Marketing Automation Archives - Act-On

Marketo vs Eloqua: Features, Flaws & the Better Choice

Act-On — Thu, 15 May 2025 17:09:21 +0000

When enterprise teams evaluate marketing automation solutions, it often comes down to the Marketo vs Eloqua showdown. These two legacy platforms have a combined 40+ years on the market, but a lot has changed since their founding — not always for the better.

Once independent innovators, both platforms are now small pieces in the vast portfolios of tech giants Adobe and Oracle. And according to longtime customers, it shows: users report steep declines in service quality and user experience while costs continue to rise.

Don’t let legacy platforms rest on their laurels. Choosing the right marketing automation platform (MAP) makes a huge impact on your team’s performance — so let’s go beyond the usual feature comparisons and consider what real users and marketing automation experts have to say.

Advantages of Marketo vs Eloqua

Both platforms position themselves as enterprise powerhouses, but each has its distinct strengths and weaknesses. Marketo’s primary advantages over Eloqua are relative: it’s cheaper, and its learning curve isn’t quite as steep.

Eloqua is widely considered the most expensive MAP on the market and requires massive enterprise resources (like marketing ops, IT support, implementation specialists, and outside consultants) to implement over several months, plus weeks of training to learn campaign basics.

“Eloqua is not intuitive and rather hard to learn. It is a tool that needs to be known and managed by dedicated IT specialists.” – Irina M., Marketing Manager

Compared to Eloqua, Marketo is more affordable and easier to implement — but as we’ll discuss in a minute, that’s not saying much.

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Advantages of Eloqua vs Marketo

While Eloqua’s complexity makes it harder to use, that’s also where it outperforms Marketo — supporting enterprise needs for multinational, multichannel, and multi-brand organizations.

“If you want to set up complex nurture workflows, Eloqua has the edge there. Its Campaign Canvas makes this process far easier than daisy-chaining together smart campaigns in Marketo. [Marketo’s] built-in nurture engagement programs are very basic and can only execute emails on a linear basis.” – G2 verified user

Since Eloqua comes with a hefty price tag, it’s probably not worth the investment for organizations that don’t require this level of complexity to achieve their marketing goals.

Features & Fine Print

Both platforms come with a lot of functionality, provided you pay for all the requisite top-tier packages and add-ons. But take these differences into consideration:

Campaign building: Most users say Marketo’s Smart Campaigns are more straightforward but less flexible than Eloqua’s Campaign Canvas. Eloqua visualizes complex, multi-directional decision-based campaigns in one location, while Marketo requires breaking workflows into multiple smaller campaigns.
Form capabilities: Marketo offers more flexibility with forms, allowing users to create and sort picklists directly without creating new objects. Eloqua requires creating separate picklists for each dropdown variation.
Data management: Especially for Oracle users, Eloqua provides more robust data handling with unlimited API calls, while Marketo users face API limits and data synchronization challenges. However, Marketo offers more custom fields on lead records (Eloqua caps at 250).

Common Flaws

What do these platforms have in common? Customer complaints around total cost, support, and user experience.

1. Cost transparency

Both platforms come with significant costs beyond their already-expensive base subscriptions. Marketo’s pricing increases with database size and add-on features, while Eloqua limits core functionality and contact volumes at its lower pricing tiers. And both platforms’ complexity typically requires outside consultants and certified experts, driving up total cost of ownership.

“Marketo has a lot of pain points. The email and landing page editors are nearly useless and we have to employ outside tools to build templates which is an added expense… to get the full value we have hired consultants because Marketo support is not helpful – another added expense.” – Gabriella W.

“[Eloqua] training that’s worthwhile is very expensive. The platform itself is also quite costly for what you get compared to other similar platforms.” – G2 verified user, financial services

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2. Strategic customer support

With each platform, customers complain that support — especially beyond entry-level troubleshooting — has noticeably declined post-acquisition. Adobe’s catch-all support teams lack marketing automation expertise, while Oracle’s revised portal-based system doesn’t win many fans.

“There have been times when I’d need to go back and forth with the [Marketo] agent in order to explain something again and again until they understand.” – Pavel I.

“The [Eloqua] customer success team has shown a significant decline over the last few years. We are a large account and with the constant re-org that occurs, we’ve lost the “white gloves” we have had for the last 12 years and have seen engagement only to “buy this, or that, or upgrade to this” but consistent unresponsiveness to our daily needs.” – Gartner reviewer, Sr. Manager of Marketing Automation

3. User experience

Since their acquisitions, both platforms show signs of neglect. Users report inconsistent interfaces, dated features, and a lack of response to longstanding feature requests. While Marketo may be marginally easier to use than Eloqua, both tools make even daily tasks unnecessarily complex.

“The [Eloqua] UI is inconsistent across the platform. It’s pretty obvious that there are some tools that haven’t been updated in a long time.” – Tyler Haire, marketing automation consultant

“Uploading and tracking files and images, email building, webinar events — everything lacks the intuitive user experience that many of Marketo’s competitors have.” – G2 verified user, information technology and services

Marketo vs Eloqua: The Final Verdict

Neither Marketo nor Eloqua deliver a user-friendly marketing automation solution, and both require significant investment in resource, training, and support.

But given these two legacy options, think about:

Eloqua if you’re a large enterprise with complex multi-brand or multinational campaign needs, have dedicated IT resources, and can justify the highest price tag in marketing automation.
Marketo if you need enterprise-grade capabilities but don’t require Eloqua’s level of complexity, and still have budget for specialists and add-on features to work around limitations.

The truth is, these legacy platforms no longer represent the latest and greatest in marketing automation. Rather than settling for dated interfaces and declining support, consider working with a partner who doesn’t treat marketing automation as a side project. Act-On delivers sophisticated, enterprise-ready marketing automation with the innovation, ease of use, and dedicated support your team deserves. Learn more about how Act-On stacks up against Marketo and Eloqua.

Marketo vs. Pardot: Battle of the Tech Behemoths

Act-On — Fri, 18 Apr 2025 22:07:07 +0000

Comparing two of the biggest names in marketing automation means finding a lot more similarities than differences. Pardot, now Salesforce’s Marketing Cloud Account Engagement, and Marketo, now Adobe Marketo Engage, are both legacy platforms acquired by tech behemoths.

And with the right mix of premium services and add-ons, both offer the basics of marketing automation: email and multichannel marketing, campaign management, automation, lead nurturing, and analytics. This means a side-by-side Marketo vs. Pardot feature comparison won’t give you the full picture of each platform’s strengths and weaknesses.

So to understand whether one of these platforms is the right fit for your team (and budget), let’s hear from real users and industry experts who understand not only what these tools can do, but what it’s actually like to use them day-to-day.

Key advantages of Marketo vs. Pardot

Each platform comes with its own advantages — and trade-offs.

