enough in building women’s careers. These perceptions vary by experience level, department, and job title. (tweet this) Around 1 in 4 leadership roles at large tech companies are held by women. (tweet this) Women in tech earn 94.6 cents for every dollar earned by a man with […]

**On June 3, 2019, the New York Times announced that the U.S. Government will be increasing scrutiny of the big four tech companies. At this stage, the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission will be looking into potential antitrust violations committed by Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon. Originally published on May 15, 2019, our survey revealed that trust in all four of these companies is already low. Though antitrust and consumer trust are quite different, it is interesting to see the government diving into formal oversight at a time when trust for these companies is much lower than the baseline for all companies. We will be on the lookout for how government scrutiny will further impact trust in Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google.** Big tech has played a starring role in the trust crisis. Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google have all made headlines for breaches of trust, ranging from data leaks to fake news, fake reviews, planned obsolescence, tax breaks, employee protests, poor working conditions, and leadership scandals. Commonly called the “big four” tech companies, they are constantly under scrutiny, even as their products and services shape our economy and our daily lives, at work and at home. So […]

There is an emerging type of software solution that enables companies to streamline digital customer experiences — digital experience platforms (DXP). DXPs largely evolved from content management systems (CMS). These two types of software often get confused with each other because they share the same roots, and DXPs often incorporate CMS features. But the two are very different, even though there is overlap between their functions. A CMS enables businesses to manage and publish their online content such as blog articles, images, data, etc. Traditionally, CMS have primarily focused on web content and are sometimes called ‘web content management systems’. However, some CMS have expanded to include the ability to create, publish, and manage content across multiple digital channels.  DXPs, on the other hand, typically incorporate some standard CMS functions plus engagement with consumers across all digital touchpoints. They also feature the ability to personalize content and individual digital experiences across different channels. These digital channels can include social media platforms, mobile applications, online storefronts, email, customer portals, and text/SMS. A DXP also has greater data collection and analysis capabilities, allowing companies to track and aggregate user engagement metrics across digital channels. DXPs are flexible tools designed to help optimize […]

The construction industry is a field with steep competition that demands attention to detail. Every single PVC pipe, piece of sheet metal, and light bulb needs to be accounted for. To win a contract, project managers need to know every cost that will make up the bid they offer investors. Once they begin work on a project, it’s in everyone’s best interest to have an estimate that’s as accurate as possible. Otherwise, project managers run the risk of leaving owners and subcontractors with unmet expectations, or increased costs. To help save time and make the most accurate bids, engineering and construction managers use takeoff and estimating software. These software solutions allow professionals to use digital designs to analyze which materials they need and how much their total costs will be. Takeoff and estimating software are valuable tools, and it’s important to take time fully understand what this vertical-specific software can do – and what users are saying about the different solutions they use. What is Construction Estimating Software? Construction estimating software is a collection of programs that enables construction professionals to estimate the total cost of a project. This includes every cost from the beginning stages to the final project […]

In honor of Teachers Appreciation Day, we are proud to announce the first-ever TrustRadius Education Software Honor Roll! Based on reviews by education industry professionals, we’ve identified the A+ software that educators use far and wide. More than ever, technology and education go hand-in-hand. The market for hardware and software in education has grown to over $8 billion. But that spending is not just for ed tech like learning management systems (LMS). All kinds of technology can help improve education, from web conferencing to collaboration tools. The Education Software Honor Roll recognizes the top 10 most reviewed products by education industry professionals. Winners come from a range of categories – note that only 3 winners are education-specific software, represented by pink bars on the graph below. But each of these products adds value everyday for people who work in the education sector. So without further ado… Here are the Education Software Honor Roll winners: EMS Software EMS Software, recently acquired by Accruent, is an enterprise-level event management and scheduling platform that also includes class and resource scheduling capabilities. While it may not seem like it at first glance, this product is well-suited for use in the education industry and offers […]

Integration is fast becoming a core requirement for companies large and small as they endeavor to share data no matter where it lives, either in the data center or in the cloud. Gone are the days when data integration was an afterthought. Access to the huge volumes of data locked up in many different on-premise and cloud systems is increasingly understood as a potential competitive advantage in just about any market. But not just access. It’s also crucial to be able to combine different kinds of data with a minimum amount of effort to reveal insights that might otherwise not be apparent. The emerging iPaaS software category is a modern solution to integration that is lighter-weight and cloud native. iPaaS products are also significantly simpler to use than previous generations of integration technology and are frequently purchased not by the IT department, but by lines of business. This is a fast-growing software category and is projected to continue rapid growth over the next few years. TrustRadius data confirms this growth with the number of buyers researching the category doubling from Q4 2018 to Q1 2019. Selecting a product in this confusing new space can be even more difficult than other […]

