A very well-liked email automation tool is ActiveCampaign.
But does it fit you?
Let’s investigate.
We’ll evaluate how well this newsletter marketing and email automation software holds up in this ActiveCampaign review. We’ll discuss all the features, ActiveCampaign cost, the benefits and drawbacks, and available options.
Review of ActiveCampaign in summary:
The software ActiveCampaign is excellent for both novice and experienced marketers.
When it comes to marketing automation, it excels. Perform any automation you have ever imagined.
Once you get the hang of it, we found the tool to be simple to set up and use.
Too much power if all you want to do is send straightforward newsletters
They start at a reasonable $15, or $70 if CRM and lead scoring are included.
We advise you to take a look at ActiveCampaign because it has all the functionality you might want. It is unquestionably worthwhile.
1. The important aspects of ActiveCampaign
What is ActiveCampaign, you may be asking yourself? What does it do, exactly?
Software for email marketing automation with a sales CRM is called ActiveCampaign. It does, however, much more. You will be pleasantly delighted when you first log in to ActiveCampaign and find all these features in the dashboard.
The following are the standout attributes of ActiveCampaign:
- Send newsletters via email. The drag-and-drop builder and professional-looking templates are included with the ActiveCampaign Email marketing platform.
- Automated campaigns are created. The marketing automation builder is where ActiveCampaign really shines. The creation of automated campaigns is simple. Automations can be created by starting with templates and then customizing them.
- Utilize ActiveCampaign CRM’s Deals feature to close sales. Deals can be used to automate sales follow-up and reduce the amount of manual work required to close deals and sales.
- Get more leads with the ActiveCampaign Landing page builder to convert traffic into signups and customers.
- Include chat on your website. To give your visitors a better overall experience, ActiveCampaign Messages combines your email, CRM, and chat/on-site messages.
One of the uncommon programs that combine a lot of capability without being overpowering is ActiveCampaign. You may learn more about it on the AC features page. However, email marketing and marketing automation technologies serve as the foundation.
ActiveCampaign Pricing & Discount
The four ActiveCampaign pricing tiers start at Lite ($9/month). Marketing automation and email marketing are components of the beginning plan. Plans with more features include lead scoring, landing pages, and the ActiveCampaign CRM.
Here, you can begin a 14-day, cost-free trial.
The price of ActiveCampaign depends on how many contacts you have and which features you select.
On a yearly plan, ActiveCampaign provides a 25% discount. Because of this, ActiveCampaign’s prices are quite reasonable when compared to those of competing marketing automation platforms.
ActiveCampaign Review
Numerous features of ActiveCampaign help users promote more efficiently, quickly, and easily. Let’s examine each one in turn.
- Email Marketing
- Marketing Automation
- ActiveCampaign CRM
- SMS messaging and chat
- Pros, Cons, and Conclusion
Email Marketing using ActiveCampaign
People come for the email marketing tool offered by ActiveCampaign and remain for everything else. Campaigns and individual emails can both be used in email marketing. You have a choice of six different varieties, including:
- Standard
- Automated
- RSS triggered
- Split testing
- Date based
- Autoresponder
You select the appropriate recipients for that email by selecting an email list in your account after deciding on the type of email you want to create. Beyond lists, site tracking and event monitoring provided by ActiveCampaign add another level of targeting that you may employ in specific campaigns.
For instance, you might want to send emails to a particular list, but only if the recipients have viewed particular pages or taken a particular activity on your website. With ActiveCampaign, it’s quite simple. I’ll elaborate on it further when we talk about the automations function.
ActiveCampaign email templates
Numerous email templates are available for selection in the email creation process. They are all labeled according to the use case and appear polished. There is a drag-and-drop editor for content blocks while creating your email. Although it isn’t the most elegant editor, it does the job.
The typefaces, background colors, line height, padding, and other elements are all changeable. When I send out newsletters, I utilize plain-looking emails with precise formatting. Emails can be saved as a template and reused.
Conditional blocks are a feature of the email builder that I adore and frequently utilize. Based on your subscribers’ profiles, behaviors like clicks or the lists they have subscribed to, you can assign tags to them.
Make your email conditional by using tags (and other criteria) to reveal or conceal material.