A. Marketo’s edge: power and scalability

Marketo takes the win over Pardot when it comes to power and scalability. Customers complain that Pardot is missing some advanced automation features, and requires a lot of manual work to clone programs or manage global regions.

“The Pardot feature set is not on par with Marketo. Many more nuanced capabilities, like Pardot’s automation rules, require extensive manual duplication and setup.” – Jeff H., Director, Marketing

B. Pardot’s strength: UI and Salesforce integration

Pardot’s advantage is its Salesforce ecosystem integration. When properly configured, marketing data syncs quickly with Salesforce opportunities and helps align sales and marketing teams. And compared to Marketo, most customers consider Pardot more intuitive.

“Coming from Marketo [to Pardot], it is night and day…Marketo STILL looks like it was developed with Windows 95, steep learning curve, and prone to errors.” – John C., Director

Two caveats here:

Pardot only integrates natively with Salesforce, while Marketo offers native integrations with both Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics.
The Pardot-Salesforce integration isn’t flawless: some customers complain it still requires complex set-up and lacks key capabilities, like custom objects.

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Differences in features

Look closely, and you will find a few differences in features that could impact your decision-making.

Reporting: Marketo offers advanced, customizable reporting, but building dashboards requires expertise. Pardot provides simpler out-of-the-box reporting, with advanced ROI analytics requiring Salesforce configuration.
Ready-made templates: Marketo includes ready-made templates; Pardot requires HTML knowledge and often consultant support.
Forms: Marketo’s Global Forms enable easier form scaling; Pardot requires individual form creation. Most experts agree Marketo’s form-fill follow-up actions are cumbersome to set up, but provide more flexibility — while Pardot’s are easier but more limited. (Sensing a theme here?)
Lead scoring: Pardot separates lead behaviors (Score) from demographics (Grade); Marketo combines both into one score.

Common challenges of Marketo and Pardot

Finally, let’s unpack a few more similarities: shared criticisms around user-friendliness and customer service.

A. Ease of use

While customers describe Pardot’s interface as more intuitive, both platforms present major usability challenges. Common tasks often require outside consultants or specialists, slowing down in-house teams.

“The [Marketo] user interface is massively outdated and the functionality is poor and complex. This leads to high internal personnel costs in the operation of Marketo and correspondingly low productivity!” – G2 verified user in mid-market IT

“Resourcing [Pardot] can be difficult and costly. There is a learning curve to new marketers learning how to navigate marketing automation. Pardot typically requires a full-time admin to administer.” – Jeff Kemp, Founder and Principal Consultant at Optimal Business Consulting

Evaluating marketing automation platforms? Marketo vs. Pardot is a classic match up.

B. Customer service

Post-acquisition, customers complain that support has gone downhill for both platforms. Users often face lengthy ticket queues, poor documentation, and catch-all support teams — if they’re even able to get in touch with a human. Premium support plans can help, but significantly increase costs.

“[Marketo] customer service can’t manage to fix any problems or even follow up with us on basic requests. Their service team has even actually created problems for us by implementing things incorrectly in the past and then took weeks to fix it.” – G2 verified user, Marketing and Advertising

“If something [in Pardot] is broken, we file a ticket and get an autoresponse a couple of days later. But if we need help figuring out how to solve something, we are left to navigate a totally broken help center and poke around outdated “community” posts. It’s a nightmare.” – Gartner reviewer, VP Marketing

The final verdict

The anticlimactic truth: there’s no one-size-fits-all winner here.

With the right budget and resourcing, both Marketo and Pardot can get the job of marketing automation done — and both leave a lot to be desired around customer support and usability.

But between the two, think about choosing:

Marketo if you have dedicated in-house Marketo experts (and budget to replace them if they leave), plenty of time to set up customizable programs and reporting, and lots of advanced use cases that will justify top-tier feature packages and add-ons.
Pardot if you are 100% locked into Salesforce, don’t need a lot of advanced automation, and have ample budget for outside consultants and premium support packages.

However — if you want to achieve your marketing automation goals without compromising on service or user experience, consider looking beyond legacy players that have been bought up by tech giants. Act-On is an advanced but easy-to-use platform focused exclusively on marketing automation.

To learn more, check out how Act-On stacks up against Marketo and Pardot.

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Act-On vs HubSpot Marketing Automation: A Comprehensive Comparison

Act-On — Tue, 25 Mar 2025 16:50:51 +0000

Marketing automation platforms have become indispensable for businesses seeking to engage audiences, nurture leads, and streamline their marketing workflows. Act-On and HubSpot are top contenders, each offering unique tools to support marketing teams in automating campaigns, tracking engagement, and maximizing conversions. We researched and tested them to help you decide which platform best aligns with your needs.

Act-On is a marketing automation platform designed for companies that need an easy-to-use solution with human-to-human support and hands-on onboarding. This allows them to fully customize the platform to their specific needs without paying for expensive consultants. Its key strengths are flexibility, powerful analytics, and strong automation capabilities for B2B marketers. Unlike HubSpot, Act-On is built to integrate seamlessly into your existing ecosystem, offering compatibility with nearly any CRM or data platform. Overall, Act-On is tailored for marketers with more nuanced needs that mainstream platforms can’t meet. Its transparent pricing model is ideal for those seeking scalability, offering robust features without hidden costs.

On the other hand, HubSpot is a widely recognized all-in-one CRM with marketing automation that’s very modular and flexible. It offers powerful CRM capabilities with marketing, sales, customer service, and e-commerce add-ons that can be selected a la carte. It’s a streamlined solution for the average marketer who needs an automation platform that can perform general marketing tasks. However, HubSpot’s approach is to get you into its ecosystem, so it doesn’t integrate well with third-party solutions. Moreover, it has a hands-off, self-service customer support approach for non-enterprise users.

In this article, we’ll examine the strengths and weaknesses of Act-On vs Hubspot in the following categories:

Customer support
Email & automated workflows
CRM & integrations
Analytics & reporting
Pricing & scalability

Let’s dive into the details, starting with a complete overview of the comparison in the table below:

