Choosing the right experience cloud is crucial for businesses of all sizes. A community platform is a digital space where businesses can interact with customers, partners, and employees. It provides a platform for sharing information, ideas, and feedback. Salesforce Experience Cloud (formerly known as the Community Cloud in Salesforce) is one such platform that has emerged as a leading community platform for businesses. However, there are several best alternatives to Salesforce Experience Cloud that businesses can consider.
In this article, we will provide a comprehensive breakdown of the Community Cloud in Salesforce and its upgraded version- the Salesforce Experience Cloud. Most importantly, we will discuss the best alternatives to the Salesforce Experience Cloud. Community platforms such as the Community Cloud in Salesforce, Bettermode, Titan, and Custom Development (building your own community platform) are also there, and we will compare the strengths and weaknesses of each platform and how they differ from Salesforce Experience Cloud. Don’t worry if you will still be left undecided, as we will also address common questions and concerns about community platforms and how Salesforce Experience Cloud addresses these concerns. Ready to choose the right experience cloud? Keep on reading to find out more!
Digital Community Platforms: Community Cloud in Salesforce, Salesforce Experience Cloud, vs Salesforce Experience Cloud Alternatives in 2023
A digital community platform is a virtual space where people with shared interests, goals, or other commonalities meet, connect, and build relationships. It provides a platform for sharing information, ideas, and feedback. Community platforms are essential for businesses of all sizes as they provide a digital space where businesses can interact with their customers, partners, and employees.
Community Cloud in Salesforce
The Community Cloud in Salesforce is designed to help businesses connect with their customers, grow their business, and optimize performance. It provides businesses with a complete channel management solution for them and their partners with a dynamic PRM site. The Community Cloud in Salesforce empowers marketers to create engaging microsites and landing pages to generate leads for a new product launch, an upcoming event, and more. It provides businesses with a responsive portal to access articles, update their accounts, and create and manage cases and claims. This is a digital experience platform that helps businesses create and customize digital experiences for a variety of people in business. It seamlessly connects businesses’ experiences with their customer data. The Community Cloud in Salesforce integrates data from any source, including Salesforce, third-party, or legacy sources.
Salesforce Experience Cloud
On the other hand, Salesforce Experience Cloud is a powerful digital experience platform that helps businesses create and deliver personalized digital experiences with connected data, prebuilt apps, and low-code tools. It is a Salesforce-integrated tool for creating online communities to communicate with partners, customers, or employees. When discussing other Salesforce sites vs. Experience Cloud, Experience Cloud goes beyond creating communities; it lets businesses create portals, forums, sites, help centers, and mobile apps and seamlessly manage content. Experience Cloud is designed to help businesses build customer journeys on a powerful digital experience platform. It lets businesses quickly create secure websites, portals, and apps with connected data. Experience Cloud is built on Customer 360, a powerful tool that helps businesses connect with their customers, grow their business, and optimize performance.
In summary, when you need to choose the right experience cloud, here are the things you should consider when diving into the Salesforce Experience Cloud:
Advantages
1. Customizable: Salesforce Experience Cloud is highly customizable and can be tailored to meet the specific needs of your business.
2. Ease of use: Salesforce Experience Cloud is user-friendly and easy to navigate, making it accessible to users with varying levels of technical expertise.
3. Scalability: Salesforce Experience Cloud is highly scalable and can accommodate businesses of all sizes.
4. Integration: Salesforce Experience Cloud integrates seamlessly with other products, such as Sales Cloud and Service Cloud.
5. Analytics: Salesforce Experience Cloud provides robust analytics and reporting capabilities, enabling businesses to gain valuable insights into customer engagement and community performance.
Disadvantages
1. Cost: Salesforce Experience Cloud can be expensive, especially for small businesses.
2. Complexity: Salesforce Experience Cloud can be complex to set up and manage, requiring a dedicated team of experts.
3. Limited customization: While Salesforce Experience Cloud is highly customizable, there are some limitations to what can be achieved without extensive coding.
4. Training: Users may require extensive training to fully utilize the features and functionalities of Salesforce Experience Cloud.
5. Security: Salesforce Experience Cloud stores sensitive customer data, which can be a security risk if not properly managed.
Best Alternatives to the Salesforce Experience Cloud
Better Mode
Bettermode is a customizable community platform that enables users to build unique customer communities. It offers premade templates that make building a community with spaces for common use cases easy. The Design Studio allows customers to visually build unique communities using blocks such as CTA, announcement bar, posts, members, and leaderboard. Bettermode’s strengths include its flexibility, customization, and ease of use. However, it has some weaknesses, such as limited integrations, lack of advanced analytics, and a relatively high price point.
Bettermode is a great option for those who want a customizable and easy-to-use community platform, while Salesforce Experience Cloud is a better choice for those who need a more robust and scalable solution with advanced integrations and analytics.
Titan
Titan is a no-code digital experiences platform for Salesforce that allows users to create custom docs, forms, apps, e-signatures, and surveys with Titan’s full suite of enterprise applications designed to integrate with Salesforce data across the entire organization. Titan’s strengths include a drag-and-drop builder that requires no code, fully branded custom themes, and mobile readiness.