We divide people into lists using quizzes and then add tags based on their responses to get more specifics about their preferences. then display the appropriate conditional blocks based on the individual’s circumstance.
For example, there are numerous factors to take into account if you are launching a firm and have not yet generated any revenue (course sales, eCommerce, affiliate marketing, etc.) We can construct a single email that communicates with every individual on a list thanks to the tags.
By adding their name, the name of their firm, and numerous other circumstances, we personalize the email and make it even more intriguing. It’s best to try out the email builder for yourself because I can’t adequately describe it in a few paragraphs.
Any functionality is useless if the email marketing service can’t get your emails to recipients’ inboxes. You don’t need to worry about that because ActiveCampaign’s deliverability rates are highly across the board from my personal experience and independent tests.
ActiveCampaign Marketing automation
I’ve been using this tool for years because of this. One of the best marketing automation solutions available is ActiveCampaign. It is referred to as automations in ActiveCampaign. Three screens are available for interaction.
Automations is the name of the home page. Here, you may create new automations and view a list of all your current ones.
You may view, edit, and remove each message connected to an automated campaign using the manage message tab.
You can get a summary of how each automation interacts with other automations on the last screen, which is referred to as the automations map.
You can start from scratch when creating new automation or choose from dozens of ActiveCampaign automation templates that are tailored for a particular result. Like:
- Interest-based follow-up based on on-site tracking
- People who sign up receive a welcome campaign.
- Follow-up from your e-commerce system for abandoned carts
You may adjust the automation builder in a variety of ways to get it just right. A lot of conditional logic (if/then statements), for instance, is used in the graphic below to ensure that the appropriate people receive the messages because several different automations flow into one primary one.
By selecting the “+” icon, you can add emails or criteria to your automation setup. A menu appears, dividing the choices depending on sending emails, different criteria (such as goals, split automation, and end automation), contact activities (such as subscribing to a list, unsubscribing from one, or adding a tag), salesforce, and CX apps.
ActiveCampaign Automation Example
Let’s go through a straightforward scenario to show what ActiveCampaign automations are capable of.
Someone subscribes to your mailing list by completing a form. They go through the customary welcoming process but don’t make a purchase. You regularly email them to keep them informed about company news, brand-new features and products, and blog entries.
In addition to visiting a blog post and a services website after clicking on one of those emails. Your ActiveCampaign site tracking setup starts an email series for that product.
An email is sent to them asking if they’d want to book a call if they don’t submit a contact form on the services page within an hour. Depending on their actions, the automation either continues by alerting the appropriate team member to get in touch with the person, or it stops, starts a different one, and tags the person as interested.
The entire automation process is carried out in the background and may be set up using straightforward conditional logic. If you’re a more seasoned user, you may utilize ActiveCampaign PRO to enhance the user experience with event monitoring, tagging, scoring, and other features.
ActiveCampaign CRM
Additionally, ActiveCampaign offers a sales CRM. By hand or through particular sales automation, such as submitting a contact form or having a high lead score, you can create new contacts and offers.
As a component of the marketing automation solution, ActiveCampaign lead scoring is helpful, but it really shines with the ActiveCampaign CRM since you can apply scores (manually or automatically) and identify your top prospects. The machine learning system can then determine the chance of winning.
You may, for instance, establish criteria for scoring based on email openings, clicks, and form submissions. One of your sales representatives will receive an email notification when a user reaches a particular score, allowing them to individually call or follow-up with the contact.
Of course, you can access sales figures, make notes to specific contacts, use external apps like Gmail, and assign tasks either manually or automatically.
SMS, messaging, and chat
You have the ability to design an omnichannel messaging experience with ActiveCampaign that boosts customer service and conversions. They refer to SMS, on-site chat, and Facebook audiences collectively as “messaging.” Let’s take a closer look at them.
1. SMS and text messages
Text messages are effective and have an open rate well above 50%. Contacts can sign up for ActiveCampaign campaigns by SMS or from an account (if they give their phone number).
2. Conversations & On-Site Chat
The last few years have seen a rise in the popularity of chat widgets. A good chat solution is offered by ActiveCampaign. Of course, you can reply to incoming messages to assist clients and potential clients. Additionally, you can inform site users of a CTA or business update by sending them proactive communications.