Comparison Summary: Act-On vs. HubSpot

Category
Customer Support	Prioritizes human-to-human customer support for all plans and even offers 24/7 live assistance as a paid option. Offers personalized onboarding, migration services, and ongoing strategy sessions. Ideal for businesses that value hands-on guidance and comprehensive support.	Self-service support with a tiered system based on plan levels. Free users rely on forums and a knowledge base, while paid plans include chat and email support. HubSpot Academy offers extensive tutorials and certifications. Great for small teams that prefer DIY resources.
Email & Automated Workflows	Advanced email design system with dynamic content blocks, multi-variant testing, and custom coding. Flexible workflows support complex branching logic, multi-channel campaigns, and deep personalization. Excellent for marketers managing sophisticated campaigns across channels.	Simple drag-and-drop email builder with responsive templates. Conditional workflows are beginner-friendly but limited in complexity. Basic A/B testing for email campaigns. Suitable for straightforward campaigns and small teams.
CRM & Integrations	Robust native integrations with major CRMs like Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, and SugarCRM. Includes bi-directional sync, automated data cleansing, and API support for custom integrations. Perfect for businesses with diverse tech stacks or complex data requirements.	HubSpot’s built-in CRM integrates seamlessly with its ecosystem. External integrations (ex., Salesforce) require premium plans and paid consultants to set them up correctly. Best suited for businesses using the full HubSpot suite.
Analytics & Reporting	Advanced analytics suite powered by AI, including predictive analytics and engagement scoring. Customizable metrics and rich visualization options like heat maps and live boards. Exceptional for teams needing enterprise-grade analytics and actionable insights.	Over 170 pre-built templates for reporting. Custom dashboards and AI-generated summaries offer accessible insights but are limited in depth. Visualization tools are basic. Works well for smaller teams needing quick and easy reporting.
Pricing	Starts at $900/month, allowing for unlimited database size with full historical tracking, while charging only for contacts actively marketed to each month. All essential features are included upfront with no hidden costs, making it a transparent and scalable solution.	Starts at $20/month but imposes strict limits on active marketing contacts. Users must delete contacts, losing historical data, or pay significantly more to expand their database. Costs also rise quickly with added features, integrations, and advanced tools, making it far less transparent.
Scalability & Flexibility	Exceptionally scalable with robust flexibility for workflows, integrations, and analytics. Act-On’s Marketing Network feature provides parent-child instances for distributed teams, agencies, and OEMs. Tailored for growing enterprises and businesses with unique, evolving requirements.	Designed for small to mid-sized businesses with straightforward workflows. Limitations like contact-based pricing, seat restrictions, and locked features reduce its flexibility, particularly for enterprises or complex organizations. Must pay extra for parent-child instances.
Security	Comprehensive security, including multi-factor authentication, email alerts, ISO 27001 certification, and HIPAA compliance. A strong choice for enterprises requiring rigorous security measures.	Standard features include two-factor authentication, SSL, and user permissions. Adequate for most SMBs but lacks enterprise-grade certifications.

Customer Experience & Support: A Tale of Two Approaches

When choosing a marketing platform, support can make or break your experience. After all, you want a partner that helps you drive meaningful results. Let’s see how Act-On and HubSpot stack up when it comes to supporting their users.

Act-On: Hands-On Guidance Every Step of the Way

Act-On’s customer support strategy is built around one idea: proactive partnership. Every client, regardless of their subscription tier, has access to live, human-to-human support. But they don’t stop there. You’re assigned a dedicated customer success manager who will help you through onboarding, guide your strategy, and ensure you’re maximizing the platform’s value. Need help migrating your data? Act-On can handle it. Unsure how to optimize your campaigns? They’ll walk you through it step by step.

Act-On also offers regular strategy sessions tailored to your business goals and robust documentation to empower your team. This high-touch approach ensures you’re never left feeling stuck or unsupported. Plus, Act-On actively listens to user feedback, frequently rolling out updates that reflect what their customers need most.

If you’re an enterprise or mid-sized business that values close guidance and reliable expertise, Act-On’s approach feels like having a trusted partner right by your side.

HubSpot: Self-Service Marketing Automation with Scalable Options

HubSpot takes a different approach. Its support model scales with your subscription level, offering varying degrees of assistance. Free users have access to an impressive knowledge base packed with FAQs, tutorials, and resources from HubSpot Academy. This DIY-friendly model empowers teams that prefer to learn as they go.

For paid users, support becomes more hands-on: chat and email assistance are available, and enterprise clients can access dedicated account managers. However, onboarding and migration support are more limited than those provided by Act-On. HubSpot’s self-service ethos works best for small teams or businesses comfortable navigating technical challenges with the help of guides and forums.

The Verdict

When it comes to customer experience, Act-On is the clear leader for organizations that value personalized guidance and proactive support. HubSpot is better suited for teams comfortable with self-service options or those operating on smaller budgets.

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Email & Automated Workflows: Balancing Power and Simplicity

Email is still one of the most effective tools in a marketer’s arsenal, but the platform you choose can make or break your campaigns. Let’s dive into how Act-On and HubSpot approach email and automated workflows.

Act-On: Powerful Capabilities with Ease

Act-On stands out as an easy-to-use platform built for marketers who demand precision and control. Its email design system is packed with advanced capabilities that allow for highly customized, professional campaigns. In addition to simplistic drag-and-drop email builders, Act-On also offers many customization options like dynamic content blocks, custom HTML, and CSS editing. With Act-On, you can easily create messages tailored to every audience segment.

Act-On’s segmentation capabilities deserve a special mention. Using behavioral triggers, demographic data, and engagement history, you can create deeply personalized campaigns. These aren’t just one-off emails—they’re part of sophisticated workflows that can span multiple channels, including email, SMS, and web. Unlike HubSpot, there’s no need to create a new list for each and every task at hand.

The workflow builder is equally robust, offering complex branching logic to enable multi-step campaigns. For example, if a prospect opens an email but doesn’t click the call-to-action, Act-On can automatically trigger a follow-up email with a revised offer. And if they do click? The workflow can route them to a different, tailored sequence altogether.

Act-On also excels at deliverability optimization, which ensures your emails land in the inbox, not the spam folder. Built-in tools flag potential issues, and integrations with industry-leading services like Litmus and SpamAssassin provide added layers of analysis. For testing, Act-On supports multi-variant experiments on subject lines, body content, and visuals, giving marketers the actionable data they need to evaluate and improve performance.

HubSpot: Simple but Limiting

HubSpot’s email marketing automation capabilities are designed with simplicity in mind. Its drag-and-drop email builder offers a wide selection of responsive templates, making it easy for teams without design expertise to create professional-looking emails. Personalization options, powered by HubSpot’s CRM, allow users to insert dynamic fields like first names or recent purchase details.

For automation, HubSpot offers a visual workflow builder. While it supports basic conditional logic, such as “if a lead downloads a white paper, send a follow-up email”, it lacks the depth of Act-On’s branching logic. This makes it ideal for simpler campaigns, like nurturing a lead through a standard funnel or onboarding new customers. Additionally, HubSpot defaults to lists for segmentation, which is far less sophisticated than Act-On’s behavioral and demographic-based segmentation options.

A/B testing is supported for single-step campaigns, but the platform doesn’t extend this functionality to multi-step workflows. Additionally, HubSpot’s deliverability tools are limited compared to Act-On’s integrations and monitoring features. While HubSpot works well for straightforward campaigns, marketers managing complex workflows may find its limitations frustrating.

The Verdict

If your business relies on sophisticated, multi-channel campaigns and highly personalized email marketing, Act-On is the clear winner. It provides the depth, flexibility, and tools needed to execute complex workflows effectively.

