lemlist vs Salesloft: Best Cold Outreach Tool 2024

Last Updated on
June 7, 2024
by
Jason Gong

This article compares lemlist and Salesloft, focusing on their capabilities as cold outreach tools to help you decide which is best for your needs. While both tools offer broader features, here we strictly evaluate their performance in cold outreach. The comparison is designed to save you time by selecting the most efficient tool, including how Bardeen can automate your repetitive tasks.

lemlistSalesloft
Campaign CreationMulti-channel campaign creation, AI helpsIntuitive interface, detailed scheduling
DeliverabilityLemwarm improves scores, detailed reportsReputable IPs, gradual email volume increase
PersonalizationCustom variables, dynamic contentBehavioral data, AI suggestions
AICampaign-level AI, conversational tonePersonalized AI drafts, NLP prioritizes leads
Native EnrichmentBasic lead data, limited detailsNo native function, supports third-party integrations
Social AutomationLinkedIn messages in sequence, browser extensionNo LinkedIn automation in sequences
Pricing$39-$159/user/month, 14-day free trialContact sales for pricing, no free trial

Campaign Creation - Simplifying Multichannel Outreach

lemlist provides a more visually engaging and flexible interface for campaign creation, particularly beneficial for setting up complex sequences with multiple branching conditions.

Complex campaign creation with conditional branching in lemlist.

Salesloft, on the other hand, excels in providing a robust scheduling system that supports detailed management of multichannel sequences including emails, calls, and social interactions.

Detailed campaign scheduling and member overview in Salesloft.

For teams needing high customization and visual tools for complex campaigns, lemlist might be the better choice. However, for those requiring strong schedule management and detailed tracking across multiple communication channels, Salesloft stands out as the more capable tool.

To further optimize your campaign creation process, consider using Bardeen to automate and enrich lead data, enhancing both lemlist and Salesloft's capabilities.

lemlist

Campaign creation with automated steps for email, LinkedIn, and other channels.

lemlist Sequences allows users to build multi-channel campaigns that engage leads through email, LinkedIn, and other platforms. The visual campaign builder supports both automated and manual steps, enabling users to create personalized sequences tailored to their specific needs.

  • Automated steps for multiple channels: Set up automated email sends, LinkedIn connection requests, and more.
  • Personalization options: Customize campaigns with dynamic placeholders and personalized content.
  • Conditional branching: Create complex workflows with conditional logic based on lead actions and data.
  • AI-powered campaign creation: Use AI to generate multichannel campaigns and optimize performance.
  • Campaign duplication: Easily replicate successful campaigns for different segments or purposes.

However, some users report difficulties with lemlist's interface and prefer alternative tools for ease of use:

👎 "Lemlist, in theory, is great. I have a whole list of reasons I stopped using it." - r/Emailmarketing

Salesloft

Salesloft's campaign creation interface with key metrics and upcoming activities.

Salesloft provides a comprehensive platform for creating and managing sales campaigns, enabling teams to engage prospects through multiple channels. The intuitive interface allows users to build targeted sequences that incorporate emails, phone calls, and social interactions, all supported by a robust scheduling system.

Key features of Salesloft's campaign creation:

  • Multichannel sequences: Combine emails, calls, and social touches in a single campaign
  • Detailed scheduling: Set specific timelines and intervals for each step in the sequence
  • Performance metrics: Monitor key campaign stats, such as number of members and activity history
  • Upcoming activities: Easily view and manage upcoming tasks and meetings related to the campaign

Reddit users have expressed mixed sentiments about Salesloft's campaign creation capabilities:

👍 "Get Salesloft. I have all 3 and Hubspot is not even close on sales automation. Salesloft is... Much easier to use and adopt" - r/sales
👎 "Our reply rates on sequences are terrible" - r/sales
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Deliverability - Boosting Email Success Rates

When comparing lemlist and Salesloft for email deliverability, lemlist has a notable edge due to its specialized tool, lemwarm, which directly enhances deliverability.

Lemwarm feature in lemlist for tracking and improving email deliverability

Although this feature requires an additional subscription, it is integrated within lemlist, making it more convenient for users who prioritize deliverability. Salesloft, on the other hand, does not provide a dedicated email warming service. However, it does implement good practices such as using reputable IP addresses and gradually increasing email volumes to maintain deliverability.

For users needing advanced deliverability support, particularly those in high-volume email campaigns, lemlist’s lemwarm could be more beneficial despite the extra cost. Additionally, to further enhance your email strategies, consider leveraging Bardeen’s AI capabilities to craft compelling emails that improve open and response rates.

lemlist

lemwarm helps improve deliverability score by providing tips and detailed reports

lemlist addresses deliverability challenges through its dedicated product, lemwarm, which requires a separate subscription. This tool helps users maintain high deliverability rates and avoid having their emails marked as spam.

