Updated March 02, 2019

Review: "ActiveCampaign - The Perfect Combination of Simplicity Plus Power"

Ben Marcoux Roofing Lead Generation Expert

Manager @ BMX Marketing LLC

BMX Marketing, LLCMarketing and Advertising, 1-10 employees

Score 10 out of 10

Vetted Review

Reseller

Software Version
Small Business

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

ActiveCampaign is my favorite email marketing platform. It's simple and fast to set up and is super powerful. It also has great deliverability. So whether you are trying to send out a weekly newsletter to your email list, email much more frequently, or are looking for an email automation tool that allows you to segment and automate very specific actions, ActiveCampaign is a great solution.

Pros and Cons

Simple, easy, and fast setup for lists. You can set up a new list in just seconds. And also, they allow you to have an unlimited number of lists and tags that keep things organized.
Powerful automations and a clean interface to build them. ActiveCampaign is a powerful tool, allowing you to segment users and send them congruent messaging.
Great deliverability. Email marketing is only as useful as the number of emails that get received. If your emails don't send or wind up in spam or junk or promotions folders, that will severely inhibit your email marketing efforts.

Text message marketing. There are other tools that are specifically designed for text message marketing, but it would be great if ActiveCampaign took over this industry as well, with their same philosophy of simple and fast to build + super powerful.
It gets a bit expensive when you have a large list, because they charge in tiers based on the number of contacts. So does everyone else though, so if you have a big list it will be expensive to host.

Return on Investment

Saves me time, which equals more time for sales conversations and revenue generating activities.
Improves deliverability, which increases open rates, click through rates and, most importantly, sales from email.
Allows me to build an email list that is the crux of my business.

Alternatives Considered

Mailchimp, AWeber, Constant Contact, Infusionsoft by Keap, Drip from Leadpages, Klaviyo and HubSpot

ActiveCampaign is by far my favorite email marketing tool. The other "cheap" options aren't nearly as powerful or intuitive. And then the more powerful tools on the market are super confusing to set up and also very expensive. ActiveCampaign is the perfect blend of powerful plus simple. That's why I use it myself and recommend it to all my clients.

Number of Contacts (List Size)

Less than 10,000

Using ActiveCampaign for B2C or B2B marketing

Both

Other Software Used

ClickFunnels, Acuity Scheduling, Todoist

Likelihood to Recommend

ActiveCampaign is great for any company looking to leverage email marketing effectively to share content that builds goodwill and makes sales. They make it simple, fast, and easy to set up lists and automations so that you can easily keep in touch with your customers. Whether you send out a weekly newsletter or are much more aggressive with your email marketing, ActiveCampaign can handle just about anything you throw at it.

Email & Online Marketing

WYSIWYG email editor

Dynamic content

Ability to test dynamic content

A/B testing

Mobile optimization

Email deliverability

List management

Triggered drip sequences

Reporting & Analytics

Dashboards

Standard reports

Custom reports

Users and Roles

1 - Everyone in my business and my clients' business uses it. This spans from content marketing teams through sales teams and everything in between. It's a great way to stay in touch with existing and potential customers and get them to fall in love with your brand. And it's functional for every member of a team.

Support Headcount Required

1 - ActiveCampaign requires 1-2 people to use. There is the technical setup side of things, i.e. setting up the emails lists, automations, link tracking, and actually scheduling the broadcasts. And then in order for email marketing to be effective, it's necessary to have good copy. It would be easy enough to have one person do both jobs, but I can also imagine some organizations using two people to handle the different sides of ActiveCampaign.

Business Processes Supported

Email marketing for sales to non-customers who are on the list.
Email marketing to existing customers to get them to buy the next product.
Email marketing to share valuable content and keep my brand in front of my audience/following/tribe.

Innovative Uses

I use it to send emails and build automations -- exactly what it was designed for. I think they are innovative in that they make it really easy to effectively do these things. But I wouldn't say I'm using the tool in an innovative way.

Future Planned Uses

If/when they step up their text messaging game I will use them for text messaging as well.

