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Drift
What Is Drift?
Drift is a human-centric, AI-powered buyer engagement platform.
A platform that automatically listens, understands and learns from buyers to provide individualized and human experiences at every touchpoint of the buying journey.
A platform that not only helps businesses translate conversational data and buyer behavior into deeper customer relationships, more pipeline and revenue, but a platform that completely modernizes the B2B website experience.
Drift was built to transform the B2B buying process, and we continue to innovate as that process changes. Our goal is for your teams to not burn hours moving between disparate systems in order to deliver the best possible customer experience, but to spend more time doing what they do best — building pipeline, closing deals and strengthening customer relationships.
Who Uses Drift?
Businesses that want to translate conversational data and buyer behavior into deeper customer relationships, more pipeline and revenue, and a modernized B2B website experience.
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Drift
Reviews of Drift
Alternatives Considered:
Full-featured conversational marketing tool
Pros:
Drift has anything you could ask for in a conversational marketing tool in the market currently. Its AI capabilities are probably what set it apart from its peers for us and our clients.
Cons:
Pricing is not exactly friendly for "small businesses" as mentioned on their pricing page. It's more geared towards medium businesses who have set aside a sizeable marketing budget that allows for investing in conversational marketing.
Alternatives Considered:
Drift-The new way of conversational marketing!
Comments: Overall I can say we are satisfied with their services. It ultimately filters genuine leads from the universal traffic on the website and that too with high buying intent. Chat bot, Playbooks, Analytics and Integrations are just icing on the cake.
Pros:
-Playbooks- Setting up of chat bot and customizing it based on the page and target market becomes very easy with drift's playbook feature. You can very easily set up chat bot and start receiving genuine leads. -Analytics and Integrations- The deep analysis of the tool always keeps you on your toes and helps in pointing out various scope for improvement. You can also measure the efficiency of your chat agents as well. Also, it provides integration with your marketing CRM as well for lead handling purpose. -Customer Service- You are facing any issue with drift? Do not worry. Customer service is just a chat ping away. They are always attentive and help you proactively
Cons:
-Price- This was the main concern while evaluating various chat tools. Drift is follows a premium pricing which might not make it suitable for Small businesses. -No Forms- Drift takes pride on omitting the forms from the chat and enabling their conversational way of marketing. I think, they should make that optional. They should forms as well. -They should also have a feature in which chat transcripts can be emailed as well.
Drift Response
3 years ago
Hi there, Thanks for taking the time to write such a thoughtful review for Drift! It sounds like you're having a great experience on the product and we're thrilled to hear it. We'll absolutely take your feedback into account and hope you continue to provide us feature suggestions in the future. - Sarah Haberman, Senior Customer Advocacy Manager
A time consuming disappointment.
Comments: We asked very specific questions during the sales process (no trial available - this should have been a red flag) where the salesperson misrepresented the capabilities around integration, usability etc. There was plenty of 'sure it works just like that'. We would have identified this had a trial been available. Drift is expensive, has slick marketing, so I assumed it was good. I should have quit at this point, but had our developers work around the many issues and the 'ohh you need to pay 10x for that'. Support was very lackluster. Focused on upselling features already promised on the current plan. Our developers hated it (I should have listened)... Our salespeople did not like it, the bugs it Drift manifested in a form that made our salespeople look stupid to customers. They were actively creating workarounds to avoid using it. And here I am. Drift keep charging, and the support people 'can't find my cancellation request conversation' ironically, in Drift. So, let this be a warning for managers. Drift is really great at marketing, the halo effect is strong! But walk away and save time.
Pros:
Drift is a chat tool with some rudimentary marketing automation. Drift's bot workflows are conceptually good. Email 'playbooks' are similar to a basic marketing automation platform.
Cons:
I purchased Drift against the recommendation of our developers on the promise of its segment.io integration. Drift was buggy, did not work as described with segment.io and had numerous usability problems for end-users (customers).
Drift Response
5 years ago
Hi Nick, Wow, we really let you down. I'm really sorry for all of the places along the way we didn't deliver on the experience you expected. Thanks for taking the time to detail this feedback and share it. If there is any interest, I'd love the opportunity to talk live ([email protected]) ... or simply feel free to email me directly if there's more you'd like to share with me. Thank you again, and a sincere sorry for the poor experience you had with us. All the best- Julie Hogan, VP Customer Experience
Alternatives Considered:
Drift is the best 'customer chat' system on the market
Comments: Once again Drift have helped to define what companies should be using chat software for. Yes, it is for 'live chat', that much is obvious. But DRIFT define their tool as helping to deliver 'conversation marketing', and that for me really helps to define how companies should be using Chat software - to start and nurture a conversation that could lead to an ongoing relationship.
