Social selling automation tools like Closely and Outplay help sales teams save time and scale outreach efforts across LinkedIn, email, and other channels. Both platforms aim to simplify lead generation and engagement but cater to slightly different needs.
Closely focuses on LinkedIn and email automation with features like AI-driven personalization, lead finding, and a credit-based pricing model. It’s ideal for small to medium-sized teams prioritizing LinkedIn outreach with occasional email campaigns.
Outplay, on the other hand, offers multichannel automation, including LinkedIn, email, phone, SMS, and video. Its flat per-user pricing and advanced features like lead scoring and conversation intelligence make it a better fit for teams managing high-volume, multichannel outreach.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | Closely | Outplay |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | LinkedIn and email automation | Multichannel outreach (LinkedIn, email, phone, SMS, video) |
| Key Features | AI personalization, lead finder, unified dashboard | Multichannel sequences, lead scoring, conversation intelligence |
| Pricing | Credit-based (starting at $49/month) | Per-user (starting at $79/month) |
| Best For | Small to medium teams focused on LinkedIn | Larger teams with high-volume outreach needs |
If you’re primarily targeting LinkedIn prospects, Closely offers a simpler, more tailored approach. For teams needing diverse outreach methods, Outplay provides broader multichannel capabilities.
1. Closely
Closely simplifies social selling by combining LinkedIn outreach and email campaigns into one platform tailored for sales professionals, marketers, and recruiters.
Features and Functionalities
Closely takes the hassle out of manual outreach by automating tasks like connection requests, follow-ups, and engagement.
- AI-Powered Personalization: Craft messages that feel natural and tailored, increasing response rates.
- Lead Finder: Pulls targeted leads from LinkedIn Search, Sales Navigator, Recruiter, Posts, Groups, and even CSV imports.
- Unified Dashboard: Manage LinkedIn and email outreach from one place while tracking campaign performance.
Other tools include data enrichment, lead scoring, CRM integration, and web research, all designed to refine and target your outreach efforts. These features are paired with flexible pricing plans to accommodate teams of any size.
Pricing and Scalability
Closely offers pricing plans that grow with your needs, whether you’re a solo user or part of a large enterprise:
- Starter Plan: $49/month for one LinkedIn account and 1,000 credits, perfect for individual professionals.
- Growth Plan: $127/month to manage three LinkedIn accounts and 3,000 credits.
- Essential Plan: $205/month for five LinkedIn accounts and 5,000 credits.
- Custom Plan: $350/month for 10 LinkedIn accounts with customizable credit options.
All plans include unlimited email accounts and white-labeling, ensuring your brand stays consistent. Credits can be allocated flexibly for tasks like finding emails, discovering phone numbers, or using AI-powered personalization, making it easy to adapt to your campaign’s needs.
LinkedIn Automation Effectiveness
Closely’s automation tools are built to handle LinkedIn outreach with precision and efficiency. Detailed analytics track metrics like connection acceptance rates, message responses, and overall campaign performance, helping users fine-tune their strategies. A unified inbox consolidates replies from LinkedIn and email, making follow-ups seamless and ensuring no leads slip through the cracks.
Support and Onboarding
Closely provides 24-hour live chat support to address technical issues quickly. Higher-tier plans also include a dedicated customer success manager and team management tools to oversee performance. Advanced analytics and reporting features give leadership clear insights into productivity and campaign outcomes, ensuring your team stays on track.
2. Outplay
Unlike Closely’s more targeted approach, Outplay takes a broader multichannel strategy to sales engagement. It’s a platform designed to automate outreach across LinkedIn, email, phone, SMS, and even video, giving sales teams a variety of ways to connect with prospects.
Features and Functionalities
Outplay stands out with its multichannel sales automation. You can create sequences that coordinate LinkedIn requests, emails, calls, and SMS messages on a specific timeline. For example, you might send a LinkedIn request on day one, follow up with an email on day three, and make a call on day seven. This strategy ensures you’re engaging with prospects across multiple channels, making it easier to maintain consistent communication.
The platform also includes conversation intelligence, which analyzes call recordings to identify which messaging strategies work best. Add to that email tracking, which lets you see when prospects open emails, click on links, or download attachments, giving you real-time insights into their engagement.
Another key feature is lead scoring. This tool assigns points based on how prospects interact with your messages, emails, or calls. By prioritizing leads with the highest scores, sales teams can focus their efforts on the most promising opportunities.
Pricing and Scalability
Outplay uses a per-user pricing model, which is flexible enough to accommodate teams of different sizes. The plans include:
- Starter: $79 per user/month
- Growth: $149 per user/month
- Professional: $249 per user/month
Higher-tier plans come with advanced analytics and team collaboration tools, while custom pricing is available for enterprise-level needs. Unlike credit-based systems, Outplay charges a flat rate per user, regardless of activity levels. This can be advantageous for teams with high usage but might not be as cost-effective for those with fluctuating activity.
