This is an essay discussing the best marketing COTs (Commercial Off the Shelf) solutions for a small startup business. This essay focuses on how a financial ferm can start up and grow with the right marketing COTs solutions.

Introduction to Marketing COTS Solutions

This company’s goal is to work for other larger companies to provide accounting and financial services to them. It is a small company, which should be looking to grow and work for larger companies. To do this, they must have effective marketing strategies and tools to prove that larger companies can rely on them for financial services. However, it is best to look at what outsourcing is because it is becoming more common with massive companies.

Many companies are turning to outsourcing to save money. Outsourcing is defined as “when a company obtains employees through a subcontracting firm rather than hiring the workers directly” (McKay, June 17, 2024). Specifically, companies look to hire employees outside of their company that are paid less to complete certain jobs for the company. This is to maximize profits and to save money on labor costs, which is one of the highest costs for running a company of any size. Common services provided by third-party companies include cleaning services, software development, financial services, customer support and representative jobs, and much more. Defining outsourcing and understanding how it works is an important annotation to make because it defines the goals of this company and the clients that they need to market to. This company provides financial services to other businesses, and it will need COTs solutions to accomplish their goals.

Cost-Effective Marketing Solutions

When looking at COTs solutions for this company, it is necessary to compare different aspects of these solutions. Firstly, the company needs to look for cost-effective solutions for their marketing. This is because it is a company that does not have a large budget like massive corporations. However, the company needs solutions that effectively accomplish their marketing goals in regard to scalability. This means that the company needs software solutions that will help them grow and work with larger companies. The company should not purchase a cheap COTs solution for their marketing that is completely ineffective. Another aspect to understand is how the COTs solution can market financial services. If the solution is commonly used but does not have tools that can effectively market financial services to large companies or corporations, then it is not useful.

For financial services, the best COTs solutions help to spread awareness of the company online with advertisements. The solution should also look to build relationships and trust with its clients and provide effective and timely services to accomplish the client’s goals. The company should also adopt customer centricity. This can be better defined here: “A customer-centric company is an organization that cares deeply about customer satisfaction, but it goes further by aiming for a loyal client base that brings in repeat business and ultimately generates increased profits.” (EOU, August 18, 2021). This financial service company should also use software packages that help them create custom non-COTs solutions for their marketing. This is for creating videos, custom advertisements, campaign management tools, etc. The solutions that need to be compared to accomplish these goals are Salesforce.com, Adobe Creative Cloud, and Hubspot. These are some of the most used COTs solutions that offer companies a cost-effective approach to their marketing.

Salesforce.com

Salesforce.com has become one of the largest companies in the world because of the amount of people that they serve and the number of services that they offer to benefit businesses. Salesforce.com was founded in 1999 by four people, and it can be defined here: “Salesforce is the global leader in CRM, helping companies connect with customers in a whole new way.” (Salesforce.com, updated January 2025). CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. The goal of a CRM is to help businesses understand how to interact with their customers and how to keep them coming back to their business. Companies want to build trust and relationships with their customers to make them feel welcomed and satisfied with their services. Salesforce.com is now the largest CRM in the world, and it is one of the largest companies in the world that provides a SaaS and PaaS solution. As of February 5, 2025, Salesforce.com is now worth around three-hundred and twenty-seven billion dollars. This is in regard to its market-cap. (Macrotrends 2025). This makes the company one of the most valuable in the world, and one of the top companies listed on the S&P 500. Salesforce continues to grow and make exponential profit each year, and it shows no signs of slowing down.

Salesforce.com is a great solution for marketing because it provides different plans depending on the type of business. For example, Salesforce offers a plan for small businesses that supports email marketing, sales processing, application development, and customer service tools for cheap. There is even a free trial of the service to see if it accomplishes the company’s goals. The “Starter Suite” is twenty-five dollars a month, which is not a major expense for a small business (Salesforce.com, 2025). However, it is important to understand that costs for Salesforce can add up. This is because there are several other tools that can be purchased to expand a CRM platform.

One tool that is heavily promoted on Salesforce is AI. Salesforce has its own version of AI called Einstein. The tool is promoted as a time saving tool for developing content for applications created on the CRM. It continues to adapt to customer needs and changes content based on this principle. However, it requires an extra subscription to use like most Salesforce services. AI is a tool that many people have questioned because it has the potential to either take jobs from the people or create more jobs. This tool promotes the fact that more jobs will be created, and development will become easier for new employees in the future. It is also promoted as a way to save companies time and money. This company needs to wait for profits before implementing a tool like this, and there should not be any outside AI tools used for development of their CRM. This is because the subscription plans for AI tools can cost more that what a business is willing to pay in the short term. AI is good for long term strategy and scalability.