Pros:
Love Drift. It is very easy to use but more importantly, it is very easy to love using. This is important in software adoption and Drift is one of the best examples I have seen of this in recent years. They've built an awesome product, which does everything you need it to - but the fact that it is fun to use DRIFT makes it an even more compelling product.
Cons:
Hard to say. Probably the fact that although the core product is free (and you get lots of awesome features), you have to upgrade to the 'fullest licence' in order to get the 'uber cool' tools such as allowing the 'chat users' to book an appointment directly into the Calendar of the chosen agent.
Drift Response
4 years ago
Hi John, Wow! We're flattered! THANK YOU! Pls let us know how we can continue to support you, and tnx for being a customer! All the best, Julie Hogan, VP - Customer Experience
Alternatives Considered:
The best chat AI.
Comments: Using this for sales as well as support automation, and it's paid off well and works with our sites.
Pros:
The driftbots and playbooks (how their AI, automation is done). We have used this to automate sales workflows and schedule meetings and save time.
Cons:
I have no complaints that wouldn't be something out of my control - some of the rules I've set up in boys seem to be a bit too picky when leads respond with anything besides a picklist item.
Drift Response
4 years ago
Hi there, Wow. Thank you so much, for all of this. We're thrilled to hear you're happy with your platform experience, as well as your experience with us both in pre sales and support . Please reach out if there's anything else we can do to help or support you. All the best, Julie Hogan, VP - Customer Experience
Alternatives Considered:
Drift could be Intercom, but it isn't...
Comments: We decided to use Drift as means to provide support, but once we grow bigger than a single user, we'll have to move to a better platform.
Pros:
We use Drift as an in-app messaging platform and it's decent at that. We considered using it for marketing automation, customer engagement and on-boarding, but it doesn't cut it.
Cons:
Even as an in-app messaging platform for support, there's room for improvement. A few months ago, they removed the option to "close a conversation" (which is essentially used to close a "support ticket"). For whatever reason, they think that it should be more like Whatsapp with an endless list of conversations that you can "archive". Only conversations sometimes come back (not because of new messages), they are sorted wrong so you may miss conversations with new messages, and you don't always get real time notifications in the mobile app.
Drift Response
4 years ago
Hi there, Thank you so much for taking the time to share this. I'm sorry we haven't delivered on what you expected from us. I'm more than happy to chat live and learn more about how we can make your experience better. Feel free to reach out at [email protected]. All the best, Julie Hogan, VP - Customer Experience
Simple setup, solid results
Comments: Very satisfied with the manner in which we use it. I haven't spent much time exploring additional capabilities and advanced features, but I am eager to do so in the near future.
Pros:
It was easy to setup, and easy to understand with limited knowledge of this type of product. The product will scale with you, meaning, if you are knowledgable about all features, then they are there for you. If you're just looking for a site lead service, it does that really well also, without being overwhelming.
Cons:
The other features aren't explained well, and not sure where to look if I wanted them explained. The image that can be placed with the pop-up message is very limited in customization. For example, it cuts the top of the picture off and there's very limited functionality associated with editing it further.
Drift Response
4 years ago
Hi Dalton, Thanks so much for taking the time to share your feedback with us. Your feedback on feature explanation is something we 100% agree with, and an area we are working on improving. Appreciate you calling it out. Please let us know how else we can be helpful to you. All the best - Julie Hogan, VP Customer Experience
Good Conversational Marketing Tool
Comments: Whether it's worth paying for tool like this will depend on how engaged your audience is and how big your traffic volumes are. We felt that for us the tool was not worth the money. There are much cheaper alternatives on the market if you're just looking for customer support tools.
Pros:
Lots of features that are likely to appear to enterprise B2B companies like lead routing, instant meetings booker, help centre article look up.
Cons:
Had issues with bugs in various areas several times and had to contact support and wait till they were resolved. Not very straightforward how to configure the tool in the best way and debug playbooks. Documentation could be better.
Drift Response
4 years ago
Hi there, Thanks so much for sharing this with us, I'm sorry you had difficulty getting your issues resolved, and the documentation wasn't super helpful either. Appreciate you letting us know. If there's anything else you want to connect about feel free to reach out to me directly at [email protected] All the best, Julie Hogan, VP - Customer Experience
Alternatives Considered:
kickstart conversation marketing
Comments: It has been great but i believe much more integrated approach is needed.
Pros:
started using drift for our startup after moving away from HubSpot. It has been a great learning curve for us. Some aspects I love about drift is the lead tracking and bot performance. Also leveraging drift for email and phone converation as a CRM is a big plus. Also scheduling and calendar invites make is better than calendly
Cons:
Would love if drift can be an email server as well so that we can skip email server costs. It does most of the things already just needs a sync from gmail. It is very expensive especially since you have to pay upfront for the startup plan
A Quality Product
Comments: I think it's a quality and powerful product.
