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Act-On Software vs. Bronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Act-On

    Score8.9 out of 10
    Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
    Act-On is an adaptive marketing platform designed to drive personal and purposeful multi-channel marketing. Its foci are inbound and outbound marketing, for enabling a tighter alignment with sales and turning data into actionable insights.

    $900

    per month

    Bronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)

    Score7.9 out of 10
    N/AThe Bronto Marketing Platform was an email marketing solution from Oracle which was acquired from NetSuite in 2016. It was optimized for creating automated, yet personalized emails, and subscriber profile segments, analyzing click and visit behavior, and tracking geolocation. It has since been discontinued.N/A
    Pricing
    Act-OnBronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    Editions & Modules
    Professional
    $900
    per month
    Enterprise
    $2,000+
    per month
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Act-OnBronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsThe Professional package starts at 2,500 active contacts, 3 marketing users, 50 sales users and 30,000 API calls per day. The Enterprise allows for much more customization, the package starts at 2,500 active contacts, 6 marketing users, 100 sales users and 30,000 API calls per day. Annual contract required for all packages.Request pricing at info@bronto.com.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Act-OnBronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    Considered Both Products
    Act-On
    No answer on this topic
    The Bronto Marketing Platform
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    16 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    16 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    16 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    15 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    15 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    Act-OnBronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    Email & Online Marketing
    Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of Act-On Software and Bronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    Feature
    Act-On Software
    8.3
    124 Ratings
    7% above category average
    Bronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    7.4
    58 Ratings
    8% below category average
    WYSIWYG email editor7.6123 Ratings7.050 Ratings
    Dynamic content8.2102 Ratings6.450 Ratings
    Ability to test dynamic content8.1102 Ratings6.449 Ratings
    Landing pages8.2118 Ratings4.525 Ratings
    A/B testing8.1106 Ratings9.055 Ratings
    Mobile optimization8.3113 Ratings7.850 Ratings
    Email deliverability reporting8.3123 Ratings9.458 Ratings
    List management8.7122 Ratings7.456 Ratings
    Triggered drip sequences8.698 Ratings8.448 Ratings
    Lead Management
    Comparison of Lead Management features of Act-On Software and Bronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    Feature
    Act-On Software
    8.2
    124 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Bronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Lead nurturing automation8.5113 Ratings00 Ratings
    Lead scoring and grading8.4113 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data quality management8.2112 Ratings00 Ratings
    Automated sales alerts and tasks7.8104 Ratings00 Ratings
    Campaign Management
    Comparison of Campaign Management features of Act-On Software and Bronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    Feature
    Act-On Software
    7.5
    84 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Bronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Calendaring6.88 Ratings00 Ratings
    Event/webinar marketing8.383 Ratings00 Ratings
    Social Media Marketing
    Comparison of Social Media Marketing features of Act-On Software and Bronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    Feature
    Act-On Software
    7.3
    75 Ratings
    3% below category average
    Bronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Social sharing and campaigns7.473 Ratings00 Ratings
    Social profile integration7.367 Ratings00 Ratings
    Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Act-On Software and Bronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    Feature
    Act-On Software
    7.5
    124 Ratings
    0% below category average
    Bronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    7.6
    57 Ratings
    0% below category average
    Dashboards7.6118 Ratings7.857 Ratings
    Standard reports7.6122 Ratings7.856 Ratings
    Custom reports7.493 Ratings7.143 Ratings
    Platform & Infrastructure
    Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Act-On Software and Bronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    Feature
    Act-On Software
    7.7
    117 Ratings
    1% above category average
    Bronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    API8.277 Ratings00 Ratings
    Role-based workflow & approvals8.578 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customizability7.698 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integration with Salesforce.com8.569 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM7.038 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integration with SugarCRM6.930 Ratings00 Ratings
    Third-party software integrations7.58 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Act-OnBronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    Small Businesses
    Vbout
    Score9.9 out of 10
    Mad Mimi
    Score10 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Bloomreach
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Campaign Monitor by Marigold
    Score9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Iterable
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Emma by Marigold