For a small company that provides financial services to other companies, it is best to start with the starter suite plan that provides the most basic marketing services. This is because the company may not be making a lot of money with its size. The company needs to work on scaling up and making more profits off of B2B commerce with Salesforce. Once the company starts to see these profits, they need to be reinvested into the business. This can be done with better Salesforce tools or other marketing tools. Salesforce is also a tool that needs developers to create applications and manage the platform for the company. This is where problems could arise.

Labor is considered one of the most expensive things about running a company. Salesforce requires developers to build and test applications before they are deployed. Salesforce offers low-code features that make it easier to create applications for a company’s services, but they still need software developers. This is because for testing and more front-end customization, it requires programming knowledge. Examples of languages that are used with Salesforce include Java, Apex, SQL and similar database languages, and JavaScript. Salesforce also has several certifications for their platform. Hiring employees that have software development experience or have Salesforce certifications can be useful for developing applications that cater towards the company’s needs.

Overall, Salesforce is one of the best platforms to use for marketing, but it can be expensive. This small business needs to create a budget for their marketing strategies before purchasing Salesforce products. They also need to consider the hidden cost of labor, which is important when having a Salesforce product. Developers are capable of creating applications with Salesforce that promote the business better. The owner or other employees that specialize in financial services should not be working on the development side. Once the business has a good marketing budget, they can use Salesforce to promote their financial services to larger companies.

Adobe Creative Cloud

Adobe is another software company that is widely known for their development and creative tools. Adobe Creative Cloud can be defined better here: “Adobe Creative Cloud refers to a bundle of more than 20 software applications that creators use to produce visual content for personal or professional use, including: Flyers, brochures, business cards, and infographics, Books of any length, Websites and apps, Photo editing and retouching, Logos, color schemes, social media graphics, and other design elements for a brand, Videos of any length” (Coursera Staff, December 16, 2024). Creative Cloud contains the primary tools used by graphic designers, filmmakers, animators, web designers, photographers, etc. It is mainly used by schools, universities, businesses, and the public.

Adobe Creative Cloud has a creative tool for almost any artform. Adobe Photoshop is for advanced photograph editing. It includes filters, color adjusters, backgrounds, resize and movement tools, and so much more. Adobe Premiere is for editing videos. There is Premiere Pro, which is for advanced video editing that requires a Creative Cloud subscription, and Premiere Rush, which comes with Creative Cloud but can be downloaded for free on a computer or a smartphone. Adobe Illustrator is a vector illustration app. It is basically a drawing application that can be used to create logos, advertisements, and billboard designs. Adobe XD is a tool for designing prototypes for software. This can be for mobile or desktop applications, video game scenes and controls, etc. Adobe Dreamweaver is an application for designing responsive web applications. Websites use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for their designs, and many developers implement frameworks to make this development easier. Dreamweaver makes design easier and integrates Git for an easier way to manage source code (Wade, 2025).

Adobe Creative Cloud Applications from https://www.shu.edu/technology/adobe.html

Importance of Adobe Creative Cloud for Marketing

These are some of the most important tools to remember because they are the best for marketing. They are used to create non-COTs solutions for the company. Firstly, a service like Adobe Premiere Pro (or Rush) can be used to create training videos or videos that explain the goals of a company. When going to a company’s website, they can have videos that explain what service they are providing to the public, which is a direct way to market themselves. Also, this small company can use Adobe Dreamweaver to develop their website, which is extremely important for marketing a business. Tools like Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop can be used for custom advertisements, which is important for businesses. Massive companies spend millions of dollars on advertising every year, and it can be better understood here: “Advertising is not just valuable for new companies alone. It is even more important for well-established businesses to develop customer loyalty and corporate image—in short, to build an intangible capital asset called goodwill.” (Dhalla, January 1978). Finally, a financial business needs to use Adobe XD to develop their prototypes for applications. These applications are directly used for marketing the business to larger businesses.

Cost and Labor Considerations

It is important to consider the costs of Adobe Creative Cloud. The best value is paying around sixty dollars a month, which is not expensive for any company. The company should not pay for individual services because just buying one service like Adobe Premiere Pro can cost over twenty dollars a month. One thing to consider with purchasing this whole software package is labor. For example, if the company uses Adobe Dreamweaver to begin the development of their website, they will need to hire a web developer. The company may also need to hire other employees like graphic designers or software engineers. This can become a serious problem for a small company. Labor costs for the development of websites and custom advertising can stack up and cause the company to be in a negative profit margin.