Pros:
Drift is designed to help people accomplish their business goals, especially B2B business goals, which is super helpful. Other chat companies are not as in tune with B2B needs which is what sets Drift apart. They have the right features and tools for the B2B marketer.
Cons:
One setback is not being able to pull in custom cookie tracking data through the Drift form/bot. That tracking info is critical to business success.
Immense ROI!
Comments: The overall experience has been really good. ROI is > 50X & it's very easy to operate on the tool.
Pros:
Easy to deploy, affordable pricing, good customer support & easy chat playbook creation.
Cons:
Nothing specific; everything seems top-notch!
Drift review
Comments: Overall I am very satisfied with Drift and it has been the great experience integrating this with zoominfo for lead generation
Pros:
Drift is extremely easy to configure and there is a launchpoint integration available via Marketo Engage that makes it easy to integrate and push lead gen data into Marketo
Cons:
I think Drift gets the job done and is the best live chat out there in market. I cant think of any con
Drift Response
2 years ago
Hi Farhan! Thank you so much for leaving a review. I'm super pumped to see that you're finding Drift easy to configure, easy to use, and integrating so well with your tech stack. Please let us know if we can ever assist with anything Drift related. --Joshua Morgan Customer Advocacy @ Drift
Drift - Robust Chatbot That May Not Be Worth the Hassle
Comments: We have very complex products that require a great deal of one-on-one dealing with our salespeople. In other words - they're not simple products like a t-shirt, but are highly-engineered with extremely specific specs. With this in mind, we use our chatbot as a way to funnel people to get in touch with us based on what they need: service, parts, repair, equipment quotes. It works super well and has cut down on the frustration of not knowing where to go on the website. It provides them an immediate way to reach out.
Pros:
Drift is a robust, clean platform that is relatively simple to work. The caveat to that is that you have to get the hang of it first! The previous chat builder was tough to work with - not very intuitive and lots of scrolling up and down, back and forth (think vertical, with everything jumbled together). They've just introduced a new version that is easier to work with, but still complex. When implemented on the website, it looks clean. You can also modify your icon, which is a fun and creative aspect. The "playbook" you build can also be as simple or complex as you want - due to the complex nature of our products, we use ours as more of a "reach out to us, we can help" chatbot. But you can go much, much further.
Cons:
The main thing I dislike about Drift isn't actually the platform - it's the onboarding process. The onboarding process at Drift is a bit aggressive. The onboarding teams have a very set mindset in what will make Drift work for you - no matter what your business is, or how many times you let them know your business' unique needs. They are almost 100% focused on getting live chat involved, which at the start isn't always the best option. I'd recommend that they start listening more closely to their clients, rather than bopping them over the head with their "this will be best for you" mindset.
Live Chat Platform that suits my needs.
Comments:
There has been a lot of platform development in recent years.
Newer look and better android app for example. I remember when the Drift android app had quite a lot of bugs, but now many have been fixed.
I am confident in future development and still choose Drift as my primary choice of Live Chat Platform.
Pros:
Live chat and Playbook work well, and widgets are easy to install.
Cons:
There are no problems with functionality, but in my opinion, the customization options are still not enough. I would like more widget customization options, such as the ability to add a background image to the Live Chat widget.
Drift Response
2 years ago
Thank you for the feedback! Love that you're having a positive experience using Drift. I would highly recommend reaching out to your CSM about more customization options so that they can relay this information to the product team.
Best Live Chat Software On the Market
Comments: Drift is a great product that generates a lot of website leads for our business which more than pays for itself.
Pros:
Drift is an amazing tool that helps you communicate directly and seamlessly with your website visitors. It tracks a lot of information about any given person on your site so you can understand who they are before you even have a conversation with them. It also makes it easy to schedule meetings which automatically flow to your calendar.
Cons:
Sometimes Drift can be too automated and frustrate people on your website who are trying to obtain quick answers to questions and wish to speak to a human.
Great communication interaction with prospects
Comments: Extremely pleased. I'll admit that as an admin onboarding this software, it takes sometime to get familiar with the new set up of chatboxes and playbooks. Overall though, it proves to bring results to our team.
Pros:
The simplicity of scheduling phone calls. Drift also makes the chat's very personalized and fun to interact with. That feelings gives our prospects and sense of comfort when they visit our site.
Cons:
There are a few bugs such as syncing issues with our crm, or syncing issues with BDR calendars. The majority of the time, the internal team is able to fix these issues. But there have been some cases not as urgent that I've had to put aside for now.
