Introduction
Owning a small business can be a rewarding challenge, while continuously keeping you on your toes. You have to strengthen your brand, reach your focused audience and keep up with the ever-changing needs of the customers while keeping your products or services on top.
You have a lot of tasks to manage, and email marketing is a big part of what you need to do to grow your business. ActiveCampaign is a great tool, and in this review, I give you the pros and cons of what exactly it can do for you.
There’s absolutely no denying that if you wish to be highly profitable online, you MUST build an email list. Selling to warm leads and existing customers is far easier than trying to convert cold visitors (prospects).
This is why you see marketers constantly saying over and over the quote, “The money is in the list!”
That’s definitely true. However, let’s not forget a crucial component in all of this. The money may be in the list – but where you keep the list matters greatly too.
The best way to build your list will be to use a reputable autoresponder. Since Email Marketing can be a very profitable online business model, there are many large companies offering email marketing services.
So which will you choose? They’re all not made equal. Some are infinitely better than others. So you have to pick an autoresponder carefully.
Do NOT do this!
Avoid using self-hosted autoresponders! They’re usually created by ‘smaller’ marketers and lack the features and automation that the managed services provide.
Very often, the self-hosted autoresponders only have one thing going for them – a low one-time fee. But you always get what you pay for. If you have deliverability issues, etc. you’ll have to sort them out yourself.
Not to mention, most self-hosted autoresponders do not have as many integrations and customization features as the ‘big guns’. So it’s best to pick a managed solution even if it means forking out a monthly or yearly fee.
Mention autoresponders and you’ll always see a few big names being mentioned.
Very often, the name ActiveCampaign will make an appearance and you’ll see marketers raving about it. But does it live up to the hype?
Let’s look at the pros and cons of ActiveCampaign…
The Pros
Excellent deliverability
ActiveCampaign has a higher deliverability rate than most of the other autoresponders such as AWeber, ConvertKit, GetResponse, and more.
If you’re looking for an email marketing tool that will get your emails into the subscribers’ inboxes most of the time, you need ActiveCampaign. This is one of its strongest features.
Free migration
Stuck with another email marketing company and want to move?
ActiveCampaign will migrate your lists and everything else along with it over to their side – for free. You won’t need to do a thing. They’ll do it all for you and you can email your list from the ActiveCampaign interface.
Templates, templates, and more templates!
Sending emails has never been easier. ActiveCampaign has 125+ email templates that you can use. Unlike ConvertKit which sends mostly text-based emails, with ActiveCampaign, you can just need to load one of their email templates, make a few tweaks, post your content and you’re good to go.
Besides email templates, there are 50+ landing page templates too.
On a tight budget and don’t wish to pay for a page builder?
No worries. You can still use ActiveCampaign’s landing pages to build your list. The landing pages may be basic and not have the bells and whistles that page builders such as OptimizePress or Leadpages have – but they still get the job done and you’ll build your list.
Split testing
Yes! ActiveCampaign will allow you to split-test your emails, subject lines, and more… if you want to.
Excellent support
Their support desk is open 24/7 and you can contact them via live chat. You’ll not be left in the lurch. The staff at ActiveCampaign are responsive and capable.
Advanced customization features
Besides having tons of templates in ActiveCampaign, you’ll also be able to customize your emails, lists, etc. You have a lot of control over your email lists and the emails you send out.
Lots of advanced features too!
Most autoresponder tools pack a ton of features. Going into them in detail here is unnecessary because you’ll be better informed by visiting ActiveCampaign’s official website.
But here’s a quick list of some of the features you’ll find in ActiveCampaign: segmentation, site and event tracking, predictive content, split automation, contact scoring, SMS marketing, attribution reporting, and more!
The Cons
ActiveCampaign doesn’t really have a neat interface and can be difficult to navigate. You may need to watch the tutorials and go through the learning curve before being able to use it proficiently.
This is not an autoresponder for total neophytes to email marketing. The sheer number of features and reporting capabilities can make it seem overwhelming to the beginner. Furthermore, the pricing does jump significantly when you go from Lite to the Plus or Professional packages.
Affiliate marketing on the platform is another iffy issue. While ActiveCampaign says they allow it, the terms are not clear because they also say, “Do not send emails with the sole purpose of promoting another product or business.”
This line instantly shuts out most affiliate marketers who only promote affiliate products. So if you’re an affiliate marketer, you’ll want to go with autoresponders like AWeber or GetResponse which are far more lenient.
Should You Get It?
It depends on your needs. This is an autoresponder that needs more thought before purchase.
If you’re just doing basic email marketing, you really don’t need ActiveCampaign.
However, if you’re already with another email marketing service and you need a more robust platform with advanced features and analytics, ActiveCampaign is probably the better choice for you.
Click on the link below and study the features you’ll get with ActiveCampaign. Absolutely amazing and definitely for the serious online marketer who is looking to ramp up sales and conversions through email marketing.