    Score8.5 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Act-OnBronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.9
    (229 ratings)
    8.1
    (60 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.9
    (112 ratings)
    8.0
    (5 ratings)
    Usability
    8.2
    (44 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Availability
    9.1
    (14 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    8.2
    (13 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.3
    (39 ratings)
    2.0
    (2 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    8.7
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    9.3
    (16 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.6
    (22 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Configurability
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    6.4
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    8.2
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Act-OnBronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Act-On
    We often have quick turnaround time requests, and Act-On's new composer is great because it is easy to make an email look great in desktop or mobile views. This has been a huge time-saver for us! We have benefited from using Act-On for many years and are accustomed to where everything is and how to use it. For the new accounts we train, we will sometimes hear that the organization of where things are could be improved.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Bronto Marketing Platform
    If you're a mid-size to larger business and rely on regular email engagement from customers, then Bronto Marketing Platform could be a potentially great partner if not game-changer for how you've been doing email campaign management previously. Their automation tools and development interface is amicable. The amount of data that's collected and available from engagement with subscribers through their tools can be overwhelming. Still, if you enjoy digging into every kernel of possible user activity information, you'll love it.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Act-On
    • The templates are easy to use and set up campaigns.
    • It's simple to use, and the email editor features a drag-and-drop interface.
    • It's easy to set up a drip campaign or a series of scheduled emails.
    • It has the flexibility of having a variety of scheduling options and the use of user experience automation.
    Incentivized
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    The Bronto Marketing Platform
    • It's easy to work with – it has seamless integration across all platforms, which helps when you're working with big clientele.
    • It's logically organized, which can't be said of all ESP's.
    • It has the LIVE CHAT support. A lot of email marketing clients simply don't have that. It's the little things!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Act-On
    • The designer tools, especially for emails, were often difficult to use. The formatting of the text would be all over the place and change / refuse to change at random. Moving boxes around was shifty and sometimes nearly impossible. It just wasn't customizeable enough. No "undo" functionality either.
    • The only way to collect information expansively over time (there's a term Act-On uses for it, I can't recall) where it adds questions to the form each time a user fills it out, is if the person were to fill out the same form multiple times. I know this does happen for some websites/resources, but as a company that wanted to collect new information each time someone filled out any form, regardless of the resource or the URL, that was simply not an option, and that doesn't really make a lot of sense. I know it's not really possible to track someone but if they filled out the first part of the form and then it added new questions to answer, and then they submitted and got through the gating, that would actually be helpful.
    • There was no "trash can" of sorts in case you deleted something by mistake. This could be so stress-inducing if it was a major project. My coworker did this once, contacted Act-On, they couldn't even recover it.
    Incentivized
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    The Bronto Marketing Platform
    • Segmenting- although there's a lot that can be done with segmenting audiences, there's a bit of a learning curve when it comes to setting up segments. Wish it was more intuitive.
    • Workflows- setting up automation workflows requires some practice and I've needed to consult a Bronto support person each time I set up a new workflow.
    • Bronto Pop-up manager- we use this feature, not sure how common it is among Bronto clients, but there is overall some improvement needed with this tool. There is limited capability to update the look and feel of the pop-up manager, and we've run into some conflicts with other pop-ups on our website interfering with the Bronto pop-up.
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Act-On
    It's my single biggest asset in my current role. With limited resources, its enabled Anachron to punch well above our weight marketing wise and although we're still at the beginning of our journey I know the system can scale with us
    Read full review
    The Bronto Marketing Platform
    Never really had any issues that caused out-of-the-ordinary frustration levels. Of course, you'll have days where the learning curve of using a tool gets challenging. Still, I don't remember ever really coming across an obstacle or roadblock while using the tool because of a feature or function it just couldn't do successfully or at all. Customer support was always available as needed, and it was generally easy to find answers to questions when they arose.
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    Act-On
    It's a great tool for our business, and we get a fantastic ROI on it every year based on wins for customer service and automation responses. It's save projects, repaired salesperson/customer relationships and generated new sales and interest yearly. We really wouldn't hesitate to recommend this platform at all.