HubSpot, on the other hand, works for teams that prioritize using one system for both CRM and marketing automation. If you’re already working within HubSpot’s ecosystem and don’t require advanced customization, HubSpot marketing automation might suffice.

CRM & Integrations: Flexibility vs. Ecosystem

When it comes to CRM and integrations, the ability to connect seamlessly with other tools can make a huge difference in your marketing success. Let’s explore how Act-On and HubSpot handle this critical aspect.

Act-On: Built for Flexibility

Act-On is like the marketing automation equivalent of a master key, which fits seamlessly into a variety of systems and workflows. The platform offers native connectors for major CRMs like Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, and SugarCRM, along with real-time, bi-directional sync capabilities. This ensures that your marketing and sales teams are always working with up-to-date information, no matter which system they’re in.

But Act-On doesn’t stop at out-of-the-box integrations. Its open API architecture allows developers to create custom connectors, enabling businesses to integrate with niche tools or proprietary platforms. For organizations managing complex data structures, Act-On supports custom objects and field mappings, giving you full control over how your data flows between systems.

Other standout features include Act-On’s automated data cleansing and enrichment tools, which help maintain data accuracy and consistency. Let’s say you’re working with a sprawling customer database: Act-On can automatically identify duplicates, fill in missing fields, and ensure your data is campaign-ready. This reduces manual workload and keeps your campaigns running smoothly.

For businesses with intricate tech stacks and unique needs, Act-On’s emphasis on flexibility and integration capabilities makes it a powerhouse solution.

HubSpot: An Extensive but Closed–Ecosystem

HubSpot takes a different approach: rather than integrating into every system out there, it offers its own built-in CRM as the foundation of its platform. For teams already using HubSpot’s suite of tools, this all-in-one ecosystem offers simplicity and convenience. Everything from email marketing to customer service lives in one place, with data flowing seamlessly between modules.

External integrations, however, are more limited. While HubSpot offers many connectors for tools like Salesforce, these integrations often require additional costs or come with restrictions unless you’re on a premium plan. For example, Salesforce integration doesn’t include full functionality unless you upgrade to a higher-tier subscription.

HubSpot’s API capabilities are robust enough for straightforward use cases, but they aren’t ideal for businesses with complex data needs. Features like custom objects and advanced field mappings are locked behind higher-priced subscription tiers. For smaller businesses with simpler workflows, this may not be a dealbreaker, but larger organizations could find it limiting.

The Verdict

If your business already relies on tools like Salesforce or you need advanced customization, Act-On is the clear choice. Its flexibility, robust API, and automated data management tools make it a natural fit for organizations with complex CRM requirements.

However, if you’re looking for a one-stop-shop solution and don’t want to worry about third-party integrations, HubSpot marketing automation excels. Its built-in CRM and ecosystem approach suits smaller companies and those looking for a single platform.

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Analytics & Reporting: Depth vs. Simplicity

Data drives decisions, but the right analytics tools can mean the difference between surface-level insights and game-changing revelations. Let’s break down how Act-On and HubSpot approach analytics and reporting.

Act-On: Advanced Insights at Your Fingertips

Act-On is built for marketers who need actionable insights. The platform’s AI-powered analytics suite goes beyond traditional reporting by incorporating advanced features like predictive analytics and customer engagement scoring. For example, Act-On can identify which prospects are most likely to convert based on their behavior, helping your team prioritize efforts where they’ll have the biggest impact.

Customization is another key strength. Act-On allows users to define their own metrics, ensuring you can measure the KPIs that matter most to your business. Whether you’re tracking the ROI of a multi-channel campaign or analyzing engagement by customer segment, Act-On gives you the flexibility to tailor reports to your goals.

Visualization tools are equally impressive. From heat maps and geo-mapping to interactive dashboards, Act-On’s reports are designed to make data digestible and actionable. The platform’s live boards take things a step further, transforming raw data into clear, real-time insights. Imagine having a dashboard that not only shows you what’s happening but also highlights trends and opportunities you might have missed.

For enterprise users, Act-On’s advanced analytics capabilities are a game-changer, offering the depth and granularity needed to improve performance at every level.

HubSpot: Accessible but Lacking Depth

HubSpot’s analytics tools are designed with simplicity in mind. Even if you’re not a data expert, you can quickly pull together reports using the platform’s extensive library of over 170 pre-built templates. These templates cover common needs like email performance, website traffic, and lead generation, making it easy to track key metrics without starting from scratch.

However, HubSpot’s focus on simplicity comes with some trade-offs. The platform’s visualization options are more basic, including bar charts and line graphs rather than heat maps or interactive dashboards. While this works well for straightforward reporting, it might feel limiting for teams that rely on more advanced analytics to drive strategy.

Data source integration is another area where HubSpot shows its limitations. Lower-tier plans restrict the ability to pull in data from external sources, and export options are similarly limited unless you’re on a higher plan. For small to mid-sized businesses, this may not be an issue, but enterprise users could find it restrictive.

That said, HubSpot marketing automation does leverage AI to assist with content optimization, offering suggestions for improving campaigns based on reporting results. It’s a nice touch, but it doesn’t quite match the depth of Act-On’s AI-powered insights.

The Verdict

For organizations that need deep, customizable analytics and advanced visualization tools, Act-On is the clear leader. Its ability to provide actionable, granular insights makes it an invaluable resource for data-driven marketers.

HubSpot, on the other hand, is better for teams that don’t require advanced analytics. If your reporting needs are straightforward and you’re looking for pre-built simplicity, HubSpot delivers.

Pricing & Scalability: Transparency vs. Growth Costs

When choosing a marketing automation platform, it’s important to consider associated costs and long-term scalability. Here’s how Act-On and HubSpot compare when it comes to pricing and scaling with your business.

Act-On: Transparent and Predictable

Act-On keeps its pricing straightforward, which is a breath of fresh air in a world where hidden fees often sneak up on you. Plans start at $900 per month, and what you pay is based solely on your active contacts, not your entire database. This means you’re only charged for the contacts you’re actively marketing to, which can lead to significant cost savings as your business grows.

One of Act-On’s biggest strengths is that all essential marketing automation features are included upfront. There’s no need to upgrade to higher tiers to access tools like multi-channel workflows or AI-driven analytics. While Act-On does offer premium add-ons such as InSite AI Web Agent, advanced analytics, and 24/7 customer support, the associated costs are transparent from the start. For enterprise organizations with large contact databases, this predictability makes budgeting and long-term planning much easier.

Act-On’s Marketing Network feature further enhances scalability, allowing organizations to easily add multiple instances with ease. This parent-child instance setup provides full control over permissions and enables shared marketing assets, ensuring consistency and efficiency across multiple business units or teams.

For businesses looking to scale, Act-On’s pricing model eliminates cost uncertainty. You know exactly what you’re paying for, which makes it an attractive option for companies that value financial clarity.

