Clickdimensions - where integration actually becomes an impediment
May 26, 2016

Clickdimensions - where integration actually becomes an impediment

Chris Thorne | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 3 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with ClickDimensions

Clickdimensions is used primarily as an email marketing tool by our company, allowing us to send emails to marketing lists and measure their effectiveness. We also use it to gather contact information from forms on our website. More recently we've started to use the data on website traffic and page views. It is used primarily by central marketing, although product marketing is responsible for generating email content. Clickdimensions was implemented to allow us to do email marketing directly from Microsoft Dynamics CRM.
  • Easy to pull information from Dynamics CRM, as it's fully integrated.
  • Straightforward email marketing tools.
  • Form builder is easy to use, and pushes captured information straight into Dynamics.
  • Intergration with Dynamics CRM actually turns out to be a disadvantage, as the system is constrained heavily in its utility by how Dynamics runs. For example, creating marketing lists for segmentation is particularly arduous if Contacts and Lead entities are in use.
  • Clickdimensions relies on Dynamics business processes to run automation events, which means if there's a lot going on then it can snarl up the CRM server significantly.
  • Getting data imported into CRM and Clickdimensions is extremely clunky - when it doesn't fail entirely, it is often buggy.
  • Drag and drop email editor is not great, often introducing undesired stylings due to cut and pasting.
  • The real power in this system is being able to monitor key metrics, such as email clicks or page views. However, all of these have to be set up manually in Dynamics to truly leverage the system. And to act on these metrics requires business processes in CRM, as only email clicks and form submissions can be used as triggers from within CRM.
  • Clickdimensions has allowed us to email our list of 100,000+ contacts regularly.
Clickdimensions is severely impeded by its integration into Dynamics CRM. Consequently it lacks the Intuitiveness of HubSpot, and the straightforward usability of MailChimp. It is a perfect system if you want to exist entirely within Dynamics, but it requires a high degree of expertise in Dynamics to get maximum value out of it. We're currently migrating to HubSpot, and while the initial integration is proving challenging, I already sense we will be able to deliver a lot more of our marketing goals much more easily, and see an ROI.
Clickdimensions would be suitable for low throughput email blasts to non-segmented lists from Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Its automation is limited and segmentation is really hard in Dynamics, making it unsuitable for complex nurture campaigns or marketing following behaviour based triggers.

ClickDimensions Feature Ratings

WYSIWYG email editor
4
Dynamic content
2
Ability to test dynamic content
1
Landing pages
2
A/B testing
5
Mobile optimization
5
Email deliverability reporting
4
List management
1
Triggered drip sequences
2
Lead nurturing automation
2
Lead scoring and grading
3
Data quality management
3
Automated sales alerts and tasks
3
Event/webinar marketing
6
Dashboards
3
Standard reports
4
Custom reports
3
Role-based workflow & approvals
5
Customizability
5
Integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM
8

Using ClickDimensions

Clickdimensions has some very usable features such as form builder and email editor. However, the intergation with Dynamics makes it hard to achieve anything with this system at speed, and really leverage the value.
ProsCons
Technical support not required
Quick to learn
Feel confident using
Do not like to use
Unnecessarily complex
Cumbersome
  • Once templates are setup, building and sending an email is really straightforward
  • Creating segments using marketing lists in Clickdimensions and Dynamics is a real pain in the bum.
  • Importing data into the system is very cumbersome and buggy.