Email automation software with optimized personalization to drive engagement.
N/A
BenchmarkONE
Score 3.3 out of 10
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
BenchmarkONE (formerly Hatchbuck) is an all-in-one sales and marketing software that includes CRM, marketing automation, and email marketing tools. Users can build online forms, manage and segment contacts, engage prospects with relevant follow-up, manage tasks, and track their pipeline.
Small businesses with even smaller marketing budgets and no email marketing experience would be better off selecting a lower-end email marketing provider. However, Adestra will provide a growing company with every email marketing tool along the way.
Hatchbuck is great for small to mid size businesses that are really looking to keep track of their progress with their sales leads as well as their existing customers, as well as tracking the activity their customers are taking from their communications, and automate their sales and marketing funnel as much as possible. We are a SaaS company (software as a service), with sales that range from teeny tiny to very big fish so it's been an easy tool to work with to make sure we are communicating with clients based on their size and needs.
Adestra's "dynamic" list allows users to consolidate multiple lists in combination with data filters and exclusion lists. This implements segmentation and is a powerful marketing tool.
Adestra's MessageFocus API integration provides developer-tools for list, campaign or transactional automated requirements.
Campaigns can be sorted into project folders. This allows marketers to group campaigns together for management or reporting requirements. Moving or copying campaigns from one project to another is a simple process.
Data downloads via Reporting is available at every level, from overview to individual KPI.
Creating "core" tables helps marketers develop lists with similar attributes. Whether a list has many fields or simply the one required email address field, a "core" table helps to quickly map data labels from spreadsheet to online database. Creating data labels on the fly is a simple process, as well. The "core" table also groups similar contacts into one core database.
Any list can be quickly "emptied" for to manage refreshed data. The contacts within the "emptied" list would still be members of the "core" table and so the process does not negatively impact reporting.
Unsubscribes can be managed in one list (as a default) or individual lists. Creating individual unsubscribe lists -- dependent on business requirements -- would allow for a preference center, whereby recipients could be given a choice as to which campaigns they receive.
The Form tool creates signup forms, simple surveys and landing pages. These can be hosted via Adestra or otherwise on the web. The tool provides for branding and proprietary cascading stylesheets, with a number of actions available through a drag-and-drop interface.
As of this writing, there are at least 3 different editors available (a drag-and-drop, a WYSIWYG and HTML). However, only a small template library is available if requested through support. Those expecting to find ready-built templates for re-branding would find them through the third-party EDM Designer drag-and-drop editor.
They may be a little behind the curve when it comes to some of the advanced features, such as integrating various calendars and e-mail clients.
I would like to see them more integrated with social media platforms, such as keeping track of social media activity and adding more platforms that they track within a record.
The onboarding process was a bit bumpy and took much longer than expected.
In case you can't tell, we are in love with Hatchbuck software. Could it be improved? Of course it could, but, based on our current needs, and the needs of our existing and targeted clients so far, Hatchbuck presents the best fit option available. As a partner we are looking to grow with Hacthbuck into the future.
I have been self-trained on different ESPs for over 10 years, so my experience isn't comparable to most users. However, I've trained people on various email marketing platforms, and with some training, clients have a positive user-experience with Adestra.
Hatchbuck offers on-boarding, training, and has a suite of videos, which makes it super easy to get started. As with any software that is the key. Have a plan, stay focused, and get started. Once, you begin to play with Hatchbuck you will see that it is very user friendly.
There has never been any downtime for Hatchbuck, which is very reassuring for me as I market and recruit strenuously for the University at Albany's executive Weekend MBA Program. Hatchbuck team members have also been available when I have reached out to them with questions or issues. With one exception, where one of my e-mails became lost in the Internet "black hole," they have gotten back to me in very timely fashion!
I have had campaign related issues solved very quickly. When there are technical issues, that involve more than one departmental, it may involve a longer turn-around and management.
I always get a response within 24 hours, unless I ask on a weekend. The team seems to work together to resolve my issues, answer my questions, and update me on changes. In fact, they have even connected [with] me to ask how they can improve the Hatchbuck software and their service. This is why I love them so much.
For medium and large sized businesses, Adestra competes well with dotMailer. While many of the functions are available through either provider, creating campaigns, managing lists and reviewing metrics are somewhat different. As of this writing, dotMailer's drag-and-drop editor dominates that platform and performs well for low-end users with little-to-no HTML experience. Even high-end users will appreciate how quickly campaigns can be built via the drag-and-drop editor. While Adestra utilizes the EDM Designer drag-and-drop, the third-party functionality is not completely cohesive and lack of a template library gives dotMailer a bit of an advantage.
I have had more experience with Hatchbuck, and was introduced to it through someone who is quite familiar. My perspective is that for the money, Hatchbuck does all it needs to, and does it well. I'm sure there are comparable products, but this is the first one that I found user friendly enough to be able to use it consistently