HubSpot: Low Entry, High Growth Costs

HubSpot’s pricing strategy starts low, which is great for small businesses dipping their toes into marketing automation. The Starter plan begins at just $20 per month, offering essential features like email marketing and basic CRM tools. However, as your business grows and your needs expand, costs can add up quickly.

HubSpot charges based on the number of marketing users and the total size of your contact database, not just your active contacts. This means that your bill grows as your audience grows, even if you’re not actively engaging with every contact on a monthly basis. Additionally, access to advanced features such as multi-channel workflows, advanced reporting, or custom integrations requires upgrading to higher-tier plans. Child instances also come at an increased cost and setup between instances often requires consultants.

For example, integrating with Salesforce or enabling custom objects comes at an extra cost, making HubSpot less budget-friendly for larger businesses or those with complex requirements. While the lower entry point is ideal for small teams, the steep scaling costs can become a challenge for rapidly growing organizations.

The Verdict

If you’re looking for pricing that’s transparent and scales predictably, Act-On is the winner. Its active-contact-based model, unlimited parent-child instances, and full-feature access upfront make it a cost-effective choice for mid-sized to enterprise businesses.

HubSpot, on the other hand, is ideal for small businesses or teams just starting with marketing automation. Its low entry price is hard to beat, but expect rising costs as your needs evolve.

Conclusion: Which Platform is Right for You?

Choosing between Act-On and HubSpot marketing automation ultimately comes down to your business’s unique needs, priorities, and resources.

Act-On is perfect for businesses that need enterprise-grade functionality, such as advanced customization, sophisticated workflows, and deep analytics. In most cases, it’s the best choice for companies who don’t have HubSpot CRM. It’s also a great fit for organizations that value hands-on support, scalability, and transparent pricing.
HubSpot prioritizes using one ecosystem for marketing automation and CRM. It’s ideal for small to mid-sized businesses or those just starting with marketing automation and willing to trade depth for simplicity.

Both platforms offer powerful features but they cater to different needs. The ideal choice depends on your growth goals, technical requirements, and the type of relationship you want with your marketing automation provider.

To make the best decision, consider scheduling a personalized demo and discussing tailored pricing options.

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Six Signs It’s Time to Break Up With Your Marketing Automation Platform

Act-On — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 22:23:37 +0000

That nagging feeling that something’s not quite right. That little voice in your head saying you deserve better. That slowly rising sense of dread when you log into your user account.

You guessed it—there may be trouble in marketing automation paradise.

Seriously, though: when you choose marketing automation software, you’re choosing an important partner. Teams invest a ton of time and considerable resources into their automation solutions. They power crucial campaigns, collect important behavioral data, and act as a foundational piece of your marketing tech stack.

A better marketing automation platform (MAP) should support you, inspire you, and empower you to do your best marketing work and be your best marketer self.

But that’s not always the case. Sometimes teams get stuck with legacy solutions, products that have degraded over time, or perfectly fine software that just can’t keep up with their growth.

Sound familiar? Read on for six signs that it may be time for marketing automation platform migration.

^{Don’t let subpar marketing automation software break your heart.}

They aren’t fun to spend time with

If you groan internally when you load your marketing automation software, that’s a red flag—but you’re not alone. Many users of legacy or bloated marketing automation platforms report that clunky interfaces, finicky email editors, or restrictive landing page templates can make it downright frustrating to build out a campaign.

It’s not supposed to be this way. Your marketing automation software should help you feel more creative, strategic, and good at your job. No tool is perfect, but on the whole, you should actually enjoy the time you spend in your marketing automation platform. Drag-and-drop editors, intuitive journey builders, robust reporting, and simple navigation all go a long way toward making marketing automation fun and rewarding.

So next time you find yourself cursing your software under your breath, stop and ask yourself: Do you really want to spend your one wild and precious marketing life with software you don’t even like using? If the answer is no, marketing automation platform migration is the best and only way forward.

(And what about employee retention? If you’re forcing team members to spend hours every week in a tool they hate…how long will they stick around?)

They don’t get along with your other MarTech friends

We’ve all had a friend who started dating someone new and exciting—then slowly dropped off the face of the earth. And we’ve all worried about that friend, because we know that good, healthy relationships mean making an effort to be friends with your partner’s friends.

The same goes for your MAP—especially because marketing automation is designed to work across many channels and components of your tech stack. In order to successfully orchestrate campaigns, you need to integrate your marketing automation platform with solutions including:

Business intelligence tools
URL shorteners
Web analytics providers
Ad platforms
Webinar hosting software
ABM providers
Third-party connectors like Zapier

It’s especially important that your marketing automation platform get along well with your best friend: your CRM. That particular integration must be robust enough to enable more advanced marketing automation techniques like lead scoring and lead management, and to keep your marketing and sales teams well-aligned.

But if your current marketing automation platform won’t play nice with your other MarTech friends, then your campaigns, your attribution tracking, and your overall performance will suffer. And you may miss out on exciting opportunities when new technology or practices emerge that your stubborn MAP refuses to consider.

In other words, when your MAP insists on only integrating with their friends, something’s wrong and it’s a clear sign it’s time for a marketing automation platform migration. Because your marketing strategy—not your automation platform—should dictate your tech stack.

Email Marketing v1

The growth of your business hinges on your ability to attract, nurture, and convert leads. Act-On’s automated lead generation gives you everything required to nurture an unknown prospect into a happy, loyal customer.

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They don’t support your growth

Like a good partner, a good marketing automation platform should help you grow and cheer on your every success. But thanks to lopsided pricing structures, it may feel like your MAP punishes you for doing well.

Maybe this rings a bell: you’ve found success in your campaigns (nicely done!). You’ve signed up more subscribers to your newsletter, generated more leads from your gated content, and added more contacts to your system. But then your next billing cycle rolls around. You discover you’ve crossed a threshold within your marketing automation contract. Suddenly your bill jumps significantly—maybe even pushing you into an enterprise subscription.

And the worst part? Some of those contacts are a bit older, and not even active in your current campaigns. Just as you were celebrating your growth, you find yourself paying more—a lot more—to essentially store some data.

This tier-based pricing is common among many marketing automation platoforms. But there’s a better way: only paying for the contacts you actually market to. That way, you have the freedom and support to grow your audience without leapfrogging into a prohibitively expensive subscription level.

Growing your audience is the reason you started a marketing automation program in the first place. It should be cause for celebration—not suddenly put you in a position of needing to re-justify a software expense or ask for more room in your budget.

Why not find a provider that makes you feel supported, not punished, for achieving the exact outcomes their software promised?

They never take your calls

If your marketing automation provider never picks up the phone when you call (or won’t even give you their direct number in the first place), you may not feel like a priority. And we hate to break it to you…but you’re probably right.

