Today I’d like to talk to you about Active Campaign. You’re looking to build an email list, and you’ve come across their name before. You want to know more. What type of service is this and why do you need it? Why is Active Campaign potentially better than some other email marketing/ list management and autoresponder services?
Before we get into the finer points of Active Campaign and why they may or may not be the right company for you, let’s explore a few reasons why it’s important to get a good, solid list manager from the outset.
You’ve probably heard it before: The money is in the list. What does that MEAN? It means that someone who knows you is more likely to buy from you than a person who has never heard of you before. One way to get people to know you is to start emailing them. Communicating with your potential customers warms them up to become your actual customers. Each time you message them, they get to know your brand a bit better. Before you know it, they see your email come in with your name on it, and they feel like they’ve just been paid a visit from an old friend.
No kidding! Email and list building is funny that way. This said… how do you grow your list? You need a company to help you manage all of your contacts. You CANNOT do this from your email inbox. This is for a variety of tech-based reasons that are too complicated to get into here. The short of it is, you’ll find yourself banished to spam land. Plus… once you hit a certain number of contacts, your host will put a stop on your emails from leaving the gate.
The best way to build your list will be to use a reputable autoresponder. What’s an autoresponder? That’s the term used to describe a series of emails, sent at pre-determined intervals. You can send an autoresponder series that teaches people something they want to know… a new, helpful tip and explanation with each email.
You can also send a funnel-type of email autoresponder series – a series of offers, each one more exciting than the next. Doesn’t that sound exciting? Maybe not to you, but to people who want to purchase what you offer, it sure does. They want a deal, and you’re using that autoresponder series to build up a fervor in their inbox. It’s all leading to the crescendo. The big pernil.
What’s the difference between self-hosted, and managed autoresponder solutions?
Self-hosted autoresponders are what you might call bush league. They may at first appeal to you due to the one-time setup fee. These products are owned by smaller companies who can’t run with the big dogs so they put together a wimpy excuse for service that falls short of what you should be getting. Issues with self-hosted autoresponders hinge around deliverability. If you can’t seem to get your emails to hit the inboxes of your end user, you’ll be stuck trying to unravel the mess on your own. That means lots of pleading with other marketers for help, who likely would help you if they had time to spare, but they don’t.
Managed autoresponders deliver more of an integrated and customized, all-inclusive email marketing package. You’ll be able to relax, knowing that you won’t have to deal with permission-based email conflicts. You’ll avoid the hassle of having your emails get stuck in transit, unable to reach the people who signed up and really do want to hear from you. Some managed autoresponder companies may even offer the option to run multiple lists (segmentation) under one user login.
Let’s Explore Active Campaign as Your Managed Autoresponder Solution
Major PERK: Exceptional deliverability.
Active Campaign out-performs competing autoresponder services such as AWeber, ConvertKit, and GetResponse thanks to their exceptional deliverability record. Who doesn’t want an email marketing tool that effectively helps your emails land in subscribers’ inboxes the majority of the time? Look no further than Active Campaign for reliability what is clearly the most important concern of email marketers: will the people who signed up to hear from you actually see your emails?
Major PERK: Free list migration.
Many people who’re just getting into list building and email marketing make the mistake of choosing a company they don’t get a lot of benefit from using. All kinds of problems can crop up. If that happens for long enough, you’re going to want to make the switch… BUT it can be a fairly huge headache if you’ve never done it before, AND you run the risk of peeving and/or losing some of your subscribers.
*But a question to ask yourself is, if someone is likely to become angry and vacate your list, were they ever really a loyal customer to begin with?
Active Campaign will migrate your lists from your current provider to their service, at no extra cost to you. Once you sign up and the migration takes hold, you’ll be able to contact your list from the Active Campaign interface, without any of the extra, harrowing steps that often are required when a marketer decides to jump from one email marketing manager to another.