Likelihood to Renew

I've tried over half a dozen email autoresponders and ActiveCampaign is by far my favorite. The ability to send emails is the backbone of my business. The "cheap" email marketing tools designed for the mass market are not powerful or intuitive to set up and also don't have the best deliverability. And the "expensive" ones are usually super confusing to use.

Products Replaced

Yes - I've tried almost 10 email marketing solutions. I'm not trying to do anything too fancy so the expensive, confusing email marketing solutions weren't worth using for my business. And the cheaper email marketing solutions didn't allow me to do the things I need to do in my business. When I replaced the other solutions with ActiveCampaign I was able to achieve all of my email marketing needs using this tool.

Key Differentiators

Product Features
Product Usability
Product Reputation
Prior Experience with the Product

I heard great things about ActiveCampaign before I started using it. And when I signed up for my own account, I was blown away by how simple it was to set up lists and automations. This means within minutes of getting the software you can begin sending email marketing messages that will help you build a better, more profitable brand.

Evaluation Lessons Learned

I wouldn't change my evaluation process. You don't know what you don't know. When I first started out doing online and email marketing, I didn't know what I was looking for in an email marketing solution. It was only after I started doing email marketing regularly that I realized what I was looking for and needed in terms of functionality.

Implementation

If your email marketing strategy is clunky and confusing then it doesn't matter what tool you use or need to set up. It will take time to set it up. However, if you favor simple and effective email marketing strategies then you'll find that setting up ActiveCampaign is a breeze. And the results you'll get with it will far outweigh the time it takes to set it up.

Implementation Details / Implementation Partner

Implemented in-house

Implementation Phases

Change Management Lessons

Not sure - I'm not sure entirely what you mean by this. Migrating an email list over can be a pain, but ActiveCampaign makes it simple to do. Again, if you have complex automations set up on another email platform it will take you time to set those up in ActiveCampaign, but they're not required to get started. And I actually recommend NOT being complex.

Implementation Issues

Training Types Used

Self-taught

In-Person Training

Online Training

Ease of ActiveCampaign Training

Yes, the core features of ActiveCampaign are easy to learn and it doesn't take long to get comfortable navigating the platform. There are some advanced features that can get tricky, but honestly, most businesses don't need to use or worry about them. I recommend diving in and getting started creating lists, tags, and automations. Those can easily be learned on your own. And if you run into issues, ActiveCampaign has good support.

Product Configurability

ActiveCampaign is a powerful product you can configure to your needs. Most businesses will only need and use the simple features of the software. They won't be bogged down and confused by the more intense features. And if your business requires using the more in-depth features, you'll be very happy with the quality of your buildouts.

Configuration Lessons

I recommend first getting comfortable setting up lists, tags, and automations. I begin by creating a "Main List" every contact goes in to. And then I'll either use tags or different lists to segment my leads and customers. Then get comfortable sending broadcasts and designing email templates so that you can stay in touch with your contacts VIA automation and non-automation emails.

UI Customization

No - we have not done any customization to the interface

Extensibility and Customization

No - we have not done any custom code

Additional Customization Considerations

In addition to learning how to set up lists, tags, automations, email templates, and email campaigns, make sure you get comfortable adding the ActiveCampaign tracking code to the pages on your website. This allows you to do some really cool things dynamically based on when people take certain actions, or don't take certain actions.

Support

I have only had to reach out to ActiveCampaign support a couple of times, and every time they have helped me out quickly and efficiently. They get back to you pretty quickly and usually have the solution figured out within just a couple of message exchanges. Please keep in mind I use the simple features of ActiveCampaign, so if there's a complication solution you're looking for help with, your experience with support might be a little different.

ActiveCampaign Customer Support Pros and Cons

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

Premium Support

No - Premium support is only offered when you purchase the higher tiers of ActiveCampaign. I don't need all the other functionality that comes with those more expensive tiers so I don't buy it just for support. Regular support is fast enough to handle most any issue. And I have very few issues with ActiveCampaign so it's not necessary to purchase premium support.

Bug Resolution

Exceptional Examples of ActiveCampaign Support

I've only had a few small issues with ActiveCampaign, and every time I was supported quickly and the support person was very helpful. I don't have a magical story to tell about their support, other then they are knowledgable and do their best to get back to you and solve your problem quickly.