Too many marketing automation vendors, especially the ones owned by larger tech companies, treat customer support like a cost center rather than an opportunity to help you get the most value from their product. Instead of answering your call or returning your email with a personal answer, their chatbots send you a blog post, a video, or a homework assignment to sift through a community forum. Best case scenario? You get a prized spot in a lengthy ticketing queue.

Call us old-fashioned, but we think your partner in marketing automation should answer the phone when you call. With a real human on the other end of the line. Who’s knowledgeable about marketing automation. And won’t charge you extra for the help they give.

Sound like too much to ask for? It’s not. We promise you deserve it. It’s just become normalized to expect AI-assisted, cost-effective, tech-driven service instead of human-first support.

You deserve a marketing automation software team who listens thoughtfully to your questions, respects your time, and makes you feel like a priority when you reach out for help. Just like any good relationship.

They always surprise you (when the bill comes due)

In a healthy partnership, it’s normal to have honest conversations about how you handle finances and what you’ll be contributing to your shared budget. With your marketing automation partner, you should expect to pay for your subscription—but if you’re regularly caught off guard by upcharges, something’s not right.

Maybe you’re in a situation where your marketing automation platform charges extra for “added features” you might expect to be included in core functionality (reporting, event marketing, custom data objects). Or maybe you’re continually forced to retain expensive consultants, pay for additional support and training, or hire designers to build custom templates—because the platform is too complex to manage in-house.

Being cagey about money is a red flag in any relationship. When it comes to pricing, you deserve transparency and fairness from your marketing automation provider.

They’ve stopped putting in the work

^{Enough of the marketing automation heartbreak! There has to be a better way.}

If you’ve been with your marketing automation platform for a long time, you’ve probably seen some changes over the years. And ideally, those changes skew positive over time—but some automation solutions simply aren’t aging well.

That’s because many once-great platforms have been acquired by large tech companies like Salesforce, Adobe, and Oracle. And their longtime customers tend to report some common trends:

Fewer new features
Less frequent release cycles
Declining interest in customer feedback
Poorer customer support experiences
Bloated interfaces and slower load times

Marketing automation is a complex business, and doing it well takes a relentless focus on innovation, product improvements, and user feedback. When a specialized tool gets swallowed up by a larger platform and added to a laundry list of solutions, unfortunately, that innovation can become an afterthought.

If you’ve been waiting for months or even years for your longtime platform to change course and start improving, you may be stuck in a dead-end relationship that can only be resolved with a marketing automation platform migration.

Just like people, companies can always change…but we wouldn’t count on it.

Ready for marketing automation platform migration?

If these questions have you feeling down about your current marketing automation provider, just remember: it’s not you, it’s them. Book your Act-On Demo today!

Act-On Leads the Competition in Revenue Automation Capabilities

Act-On — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 08:00:00 +0000

The revenue automation has been evolving at a breakneck pace in recent years, especially in the B2B space. What worked just a few years ago may no longer pass muster as a mix of AI disruption, increased demands from boardrooms and investors, and changing buyer behaviors scramble the conventional wisdom for marketers everywhere.

Fortunately, marketers can start catching up to these moving goalposts with strategic shifts in their MarTech investments. According to top analysts, fewer than 20% of marketers are satisfied with their marketing automation platform.

What’s amiss, and which providers are offering the functionality customers want? Let’s jump in.

Why Most Marketers are Unhappy with Their Marketing Automation

Every year, the independent technology consulting firm Research in Action conducts an extensive survey of over ten-thousand business leaders to take the pulse on the various tools in their tech stack, including marketing automation software. Those findings are illuminating, and not necessarily comforting for marketers. Take this stat for instance: only 14.1% of marketers say their marketing automation platform meets their organization’s growing list of needs.* Why are so many marketers’ expectations unmet by their automation?

Peter O’Neill, Research in Action’s research director, links this disconnect to overlap in the MarTech space. “Historically, companies have been deploying separate Marketing Automation Platforms (MAP), Marketing Lead Management (MLM) or, specifically in B2B, even extra Account-Based Marketing (ABM) solutions to support their lifecycle revenue management and marketing campaigns,” according to O’Neill, “often resulting in significant functional overlap, redundancy, and user confusion.”

Today’s marketers crave a more complete solution. The answer might well be to pursue what O’Neill calls “Revenue Marketing Automation,” a concept on the rise to describe platforms that fully orchestrate customer relationships and accounts across the buying journey. In a recent report, Research in Action ranked Act-On among the solutions that meet these more sophisticated needs.

What’s Missing from Revenue Automation?

According to O’Neill and team’s research, the following features are most frequently cited by marketing professionals as lacking in their current platforms:

Omnichannel personalization
Campaign workflow management
Campaign personalization
Campaign collaboration
Predictive content
Revenue analytics
Campaign analytics/optimization
Campaign creation and design

Those shortcomings have many marketing revenue automation customers in consideration mode. In the same survey, 44.9% of marketers reported that, while their current platform is meeting their needs for now, they’ll be seeking replacement in the next two years. But that number only paints a partial picture of the crisis many marketers face with outdated MAPs. A further 27.8% plan to replace their automation platform, but are not yet actively evaluating alternatives. Finally, 11.5% are in the process of replacing their platforms at this very moment.

Marketing buyers concerned with the diminishing returns of their current platform owe it to themselves to consider platforms like Act-On, which analysts consider a more comprehensive platform. Full revenue marketing automation platforms like Act-On provide “a central hub, allowing for stronger efficiency, better integrations, and enhanced data consolidation,” O’Neill’s report explains. The result? “Marketing efficiency is increased due to having fewer tools and finding revenue-generating opportunities is made easier.”

Act-On Beats Out Leading Competitors in Revenue Marketing Category

Research In Action’s Vendor Selection Matrix ranks the top vendors in the insurgent Revenue Marketing Automation category. Notably, marketing automation platforms are included in the selections as well as various platforms traditionally associated with other disciplines, including those focused on account-based marketing (ABM) or customer relationship management (CRM).

In the 2024 rankings, Act-On beats out marketing automation stalwarts including Eloqua, Marketo, and Hubspot. What’s more, Act-On also came out ahead of solutions as varied as TechTarget and Intensify. Among all these solutions, Act-On received the highest customer satisfaction score of any vendor in Research in Action’s Survey, as well as a high score for breadth and depth of solutions.

Act-On supports buyer role segmentation, insights into customer engagement habits, opportunity management, buyer journey engagement, and lead acceleration, all motions that Research In Action describes as crucial to marketing maturity and the revenue marketing approach. Large, mature marketing organizations should consider Act-On for their revenue automation.

For more on revenue marketing automation and Act-On’s performance, read the report!

*This and all other data cited in this blog are from Research in Action’s “Vendor Selection Matrix: Revenue Marketing Automation Solutions,” March 2024. Used with permission.

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Budget Season Is Coming—Is Your Martech Platform Worth the Investment?