Before we cover the regular perks of Active Campaign, let me just hit you with the price of their service. This may hasten your decision. I know I always like to cut to the chase, and see how much a company expects me to invest in their service.
How Much Does Active Campaign Cost? Here’s a screen shot of their 2021 pricing:
PERK: Active Campaign offers tons of email templates.
With a whopping 125+ email templates to choose from, you’ll be able to find just the right design to match your brand (or formulate your brand image if you haven’t yet crossed that bridge).
Depending on your niche, it may be incredibly necessary to send HTML-based emails that arrive with images that users can choose to view, plus show your company colors or the hues of your most recent branding campaign.
Other companies such as ConvertKit send mostly text-based emails. Or, if you want to capture a special look for your email, you can expect to shell out big bucks to a designer, then be forced to wait for the final result before you can even begin to start emailing your subscribers.
But with Active Campaign, you can pretty up, perk up or punch up the look and feel of your emails in minutes, with the activation of any number of professional quality email templates. Just load the template, add your customizations, pop in your content and you’re ready to hit send.
PERK: More than 50 Landing Page Templates.
What’s a landing page? That’s the spot where you capture new subscribers. To those not in the know, there should be no exit links from this page once people end up there. The only thing that your landing page should include is a compelling set of reasons why someone might want to sign up for your list, and then a call to action for them to do so. Active Campaign gives you plenty of landing page options that are sure to match the flavor of your brand, or the current product you’re promoting.
It’s true that Active Campaign’s landing pages are much less sophisticated than what you’d get with a page builder that you pay extra for souped-up features. But these days, there’s so much to be distracted by on the web that sometimes simple is the way to go. A clean page, a clear message, and a spot to pop in your email address… that’s all your readers want, and if that works for you, then Active Campaign will surely be a match for your needs.
PERK: Split testing.
You get the option to split-test your email subject lines, message body and more, thanks to Active Campaign’s spit testing option.
PERK: Excellent support
Nothing like running into a major tech snafu with your email list manager and discovering nothing but a cricket chirp in the way of a response. Thankfully, this won’t happen to you if you entrust your list building and email autoresponder functions to Active Campaign. Support is available 24/7, with a Live Chat option. Staff are friendly, helpful, responsive and capable.
PERK: Advanced customization features.
Get ultimate control of your subscribers, emails and lists. Customization is at its finest thanks to the professional quality product you’ll receive from Active Campaign when you choose them as your autoresponder.
PERK: Even more advanced features.
List segmentation, site and event tracking, predictive content, split automation, contact scoring, SMS marketing, and attribution reporting are just some of the exceptional features you’ll find at your fingertips when you go with Active Campaign to manage your email lists and marketing.
What should you be concerned about when considering Active Campaign for your list manager?
The Active Campaign interface is rather clunky and archaic.
Rather than being able to just feel your way through an intuitive platform, you’ll likely find yourself having to pore through tedious tutorials before you can actually begin to use the software productively. That said, having tutorials is better than not having them. Once you get past the learning curve, you’ll be on your way to expediting emails in a timely fashion.
Active Campaign can be challenging to internet marketing newbies.
This, again, is because of their failure to employ a more intuitive interface that users would be able to walk through without needing a lot of instruction and explanation. If you’re new to internet marketing, the overwhelming number of options and choices may overwhelm and confuse you, and you could find yourself throwing in the towel before you even get going.
Active Campaign leaps in price from the basic (Lite) package to the Plus and Professional service levels.
Another strike against Active Campaign: they share conflicting messages about affiliate marketing. If you plan to send lots of affiliate links in your emails, you might want to go with a different company that is more permissive in this area, such as Aweber or GetResponse.
Will Active Campaign be Right for Your Autoresponder and Email Marketing Needs?
This is something to consider thoroughly before making your final choice. Basic email marketing may not require some of the advanced features that are included with Active Campaign. But if it’s time to upgrade to a more robust platform, this could be the ideal choice.