- Email Marketing
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ActiveCampaign is a cloud software platform for small-to-mid-sized businesses and is based in Chicago, Illinois. The company offers software for customer experience automation, which combines the transactional email, email marketing, marketing automation, sales automation, and CRM categories.
- https://www.activecampaign.com/
ActiveCampaign offers a robust platform that allows you to send highly personalized emails to your customers.
The email service provider also features marketing automation, which you can use to automate repetitive tasks, such as sending follow-up emails or adding people to a drip campaign.
In this article, we will show you what ActiveCampaign is and how the email service provider works.
As well, you’ll get a list of its features and gain an understanding of who can benefit from using it.
ActiveCampaign at a Glance
Here’s a quick overview of ActiveCampaign’s pricing plans and who will benefit most from using the ESP.
- Market Segment: Email marketing
- Best For: Business owners
- Plans & Pricing
- Lite: $29 per month
- Plus: $49 per month
- Professional: $149 per month
What Is ActiveCampaign?
ActiveCampaign is an email service provider.
It offers a platform to automate your marketing and sales activities.
What Is ActiveCampaign Used For?
You can use ActiveCampaign for a variety of purposes.
- Automation
- Segmenting your contacts
- Creating targeted email campaigns
- Tracking your results
How ActiveCampaign Works
ActiveCampaign works by adding your email subscribers to its database.
It segments your contacts and creates targeted email campaigns.
It also tracks your results so you can see what’s working and what’s not.
Notable Features of ActiveCampaign
Here are some of the best features offered by ActiveCampaign.
Segmentation: You can segment your contacts and send targeted email campaigns.
Automation: ActiveCampaign automates everything inside your sales and marketing system.
Tracking: Using the Advanced Performance Reporting features, you can track your results to see what’s working and what’s not.
Templates: ActiveCampaign comes with a library of templates so you can create beautiful email newsletters.
Integrations: Easily integrate your ActiveCampaign account with several third-party apps like SureTriggers or Zapier to even more powerful and share data with thousands of other apps.
Drag-and-Drop Builder: You will do everything inside ActiveCampaign using the straightforward builder.
Forms: ActiveCampaign comes with a library of customizable forms so you can collect leads and track results.
SMS Marketing: ActiveCampaign’s SMS marketing feature allows you to send text messages to your contacts.
Contact Scoring: Prioritize your leads using the contact scoring feature.
Use it to send more personalized emails to your most engaged prospects.
Import Leads: ActiveCampaign’s import leads feature allows you to quickly and easily add new contacts to your database.
Website Personalization: ActiveCampaign’s website personalization feature allows you to show targeted content to your website visitors.
Are There Any Minimum Requirements Necessary To Use ActiveCampaign?
No, there aren’t any minimum requirements to worry about with ActiveCampaign.
You will log into a web-based platform.
All you need is a solid Internet connection to use your account.
How Much Does ActiveCampaign Cost?
Here is a breakdown of each ActiveCampaign pricing plan.
Lite Plan
The Lite plan provides the following features.
- Drag and drop builder
- Marketing automation
- Unlimited email sending
- Email marketing
- Send newsletters
- Segmentation
- 125+ email templates
- Site and event tracking
- Subscription forms
- Campaign and automation reporting
- Sales emails
- Import leads
- Segmented outreach
- Lead capture forms
- Customer analytics
- One user
- Chat and email support
Cost: $29 per month (paid annually)
Plus Plan
The Plus plan includes everything from the Lite plan.
It adds these additional features.
- 50+ Landing page templates
- Contact scoring
- Facebook custom audiences
- Automations map
- SMS marketing
- Custom branded forms
- Custom branded landing pages
- Conditional content
- Lead scoring
- CRM with sales automation
- Mobile CRM app
- Sync inbox with CRM
- Task reporting
- Customer success pipelines
- Up to 25 users
- Advanced mobile reporting
Cost: $49 per month (paid annually)
Professional Plan
The Professional plan adds the following features to the Plus plan.
