Act-On Software vs. Zoho Social

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Act-On
Score 8.1 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 (starts at 2,500 active contacts)
Zoho Social
Score 9.2 out of 10
N/A
Zoho Social helps marketers in small to large organizations to grow the social media presence of their brand with actionable insights focused on content and engagement. Zoho Social provides marketers with pre-publishing insights based on the engagement level of previous posts and the activity of their audience. Zoho Social even goes a step ahead to shows users the percentage of their audience that’s likely to see their post now, suggests the next best time to post and lets them schedule…
$10
per month
Pricing
Act-On SoftwareZoho Social
Editions & Modules
Professional
$900
per month (starts at 2,500 active contacts)
Enterprise
$2,000
per month ( starts at 2,500 active contacts)
Standard
$10
per month
Professional
$25
per month
Agency
$200
per month
Agency Plus
$300
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Act-OnZoho Social
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo 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 package starts at 2,500 active contacts, 6 marketing users, 100 sales users and 30,000 API calls per day. Annual contract required.Add Ons Users at $10 / user / month Brands $10 / brand / month
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Act-On SoftwareZoho Social
Considered Both Products
Act-On

No answer on this topic

Zoho Social
Chose Zoho Social
When deciding to go with Zoho, I evaluated other options. When it came down to functionality and cost Zoho Social won. As we progress and grow as a company we have not had as much time to use it. But we will be using it more soon. The future is digital and social so if we can …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Act-On SoftwareZoho Social
Email & Online Marketing
Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
7.8
113 Ratings
1% above category average
Zoho Social
-
Ratings
WYSIWYG email editor8.1112 Ratings00 Ratings
Dynamic content8.192 Ratings00 Ratings
Ability to test dynamic content7.292 Ratings00 Ratings
Landing pages8.1108 Ratings00 Ratings
A/B testing8.195 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile optimization7.2103 Ratings00 Ratings
Email deliverability reporting8.1112 Ratings00 Ratings
List management8.1111 Ratings00 Ratings
Triggered drip sequences7.187 Ratings00 Ratings
Lead Management
Comparison of Lead Management features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
8.1
113 Ratings
4% above category average
Zoho Social
-
Ratings
Lead nurturing automation8.1104 Ratings00 Ratings
Lead scoring and grading8.1104 Ratings00 Ratings
Data quality management8.1102 Ratings00 Ratings
Automated sales alerts and tasks8.195 Ratings00 Ratings
Campaign Management
Comparison of Campaign Management features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
7.5
77 Ratings
2% below category average
Zoho Social
-
Ratings
Calendaring6.88 Ratings00 Ratings
Event/webinar marketing8.176 Ratings00 Ratings
Social Media Marketing
Comparison of Social Media Marketing features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
8.1
71 Ratings
7% above category average
Zoho Social
-
Ratings
Social sharing and campaigns8.169 Ratings00 Ratings
Social profile integration8.163 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
8.1
114 Ratings
8% above category average
Zoho Social
-
Ratings
Dashboards8.1109 Ratings00 Ratings
Standard reports8.1112 Ratings00 Ratings
Custom reports8.184 Ratings00 Ratings
Platform & Infrastructure
Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
7.9
107 Ratings
4% above category average
Zoho Social
-
Ratings
API8.167 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-based workflow & approvals8.171 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizability8.189 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with Salesforce.com8.165 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM8.136 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with SugarCRM7.129 Ratings00 Ratings
Listening/monitoring
Comparison of Listening/monitoring features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
-
Ratings
Zoho Social
8.3
354 Ratings
7% above category average
Sentiment analysis00 Ratings7.9252 Ratings
Broad channel coverage00 Ratings8.6348 Ratings
Publishing
Comparison of Publishing features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
-
Ratings
Zoho Social
8.3
424 Ratings
1% above category average
Content planning and scheduling00 Ratings9.3422 Ratings
Audience targeting00 Ratings7.5301 Ratings
Content optimization00 Ratings8.1350 Ratings
Engagement
Comparison of Engagement features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
-
Ratings
Zoho Social
8.2
344 Ratings
0% below category average
Automated routing and prioritization00 Ratings7.9293 Ratings
Customer interaction histories00 Ratings8.4325 Ratings
Marketing
Comparison of Marketing features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
-
Ratings
Zoho Social
8.0
301 Ratings
1% above category average
Lead generation00 Ratings7.6224 Ratings
Content marketing00 Ratings8.4293 Ratings
Channel coverage/integration
Comparison of Channel coverage/integration features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
-
Ratings
Zoho Social
9.2
416 Ratings
8% above category average
Twitter00 Ratings9.4371 Ratings
Facebook00 Ratings9.0408 Ratings
LinkedIn00 Ratings9.2366 Ratings
Google+00 Ratings9.0237 Ratings
Instagram00 Ratings9.2338 Ratings
Reporting/analytics
Comparison of Reporting/analytics features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
-
Ratings
Zoho Social
7.6
342 Ratings
4% below category average
Campaign success analytics00 Ratings7.7340 Ratings
Competitor analysis00 Ratings7.5209 Ratings
Account management
Comparison of Account management features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
-
Ratings
Zoho Social
8.8
371 Ratings
7% above category average
Role-based user permissions & privileges00 Ratings8.5279 Ratings
Mobile access00 Ratings9.1354 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Act-On SoftwareZoho Social
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Vbout
Score 9.7 out of 10
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Conte.ai
Score 1.2 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
PFL Direct Mail Platform
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Score 9.3 out of 10
Social Suite by Reputation.com
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Score 9.4 out of 10
Enterprises
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Score 9.3 out of 10
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User Ratings
Act-On SoftwareZoho Social
Likelihood to Recommend
8.1
(219 ratings)
9.2
(429 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.9
(112 ratings)
9.4
(13 ratings)
Usability
9.1
(32 ratings)
9.3
(256 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(14 ratings)
8.2
(2 ratings)
Performance
8.2
(13 ratings)
8.2
(3 ratings)
Support Rating
7.3
(39 ratings)
9.4
(220 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.7
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
9.3
(16 ratings)
8.2
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.6
(22 ratings)
8.4
(5 ratings)
Configurability
9.1
(1 ratings)
7.3
(2 ratings)
Ease of integration
6.4
(2 ratings)
3.6
(2 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.1
(1 ratings)
8.2
(3 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.2