    Incentivized
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    The Bronto Marketing Platform
    Usability is great. Very intuitive drag-and-drip metaphor for building automations. And the UI is very user-centric. It constantly prompts you with suggestions and next steps such that you hardly have to refer to the (excellent) documentation.
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Act-On
    I have always found them quick to respond to my query by web inquiry. In those instances when I call, I have always reached help quickly. They are conscientious and skilled in discussing my concern and finding a solution to my problem. Other tech organizations should use Act-On as a model for top-notch customer service.
    Read full review
    The Bronto Marketing Platform
    I never experienced any downtime.
    Read full review
    Performance
    Act-On
    Great for the most part. Sometimes there are little lags, but that's likely because I'm requesting to see a lot of data at one time.
    Read full review
    The Bronto Marketing Platform
    No issues.
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Act-On
    Since we start using Act-on for ourselves and our clients, we have been supported very well. Often we need to integrate with legacy systems and we find the support team on our side during the whole endeavor. Always asking if they can help us further, always willing to do a better job. The support of Act-On is one of the main differentiators
    Read full review
    The Bronto Marketing Platform
    They used to be good, but they've evolved into a monolithic bureaucratic nightmare after the Netsuite / Oracle acquisition. Can't talk to anyone that actually knows the system and support tickets seem to go days or weeks without responses and resolution.
    Incentivized
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    In-Person Training
    Act-On
    Dan D. was great. He took the time to understand how I needed the program to run, and was very flexible to our special CRM setup.
    Read full review
    The Bronto Marketing Platform
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    Act-On
    Act-On had a lot of resources, and their staff was great at answering any questions I had to make sure we got started on the right foot. Looking back, I would have preferred some additional training sessions since we didn't have any previous experience with Marketing Automation and best practices.
    Read full review
    The Bronto Marketing Platform
    They have lots of videos on list importing / segmentation / report customization etc. when you sign on they give a link to online tutorials and documentation which is very helpful. They have very helpful PDFs on how to import / set up platform
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Act-On
    What impressed me most is that Act-On showed full committment in making our implementation successful, even when it required additional support from their team. This gave me a lot of warm and fuzzy feelings. Most other software software vendors are not anywhere close to being this responsive and effective
    Read full review
    The Bronto Marketing Platform
    Easy to set up.
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Act-On
    Act-On is easier to use than Marketo, but not as visually appealing and user-friendly as HubSpot. It's much better than Pardot, as Pardot feel clunky every step of the way. SharpSpring is comparable because of its price point but surpasses Act-On in its tools and intuitive interface. We selected Act-On because of the pricing model and thought all things would be close to parity with other options. It depends on the team you have. If you have developers and a marketing team that knows some html/css, you can get by with Act-On.
    Incentivized
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    The Bronto Marketing Platform
    Bronto hits the sweet spot for us. It is most similar to the Salesforce family of products. Salesforce however can feel cluttered and configuration and setup can be time consuming and confusing. Bronto is much more streamlined and also has features built in that may require additional purchases in the Salesforce world. Adobe Campaign is a very powerful solution and can do many things hard to achieve in Bronto. However, Campaign is much more of a developer tool where Bronto is easy to learn and use right out of the box.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Act-On
    Before I feel like I need more features, the Act-On customer service reps are contacting me telling about new features as part of my account.
    Read full review
    The Bronto Marketing Platform
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Act-On
    • With the Automated Series, we were able to put in place campaigns that generated revenue that took no time to continue running once set up. This was a positive feature allowing employees to work on another project while the campaign ran on their own.
    Incentivized
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    The Bronto Marketing Platform
    • Offering great reporting for tracking everything. I can see what emails are working (I track on a monthly basis) and what people are clicking.
    • A/B split testing lets us try different things. Try this and that.
    • Creating lists and segments of subscribers lets us look at who is the best performing contacts. Really get 'into the data' and understand what is working and what is not.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots

    Act-On Screenshots

    Screenshot of the Automated Journey Builder. Here, users can personalize customer interactions from awareness to loyalty.Screenshot of the Analytics Dashboard. This is used to compare performance over time, filter by segment, and export report components.Screenshot of the Email Composer. Here is where users design emails optimized for desktop and mobile with a drag and drop builder.