- Predictive sending
- Website personalization
- Marketing attribution
- Attribution reporting
- Predictive content
- Site messages
- Split automation
- Conversion reporting
- Sales engagement automation
- In-app messaging
- Up to 50 users
Cost: $149 per month (paid annually)
Does ActiveCampaign Have an Enterprise Version Available?
Yes, you can talk to the ActiveCampaign sales team to receive a cost estimate for the Enterprise plan.
With the Enterprise plan, you get some of the following features added to everything inside the Professional plan.
- Custom domain
- Custom reporting
- Custom mailserver domain
- Unlimited email design testing
- Free design services
- Social data enrichment
- Custom objects
- Unlimited users
- Phone support
- Customized branding
ActiveCampaign Promotions & Savings
You might wonder whether you can find savings, promotions, and deals when starting an ActiveCampaign account.
Does ActiveCampaign Have a Free Trial?
Yes, ActiveCampaign offers a free 14-day trial.
When using the free trial, you can add up to 100 contacts and send out up to 100 emails.
You will see all the Professional plan features during your first 14 days.
You can then decide to continue with the Professional plan or drop down to the Lite or Plus after it’s time to begin paying.
If you need more than 14 days, reach out to the ActiveCampaign customer support team.
They will sometimes extend the 14 days to allow you more time to make a buying decision.
Does ActiveCampaign Offer Coupon Codes?
No, ActiveCampaign does not offer any type of coupon code that we could find.
You will pay the monthly price listed on their website.
Does ActiveCampaign Have a Lifetime Deal?
No, ActiveCampaign does not have a lifetime deal available at this time.
You will pay the monthly price for whichever ActiveCampaign plan you choose.
Who Are ActiveCampaign’s Main Alternatives?
Mailchimp, ConvertKit, and Constant Contact represent ActiveCampaign biggest competitors.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is an ActiveCampaign alternative because it offers a similar product.
With Mailchimp, you get most of the ActiveCampaign features, including automation, reporting, segmentation, a visual campaign builder, and integrations.
You can start with Mailchimp for free.
However, the email service provider limits you to send 12,000 emails per month to only 2000 contacts.
If you need more than that, you will need to upgrade to a paid plan.
The most significant distinction between the two is that ActiveCampaign’s features are widely regarded as more robust and more straightforward to use.
ActiveCampaign also has better automation capabilities when compared to Mailchimp.
ConvertKit
ConvertKit is a good ActiveCampaign alternative for bloggers and YouTubers.
A ConvertKit account combines well with other tools such as ThriveThemes.
ConvertKit allows you to segment your audience based on actions they take, such as subscribing to a newsletter, downloading a PDF, or making a purchase.
With ActiveCampaign, you can do this as well.
However, ActiveCampaign is more focused on giving businesses the ability to automate their sales and marketing processes.
The two platforms price themselves similarly, with ActiveCampaign being a little more expensive.
Both ActiveCampaign and ConvertKit offer a free 14-day trial.
Constant Contact
Constant Contact is an ActiveCampaign competitor that’s been around for a long time.
However, the two platforms are quite different from one another.
ActiveCampaign is generally seen as more modern with better automation capabilities, whereas Constant Contact focuses on being easy to use.
Constant Contact’s main features include email marketing, online surveys, and event management.
Pricing is similar between the two platforms, with ActiveCampaign being a little more expensive.
ActiveCampaign offers a free 14-day trial.
Constant Contact offers a 60-day free trial.
How Does ActiveCampaign Differentiate Itself From Competitors?
Rather than focus simply on email marketing, the platform differentiates itself based on marketing automation features.
ActiveCampaign’s approach to marketing automation is more flexible and customizable than many of its competitors.
It offers a wide range of features in this area.
They include automation workflows, contact segmentation, and CRM integrations.
ActiveCampaign also allows users to send targeted emails and create landing pages without having to learn code.
These features make ActiveCampaign an attractive option for businesses that don’t have the budget to hire a developer or marketing agency.
A third way that ActiveCampaign differentiates itself is its pricing model.
The platform offers several different price points, which makes it affordable for businesses of all sizes.
Finally, the free trial helps its prospects feel comfortable giving it a try before making any commitments to a paid plan.
