Almost there! (But needs some more thought on deployment)
July 15, 2016

Almost there! (But needs some more thought on deployment)

Eric Gradberg | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 3 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with ion interactive

We actually are still figuring out how to implement ion interactive in our marketing channels. The program is robust (even if a little more complex than advertised), but the potential is there. There is a steep learning curve to this program but ion interactive offers plenty of recorded and live training.
  • Lots of options. Plenty of room for the creative marketer to find creative uses for the program.
  • Plenty of support.
  • The availability of templates is both a blessing to getting up and running quickly and a curse as it could stifle out-of-the-box thinking.
  • Training staff tends to go through features a mile a minute leaving new users in the dust.
  • Far more complex of a system than was advertised in the sale.
  • We use it too little to provide an accurate idea of return on investment so far. Hopefully that will change in time.
  • The scope of what you can do with it is amazing. What we are still exploring is how (in a b2b environment) Ion is a benefit to our sales strategy and not a distraction to a busy customer.
No information available.
Customer interactive scenarios are well suited for ion interactive. I am not sold on its B2B potential.

Ion, by Rock Content Feature Ratings

Ideation
9
Content collaboration
4
Content hub
Not Rated
Forms / Gated content
Not Rated
Embedded CTAs
Not Rated
Content distribution
Not Rated
Content promotion
Not Rated
Content automation
Not Rated
Audience profiling and targeting
Not Rated
Closed-loop tracking and reporting
Not Rated
Content performance analytics
Not Rated
Campaign optimization dashboard
Not Rated

ion interactive Support

They are responsive and the know a lot! But to that second point, their knowledge base sometimes works against them when teaching new clients the platform.
ProsCons
Quick Resolution
Good followup
Problems get solved
Kept well informed
No escalation required
Immediate help available
Support cares about my success
Quick Initial Response
Need to explain problems multiple times
Yes - Yup, they all get resolved.
Nothing gigantic, but they are very present and responsive and are always offering more training and
opportunities to gain knowledge. They get a lot of credit for their presence and support. It is to their credit.

Using ion interactive

It has a lot of potential and features, but it's hard to grasp the basics before exploring those advancements.
ProsCons
Well integrated
Consistent
Do not like to use
Unnecessarily complex
Difficult to use
Requires technical support
Slow to learn
Cumbersome
Lots to learn
  • Lots of templates get you up and running quickly.
  • Available and responsive representatives are there to guide you through any questions/issues you might have.
  • A lot of the back-end development is done by Ion before you make your first experience.
  • Once a brand/design is established as a starting point, it is extremely difficult to modify without endangering all of your projects, even if you have a high degree of proficiency with CSS and Javascript.
  • The whole process seems over-developed. This could be due to ion interactive trying to be all things to all people. Or it could be due to ion interactive's developers knowing their platform so well, their techniques make it hard for a client developer like me to interface or modify things based on my marketing needs. All in all, I find it frustrating to modify things (where it is relatively simple in other CSS/Javascript) experiences.
  • Training is readily available, but they too easily gravitate towards highlighting high-end features and concepts, when their users are still trying to grasp the basics. They don't seem to realize how hard it can be for new users to initially get how ion interactive works.