The features for on-site conversations and communications are distinct but not standalone. Based on how people have been interacting with your business, you may utilize ActiveCampaign site tracking and other targeting options to tailor messages and reach particular people.
I’ve only begun to scratch the surface of how you may use site messages to target certain users. Play around with different targeting choices to determine which ones work best for you.
3. Facebook audiences
Facebook Ads and ActiveCampaign have a close relationship that makes it easy to add and remove users from custom audiences. You may retarget, align your communications with the appropriate funnel stage, and guide individuals in the proper way.
SMS is a component of every automation. Send discounts, schedule appointments with them, or use them to publicize flash sales.
The smart stuff: AI and machine learning
Machine learning appears in various software components of ActiveCampaign. By utilizing CRM, you may employ machine learning to gain a better understanding of the kinds of offers that will close, allowing you to concentrate more time and effort there.
There are two things that make email marketing campaigns useful. Predictive sending enables you to send emails to the appropriate recipient at the appropriate time.
When you turn it on, it will examine each of your contacts to see how they respond to your messages, then wait until the best moment to send.
Predictive content is the second method that machine learning can be used. Although considerably smarter, it functions similarly to multivariate testing. You create several drafts of an email before sending it. The machine learning and natural language processing capabilities of ActiveCampaign assist in choosing the most suitable recipient.
ActiveCampaign Integrations
There are numerous ActiveCampaign integrations, and more are being introduced on a daily basis. Any (homemade) software can be integrated using Zapier or the open API.
Deep integrations are what you might refer to as e-commerce platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, and Woocommerce. This goes beyond the obvious and enables you to retrieve additional contact information, add tags, expand the contact’s record, obtain purchase history, and more.
A few of the most popular integrations include:
- Shopify, BigCommerce, and Woocommerce
- BEE, email editor for ActiveCampaign
- WordPress Plugin
- Google Analytics
- Calendly
- SalesForce CRM
- Basecamp
- And more
Since there are more than 100 connectors, they are broken down into groups like CRMs, online course software, and lead generating tools.
Customer Service
While many businesses experience customer service issues as they expand, ActiveCampaign seems to have only gotten better. Before, the only options for getting in touch with a person were through email and using the knowledge base to figure things out on your own.
Today, you may also access live chat, several YouTube lesson videos, and free onboarding and training webinars. The representatives are competent and sympathetic, and the lectures are succinct but straightforward. Based on my interactions with them personally, I’d rate ActiveCampaign’s customer service as an 8.
ActiveCampaign Pros and Cons
Pros
- Excellent email deliverability right away
- numerous features for seasoned users
- The email builder is robust and allows you a lot of versatility, while not being the most elegant.
- Machine learning will help your marketing results improve over time.
- The automations and CRM are smoothly integrated to increase productivity within your company.
Cons
- Conversations (on-site chat) is a feature that may be added on and is not a part of the basic plan.
- If you’re new to email marketing automation, it takes some time to get your head around the complex capabilities.
- At times, the app has been sluggish (at least that is what we see everyone say, not our own experience lately).
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Conclusion of our evaluation of ActiveCampaign
A potent email and marketing automation platform for companies in all industries, including B2C and B2B, is ActiveCampaign.
We recommend ActiveCampaign for:
Businesses that have some expertise with email marketing or are prepared to step up their efforts should start using a marketing automation solution. You don’t need to be an expert; all you need to do is watch the onboarding videos.
We don’t recommend ActiveCampaign for:
marketers who wish to send out straightforward newsletters. It’s extremely strong, and chances are you won’t make use of all the capabilities. In that scenario, I’d look into MailerLite or other (cheaper) alternatives to MailChimp. In the same way, it is preferable to address any major enterprise requirements or huge email lists initially.
just $15 per month for 500 contacts (full Activecampaign pricing overview here). Any small business can afford it, and you have access to the tools that will improve your email marketing and automation outcomes almost immediately.
You can’t go wrong with ActiveCampaign if you’re considering value for money with all the automation, email marketing, CRM, and other tools it offers.