Act-On — Mon, 16 Sep 2024 20:17:47 +0000

Many marketing leaders ask themselves this question as they stare at Excel spreadsheets filled with budgetary numbers: Are my martech tools worth what I’m paying for?

Some platforms we once relied on are starting to show their age. What was once considered essential might now be a burden, costing more time, money and sanity than it’s worth. If you’re frustrated with your martech stack, you’re not alone.

The world of martech has seen explosive growth over the past few years. Tools promising to revolutionize the way we work have flooded the market, and companies eagerly jumped on board, often without fully considering the long-term costs. But as we head into budget season, the reality is becoming clear: many of these tools are not living up to their hefty price tags.

Rising Costs: The more complex the platform, the more expensive it tends to be. From licensing fees to the hidden costs of training and maintenance, the financial strain can quickly add up. And as your team struggles to keep up with the demands of these tools, the return on investment starts to dwindle.

Justifying Spend: With every department competing for a piece of the budget pie, marketing teams are under increasing pressure to prove that their martech investments are worth it. But when the tools you’re using are causing more headaches than results, making that case becomes a challenge.

The Cost of Complexity: Platforms like Eloqua offer a wealth of features, but that complexity often comes at a price. Teams may find themselves paying for capabilities they don’t use while the features they rely on are buried under layers of complexity.

Why Now Is the Time to Reevaluate Your Martech Stack

As you prepare your budget proposals, evaluating whether your current martech stack delivers the value you need is crucial. Here are some key signs that it might be time to rethink your approach:

Struggling to Prove ROI: If you’re finding it difficult to demonstrate the return on investment from your martech tools, it’s a clear sign that something isn’t working. Complex systems can make it hard to track and report on performance, leaving you without the data you need to justify your spend.

Rising Costs, Declining Value: Are you seeing diminishing returns on your martech investments? If costs increase while the value you’re getting in return decreases, it’s time to consider whether a simpler, more cost-effective platform could better meet your needs.

Operational Inefficiencies: Does your martech stack slow down your workflow? If your team is spending more time managing the platform than executing campaigns, that’s a sign that your tools are more of a hindrance than a help.

Integration Challenges: With all the systems businesses rely on, seamless integration is key. If your platform struggles to connect with other tools in your tech stack, it could be creating silos that limit your ability to deliver cohesive, data-driven campaigns.

Team Burnout: The emotional and mental toll of wrestling with a complex martech platform can’t be overlooked. If your team feels overwhelmed and frustrated, it may be time to explore alternatives that empower rather than drain your team’s energy and production.

Learn More

Simplify Your Martech Stack: A Strategic Move for Budget Season

Heading into budget season, there’s a strong case for simplifying your martech stack. Not only can this help you reduce costs, but it can also make it easier to demonstrate value and improve your team’s efficiency.

Focus on What Matters: Simplifying your martech stack allows you to focus on the tools that truly add value. By eliminating unnecessary complexity, you can ensure that every dollar spent contributes directly to your marketing goals.

Improve Efficiency: A streamlined martech stack can help your team work more efficiently, reducing the time spent on platform management and freeing up resources for more strategic activities. This can lead to better campaign performance and, ultimately, better ROI.

Easier Budget Justification: A simpler, more effective martech stack will help you prove the value of your investments to stakeholders. Clearer data, faster reporting, and more transparent costs will make it easier to justify your budget.

Boost Team Morale: Simplifying your martech tools can empower your team by reducing inefficiencies and eliminating unnecessary steps. With easy-to-use platforms that require less effort to accomplish tasks, your team can focus on creating and executing high-impact campaigns, boosting both productivity and morale.

Simplifying your stack could be the game-changer you need for your budget. But knowing where to start isn’t always easy. Learn practical ways to get the best ROI on your martech setup with the guide below:

Learn More

Ready to Reevaluate?

As budget season looms, it’s more important than ever to ensure that your martech investments are delivering real value. Take the time to step back and assess—are your current tools helping you achieve your goals, or are they standing in the way?

If you’re starting to question whether your martech stack is still worth the investment, you’re not alone. Many marketers find that what once worked well now feels outdated or overly complex. The good news? There’s a way forward.

Our helpful guide, Platform Predicament: Solving the MarTech Maze in a Resource-Strapped Era provides detailed insights and practical advice to help you evaluate your current martech tools and explore more efficient, cost-effective alternatives. Remember, you don’t have to figure it out on your own. Download the guide to take the first step toward a simpler, more effective martech strategy.

Is Your Martech Platform Holding You Back? How to Recognize the Signs

Act-On — Mon, 16 Sep 2024 20:17:40 +0000

Are your martech tools helping you, or are they just making your job harder? No one enjoys the thought of asking this question. And even fewer marketers can bear the idea of making changes to their key martech platforms, especially when it comes to something as integral as a marketing automation platform.

But kicking the can down the road only leads to more problems. The longer you wait, the deeper you find yourself entangled in an aging system that’s increasingly difficult to manage. As specialists familiar with the platform become harder to find and your team grows more frustrated, the inefficiencies pile up, leaving everyone burned out and your marketing efforts stalling. If this sounds all too familiar, you’re not alone.

The truth is, not all martech platforms are created equal. Some are built for flexibility and growth, while others are overly complex, expensive, and difficult to manage. If your marketing efforts are feeling sluggish, or you’re struggling to get the results you need, your martech platform could be part of the problem. Here’s how to tell if your current tools are hindering your success—and what you can do about it.

The Problem With Overly Complex Platforms

Many marketers have experienced the initial excitement of adopting a new, feature-rich martech platform. But once the honeymoon phase is over, the reality of managing a complex system can set in. Instead of empowering your team, a complicated platform can create bottlenecks, slow down operations and cause frustration across your organization.

High Learning Curve: One of the most common issues with complex platforms is the steep learning curve they require. Training new team members can be time-consuming and costly, and even seasoned marketers might struggle to use all of the platform’s features effectively. When too much time is spent learning how to use a tool, it takes away from time that could be spent on strategic planning and driving results.

Operational Inefficiencies: Overly complex platforms can create significant inefficiencies in your marketing operations. Suppose your team is bogged down by slow processes, frequent troubleshooting and dependency on a few key individuals who understand the system. In that case, it’s a clear sign that you may need to consider a different marketing automation platform.

Underutilized Features: Many marketers find that they only use a fraction of the features available in their martech platform. Whether due to a lack of training or the sheer complexity of the system, this underutilization means you’re not getting the full value of your investment.

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The Hidden Costs of the Wrong Platform

Beyond the day-to-day operational challenges, the wrong martech platform can also have significant financial implications. The initial cost of purchasing a platform is just the beginning—hidden costs can quickly add up, straining your budget and reducing your overall return on investment.