  • Custom Tracking Domain: lemwarm recommends setting up a Custom Tracking Domain to track open and click rates safely.
  • Deliverability Score: The tool provides a deliverability score, giving users an overview of their email health and potential issues.
  • Detailed Reports: lemwarm offers detailed reports on various aspects of email deliverability, helping users identify and address problems.
  • Sending Limits: The platform enforces sending limits for each email address to maintain a good sender reputation and avoid being flagged as spam.

Reddit users discuss strategies to prevent emails sent through lemlist from being marked as spam:

😐 "Be sure that DMARK/SPF/DKIM are working. Disable 'open tracking' and 'link tracking'" - r/agency

Salesloft

Salesloft's AI-generated follow up email ready to send.

While Salesloft does not offer a dedicated email warmup feature, it employs best practices to maintain high deliverability for its users' email campaigns:

  • Reputable IP addresses: By sending emails from well-established IP addresses, Salesloft reduces the likelihood of messages being flagged as spam.
  • Gradual volume increase: Salesloft helps users avoid sudden spikes in email volume that can trigger spam filters by gradually increasing the number of emails sent over time.
  • AI-powered email optimization: The platform's AI assists in crafting effective, personalized email content that is less likely to be marked as spam.

Reddit users praise Salesloft for its ease of use and strong deliverability compared to alternatives like Hubspot and Outreach:

👍 "Salesloft is… Much easier to use and adopt" - r/sales
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Personalization - Tailoring Outreach for Lead Engagement

Salesloft offers more advanced personalization features compared to lemlist. While both platforms allow for basic personalization using custom variables and conditional logic, Salesloft takes it a step further by integrating behavioral data and AI-powered suggestions to enhance your email engagement strategy.

Salesloft's dashboard showcasing behavioral personalization for email customization

Lemlist provides the ability to use liquid syntax for dynamic content and fallbacks, a useful feature for ensuring all emails feel personalized even when specific data is missing.

However, Salesloft's usage of custom columns and AI suggestions allows for a more tailored approach based on lead behavior, making it more effective for companies focused on detailed lead tracking and engagement metrics. To further enhance your email personalization, consider using Bardeen's playbook to craft highly customized messages based on enriched lead data.

lemlist

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Personalization options in lemlist Sequences, including custom variables and liquid syntax.

lemlist Sequences provides several options for personalizing emails to better engage leads. With custom variables and liquid syntax, users can create dynamic, tailored messages that stand out in a prospect's inbox.

  • Custom variables: Easily insert personalized fields like first name, last name, and company name into email templates.
  • Liquid syntax: Use advanced liquid syntax to add conditional logic, pull in dynamic data like the current date, and set fallback values if data is missing.
  • Custom images and landing pages: Further customize the email experience with personalized images and landing pages for each recipient.

Salesloft

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Salesloft uses custom columns for each lead to personalize emails.

Salesloft offers powerful personalization options to tailor your outreach to each individual lead. By leveraging custom columns for each prospect, you can craft highly targeted emails that resonate with their specific interests and needs.

Key personalization features:

  • Custom columns: Add custom fields to capture unique details about each lead, such as their industry, role, or pain points. This information can then be dynamically inserted into your email templates for a personalized touch.
  • Behavioral personalization: Salesloft tracks each lead's behavior and engagement, allowing you to adapt your messaging based on their actions. For example, if a prospect opens an email but doesn't reply, you can follow up with a tailored message to re-engage them.
  • AI-powered suggestions: Salesloft's AI analyzes your lead data and provides intelligent recommendations for personalizing your outreach. From suggesting the best time to send an email to recommending relevant content, the AI helps you optimize your efforts.

By combining custom data, behavioral insights, and AI assistance, Salesloft empowers you to create highly personalized sequences that build stronger connections with your leads and drive more conversions.

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AI - Personalizing Outreach and Optimizing Workflows

Salesloft offers a more advanced AI integration compared to lemlist, especially in personalizing outreach and optimizing workflows based on AI-driven insights.

Salesloft AI Draft feature generates personalized email content.

Salesloft's AI capabilities extend beyond email creation, using natural language processing to prioritize actions for each lead, enhancing efficiency and effectiveness in sales strategies.

While lemlist also provides AI features for creating campaign content, it lacks the depth in customization and real-time lead prioritization that Salesloft offers.

To leverage AI for more personalized and effective email campaigns, consider using Bardeen's AI capabilities to enhance your sales automation and outreach strategies.

lemlist

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AI-powered campaign creation in lemlist Sequences.

lemlist's Sequences feature provides AI assistance for creating entire campaigns, allowing users to generate content based on a few key inputs. This can save time and effort in the campaign creation process, especially for those new to cold outreach.

