Act-On Keeps Up with the Big Guys of Marketing Automation
May 08, 2019

Act-On Keeps Up with the Big Guys of Marketing Automation

Dave Moll | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Act-On Software

As an agency, we use Act-On to manage all our clients' marketing automation efforts. And that covers a lot of ground: web and social tracking, form submissions, content downloads, list management, lead scoring, landing pages reporting and, of course, email programs. The Act-On ecosystem is solid and each of the pieces complements each other well enough to create a marketing automation whole if that makes sense. So your emails "know" who visited what landing page and your forms "know" if this person has downloaded other content. This connected system allows you to build complex marketing campaigns, all within the Act-On system.

That said, we use for all of the above. Mileage varies from client to client, but we certainly use every part of Act-On. We will build our client landing pages in Act-On, we house our email templates in Act-On, we upload marketing content to Act-On -- I'm in it all the time! In fact, I have it open in one of my browser tabs as I am writing this review.

Overall, it is a solid marketing automation platform. Act-On manages lists, segments, email programs, and sync's with SalesForce very well, but in some areas like landing page design and reporting it falls short.
  • List Management. Act-On has some powerful segmentation tools that complement the automated programs very well. Act-On lets you really slice and dice your lists however you see fit. Connected to Salesforce, Act-On becomes super-charged.
  • Automated Programs. You can then take your targeted segments and create robust automated programs that can be tailored into specific tracks for your targeted audience.
  • Webinar Programs. If you use GotoWebinar or WebEx, managing the webinar is a breeze. Act-On will handle the invitations, registrations, reminders and post-event follow-up for you. It works really well.
  • Landing Page Design. The drag and drop builder is OK. But it feels very limited for someone who has a good knowledge of HTML, CSS, Javascript, etc. Inevitably, there will be something that you simply can't do in Act-On that you could do in a standard web design environment.
  • No Server Side Scripts. There isn't any way to retrieve data in your lists and add it to a landing page. Basically, you can't use any data stored in an Act-On list and add it to a landing page.
  • It's limited. There is simply some data you can't pull from Act-On and into a 3rd Party Reporting app.
  • Act-On has helped us find new business. As an agency, we can help clients get started with marketing automation.
  • With proper strategic planning, Act-On is a great tool for moving leads through your funnel.
  • As a data-driven agency, we have had to look elsewhere for our reporting needs.
Act-On does most everything that Marketo and HubSpot can and Act-On does some of them better and some of them worse. I've outlined the strengths and weaknesses of Act-On already. I am familiar with Marketo and HubSpot but not familiar enough with them to create a matrix type of comparison. Some of the differences are just different, not better or worse. For example, Marketo throws all the contacts into a master list of sorts and segments are created via queries. Act-On has user-created lists and segments built off each list.
Act-On is great for companies who have multiple people managing marketing and sales programs. Each person will get their own log in and access to certain (or all) areas of the software. Alerts can be created when prospects reach certain stages of programs which means marketers don't need to constantly monitor lead scores or anything like that. Also, designers can log in and create landing pages, copywriters can login in and upload content and managers can login and build programs. There's no stepping on each other's work either. Team management is very good. Act-On is also great if you have multiple customer profiles. Act-On allows you to create programs designed to capture many leads across your customer profile.

Act-On would be overkill for the small B2C client. A small business that uses email to manage newsletters and product announcements will find Act-On to be much, much more than they need. Act-On can certainly do these things but so can MailChimp at a much lower price point. There would be many features in Act-On that this client simply would never use.

If your company uses a custom CRM, Act-On won't be the best fit. I imagine you would need to hire a developer (or commit an in-house developer) to a large project of integrating your CRM with Act-On. Otherwise, you'll be importing and exporting list data on a regular basis.

Act-On Feature Ratings

WYSIWYG email editor
9
Dynamic content
7
Ability to test dynamic content
10
Landing pages
7
A/B testing
6
Mobile optimization
9
Email deliverability reporting
10
List management
10
Triggered drip sequences
10
Lead nurturing automation
8
Lead scoring and grading
9
Data quality management
5
Automated sales alerts and tasks
7
Event/webinar marketing
10
Social sharing and campaigns
6
Social profile integration
6
Dashboards
4
Standard reports
4
Custom reports
1
API
1
Role-based workflow & approvals
7
Customizability
5
Integration with Salesforce.com
10
Integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM
10
Integration with SugarCRM
10