Who Is ActiveCampaign Best For?
ActiveCampaign is best for small businesses and solopreneurs who want a comprehensive email platform.
Why Is ActiveCampaign Best for Small Businesses and Solopreneurs?
ActiveCampaign is best for small businesses and solopreneurs because it offers a comprehensive platform that includes both email marketing and marketing automation features.
ActiveCampaign’s features include the following features that these types of businesses want without breaking the bank.
- Customizable templates
- Segmentation
- Split testing
- Autoresponders;
- Deliverability reporting
Is ActiveCampaign Easy To Use?
ActiveCampaign gives you a user-friendly marketing automation platform.
The interface is clean and straightforward, making it easy to find your way around the platform.
If you run into any difficulty, ActiveCampaign offers excellent customer support, with a team of experts on hand 24/7 to answer any questions.
What Features Do Some Users Love?
ActiveCampaign users love the platform’s ability to track their website visitors and create custom contact forms with just a few clicks.
These features allow businesses to capture more leads and keep track of their website activity in one place.
ActiveCampaign’s marketing automation features are also top-notch, making it easy to create and track complex customer journeys.
Add in ActiveCampaign’s excellent deliverability rates, and you’ve got a platform that works for any business.
What Features Do Some Users Find Frustrating?
Some users become frustrated by the reporting feature.
It can be challenging to use for anyone without experience with data analysis.
However, most email service provider dashboards can seem confusing when it comes to reporting and analytics when you’re new to looking at this type of data.
Give it a little time to become more familiar with what data looks like and how to use it to improve your email marketing plan.
The lack of phone support is another aspect of ActiveCampaign that frustrates some people.
You can’t get phone support from ActiveCampaign unless you’re an Enterprise plan user.
Few small business owners and solopreneurs can invest the money required for the Enterprise plan.
As well, new business owners are more prone to avoid tech issues.
When they run into ActiveCampaign tech issues, they sometimes want someone to guide them on the phone.
If you run into this issue, one way to make the best use of email and chat support is to provide a quick Loom video or a screenshot of the problem.
If you give that to an ActiveCampaign agent, they should quickly help you correct the issue.
Frequently Asked Questions
You may still have a few questions about ActiveCampaign.
Here are the answers to three of the most commonly asked questions about the email service provider.
Can you use ActiveCampaign as a CRM?
Yes, ActiveCampaign’s CRM features are one of the most robust among all email service providers.
You can track your sales pipeline, manage leads, and automate repetitive tasks like follow-ups.
Although we recommended ActiveCampaign to small business owners and solopreneurs above, its CRM capabilities make it a quality choice for sales teams, too.
Does ActiveCampaign integrate with Outlook?
Yes, ActiveCampaign integrates with Outlook with its Outlook Add-in.
You can download the ActiveCampaign Outlook plugin with any ActiveCampaign plan.
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Install the Outlook plugin by opening any email in your Outlook account.
Select the “More Actions” tab.
Next, click on “Get Add-Ins.”
In the search bar that pops up, search for ActiveCampaign.
Then, click “Install,” and you’re all set.
You can also integrate ActiveCampaign and Outlook using Zapier.
Does ActiveCampaign integrate with Facebook?
Yes, ActiveCampaign integrates with Facebook.
You can use ActiveCampaign’s Facebook integration to sync your ActiveCampaign contacts with your Facebook audience.
The integration also allows you to segment your ActiveCampaign list based on interests, demographics, and behaviors from Facebook data.
You can set up the ActiveCampaign/Facebook integration in ActiveCampaign’s integrations section.
After you connect ActiveCampaign to Facebook, you’ll need to give ActiveCampaign permission to access your Facebook account data.
Then, ActiveCampaign will automatically sync your ActiveCampaign contacts with your Facebook audience.Â
Wrapping Up
ActiveCampaign is a comprehensive email service provider that can benefit a wide range of businesses.
It offers an impressive number of features, it’s easy to use, and its customer support is top-notch.
Are you ready to try the ActiveCampaign free trial?
We encourage you to do so here.
After using ActiveCampaign, please come to leave a review in the comments below.