Key aspects of AI-powered campaign creation:

  • Campaign-level AI: Users can generate complete campaigns by providing basic information about their target audience and goals.
  • Conversational tone: The AI-generated content aims to strike a conversational and engaging tone to improve response rates.
  • Limited customization: While the AI can generate campaigns quickly, there are limited options for customizing the content at an individual email or message level.

When crafting individual emails within a campaign, lemlist offers some basic AI-powered personalization options. Users can ask the AI to improve the text, fix grammar, or adjust the tone and formality of the message. However, these personalization options are not as extensive as the campaign-level AI generation.

Overall, lemlist's AI capabilities in Sequences are geared towards quickly generating complete campaigns with a conversational tone, rather than providing granular personalization options for each individual message. This approach can be helpful for users who want to create campaigns efficiently, but may not offer the level of customization some advanced users require.

Salesloft

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Generate personalized AI drafts with Salesloft's AI-powered email generation.

Salesloft's AI capabilities help sales teams personalize their outreach at scale. With the AI Draft feature, reps can quickly generate tailored email content based on recipient information and relevant inputs.

  • Personalized AI-generated drafts: By providing key details about the recipient and the context, Salesloft's AI can create customized email drafts that feel personal and relevant.
  • Efficiency boost: The AI-powered draft generation saves time for reps, allowing them to focus on other high-value activities while still maintaining a personalized touch in their outreach.
  • Improved response rates: Personalized emails tend to perform better, and Salesloft's AI helps ensure that each email is tailored to the individual recipient, increasing the likelihood of a positive response.

In addition to AI-powered email drafts, Salesloft uses AI and natural language processing (NLP) to prioritize actions for each lead based on custom signals. This helps reps focus their efforts on the opportunities that matter most, further improving their productivity and effectiveness.

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Native Enrichment - Quick Insights or In-Depth Analysis?

Salesloft's approach of supporting integrations for lead enrichment offers flexibility but may require additional setup and costs as opposed to lemlist's built-in but basic enrichment capabilities.

Basic enrichment in lemlist's native feature

lemlist provides immediate, although limited, enrichment directly within its platform, which can be useful for quick insights without the need for external tools. This can be advantageous for users seeking simplicity and speed in lead management.

For teams requiring deeper and more detailed lead insights, Salesloft's method of integrating with powerful third-party enrichment services could be more beneficial. This allows users to tailor their data enrichment to specific needs using advanced tools.

For enhancing your lead data with minimal effort, consider using Bardeen to automate the enrichment process. This can significantly reduce manual tasks by integrating data directly into your existing workflows. Check out Bardeen's playbook for automating lead enrichment.

lemlist

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Lemlist enrichment provides a basic overview of lead information.

Lemlist's native enrichment capabilities allow users to gather additional information about their leads directly within the platform. This feature aims to provide sales teams with buyer signals and data from other sources to help them better understand and engage with their prospects.

Key aspects of lemlist's lead enrichment:

  • Basic lead information like job title, location, and social media profiles
  • Limited company details compared to dedicated data providers
  • Data may not be as up-to-date or comprehensive as specialized tools
  • Convenient for quick reference, but may not suffice for in-depth research

While lemlist's built-in enrichment is a useful addition, it's important to note that the information provided is relatively basic compared to dedicated data enrichment tools. Users looking for more detailed and up-to-date insights may need to rely on other specialized platforms to supplement their lead research efforts.

Salesloft

Salesloft's Sequences feature does not offer native lead enrichment capabilities. However, it supports integrations with third-party services that can provide additional data and insights on your leads, helping you make more informed decisions in your sales outreach.

While built-in lead enrichment would be a convenient feature, Salesloft's approach allows users to choose their preferred data providers and integrate them seamlessly into their workflow. This flexibility enables sales teams to select the best-fit solutions for their specific needs and industries.

Key aspects of Salesloft's lead enrichment:

  • Third-party integrations: Connect with your preferred data providers to access buyer signals and lead insights
  • Customization: Tailor your lead enrichment process to your unique requirements by selecting the most relevant data points
  • Flexibility: Adapt your enrichment strategy as your needs evolve, without being tied to a single built-in solution
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Social Automation - Incorporate LinkedIn in Sales Campaigns

For businesses focusing on integrating social media, particularly LinkedIn, with their sales sequences, lemlist offers a superior solution by supporting LinkedIn automation directly within its platform.

Lemlist Social Automation feature showcases LinkedIn integration.

lemlist's social automation includes capabilities for connection requests, post engagement, and personalized messaging via a secure browser extension. Salesloft, however, does not currently support sending LinkedIn messages as part of its email campaigns or sequences, limiting its utility for social selling strategies.

