Critical Mention vs. HubSpot Marketing Hub

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Critical Mention
Score 5.4 out of 10
N/A
Critical Mention headquartered in New York offers their eponymous media monitoring platform for public relations and crisis management.N/A
HubSpot Marketing Hub
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
HubSpot's Marketing Hub is an all-in-one inbound marketing engine that includes tools for email marketing, landing page creation, social media marketing, content management, reporting & analytics, search engine optimization (SEO), and more.
$50
per month
Pricing
Critical MentionHubSpot Marketing Hub
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Free
$0
per month
Starter
$50
per month (includes 1,000 contacts)
Pro
$890
per month (includes 2,000 contacts)
Enterprise
$3,200
per month (includes 10,000 contacts)
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Critical MentionHubSpot Marketing Hub
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalRequired
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Critical MentionHubSpot Marketing Hub
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Critical MentionHubSpot Marketing Hub
Email & Online Marketing
Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of Product A and Product B
Critical Mention
-
Ratings
HubSpot Marketing Hub
7.1
369 Ratings
9% below category average
WYSIWYG email editor00 Ratings8.6332 Ratings
Dynamic content00 Ratings6.1333 Ratings
Ability to test dynamic content00 Ratings7.7309 Ratings
Landing pages00 Ratings6.3362 Ratings
A/B testing00 Ratings8.0286 Ratings
Mobile optimization00 Ratings6.4355 Ratings
Email deliverability reporting00 Ratings6.1363 Ratings
List management00 Ratings8.2364 Ratings
Triggered drip sequences00 Ratings6.4276 Ratings
Lead Management
Comparison of Lead Management features of Product A and Product B
Critical Mention
-
Ratings
HubSpot Marketing Hub
7.1
360 Ratings
9% below category average
Lead nurturing automation00 Ratings6.4356 Ratings
Lead scoring and grading00 Ratings7.9324 Ratings
Data quality management00 Ratings7.7330 Ratings
Automated sales alerts and tasks00 Ratings6.3299 Ratings
Campaign Management
Comparison of Campaign Management features of Product A and Product B
Critical Mention
-
Ratings
HubSpot Marketing Hub
6.3
320 Ratings
19% below category average
Calendaring00 Ratings6.4305 Ratings
Event/webinar marketing00 Ratings6.2251 Ratings
Social Media Marketing
Comparison of Social Media Marketing features of Product A and Product B
Critical Mention
-
Ratings
HubSpot Marketing Hub
6.4
346 Ratings
16% below category average
Social sharing and campaigns00 Ratings6.3342 Ratings
Social profile integration00 Ratings6.4331 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Critical Mention
-
Ratings
HubSpot Marketing Hub
7.7
369 Ratings
3% above category average
Dashboards00 Ratings7.9366 Ratings
Standard reports00 Ratings8.1362 Ratings
Custom reports00 Ratings7.0324 Ratings
Platform & Infrastructure
Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Product A and Product B
Critical Mention
-
Ratings
HubSpot Marketing Hub
7.3
341 Ratings
4% below category average
API00 Ratings7.6251 Ratings
Role-based workflow & approvals00 Ratings7.2280 Ratings
Customizability00 Ratings5.9303 Ratings
Integration with Salesforce.com00 Ratings7.8228 Ratings
Integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM00 Ratings7.996 Ratings
Integration with SugarCRM00 Ratings7.790 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Critical MentionHubSpot Marketing Hub
Small Businesses
Cision Communications Cloud
Cision Communications Cloud
Score 7.5 out of 10
Vbout
Vbout
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Cision Communications Cloud
Cision Communications Cloud
Score 7.5 out of 10
PFL Direct Mail Platform
PFL Direct Mail Platform
Score 9.3 out of 10
Enterprises
Cision Communications Cloud
Cision Communications Cloud
Score 7.5 out of 10
PFL Direct Mail Platform
PFL Direct Mail Platform
Score 9.3 out of 10
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User Ratings
Critical MentionHubSpot Marketing Hub
Likelihood to Recommend
1.8
(21 ratings)
7.3
(654 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(7 ratings)
9.0
(371 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(2 ratings)
9.0
(106 ratings)
Availability
8.0
(1 ratings)
9.1
(25 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
8.9
(17 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(1 ratings)
8.4
(88 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(8 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(26 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(1 ratings)
7.3
(48 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
7.3
(2 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
8.9
(5 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
7.3
(7 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(3 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(3 ratings)
User Testimonials
Critical MentionHubSpot Marketing Hub
Likelihood to Recommend
Critical Mention
Critical Mention is great for schools/businesses/etc. that want to know when they are in the news. Sometimes a brand's reputation can suffer greatly if you are not aware of an issue that was posted by a competitor or media outlet If you are not in the news a lot, there is no need for this product.