Drift Response
3 years ago
Hi there, We're so glad to hear that your website visitors feel a sense of comfort when they visit your site! That's the experience we strive for. Thanks for providing some feedback, as well - we'll make sure it gets in the right hands. - Sarah Haberman, Senior Customer Advocacy Manager
Prime tool for connecting with potential customers
Comments: Drift has a ton of features and customizations that make live chat a major sales generator for us. Drift is especially good at allowing you to fine-tune the rules for determining what chat messages get sent to whom.
Pros:
Great web chat functionality, email automation, and it connects very well with the other sales tools we use.
Cons:
It's a bit pricey compared to other tools but we definitely get good value from it. The app is buggier and support is not as good as I would like, which I feel is due to their fast growth recently.
Drift Response
5 years ago
Hi Mike, Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback. We really appreciate it! I'm sorry you've run into some challenges with bugs + support. We are currently expanding our support team, if you have some specific feedback on your experience, please don't hesitate to drop me a note at [email protected]. Thanks again. All the best, Julie Hogan, VP - Customer Experience
Alternatives Considered:
Lead qualifications and book meetings - on autopilot!
Comments: Drift support, itself, is the best example of great customer service using their own solution. The support experience is always a delight.
Pros:
I'm a very early Drift user and a conversational marketing advocate. After setting up Drift, with their lead qualification and book meetings feature, our sales team has a decent pipeline with high-quality leads.
Cons:
Waiting for Drift chat embed on the website feature. That could help me start a conversation with a customer from any section of my website pages.
Great way to engage with prospect on your site!
Comments: Drift has allowed us to interact with folks browsing our website and capture valuable lead data that we didn't have access to before Drift.
Pros:
Drift is really great for qualifying and chatting with clients that are browsing your website. The ability to create bots that capture data and qualify a prospect our SDR team a lot of time and allows them to only spend time on folks that are really ready to have a conversation. Their meeting scheduler tool is also really great.
Cons:
The backend admin panel can be a bit confusing at times. I'd also like them to work on their SalesForce integration more so custom fields can be captured in Drift and sent to SFDC.
Reliable, yet Lacking
Comments: Overall Drift has been a good option for the money, but we are not 100% thrilled.
Pros:
Software is reliable in that the system does not crash at all. They are consistently making updates, and branching in to more areas of communication outside of just chat. The support team is very nice and willing to help.
Cons:
Reporting functionality is very lacking. Unable to see how long each conversation is taking for each of my agents to work through. Have had multiple complaints on lag in the chat service loading within our software. Have contacted support on this multiple times without resolution.
Smart live chat
Pros:
Drift was easy to set up and is a nice and simple way to monitor live chat conversations.
Cons:
There have been some issues with push notifications, chats occasionally being missed.
Drift Response
3 years ago
Hi Jamie, thanks for sharing your feedback. We're glad to have you as a customer! - Sarah Haberman, Senior Customer Advocacy Manager
Shortened our time to SQL
Pros:
Ease of installation made this a no-brainer to try. We found that it helped us shorten our marketing cycle by getting prospects on the phone immediately rather than in the traditional way with forms. Now they can speak to a live representative and get their business much sooner. Drift changed the way we do business. They are introducing more and more integrations and making it a natural extension of most marketing teams.
Cons:
Cost for the higher tier is a little too high. We settled for the lower tier and are happy with it so far.
Simple setup and hassle-free website chat solution
Pros:
Easy to set up and inject directly into your homepage. Can set up routes and automated conversations (albeit this process can be streamlined/cleaned up a bit)
Cons:
Software can get a little clunky - leading to significant amount of resources rendering and setting up the chat button/bubble upon website load.
Easy to use, but keep your chats organized/clean
Comments: My support team likes it! So far so good. We've been using Drift for 2 years now.
Pros:
Drift is easy to use and pretty straightforward. Installing it on your website is super easy and they provide good support. The support team is very responsive. Couple things I like : - Send chat by email when the visitor closed the window/website - Notification settings - Chat window is simple but yet effective - Support team is friendly and responsive - Pricing (we started with the free version for a year) - Auto-responder
Cons:
When you have high traffic websites like we do, it's absolutely crucial to keep your chat logs organized. Would have liked to have more flexibility on this end (different folders, important chats, etc.).
Conversational Marketing is a Great Tool
Comments: A really useful tool and a great way to interact with your customer base.
Pros:
Conversational Marketing is a great tool because it allows you to interact with your customers automatically.
Cons:
The tool is very useful there isn't much bad to say about it. The tool requires you to learn how to use it.
Drift Response
5 years ago
Hi Stephen, Wow! 10/10 we are flattered! Thank you very much for sharing your feedback, please let us know how we can continue to help you this year in achieving your goals! All the best, Julie Hogan, VP - Customer Experience