To fill this gap in Salesloft's offerings, users might consider Bardeen to automate LinkedIn activities that enhance engagement and outreach efficiency.

Given the growing importance of LinkedIn in B2B marketing and sales, the ability to automate LinkedIn tasks within lemlist presents a clear advantage for users seeking comprehensive sales engagement solutions.

lemlist

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Lemlist allows sending LinkedIn messages as part of a sequence.

Lemlist's Sequences feature includes LinkedIn automation capabilities, enabling users to incorporate social outreach into their sales engagement workflows. This functionality is powered by a browser extension that performs actions locally, ensuring a secure and reliable experience.

Key aspects of lemlist's LinkedIn automation:

  • Message sending: Automatically send personalized LinkedIn messages to prospects as part of a sequence.
  • Connection requests: Send connection requests to expand your network and initiate conversations.
  • Post engagement: Automate interactions with LinkedIn posts to increase visibility and build relationships.
  • Local execution: Actions are performed via a browser extension, ensuring a smooth and secure process.

Salesloft

Salesloft does not currently support sending LinkedIn messages as part of email sequences or campaigns. Social media automation, particularly with LinkedIn, is not a feature offered within the Salesloft platform.

While Salesloft provides robust tools for email campaigns, phone calls, and other sales engagement tasks, it does not have the capability to automate or include LinkedIn outreach within those sequences.

For users looking to incorporate LinkedIn messaging into their sales cadences, they would need to use a separate tool specifically designed for LinkedIn automation or perform that outreach manually outside of Salesloft.

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Pricing Models - lemlist Vs Salesloft Affordability

When comparing the pricing models of lemlist and Salesloft, lemlist provides a more transparent and accessible approach.

lemlist offers a clear pricing structure from $39 to $159 per month with a 14-day free trial.

lemlist's plans range from $39 to $159 per month and include a 14-day free trial, making it easy for users to start without upfront costs. Each tier offers increasing features, such as CRM integrations and advanced personalization tools, catering to various business sizes and needs.

Conversely, Salesloft requires potential users to contact their sales team for pricing information, and it does not offer a free trial. This could be a barrier for small businesses or individuals looking to explore the platform without a commitment.

For those seeking flexibility and clear pricing without the need to engage with a sales team directly, lemlist holds the advantage. Additionally, users can enhance their sales efforts by automating outreach with Bardeen's sales outreach automation tools.

lemlist

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lemlist pricing plans ranging from $39 to $159 per month per user.

lemlist offers a range of pricing plans to suit different user needs, from individual users to larger teams. All plans include a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.

Key aspects of lemlist pricing:

  • Pricing model: Monthly subscription based on number of users, starting at $39/month for 1 user
  • Plan tiers: Email Starter ($39/mo), Email Pro ($69/mo), Multichannel Expert ($99/mo), Outreach Scale ($159/mo)
  • Enterprise pricing: Custom pricing available for teams with more than 10 users
  • Usage limits: Unlimited email sending, but additional credits required for email verification
  • Key features by tier: Higher tiers include advanced features like A/B testing, AI-powered personalization, CRM integrations, and dedicated account management

Salesloft

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Salesloft offers three pricing tiers with increasing feature sets.

Salesloft provides a tiered pricing model with three packages: Essentials, Advanced, and Premier. The company does not offer a free trial, and pricing is not publicly available on their website. To get started with Salesloft, you need to contact their sales team for a personalized quote.

Key aspects of Salesloft's pricing:

  • No free trial: Salesloft does not provide a free trial option for any of its plans.
  • Contact sales for pricing: Pricing information is not listed on the website. Interested users must reach out to the Salesloft sales team for a custom quote based on their specific needs.
  • Tiered feature sets: The Essentials plan includes basic features like pipeline generation and rep coaching. The Advanced tier adds more sophisticated capabilities such as full customer lifecycle workflows and conversation intelligence. The Premier plan provides the most comprehensive feature set, including revenue forecasting and AI-driven deal insights.
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lemlist

Salesloft

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Salesloft

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The Verdict: Which is Best for Multichannel Campaigns?

Comparing lemlist and Salesloft, we find distinct advantages for each depending on the campaign needs. Lemlist excels with its visually engaging and flexible campaign creation, ideal for complex sequences with conditional branching. Salesloft, however, offers robust scheduling and detailed tracking across multiple communication channels, making it superior for managing multichannel sequences.

If you need high customization and visual tools for complex campaigns, lemlist might be the better choice. For strong schedule management and detailed tracking, Salesloft stands out as the more capable tool. Both platforms have strengths that can support various aspects of campaign management effectively.

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