In terms of how Titan can be more advantageous to Salesforce Experience Cloud, Titan’s no-code platform allows users to create custom digital experiences without coding skills. This can be a significant advantage for businesses that do not have the resources to hire developers or the time to learn how to code. Additionally, Titan’s full suite of enterprise applications that integrate seamlessly with Salesforce data across the entire organization can provide a more comprehensive solution than Salesforce Experience Cloud.
Remember that the Salesforce Experience Cloud is a native Salesforce solution that offers all the benefits of direct Salesforce integration. It also provides ready-to-go templates, full access to Customer 360 data saved in Salesforce, and an easy drag-and-drop builder that requires no code. The Salesforce Experience Cloud is also a well-known platform with a proven track record of success, while Titan is a relatively new platform that is not as well-known as other platforms. Due to its being new, its pricing is not as transparent as other Salesforce Experience Cloud alternatives of 2023.
Custom Development: Building Your Own Portal
Custom Development is a software development approach allowing organizations to create applications that align with their business objectives. It is designing, creating, deploying, and maintaining software solutions tailored to meet specific business needs, such as creating a community platform. Custom Development provides greater flexibility and customization than off-the-shelf solutions and can be faster than commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions. However, it can also be more expensive than COTS solutions and requires more technical expertise and resources to develop and maintain. Custom Development may not be suitable for all organizations, especially those with limited resources or requiring a quick solution.
The Need to Choose the Right Community Platform
Salesforce Experience Cloud? Or Salesforce Experience Cloud Alternatives in 2023? Why does it matter?
Choosing the right community platform is critical for your digital business as it can significantly impact its success. According to a study by Smart Insights, customers spend 19% more after they join a company’s online community. This highlights the importance of creating a thriving digital community that engages customers, boosts brand awareness, and offers a competitive advantage. Ultimately, whether you choose Salesforce Experience Cloud or the best alternatives to Salesforce Experience Cloud, the right community platform should help you build a thriving digital community that engages customers, boosts brand awareness, and offers a competitive advantage.
Best Practices for Choosing the Right Community Platform
When choosing the right community platform, businesses should consider several questions and concerns. Here are some common ones:
What are my business objectives?
Defining your goals and objectives is crucial when you choose the right experience cloud for your customers, clients, business partners, and employees. By doing so, you can identify the features that are essential to your community platform and ensure that it aligns with your business objectives.
Consider your audience
Choose a platform that caters to your target audience’s needs and preferences. You need to create a community platform that is tailored to the needs of your customers, clients, business partners, and employees. This can help you improve engagement and build stronger relationships with your stakeholders.
What are the features and functionalities that I need?
Consider the features that are essential to your business objectives. Each of these platforms has its own unique features and functionalities, so it’s important to choose the one that best aligns with your business objectives.
What is the cost of the platform?
The cost of the platform is an important consideration, especially for small businesses. Some platforms offer free plans, while others require a monthly or annual subscription fee. It’s important to choose a platform that fits within your budget.
How easy is it to use and manage the platform?
The platform’s ease of use and management is an important consideration, especially for businesses with limited technical expertise. Some platforms are user-friendly and easy to navigate, while others require a dedicated team of experts.
What is the level of security provided by the platform?
The level of security the platform provides is an important consideration, especially if you are storing sensitive customer data. Choosing a platform that provides robust security features to protect your data is important.
To answer these questions, it’s important to research and compare different community platforms. Look for reviews, case studies, and customer testimonials to understand better the platform’s features, functionalities, and performance. You can also consult with field experts like those from Zehntech for their recommendations and insights.
Harvard Business Review on Community Platforms
The article titled “When Community Becomes Your Competitive Advantage” published in the Harvard Business Review discusses how companies can leverage the power of communities to create a superior business model and unlock extraordinary competitive advantages. The authors, Jeffrey Bussgang and Jono Bacon, argue that if a company can transition from simply delivering a product to building a community, they can reap several benefits. Strong communities help support the ideal business model by reducing customer acquisition costs, increasing member retention, and generating high gross margins due to a lower cost of service. The result of this are very real network effects: as engagement grows, the community gets smarter, faster to respond, more globally available, and generates more value. The article also highlights that powerful communities are not just alive and well but also booming and are organized around businesses and brands. The authors conclude that companies that can build and maintain strong communities will have a significant competitive advantage over those that cannot
Final Thoughts
Choosing the right community platform that suits your business needs is important. By reading this article, you have comprehensively understood the Community Cloud in Salesforce and its upgraded version- the Salesforce Experience Cloud. You have also learned about the strengths and weaknesses of each platform and how they differ from Salesforce Experience Cloud. Community platforms such as Bettermode, Titan, and Custom Development (building your own community platform) were also discussed, as well as common questions and concerns about community platforms and how Salesforce Experience Cloud addresses these concerns. Now, it’s time to take action! I encourage you to apply your newfound knowledge and explore the different options available to you. Choose the right community platform that will help your business grow and thrive. Good luck!
