Strong product but survey module is weak.
Updated June 16, 2015
Strong product but survey module is weak.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Act-On
- Act-On's analytic data is spot on and gives me the ability to take meaningful action when clients and potential clients interact with our content. My biggest headache with software similar to Act-On is how to engage other departments and business units. Act-On's simple and robust connect to other software platforms allows our teams to work in the software programs that work best for them while still representing strong data.
- For example, I don't want our sales team to have to learn Act-On. Because the system they use every day - Salesforce - is tightly integrated with Act-On, they can see from within Salesforce what path a prospect has taken thorough our website, and what offerings they have been looking at. This allows them to have a much higher-oder conversation with the prospect. Because they have a lot of knowledge about what the customer wants, they can be much more targeted in their messaging and shorten the time to sale.
- Act-On does email marketing management very well. Not only am I getting analysis from the email, but also the traffic patterns my clients and potential clients are creating once they enter my site. This is powerful when engaging directly with my market - they feel we have tailored our approach just for them.
- My biggest issue is that the survey module is not great. In particular, the survey analytics are not detailed enough for us to make business decisions. We survey our customer base quite a bit to understand what is important to them, so this is important. It would be great if the survey analytics were integrated with the excellent Act-On analytics. But they are separate.
- Because of the survey weaknesses, we use Survey Monkey and Act-On unfortunately does not provide a connector to this product.
- We ran our Black Friday campaign to our current clients and netted more than $30,000 off the campaign alone, and with each month that passes we net more than $5,000 on a recurring offer related to that campaign. Had it not been for Act-On we would have not had the bandwidth to manage the campaign.
- With another unbelievably simple campaign launch, we generated a $8,700 sales from a simple email address capture. As time passes, I'm certain we will garner even more powerful RIO.
- Marketo,HubSpot,Pardot
I thoroughly vetted HubSpot and liked what I saw, but had a run in with overly and unnecessarily aggressive sales team and team managers. That ultimately shut the door for good with HubSpot, and had me looking at other options. Thankfully, because I found Act-On - well they found me really - and its easy of use, cost and customer service won me over.
Using Act-On
7 - marketing coordinators and graphic staff access Act-On directly through the portal, direct sales staff through a SaleForce.com tie-in feature allowing them to take immediate action when clients digitally interact with our organization.
1 - Act-On requires so little in-house support that I do it with little to no impact on my schedule.
- Act-On helps us with our marketing automation and content delivery.
- The primary use case is producing email campaigns and testing our messaging with different market segments, and different landing pages to optimize conversion. Essentially we do content marketing: We make content available and encourage prospects to insert themselves into the sales pipeline.
- Relevant digital interaction with clients and potential clients.
- Optimizing digital properties for marketing and search engines.
- Deep insight into habits and trends of clients.
- Launch and maintain quick digital campaigns with very little ongoing facilitation.
- Deeper engagement with clients and potential clients
- Launching multiple, targeted sales funnels
- More sophistication within market segmentation
Evaluating Act-On and Competitors
We didn't switch to Act-On from another product.
- Price
- Product Features
- Product Usability
- Positive Sales Experience with the Vendor
There really isn't a 'single most important' factor that helped me make the decision. I looked into several factors and weighed the best options for my organization and me. Act-On made it very easy for me to determine the differences and the importance of these differences. Their honest approach to their software even played a part in the decision.
If I were to do it over again, I might have spent a little more time on the difference in features among the various softwares. The great thing... I don't have to do it over again. Should there ever be a feature I truly need, the Act-On team is willing to consider adding the feature.
Act-On Implementation
- Implemented in-house
Yes -
- Website integration
- Salesforce.com integration
- Update internal processes to take advantage of the market data gathered through Act-On
Change management was a big part of the implementation and was well-handled - Involve a member from each team that will be impacted by Act-On. These people will become the ambassadors for implementation.
- Didn't know all the features upfront so wasn't completely sure how to take best advantage of the software.
- Personal time to actually do the implementation was limited due to other duties.
Act-On Training
- Online training
- In-person training
- Self-taught
Because it's very intuitive and their support is so amazing, I felt comfortable learning some of it on my own.
Configuring Act-On
Work with Act-On's customer service reps as much as possible. They will help you grow your campaigns quickly and easily.
No - we have not done any customization to the interface
Some - we have added small pieces of custom code - We'd used our templates for landing pages and emails. Very easy to use... very!
It was very easy for us to build our specific sales funnels with automation based on clients/potential clients interactions.
Act-On Support
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Quick Resolution Good followup Knowledgeable team Problems get solved Kept well informed No escalation required Immediate help available Support understands my problem Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response | None |
No - No premium pay-scale levels. Everyone gets the premium support.
I was building an automated sales funnel and wasn't sure about the logic for the campaign. The customer support agents worked very quickly with me to resolve the logic issue and got my campaign launched within a 10-minute phone call.
Using Act-On
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Technical support not required Well integrated Consistent Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using Familiar | None |
- Email broadcasting
- Landing pages
- Search engine/marketing optimization
- Automated sales funnel campaigns
- No feature is so cumbersome that I would deem it as such
Act-On Reliability
Integrating Act-On
- Salesforce.com
- Website
The integration helps us use Salesforce.com in a deeper more impactful way. Integration was a cakewalk.
- I'd like to see a deeper integration with surveying software at some point.
I'm not sure.
- AppExchange or similar marketplace
Work with the Act-On reps. They want you to succeed and want you up and running very quickly.
Relationship with Act-On Software Inc.
$500 monthly rate. No tips/advice needed. They are fair and let their service stand for itself.
Let them know some specific needs for which you plan to use the system. The reps will guide you in the right direction.
Upgrading Act-On
Yes - Upgrades are done in the background and are smooth as silk. I have never experienced down time for any upgrade.
- More features
- Better search engine/marketing optimization
- Watch the competition when they make a move and respond quickly
- Awesomeness... and they're delivering it!