Are you looking for the perfect email marketing software for your business but not sure which one to use? Then this ActiveCampaign review is for you.
Email marketing software is a tool that businesses use to connect with their customers. They use these platforms to:
- Design email templates
- Create and store subscription lists
- Track stats and analytics
- Increase brand loyalty
- And more…
These platforms help your business reach out to customers in a reliable (and welcome) way.
Well, when done right, that is.
But to get the most out of what email marketing has to offer, you need the right software.
One popular email marketing software is ActiveCampaign.
ActiveCampaign prides itself as the global leader in customer experience automation. This platform gives you tools to provide better service to your customers and visitors through email marketing and other customer relation tools.
However, for this review, we will be looking at ActiveCampaign’s email marketing capabilities.
We will look at many aspects, including:
Though, before we get too far into this ActiveCampaign review, let’s look at it a little more in-depth and find out why it is such a great resource.
What Is ActiveCampaign?
ActiveCampaign is a platform that lets you automate your entire customer lifetime from signing up to generating sales.
Part of that includes designing and sending automated emails.
With ActiveCampaign, you can create incredible customer experiences by automating tasks that make sure everyone is cared for. With its scalable tools, you can let ActiveCampaign grow as your business does.
This platform provides solutions for marketing, sales, and support. It literally has everything you need to provide excellent customer service/lead nurturing campaigns.
ActiveCampaign is an all-in-one platform with more tools than we have time to discuss in today’s review.
So, let’s narrow it down for this ActiveCampaign review.
How does ActiveCampaign as an email marketing tool?
People are drawn to ActiveCampaign’s drag and drop editor, automation capabilities, and email personalization.
Plus, you get the insights you need to with split testing to see which emails are a hit with your customers and which need some work.
With over 125 pre-designed emails, you will find a design for whatever email you need to send.
Ready to get started with our ActiveCampaign review? Let’s dive in!
ActiveCampaign Review for Email Marketing
1. Ease of Use
Signing up for ActiveCampaign is easy but does take a few minutes to work through.
That’s because ActiveCampaign collects information on how you will be using the platform, like the number of employees and the industry you work in.
This gives you customized integration options.
For instance, here are the options ActiveCampaign has in the signup wizard for eCommerce. It lets you select:
- Number of contacts
- Number of employees
- Industry type
And a few other basic questions like this.
Again, the goal is to help ActiveCampaign understand WHY you want to use them as an ESP. That way, they can give you a better user experience (UX) as you set up your email campaigns.
Once you get your account set up, you will be taken to the ActiveCampaign dashboard:
There is a getting started section that runs you through tutorials when you are ready to learn that tool.
Topics include:
- Importing your existing contacts
- Communicating with your customers
- Creating an email campaign
- Building email automation
- And more…
That means you can get started right away doing the tasks you want.
Though, if you are familiar with ActiveCampaign or similar platforms, you can get started on your own.
When you first sign up, you get full access to the Professional tier.
ActiveCampaign has a 14-day free trial that lets you test the platform with up to 100 contacts and 100 emails sent.
That means you have a variety of templates to get started building your first email.
For basic templates, you can sort by function:
- Give an update
- Make an announcement
- Request action
- And more…
However, with the designed templates, that’s limited to just announcements and newsletters.
ActiveCampaign does use a drag and drop editor that lets you add some extra functions to your emails. Customizing is easy, so your email will always have that personal touch.
Though, the overall dashboard and interface aren’t the most user-friendly, making it difficult for some.
2. Flexibility
ActiveCampaign is a flexible email marketing platform, even if you are switching from a different ESP.
Within the dashboard, they have an area where you can move your lists over to ActiveCampaign with minimal interruption to your campaigns.
There is plenty of flexibility to connect with many other apps and platforms to give you the best results for your marketing efforts and budget.
Instructions and “how-tos” can be found in the Apps section of the ActiveCampaign dashboard.
For instance, OptinMonster and ActiveCampaign are an ideal duo to grow and nurture your email list from lead conversion to sales.
This is a HUGE advantage for your email marketing efforts.
Why? OptinMonster helps you create eye-catching and high-converting campaigns to grow your email lists and convert website traffic into leads.
So, OptinMonster helps you collect email addresses, but what happens after that?
That’s where ActiveCampaign comes in.
Since OptinMonster and ActiveCampaign seamlessly integrate, OptinMonster can send your leads directly to ActiveCampaign.
From there, you can start sending those leads customized and targeted emails through ActiveCampaign to start boosting sales.
Since everything is either an app, plugin, or browser-based, you don’t need to worry about installing specific software for all of this to work.
Just launch your browser, sign in to your account, and start sending emails.
In terms of flexibility, ActiveCampaign is a solid choice for an email provider.
3. Automation
Next up in our ActiveCampaign review is automation.
Automation is key in any business to help you free up time, so you aren’t bogged down by mundane or repetitive tasks.
That leaves more time for you to work on more important things.
ActiveCampaign allows you to trigger emails based on activities like site visits and engagement, making sure your leads don’t fall through any cracks:
Plus, you can also set up autoresponders and funnels to help nurture your leads and grow them into sales.
No matter what email marketing task you have, ActiveCampaign probably has a way to automate it.
4. Lead Generation
Sure, having the capabilities to automate email tasks and create beautifully customized emails is great, but where are you getting the leads from?
Lead generation is vital when looking at your overall email marketing picture.
ActiveCampaign does have some limited lead generation options:
- Inline form
- Floating bar
- Floating box
- Modal
However, you have to design these entirely from scratch with two different style options. This means more time will be spent making each campaign.
This lack of functionality takes away all that time you gained setting up that automation.
ActiveCampaign shines as an email service, but not as much when it comes to lead generation.
But paired with a service like OptinMonster that excels in lead generation, you have a powerful one-two punch to guide visitors all the way from traffic to your end goal.
5. Pricing
Pricing, for many, is the most important thing when looking at anything for your business.
Luckily, with ActiveCampaign, you only pay for what you need to.
So, how much will you pay for ActiveCampaign?
Plans start at $7.50 a month for the Lite plan with 500 contacts.
They also have Plus, Professional, and Enterprise plans, which also scale by the number of contacts. HubSpot has free tools, but these are limited.
That breaks down like so:
- Plus = $35/month
- Professional = $79.50/month
- Enterprise = $139.50/month
Again, the Lite plan is perfect to get you started with email marketing. Then, you can scale as you grow.
While most features are locked, you can still send newsletters, automate some marketing features, and, of course, work on email marketing.
Verdict: Is ActiveCampaign Right for YOU?
We’ve gone over a few benefits in terms of email design, automation, and flexibility in this ActiveCampaign review.
But is ActiveCampaign the BEST tool for email marketing?
If your primary need is to design, automate, and track emails and email funnels, ActiveCampaign is a great choice.
With an immersive browser-based platform, anyone can get started taking their email marketing game to the net level with ActiveCampaign.
Ready to see it in action for yourself? Get started with ActiveCampaign today!
We hope that this review has been helpful. If so, you’ll definitely want to check out the following resources:
- 9 Promotional Email Examples (And How to Write Your Own)
- How to Grow Your Email List FAST: 80+ Proven Methods
- Email Marketing Made Simple: A Step by Step Guide [+ Examples]
These articles will have even more information on improving your email marketing strategy to generate more sales with less time and energy.
Disclosure: Our content is reader-supported. This means if you click on some of our links, then we may earn a commission. We only recommend products that we believe will add value to our readers.