Usability

It's super easy and fast to set up automations and email lists. In under five minutes, you can be mailing your list. I'm not a fan of complexity, and I'm also not a fan of being hamstrung by weak tools, so I really like using ActiveCampaign. It's the perfect blend of simplicity and power.

Usability Pros and Cons

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

Easy Tasks

Setting up email lists.
Setting up email automations.
Sending broadcast or automation emails.

Difficult Tasks

There are some functionalies related to goals that can get confusing.
It's possible to build really complex automations, but that's more an issue with a business being complex versus the software being complex.

Mobile Interface Availability and Impressions

Scalability

I've tried several of the email services available today. ActiveCampaign makes it easy and fast to get set up. And they have some of the best email deliverability available today as well. That's really important when it comes to email marketing, because winding up in spam or promotion folders makes your email marketing efforts and uphill battle.

Reliability and Availability

I've never had ActiveCampaign down for maintenance. I'm sure they update things, but they always seem to manage to stay live. Also, I've had very few errors, if any. None come to mind. This might be to due to the fact I focus on building things as simply as possible, but I also believe it's due to the quality of the software.

Performance

ActiveCampaign works seamlessly with the other tools I use. It integrates directly with most. And if no direct integration is available, there is almost always one you can make using Zapier. I've yet to run into a technical error that prevented me from doing something I wanted to be able to do.

Ease of Integration

It's simple and easy to set up the API integrations. All you need to do is copy and paste them in the proper places. And most softwares you're integrating with will have a tutorial on how to do it. And for the integrations that require Zapier it's the same thing. They're pretty straightforward to set up and usually have tutorials available.

Systems Integrated With

Clickfunnels
Acuity Scheduling
Schedule Once
Wufoo Forms
Leadpages

Most of the integrations are simple to set up by copying and pasting the API key and URL. The integrations that require Zapier are also easy to set up.

Future Integration Plans

Clickfunnels
Kartra
Kajabi
ScheduleOnce
Acuity Scheduling
Facebook Lead Ads

Yes, they support all these integrations natively or through Zapier.

Types of Integration

File import/export
API (e.g. SOAP or REST)

Integration Lessons Learned

I recommend to all my clients to keep their business model as simple as possible. Complicated technology is oftentimes perceived as being really cool, but usually it's just not as effective as a simple system. ActiveCampaign allows you to do a lot of things, but you don't need to do all of them in most cases. Keep things as simple as possible.

Pre-Sale Experience

ActiveCampaign is easy to work with. There are no surprises in regards to billing. And they have responsive support. The only reason I gave them a nine instead of a ten is because of the price. However, their pricing is competitive with the other email marketing softwares. It's just a cost you need to get used to paying if you're serious about email marketing. Plus, ActiveCampaign allows you to do email marketing that makes many times back the money you pay to use the software.

Post-Sale Experience

I've never had a question to unanswered. Their support is quick to answer. You can control your account settings yourself, such as your billing level, which is great, because you don't need to wait to hear back from support to change your account level if you need or want to upgrade or downgrade.

Key Negotiation Points

Nothing special. I paid the price on the website.

Dealing with ActiveCampaign

No, I just suggest that my clients use the software and send them my affiliate link for them to purchase through. I have not negotiated special rates with ActiveCampaign. When I am a bigger vendor sending many more referrals there way, it's something I will consider doing. Until then, I'm just glad to use the software and share it with other people's businesses.

Upgrade Process

Upgrade Benefits

Active Campaign stays up to date and is a cloud software you don't need to update.

Anticipated Benefits from Future Upgrades

Improved text message marketing would be awesome.

Migrating Between Editions

Yes - It is easy to upgrade or downgrade your account as necessary based on your number of contacts or the features you need/don't need. You can control this from inside your account. I upgraded my account for a while for improved text message notifications. I will re-upgrade shortly to set up "Goals" for my company.

Future Edition Upgrade Plans

Yes - I am going to start doing much more email marketing and I want to leverage ActiveCampaign's gamification features. I also want to start using it for sending some text reminders. And there is also a goal setting feature which lets you tap much more into the power of ActiveCampaign as a CRM.

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