Conclusion on Adobe Creative Cloud

Overall, Adobe Creative Cloud is great value for all the tools that it gives customers. They have a great amount of creative freedom, and there are so many ways to positively promote the business. However, if the company needs to hire several employees to design advertisements, promotion videos, and websites, then this can become a massive cost that can ruin the company. Also, Creative Cloud may have the tools necessary to create helpful promotional material, but it may not be the best for actually reaching other clients. The best way to explain this is that the software gives developers the tools they need to create anything, but they may not understand what is best for the company. Developers will need input from the business on how to attract more clients and specifically what they want to develop that will work. It is best to hire very few employees for this COTs solution.

HubSpot

Another CRM that can be used is HubSpot, which is a tool like Salesforce.com that is known for its user-friendly interface and approach to marketing compared to other software packages. It is promoted as a cost-effective solution for marketing a business. The design for this CRM claims to be “code free” but there are advanced features that require the use of JavaScript. This is for better customization of pages. It also requires skills with HTML and CSS, which are some of the most basic skills of web development. (LaPorte, March 6, 2024). HubSpot can be customized to fit a company’s needs, with tons of features for developers to play with. One example is mentioned here: “The Design Manager, as we talked about earlier, is an in-app tool that allows you to view, edit, and publish templates, themes, and modules within HubSpot that can later be used for content such as emails, website pages, and landing pages.” (LaPorte, March 6, 2024). HubSpot also has its own command line interface called HubSpot CLI and can be extended to Visual Studio Code for more advanced development.

Basic plans for HubSpot can be found at https://www.hubspot.com/.

Artificial Intelligence in HubSpot

Another topic to discuss is artificial intelligence. It is something that many CRM platforms are implementing because AI can help to reduce development times, which saves money. Salesforce uses an AI engine called Einstein, which is a separate cost from the basic CRM services. They continue to promote this, and HubSpot has an AI suite called Breeze. This provides several services for the developer, including a chatbot and Breeze Intelligence, but this service is only available with certain plans. Certain types of AI can be dangerous and cause problems for companies, and it is best to only use AI tools inside these COTs solutions. It is also important this company sticks to the most basic plans before upgrading. They need to focus on making profits and reinvesting them in their marketing.

Cost of HubSpot

The cost of the most basic plan for HubSpot is called “Marketing Hub Starter,” which starts at around fifteen dollars a month. There is also an option called “Starter Customer Platform,” which is around the same price for more customization options and software. However, this platform can be extremely expensive, as they have plans for eight hundred and three thousand six hundred dollars a month. These are the most advanced features to grow a company, and they are enterprise plans. This means that they are for companies that are massive as opposed to a small company. Labor is also expensive, and this small company will need to hire software engineers to work on the CRM. This is because most of the employees in this small company work in the financial side of the company, where they will need to help companies handle financial problems. They do not have the skills of a software engineer, and they have no knowledge of a CLI or integrated development environments like Visual Studio Code. Hiring these software engineers can be expensive, as salaries for this position are usually higher than the national average salary in the United States.

Conclusion on HubSpot

Overall, HubSpot is a great marketing tool for small companies that are just starting out. It is very cost-effective, and it may require only a few employees when this CRM is first integrated into the company’s marketing tools. The AI tools that are offered with this CRM are innovative and could potentially save money and time, but the company needs to start somewhere. Specifically, the company should start out by buying the most basic plan if it fits into their budget and start by hiring a few software engineers to customize the platform. Once the company is making profit from this service, then they can reinvest the profit back into HubSpot by buying more advanced subscription plans with AI tools. This is the best way to succeed with this solution.

Comparisons of Marketing COTs

There are so many marketing COTs solutions out there, but for a small outsourcing company that specializes in financial services, Salesforce, Adobe Creative Cloud, and HubSpot are all great tools that can be used to market themselves. They need to grow their company by marketing themselves to large businesses, and they will need the best marketing tool possible. This is regarding cost-efficiency, effectiveness for marketing, and ease of use. It is best to compare all three of these services regarding these three concerns.