Read full review
HubSpot
As I said previously, I was not a fan at the beginning because, like everyone, I don't take change so well. Once I started following leads through HubSpot Marketing Hub, I integrated it with my email and created templates for what I needed, I started to see the positives immediately. My time working was better spent as I eliminated time put in routine tasks. I was able to track all communication in HubSpot Marketing Hub, we created systems in the office assigning tasks to one another and, through HubSpot Marketing Hub, our leads were able to book meetings in my calendar automatically. To be honest, if you are in sales and marketing, I cannot think of scenarios where HubSpot Marketing Hub cannot help. All I would like to say is, when using templates, pay attention to where you send them - you may need some personalization. I would encourage the management of HubSpot Marketing Hub to create short tutorials for beginners like me who need to configure and start using various features: setting up deals, templates, and dashboards.
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Pros
Critical Mention
  • Critical Mention's customer service is excellent. Any time we've had a challenge finding a clip or anything, they are on top of it and go above and beyond to make sure we have what we are looking for quickly.
  • The ability to create tailored clips of each mention and quickly share them is unparalleled.
  • The reporting feature is fantastic. It makes it very simple to pull detailed reports and share them with interested parties.
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HubSpot
  • All-in-one software - the main thing HubSpot does well is the breadth of functionality.
  • Easy of use - personally, I find it more intuitive than Marketo, which is the other MAP that I know well.
  • Ads - I like that we can drill down on ads by channel, ad group, campaign, and even create and see performance data at each level.
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Cons
Critical Mention
  • I believe the one frustration I have with searching in general that if the closed captioning is not correct on the broadcast end Critical Mention will miss that data. Which is not a Critical Mention issue and does overcome depending on the search. Also, it would be great if you wanted to capture a complete 30 minutes newscast, it could be done by using the search. The clips need to be about to handle 30-minute programs.
  • One nagging issue when using Critical Mention is that it does not save e-mail addresses when sending a report and this requires a waste of time having to type in e-mails that should be able to be pulled from the customers' contacts.
  • Also, it would be great if you wanted to capture a complete 30 minutes newscast, it could be done by using the search. The clips need to be able to handle 30-minute programs.
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HubSpot
  • While Hubspot has added some collaborative tools, I think this could improve. I'd like to see more options to comment on emails and ways of being able to share out changes as well as approval channels.
  • The ability to update ads via the calendar is pretty cumbersome. There's no good way to bulk edit or update. You have go into each one individually.
  • Real time edits would be nice. If you have multiple people working on the same thing, you'll get kicked out and your changes might not be saved.
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Likelihood to Renew
Critical Mention
I gave this a 5 only because I do not make the decisions to renew. When I used this at my previous company, I also recommended to the decision maker to renew this tool as it was a crucial piece to the overall client objective
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HubSpot
Our business relies on the HubSpot platform to manage our marketing, sales and CRM processes. HubSpot marketing automation helps us define our activities and streamlines them in a cohesive and efficient way. Without HubSpot, we will have to revert to the 'old way' of doing everything with a variety of disparate systems.
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Usability
Critical Mention
It's great for quickly looking up a specific clip, but this platform makes it difficult to select and accurately report on a high volume of clips
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HubSpot
While there are some frustrating things that pop up unexpectedly ("wait... I can't do X?"), I have found HubSpot to be easy to use and extremely helpful to my daily work. The documentation is really good, and when it's not helpful, the support staff have been amazing.
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Reliability and Availability
Critical Mention
No answers on this topic
HubSpot
They have had issues with system availability over the course of days. Sometimes the system is unusable, other times updates simply take a long time to show up. It's better now but, from a reliaibility standpoint, HubSpot is not Salesforce.com yet. Still great software though.