TrustRadius Top Rated **This post was updated on April 30, 2019 to reflect recent changes in the Social Media Management industry.** Today, we awarded the 2019 TrustRadius Top Rated badges for Social Media Management Tools. The TrustRadius Top Rated awards are the most trusted in the industry because they are an unbiased reflection of customer sentiment, based solely on user feedback and satisfaction scores. Top Rated awards are the voice of the market and are not influenced by analyst opinion, the vendor’s company size, popularity, or status as a TrustRadius customer. Here are the winners: AgoraPulse AgoraPulse is a suite-style social media management tool that enables users to publish content across multiple social platforms (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, and LinkedIn) and track user engagement. It includes features such as social listening searches, ad comments monitoring, scheduled and queue posting, a chrome extension, label count, ability to assign and approve posts, a Facebook ROI calculator, a mobile application, and a ‘social CRM’ that records users’ social interactions. The majority of AgoraPulse users (63%) on TrustRadius are from small businesses. According to reviewers, content planning & scheduling and level of Twitter and Facebook coverage are three of AgoraPulse’s strengths. “This is […]

*This article has been updated on April 25th, 2019 based on new research conducted by the TrustRadius team* Data is now considered the world’s most valuable resource. To store, manage, and understand the valuable data we collect, tech professionals have to choose the right type of database and data structure. Over the years, databases have fallen into two camps: SQL, or relational databases, and NoSQL (non-relational) databases. Interest in both types of databases has remained strong: over the past month alone over 4,700 professionals used TrustRadius to research NoSQL databases, and another 4,900 evaluated relational databases. And in the first quarter of 2019, over 27,000 professionals were looking at either NoSQL or relational databases on TrustRadius.com. However, it can be intimidating for beginners to learn about database structure. Databases have decades of development and it seems daunting to try to understand the nuances of language, structure, scaling options, and more. This article aims to help those just getting started to understand where database management has been, where it’s going, and some samples of Top Rated NoSQL and SQL databases. The Development of SQL and NoSQL: A little history SQL was developed in the 1970s to help grow the computer industry. […]

Companies are shifting their communication and collaboration tools to the Cloud. Previously, they relied on physical hardware and multiple pieces of technology to enable all of their forms of communication. Now, Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) providers allow businesses to free themselves of coordinating complicated communication technology, so that they can focus on their own product development. Markets and Markets predicts that UCaaS usage is set to grow significantly in the next few years. It won’t be long before UCaaS is the norm in business communication tech. As Irwin Lazar, Vice President and Service Director at Nemertes Research, writes, “On the buy-side, IT leaders increasingly are adopting a when not if approach as they evaluate and plan for cloud transition.” As companies continue to increase their usage of cloud-based solutions and prior investments become outdated, switching communication systems to the cloud seems inevitable. Before making the transition to a UCaaS provider, companies need to understand what UCaaS is all about. Read more to learn about what is UCaaS, what UCaaS features are available, and UCaaS provider reviews. What is UCaaS? UCaaS is a relatively young and still emerging category of technology. Because of this, many individuals are unfamiliar with […]

As a human, a citizen, and a consumer you care about trust. But as a professional, trust is important, too–to your success with coworkers, customers, and your boss (or if you’re the boss, the employees you manage). Maybe you use social media to network with people you know, or want to know. Maybe you use it to keep up with industry news. Maybe it’s an important source of data, an advertising channel, a customer support channel, a recruiting tool, or a revenue source for your business. You may choose where to focus your time and efforts based on performance metrics–measuring the difference between different social networks in terms of how many views or clicks you get, what your response/engagement rate is, how much data you can pull, etc. Or, maybe you prioritize based on who is using the platform, or simply based on how valuable the information you find there feels. Yet trust is another important piece of this puzzle. Whether you’re posting information you hope will resonate with your audience, or looking for information you can rely on, you need to consider the trust factor. Poll shows LinkedIn is the most (and typically only) social source of information professionals […]