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Microsoft Dynamics 365 Marketing vs. PFL Direct Mail Platform

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Microsoft Dynamics 365 Marketing

    Score8.7 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft Dynamics 365 Marketing is an integrated marketing management solution for marketing operation, planning, execution, and analytics across all channels—digital, social, and traditional. Capabilities include marketing resource management, multichannel campaign management, lead management, sales collaboration, social marketing, and marketing analytics. Microsoft acquired MarketingPilot, an SMB-focused marketing automation product, in 2012. MarketingPilot IMM (integrated marketing…

    $1,200

    per month

    PFL Direct Mail Platform

    Score9 out of 10
    N/APFL helps businesses deliver authentic moments by creating impactful direct mail that is data-driven, bringing measurement, personalization, and predictability from digital to direct mail. PFL offers direct mail that is... Simplified: PFL simplifies direct mail execution by managing the entire process under one roof from strategy and production to delivery and measurement. Engaging: Supports engagement that results in action by paring digital tactics with memorable…

    $40,000

    per year

    Pricing
    Microsoft Dynamics 365 MarketingPFL Direct Mail Platform
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Microsoft Dynamics 365 MarketingPFL Direct Mail Platform
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup fee$10,000
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Microsoft Dynamics 365 MarketingPFL Direct Mail Platform
    Considered Both Products
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    PFL
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    86%
    Would buy again
    6 Answers
    88%
    Would buy again
    28 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    83%
    Delivers good value for the price
    5 Answers
    93%
    Delivers good value for the price
    28 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    86%
    Happy with the feature set
    6 Answers
    84%
    Happy with the feature set
    27 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    5 Answers
    81%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    21 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    83%
    Implementation went as expected
    5 Answers
    84%
    Implementation went as expected
    21 Answers
    Best Alternatives
    Microsoft Dynamics 365 MarketingPFL Direct Mail Platform
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    No answers on this topic
    Sendoso
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Enterprises
    No answers on this topic
    Sendoso
    Score8.2 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Microsoft Dynamics 365 MarketingPFL Direct Mail Platform
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.7
    (8 ratings)
    9.0
    (33 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    1.0
    (1 ratings)
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    8.7
    (5 ratings)
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    6.0
    (3 ratings)
    9.4
    (3 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.9
    (3 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Microsoft Dynamics 365 MarketingPFL Direct Mail Platform
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Microsoft
    Having used both Salesforce and Microsoft Marketing, the integration is much tighter and the automation and workflow is much tighter using PowerAutomate. Reporting on tasks is better in Salesforce, but the ability to fully and quickly integrate into the Microsoft Azure stack is well worth the hassle of quickly generating reports.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    PFL
    The reason it's not a seven or above is purely because of the timing of a solution we had requested originally back in August 2023. It's now February 2024, and we're waiting for a wow-factor pitch deck. Previously, we only received a demo recording and an order form quote. These truthfully aren't helpful enough to convince and sway our senior leaders into spending the $35k+ investment into the PMC.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Microsoft
    • Builds dynamic audiences using real-time CRM and behavioral data without manual list maintenance.
    • Triggers communications based on actions such as purchase, visit date, or post-visit timing.
    • Manages high-volume transactional and lifecycle emails with consistent governance and compliance.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    PFL
    • Personalization: It allows us to create highly personalized direct mail pieces tailored to individual recipients. For instance, we can include the recipient's name, relevant product recommendations, or even custom images that resonate with their preferences.
    • Multi-Channel Integration: The platform seamlessly integrates with our existing digital marketing tools and CRM systems. It enables us to orchestrate cohesive campaigns that combine email, social media, and direct mail to reach our target audience through multiple touchpoints.
    • Automated Workflows: PFL offers robust automation capabilities, streamlining the entire direct mail process. We can set triggers, such as website visits or email engagement, to automatically trigger the sending of personalized direct mail pieces, ensuring timely and relevant outreach.
    • Variable Data Printing: The platform simplifies variable data printing, enabling us to print custom content for each recipient efficiently. This is particularly useful for A/B testing different messaging or designs within a single campaign.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Microsoft
    • Currently marketing is more contact centric, should add the flexibility of doing segmentation as well as customer journey on leads without associating with contact
    • Pricing is based on number of contact, even if you are not marketing all of them.
    • Cannot reuse the existing marketing lists created in CRM for marketing as seamlessly as in ClickDimensions, even though both uses the same Dataverse
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    PFL
    • There is no built-in functionality to automate direct mail; this has to be created through triggers in Salesforce.
    • The sales cloud integration didn't give us the syncing or reporting we thought would be available.
    • We would like to see more support from team members in the post-onboarding process.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Microsoft
    I wouldn't even think of renewing our use of Marketing 365. It's worthless
    Read full review
    PFL
    I will continue to use the platform as long as my employer provides access, but I do not have purchasing power myself.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Microsoft
    Microsoft Dynamics 365 Marketing is extremely usable in order to manage all of my organization's customer information across the organization. Further we use Microsoft Dynamics 365 Marketing to manage all of our marketing campaigns from beginning to end. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Marketing makes my organization more able to run a professional marketing strategy.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    PFL
    The UI is friendly, clear, and accessible, and I access it directly through the interface (Salesforce) that I perform my function in every day. It is intuitive to navigate, and I am able to find most functionalities I need without the need to consult an admin and/or support teams.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Microsoft
    Like all Microsoft corporation products, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Marketing comes with the extremely high-quality customer support that Microsoft corporation has become well known for. Whether it is the availability of twenty-four/seven customer support or the highly-trained, very friendly customer support personnel, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Marketing has the support you are looking for.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    PFL
    Only thing holding me back from a perfect 10 would be the timelines for involving the technical team on occasion. There have been a few times where the PFL technical support team has been booked up for days or more than a week out which can delay our project timelines. This doesn't happen often, let me be clear. But when it does, it's usually at the worst time for our campaigns.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Microsoft
    While the cost was significantly more than other vendors we looked at, the tools are similar to our previous tool so conversion would be (somewhat) easy. We chose it because it directly integrates with Microsoft Dynamics CRM - which we integrated at the same time.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    PFL
    JourneyMail is one I have evaluated. It did not seem as full featured as PFL Direct Mail Platform, nor did it integrate with the rest of the Salesforce products like PFL Direct Mail Platform (journeymail ONLY integrates to marketing cloud). My customers tend to be cross-cloud and own multiple products and want solutions that can integrate across their stack easily.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    PFL
    It does take a while to launch or re-launch a campaign, which can make it difficult to pivot quickly. However, if you're integrated with Marketo, then PFL is as scalable as your database and marketing strategy! The sky is the limit in terms of creativity. Post launch, the program is hands-off apart from report monitoring and potential optimization tweaks.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Microsoft
    • It took a few months to get things in order and I believe I could’ve gotten started sooner, but I had to learn about it first
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    PFL
    • We've sometimes struggled to maintain a positive ROI due to some issues with packages not arriving, arriving broken, or including the wrong items.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    PFL Direct Mail Platform Screenshots

    Screenshot of Custom kits available for useScreenshot of Entering the sender addressScreenshot of Personalization at scale with custom messaging and signaturesScreenshot of Product selection with product details, template data, and advanced options