Item: ActiveCampaign
Rating: 9
Author: Ed Stanfield

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I've trusted ActiveCampaing to manage my mail list and autoresponder for years. It's easy to use and affordable. I chose it after comparing price and functionality to the competitors.
It allows me to create separate lists for different email campaigns and has a wide variety of triggers to start a sequence (links in an email, complete of a different Active Campaign, etc.). The sequences are very graphical and you can even drag various steps and move them to new locations. I have also created a few templates that have saved time for establishing styles for various campaigns.

Pros and Cons

Reports.
Ease of use.
Support.

The editor could use some improvement, such as managing fonts sizes when composing an email.
Sometimes (not often) the system seems a little sluggish.
It would be nice if they had an online chat support. But otherwise they respond to contacts relatively quickly.

Return on Investment

I have not measured the ROI.
The cost of Active Campaign is extremely affordable, so it does not add significantly to my recurring expenses.
It has contributed to my ability to build an email marketing list, which is one of my core objectives.

Alternatives Considered

Mailchimp

I started out using Mailchimp because I heard their advertising constantly. I found their interface to be rather confusing and spent a lot of time reading documentation or google searching for "how to" advice for very basic questions. One of my advisors suggested I try ActiveCampaign. I found it to be the opposite of Mailchimp. It was intuitive and required almost no learning curve.

Other Software Used

unbounce, Adobe Photoshop, Google Ads (formerly AdWords)

Likelihood to Recommend

For my needs, this is a highly featured app that is a good value. If you need an easy to use mail management system this is a good choice. You can create a variety of lists and campaigns very quickly and the learning curve is short. The spam checker at the end is a good touch. It will let you know if your email is likely to be detected as spam and blocked. The reports are comprehensive and insightful.

I know larger companies that need more features may use a tool such as Infusionsoft. I've heard it is much more fully featured, but is also complex, expensive and is more of an enterprise level solution.

Great Value and Features for Small to Medium Businesses

Software Version

Overall Satisfaction with ActiveCampaign