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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Act-On

    Score8.1 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

    OutboundEngine

    Score10 out of 10
    N/AOutboundEngine provides a hands-off way for small business owners to market and grow their business. The product aims to provide small businesses with what big companies have achieved with marketing automation. The service aims to help users keep in touch with clients and prospects with professionally designed, branded campaigns. Benefits include: driving engagement, surfacing warm leads from current contacts, generating referrals and repeat business from their existing contacts, social…

    $199

    per user

    Pricing
    Act-OnOutboundEngine
    Editions & Modules
    Professional
    $900
    per month
    Enterprise
    $2,000+
    per month
    Essential
    $199
    per user
    Value
    $299
    per user
    Premium
    $499
    per user
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Act-OnOutboundEngine
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup fee$99 per user
    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.More information is available on the vendor's website.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Act-OnOutboundEngine
    Considered Both Products
    Act-On
    No answer on this topic
    Elm Street Technology
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    16 Answers
    75%
    Would buy again
    42 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    16 Answers
    75%
    Delivers good value for the price
    38 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    16 Answers
    75%
    Happy with the feature set
    42 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    15 Answers
    67%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    37 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    15 Answers
    84%
    Implementation went as expected
    47 Answers
    Features
    Act-OnOutboundEngine
    Email & Online Marketing
    Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of Act-On Software and OutboundEngine
    Feature
    Act-On Software
    8.3
    124 Ratings
    7% above category average
    OutboundEngine
    5.9
    50 Ratings
    21% below category average
    WYSIWYG email editor7.6123 Ratings00 Ratings
    Dynamic content8.2102 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ability to test dynamic content8.1102 Ratings00 Ratings
    Landing pages8.2118 Ratings00 Ratings
    A/B testing8.1106 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile optimization8.3113 Ratings8.643 Ratings
    Email deliverability reporting8.3123 Ratings3.050 Ratings
    List management8.7122 Ratings6.044 Ratings
    Triggered drip sequences8.698 Ratings00 Ratings
    Lead Management
    Comparison of Lead Management features of Act-On Software and OutboundEngine
    Feature
    Act-On Software
    8.2
    124 Ratings
    5% above category average
    OutboundEngine
    5.4
    38 Ratings
    21% below category average
    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 Ratings5.438 Ratings
    Campaign Management
    Comparison of Campaign Management features of Act-On Software and OutboundEngine
    Feature
    Act-On Software
    7.5
    84 Ratings
    1% above category average
    OutboundEngine
    -
    Ratings
    Calendaring6.88 Ratings00 Ratings
    Event/webinar marketing8.283 Ratings00 Ratings
    Social Media Marketing
    Comparison of Social Media Marketing features of Act-On Software and OutboundEngine
    Feature
    Act-On Software
    7.3
    75 Ratings
    2% below category average
    OutboundEngine
    10.0
    48 Ratings
    36% above category average
    Social sharing and campaigns7.373 Ratings10.048 Ratings
    Social profile integration7.367 Ratings00 Ratings
    Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Act-On Software and OutboundEngine
    Feature
    Act-On Software
    7.5
    124 Ratings
    2% above category average
    OutboundEngine
    -
    Ratings
    Dashboards7.6118 Ratings00 Ratings
    Standard reports7.6122 Ratings00 Ratings
    Custom reports7.493 Ratings00 Ratings
    Platform & Infrastructure
    Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Act-On Software and OutboundEngine
    Feature
    Act-On Software
    7.7
    117 Ratings
    2% above category average
    OutboundEngine
    -
    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-OnOutboundEngine
    Small Businesses
    Vbout
    Score9.9 out of 10
    HighLevel
    Score9.3 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Bloomreach
    Score9.2 out of 10
    LocaliQ
    Score8.7 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Iterable
    Score8.2 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Act-OnOutboundEngine
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.9
    (229 ratings)
    10.0
    (61 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.9
    (112 ratings)
    7.0
    (2 ratings)
    Usability
    8.2
    (44 ratings)
    7.6
    (7 ratings)
    Availability
    9.1
    (14 ratings)
    8.9
    (27 ratings)
    Performance
    8.2
    (13 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.3
    (39 ratings)
    7.9
    (24 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    8.7
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    9.3
    (16 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.6
    (22 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 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-OnOutboundEngine
    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
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    Elm Street Technology
    OutboundEngine does a referral campaign and I've been able to close a couple of deals based on getting in touch with people who engage with this campaign and state they could use my services in the next 6 months. This is a great follow up tool for those you may or may not know are going to be needing your services.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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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    Elm Street Technology
    • The content that they generate to send to our clients is relevant and the clients want to engage with us. It makes us appear more professional and consistent, even though we are a smaller company.
    • It helps us stay in touch with clients and helps us stay top of mind. We are able to generate more new business leads if we are in consistent contact with current, former, and potential clients.
    • Their customer service and support is outstanding. All my questions were answered and I went into the program feeling confident and knowledgeable.
    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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    Elm Street Technology
    • I do not like the use of drawings to attract new customers, and they have ignored my requests to eliminate that for my personal emails.
    • I do not like it when a competitor in my immediate market has the same posts. It cheapens the service or makes it appear that I am simply sharing another's post.
    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
    Elm Street Technology
    The biggest issue is poor ROI. The second biggest issue is rigid customer service process, lack of a sense of urgency, and inability to reach out to upper management with issues.
    Read full review
    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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    Elm Street Technology
    Overall, OutboundEngine is very user friendly. It is simple to set up and explore, and if there are any issues or questions, the customer service team and account managers are always available to help. They are very knowledgeable and were able to explain everything in detail to me. The program is easy to navigate and helps me stay organized, and an uncomplicated and straightforward solution was exactly what I was looking for
    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.
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    Elm Street Technology
    I haven't had to contact Outbound Engine because I haven't had any application errors or unplanned outages. I basically have had such a trouble free experience with them that I haven't had to call. Everything is automated and I get a notice to review every isse. I suppose if I personalized the newsletter a bit more and added some of my own articles, I would need to contact them, (which I should really start to do) but so far things have been so on point, I haven't felt the need.
    Incentivized
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    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
    Elm Street Technology
    No answers on this topic
    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
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    Elm Street Technology
    The customer service was excellent! Everyone I spoke to was kind and knowledgeable. My account manager was easily reachable. Setup of the OutboundEngine program was explained really thoroughly, and we knew how we could best use the product to meet the needs of our clients and get our online and social media presence off the ground.
    Read full review
    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
    Elm Street Technology
    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.
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    Elm Street Technology
    No answers on this topic
    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
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    Elm Street Technology
    No answers on this topic
    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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    Elm Street Technology
    I selected it for the ability to have an automated system do 3 things all at once, social media posts, emails and the instant communication with the chat box. I have never seen a chat come through that lead to a helpful client touchpoint. I have never used another product but have since begun to weigh some of the less expensive options.
    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.
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    Elm Street Technology
    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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    Elm Street Technology
    • One client identified how one article I sent that he read saved him from having to replace his entire AC system.
    • One client actually thought I was sending this to him personally because I valued him
    • One of the above transacted with me twice for over $3M in sales
    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.

    OutboundEngine Screenshots

    Screenshot of Automated Social Media MarketingScreenshot of A personalized snapshot of your account activity and warmest leads.Screenshot of Personally designed, tested, and automated emails