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Performance
Critical Mention
No answers on this topic
HubSpot
With all the new features in HubSpot, the system can get a tad slow sometimes... That said, most of the time it is lightning fast and I have no problems. Because most of the integrations are API, they silently work in the background. I have not had trouble with lag due to HubSpot integration
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Support Rating
Critical Mention
Look, Critical Mention follows up on an or phone call immediately or in the AM the following business day. I have called them after hours and get a live person to work through any issues that may have come up. Support seems to be job one with Critical Mention.
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HubSpot
During the few times I've needed it, HS support has been accessible, helpful and efficient. Often rolling up their sleeves to make changes for you as opposed to leaving you with a list of instructions to decipher on your own.
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In-Person Training
Critical Mention
No answers on this topic
HubSpot
I did the 2-day classroom at HubSpot's corporate office in Cambridge. First off, it was amazing to see their corporate office in general. They have such a cool office environment. But it was also great to have the ability to learn in a workshop format with other HubSpot users and meet my Account Manager/ Inbound Marketing Consultant in person.
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Online Training
Critical Mention
No answers on this topic
HubSpot
I went through Inbound Marketing University in 2006. Great training and helped my transition from traditional (outbound) marketing to inbound marketing that I've been able to apply to a number of businesses from wastewater and water reuse, to professional services and SaaS. Share information of value to build awareness and trust. Answer customers' questions in a transparent way to generate more qualified leads. Understand the difference between a marketing qualified lead and a sales qualified lead and put together a lead nurturing program. Your sales and marketing efforts will see significant ROI.
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Implementation Rating
Critical Mention
Critical Mention implementation was easy and fast. Their support and training were awesome.
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HubSpot
My biggest piece of advice for those who are implementing Hubspot is that you need to devote the time up front and learn how to use the product. Once you learn how to use Hubspot, it will be much more effective as well as much easier to use in the long run
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Alternatives Considered
Critical Mention
Burrelles is confusing and outdated. Critical Mention works on the side of the account team and understands our needs better. I was able to share hundreds of outlets that I wanted to be included in my online search and Critical Mention added all of them in less than a day I was seeing better results in my searches. The possibilities with Burrelles seem limited while Critical Mention's online monitoring service really lets me craft reports the way I want to
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HubSpot
Other competing software such as Zoho and Boomtown may have more bells and whistles, but it is too cumbersome and has many parts that only advanced users can operate. With HubSpot, each function is within reach of the average agent. It doesn't overpromise and then makes you feel incompetent when you can't use it all...
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Scalability
Critical Mention
No answers on this topic
HubSpot
HubSpot is addressing this more and more. Currently you can assign tasks to designated sales teams, which grow as you grow. They've added free baseline products for those just getting started. These and more contribute to the scalability of HubSpot - so I gave it an 8 and am hoping for more in the future!
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Return on Investment
Critical Mention
  • Every week the department I am a part does dozens of searches on Critical Mention. We use it as our primary search engine for all things broadcast.
  • One negative aspect is that we do not know where Critical Mention gets their audience viewing numbers from so we just have to take it as their word.
  • Another negative aspect is that we are limited on the amount of time that one clip can be so we have to share several clips of the same show with our clients.
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HubSpot
  • HubSpot has helped us increased our lead generation.
  • HubSpot has allowed us to continue to grow our customer base without having to spend a ton of marketing dollars on advertising.
  • HubSpot has allowed our company to standardize our process and bring the company onto one platform for sales and marketing.
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ScreenShots

HubSpot Marketing Hub Screenshots

Screenshot of Marketing Automation with HubSpot - Define workflows for highly targeted and personalized nurturing campaigns that send your leads and prospects the right targeted content at the right point in their decision-making process.Screenshot of HubSpot Analytics - Track engagement with your entire funnel with real-time reporting on website performance, traffic and marketing effectiveness.Screenshot of HubSpot Social Media - Don’t batch and blast. HubSpot’s social media publishing helps you become smarter about the way you schedule and publish content on social media.Screenshot of HubSpot Blogging and SEO - HubSpot provides an integrated set of tools for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) which makes getting found online a natural part of your inbound marketing mix. More than a simple CMS, HubSpot provides an integrated authoring view with SEO-oriented suggestions as you write blog posts.Screenshot of Marketing Automation with HubSpot - Define workflows for highly targeted and personalized nurturing campaigns that send your leads and prospects the right targeted content at the right point in their decision-making process.Screenshot of HubSpot Contacts - Integrating with most common CRMs, HubSpot provides a seamless view of your contacts, allowing you to customize and personalize email communications.