Cost Comparison

First is cost. This includes potential labor costs for these services. Salesforce is twenty-five dollars a month, Adobe Creative Cloud is sixty dollars a month, and HubSpot is fifteen dollars a month, making HubSpot the cheapest tool to use. For Salesforce and HubSpot, both are CRMs, which require software engineers or entry-level developers to make their platforms more advanced and accomplish their marketing goals. Adobe Creative Cloud requires more employees to accomplish the company’s marketing goals. These employees are web developers, video editors, and graphic designers. Without any specific calculations, Adobe Creative Cloud is the most expensive solution, so it is not the most cost-effective. Salesforce offers certifications for workers looking to boost their resumes. These can drive up labor prices compared to HubSpot. While HubSpot offers training and certifications, these are not widely known compared to Salesforce certifications. Overall, HubSpot is the most cost-effective solution compared to Salesforce and Adobe Creative Cloud.

Effectiveness Comparison

Next, it is important to look at how effective each service is for marketing businesses. Salesforce is the most well-known CRM in the world, and it has great marketing tools like Salesforce Marketing Cloud, email marketing, application development tools for assisting clients, Einstein AI, etc. However, HubSpot has most of the services that Salesforce provides. They have HubSpot AI, email marketing tools, application development tools, and more. It is also much easier to use for developers, which can save the company time and money. Outside of CRMs, Adobe Creative Cloud is effective for creating videos, websites, and advertisements that can help promote a business. However, it does not have the marketing power of a CRM. Customer Relationship Management software is designed specifically for marketing and to keep customers coming back to the company. Designers may be able to make creative and catchy advertisements, but there are so many other hidden costs and steps to push out this information to the public. So, Adobe Creative Cloud is not the most effective marketing tool. HubSpot is the better choice for marketing because it is more effective at marketing for small businesses. Salesforce is only a better choice for larger companies. This is because these companies generally have more money to spend on their marketing, and Salesforce has better marketing at a more expensive price.

Ease of Use Comparison

Finally, there is ease of use. Salesforce claims to be easier to use with their “no code” option for their CRM. However, there is a whole course that teaches developers how to customize applications, which takes a lot of time to learn and understand. This is called Trailhead. Salesforce also has its own languages that are different from widely used programming languages. These are called Apex and SOQL. Apex is like Java and SOQL is like SQL, but developers need to learn these languages specific for Salesforce. This skill is also not as common, which can make labor cost more expensive. HubSpot uses common languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for the web, and other languages like Python, Ruby, or PHP can be implemented through APIs. (HubSpot, December 13, 2022). Adobe Creative Cloud is complicated with the skills of web development, video editing, and graphic design required. It is easy to navigate through the different applications, but it can be overwhelming to use one of their applications. Overall, HubSpot is the best choice for ease of use. It is for small start-up companies looking for a platform to quickly set up and start marketing to clients.

Final Recommendation

Looking at all three solutions, HubSpot is the best choice for all three. It is the most cost-effective for small companies with its fifteen-dollar-a-month beginner subscription. It is the most effective service at the cheapest subscription compared to Salesforce’s cheapest subscription and Adobe Creative Cloud. Finally, it is the easiest to use and set up, and it is easy for developers to use, with more widely known programming and scripting languages used to create its marketing tools. Adobe Creative Cloud is easily the least effective choice because of the monthly cost, amount of employees required to create marketing content, and the poor marketing tools that it provides. Salesforce is a tool that the company should consider switching to in the future. This is because it is a better marketing tool for massive companies compared to HubSpot. However, this company needs to start with HubSpot in order to focus on scalability.

Works Cited

Coursera Staff. “What Is Adobe Creative Cloud?” Coursera, 16 Dec. 2024, https://www.coursera.org/articles/what-is-adobe-creative-cloud.

Dhalla, N. K. “The Marketing of Goods and Services.” Journal of Marketing, vol. 42, no. 1, Jan. 1978, pp. 60–61. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1250590.

EOU. “What Is Customer Centricity?” EOU, 18 Aug. 2021, https://eou.com/customer-centricity/.

HubSpot. “HubSpot CLI: The Ultimate Guide.” HubSpot Blog, 13 Dec. 2022, https://blog.hubspot.com/developers/hubspot-cli.

LaPorte, J. “HubSpot CLI: The Ultimate Guide.” HubSpot Blog, 6 Mar. 2024, https://blog.hubspot.com/developers/hubspot-cli.

Macrotrends. “Salesforce Market Cap 2010-2025 | CRM.” Macrotrends.net, https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/CRM/salesforce/market-cap.