(2 ratings)
8.2
(2 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.1
(2 ratings)
8.2
(2 ratings)
User Testimonials
Act-On SoftwareZoho Social
Likelihood to Recommend
Act-On
Act-On simplifies the creation of landing pages, web forms, email campaigns, and other types of marketing automation. Designing a customer journey using the workflow builder (a nurturing flow) is possible. It is used in various ways and in a variety of contexts. Tactical's knowledgeable support team helped us unlock Act-On's potential for complex integrations and marketing campaigns. In some areas, it would be beneficial to improve functionality.
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Zoho
Zoho Social is well suited for content creators, social media marketers, business owners and anyone who is customer facing in the business. It's great to stay on top of how each platform is doing analytics wise, and have an in depth view of each platform's engagement. It's also well suited for beginners or people who have some experience in understanding the analytics part of social media marketing.
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Pros
Act-On
  • Establishes a simple but very decisive way of how to perform specialized marketing work.
  • It includes the monitoring of advertising networks or account management on digital platforms and social networks.
  • The support is solid; it takes all the suggestions and doubts I have regarding the software.
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Zoho
  • Content sharing to all our social media accounts at one place
  • Warning about platform specific issues, also giving choice not to include problematic platforms
  • Showing statistics of our shares as a table so that we can understand about the impact of our specific posts.
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.
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Zoho
  • I wanted to use the ability to have Zoho queue the posts, but I wanted to choose the start time of the first post for a few days in the future and I did not find an easy way to set that.
  • I wish there were a box with a cheat sheet of the sizes that each social media platform allows for it's video and pictures in the dialogue box for posting so I can be sure to choose appropriate content.
  • I do think it's a bit expensive, especially for my needs, but I like the ease of use. I will continue to do what I can to get this service discounted until I can no longer afford it.
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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
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Zoho
Zoho Social is the BEST! I have found the perfect solution to social media marketing! It is extremely affordable and I highly recommend it! Create a post once and post it to 5 or more social media platforms! LOVE IT!! :)
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Usability
Act-On
It's good, but not quite brilliant. Some parts of the interface are still a bit outdated. The product has been evolving very fast, though, and I believe in a few months it will be up there with the best of them, interface wise as well.
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Zoho
A bit of repetition from previous screens but ultimately I wrote down what success looked like for me if I was to choose a social media tool, and how that would positively impact my business. From assessing all the tools out there, I also had a matrix of what tool offered what functionality. Once I had both reports prepared, I had a top 3 which matched the needs I had from a tool, and, for me, Zoho Social stood out head and shoulders above the competition
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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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Zoho
We've never had a problem with availability
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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.
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Zoho
Excellent performance for what it does. No problem downloading pages on the desktop or mobile. It integrates well with other Zoho products. Outside of Zoho? Forget it.
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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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Zoho
I rate the customer support as outstanding. The assistance provided by the support team has been consistently prompt, knowledgeable, and attentive to our needs. Whenever we've encountered issues or had questions, they have swiftly addressed them, guiding us through solutions and ensuring a smooth experience. Their dedication to resolving concerns reflects their commitment to customer satisfaction, and I am thoroughly impressed with the level of support we have received.
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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.
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Zoho
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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Zoho
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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Zoho
You can use Zoho Social out of the box so there weren't any implementation issues.
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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.
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Zoho
Zoho Social is a great social media management tool that allows businesses, and individuals, to manage multiple social media accounts, schedule posts, track analytics, and engage with followers. It competes well with other social media management tools such as Hootsuite, Buffer, Sprout Social, Agora Pulse, and Hubspot. Zoho Social stands out for its integration capabilities with other Zoho applications and affordability for small to medium-sized businesses. Each tool has its own strengths and weaknesses, and businesses should evaluate them based on their specific needs and goals. The biggest fallacy for Zoho is its restriction on scheduling tools on the free plan who have social and personal needs. I believe this can be circumvented by Zoho periodically making an advertisement to one's feed.
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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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Zoho
We're a small organization so we haven't needed to deploy across multiple departments or sites.
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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.
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Zoho
  • Zoho Social allows me to "see" my messaging planning weeks into the future. I can create themes for a week or month and easily see how it performs.
  • Having all my social accounts in one place saves me time.
  • It is too early for any ROI from Zoho but the amount of content I am putting out has increased by at least 400%.
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ScreenShots

Act-On Screenshots

Screenshot of List Segmentation - Segmentation using behavioral, demographic and/or firmographic dataScreenshot of the Quickstart PageScreenshot of Landing Page Composer - landing pages are designed with a drag and drop function

Zoho Social Screenshots

Screenshot of AnalyticsScreenshot of CollaborationScreenshot of Create-PublishScreenshot of InboxScreenshot of Monitor-SearchScreenshot of Social-Media-Marketing