LinkedIn Automation Effectiveness
Outplay’s LinkedIn automation is built around sequence-based outreach, rather than focusing solely on individual campaigns. Users can automate connection requests and follow-ups, while tracking metrics like connection acceptance rates, response rates, and profile views.
To stay within LinkedIn’s terms of service, Outplay includes safety features like daily activity limits and randomized delays between actions. The platform also alerts users when they’re nearing daily limits for connections or messages, helping to avoid account restrictions.
Support and Onboarding
Outplay offers email and chat support during business hours, typically responding within a few hours. For self-service help, there’s a knowledge base filled with setup guides, troubleshooting tips, and best practices.
For teams on higher-tier plans, Outplay provides dedicated setup calls and strategy sessions. Training webinars are also available, covering topics like multichannel campaign creation, conversation intelligence tools, and analytics interpretation.
Team administrators can access performance dashboards to track metrics for individuals and teams across all communication channels. These insights help managers identify top performers and fine-tune outreach strategies based on what’s working best across different channels.
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Advantages and Disadvantages
Closely brings several perks to the table for LinkedIn and email outreach. One of its standout features is the credit-based pricing system. Instead of paying a flat subscription fee, you use credits only when performing specific actions – like sending emails, finding phone numbers, or generating AI-powered personalized messages. This setup can be a budget-friendly option, especially for smaller teams or those with variable outreach needs.
Another strong point is its AI-powered personalization. The platform streamlines outreach by customizing messages at scale, saving time while keeping communications relevant and engaging.
However, there are some drawbacks to consider. Teams handling large outreach volumes need to keep a close eye on their credit consumption to avoid unexpected costs. Additionally, while Closely excels in LinkedIn and email outreach, its support for other channels – like phone actions – is limited and depends on the credit allocation of your chosen plan.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the key points:
| Aspect | Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Flexible, credit-based model that adjusts to your activity levels | Requires careful monitoring of credit usage for high-volume teams |
| Channels | Strong automation for LinkedIn and email outreach; includes some phone actions | Primarily focused on LinkedIn and email; phone outreach is capped |
| Features | AI-driven personalization and white-label options for better efficiency and branding | Advanced analytics features are not a central focus |
| Support | 24/7 chat support and a dedicated customer success manager for quick assistance | Limited options for phone-based support |
Final Thoughts
Closely stands out as a powerful tool for LinkedIn-focused outreach, thanks to its AI-powered personalization and advanced LinkedIn automation features. It’s designed to help teams prioritize quality interactions over sheer outreach volume, making it an ideal choice for those who value targeted engagement.
The platform’s credit-based pricing structure is a smart option for teams with varying outreach needs, offering flexibility while keeping costs in check. Smaller teams and agencies will appreciate the tiered pricing and white-label options, which allow them to maintain their branding across all plans. However, high-volume teams may need to monitor their credit usage carefully to avoid overspending.
For small to medium-sized sales teams primarily focused on LinkedIn prospecting with occasional email campaigns, Closely strikes a great balance between functionality and budget. While larger enterprises with consistently high outreach demands might find the credit system a bit more complex, the availability of custom plans ensures scalability for growing operations.
FAQs
What are the benefits of Closely’s credit-based pricing model for small and medium-sized teams?
Closely’s credit-based pricing model is designed to offer both flexibility and cost control for small and medium-sized teams. Rather than charging a fixed fee per user, this model lets teams pay only for the credits they actually use. This way, expenses align directly with usage, making it simpler to manage budgets and adjust spending as needed.
This setup is particularly beneficial for teams that are expanding. Instead of being locked into a flat rate, they can scale their costs based on activity levels. It’s a practical, usage-driven approach that helps teams meet their current demands while staying prepared for future growth.
What makes Closely a great tool for LinkedIn outreach?
Closely is built to make LinkedIn outreach easier and more effective with its robust automation tools. It takes care of repetitive tasks like visiting profiles, sending connection requests, following up with messages, and engaging with posts, ensuring you stay active and consistent with your prospects.
One standout feature is its AI-driven personalization, which customizes messages to resonate more with your audience, potentially increasing reply rates by up to 35%. Plus, Closely offers multi-action sequences, enabling you to run detailed outreach campaigns without hassle. These tools make it a go-to solution for professionals aiming to refine their LinkedIn prospecting and boost their social selling game.
How can teams manage their Closely credits effectively to stay within budget during large outreach campaigns?
Managing credits in Closely is all about staying in control and avoiding unexpected costs. One way to do this is by setting daily usage limits, which helps keep spending predictable. To ensure everything stays on track, you can regularly check credit usage through Closely’s built-in metrics, offering a clear view of your consumption – even during busy campaigns. Plus, by using the platform’s AI-powered features, you can streamline your outreach efforts, achieving better results while staying within your credit allocation.