Licensing and Maintenance Fees: Complex platforms often come with hefty licensing fees that increase over time. Additionally, the cost of ongoing maintenance, updates, and technical support can add up, eating into your marketing budget.

Training and Support Costs: While initial training is often necessary for any platform, overly complex systems can require ongoing external support, which adds to the long-term costs. Extensive training to master a complicated platform is time-consuming, but it’s the continued reliance on external consultants or specialized support to manage day-to-day operations that can significantly inflate costs over time. Simpler platforms reduce the need for both, saving valuable resources.

Opportunity Cost: Sticking with a platform that isn’t aligned with your needs means missing out on more agile, cost-effective alternatives that could better support your marketing strategy. Over time, the opportunity cost of not making a change can significantly impact your bottom line.

Feeling the financial strain of your martech tools? You’re not the only one. The Budget Season Is Coming blog breaks down how to recognize hidden costs and find more budget-friendly solutions.

How to Recognize When It’s Time for a Change

So, how do you know if your martech platform is holding you back? Here are some key signs that it might be time to reevaluate your tools:

Slow Response Times: Does your team spend more time troubleshooting issues with your platform than executing campaigns? Slow response times, frequent errors and a lack of user-friendly support all indicate that your platform might be more trouble than it’s worth.

Rising Costs: If your martech platform is consistently driving up costs—whether through an outdated contract, additional fees added to your bill, licensing increases, support costs, or the need for external consultants—it’s time to ask whether the investment is truly delivering the value you need.

Frustrated Team Members: The emotional toll of working with a complex platform shouldn’t be underestimated. If your team is constantly frustrated by the tools they’re using, struggling to meet deadlines, or feeling overwhelmed by the complexity, it’s time to consider whether the platform is worth the strain.

Difficulty Integrating With Other Tools: In today’s digital marketing landscape, seamless integration between tools is essential. If your platform struggles to connect with your CRM, analytics tools, or other vital systems, it could limit your ability to execute effective, data-driven campaigns.

Inability to Prove ROI: If you’re finding it difficult to measure and demonstrate the return on investment from your martech platform, that’s a major red flag. A good platform should make it easy to track and report on performance, helping you justify your marketing spend and make informed decisions.

Check out the guide for even more red flags and consider how to take the next steps toward a better solution:

Learn More

Finding the Right Fit: What Matters in a Martech Platform

The good news is that plenty of martech platforms are designed to be both powerful and easy to use. The key is finding a tool that aligns with your team’s needs and empowers them to work efficiently and effectively.

Ease of Use: Look for a platform with an intuitive interface and a shallow learning curve. The easier it is for your team to get up and running, the quicker you’ll start seeing results.

Flexibility and Scalability: Your martech platform should grow with your business. Look for a tool that can adapt to your evolving needs, whether you’re expanding your team, integrating new tools, or scaling your campaigns.

Cost Transparency: Choose a platform with clear, transparent pricing. Avoid tools with hidden fees or costly add-ons that can strain your budget.

Strong Support: A good martech platform should have robust support options, including training resources, customer service, and a community of users who can help you get the most out of the tool.

Proven ROI: Finally, choose a platform that makes measuring and demonstrating ROI easy. The right tool will provide you with the data and insights you need to prove the value of your marketing efforts.

Moving Forward With Confidence

If you’re starting to recognize some of the signs that your current martech platform might be holding you back, it’s worth exploring other options. The right platform can make a world of difference—streamlining your operations, reducing costs, and empowering your team to do their best work.

As you look ahead, remember that the goal is to find a platform that truly supports your marketing strategy, not one that adds unnecessary complexity. Simplifying your martech stack could be the key to unlocking better results and a happier, more productive team.

Ready to take the next step? Our guide was created to help you make informed decisions and ensure you’re getting the most out of your marketing investments. Download the guide to get started.

Automate Customer Segmentation with Marketing Automation

Act-On — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 16:32:06 +0000

You’ve heard it before, right? The age-old advice, “If you’re appealing to everyone, you’re appealing to no one…” The need for automated customer segmentation is more evident than ever. Fortunately, Act-On’s automated segmentation tools make the process easy and intuitive.

Even if you’ve carefully designed your ideal customer profiles on your own, you can still go deeper in your targeting, helping your prospects feel known, understood, and aligned with your products and services. How? The answer again is: customer segmentation.

It’s a complicated process, but understanding the concept, what it is, why you do it, and having a great example (we’re sharing our favorite!) can set you on the right path.

What is Customer Segmentation?

Customer segmentation is the process of dividing a large group of prospects or existing customers into smaller segments to provide more relevant messaging and communication to each segment. When you segment strategically, you can better persuade prospective buyers using the topics that are most relevant to them.
For example, let’s say your company sells project management tools. Your prospects may have many interests, such as task organization, team collaboration, or budget management. As a result, you could use audience segmentation to group people based on their specific interests.

Why is Automating Customer Segmentation Important?

Automated customer segmentation is important because it helps improve marketing results.

Research shows that organizations using segmentation report earning 10% to 20% more in revenue and increasing their conversions by up to 50%. That’s not bad, right? Automating the process removes inefficiencies and delivers better lead capture.

And logically, it makes sense. If you’re interested in cooking, you might open an email about cooking. But if you’re interested in the subtopic of barbecue recipes, you’re probably much more likely to hit open. Why? It’s more personalized to what you need. And because of this personalization, you’ll capture the advantage of more effectively persuading buyers.

As a result, when your competitors push out generalized messages, you’re getting cozy with prospects under their noses by zeroing in on their specific needs and interests. And who do you think they’ll consider more seriously when shopping for a new solution? That’s right, you!

^{Audience segmentation takes your segmentation strategy to another level of sophistication.}

Types of Segmentation

As you consider automated customer segmentation, you can approach it in many different ways. You might decide to segment based on demographics, such as job title. Or you might decide to target based on interest or stage in the buyer’s journey (a couple of our favorites, by the way). Here are a few potential options:

Demographics. With demographics, you group by common customer attributes, such as age, job title, geography, education level, and more.
Industry. You can also segment based on detailed information about a company, such as annual revenue, organization size, growth rate, and more, aligning with your ideal customer profile (ICP) or target market.
Behavioral elements. As your audience engages with your content, you track their behaviors. A marketing automation segmentation tool is great for this task. Examples include website activity and purchase behavior, allowing you to determine your audience’s needs.
Interests. A prospect might read a blog post on lead generation, attend a webinar, and read an eBook on the same topic. These touchpoints signal a strong audience interest in lead generation, so you can use that data to segment the audience.
Buyer’s journey. Every prospect interacting with your brand is at a specific stage in their buyer’s journey, which typically includes awareness, consideration, and decision. We can segment them based on their place in the journey to provide personalized communication and content.

For example, a prospect in the awareness stage might enjoy helpful tips for solving their problem. A person later in their journey, such as consideration, might enjoy a guide about evaluating solutions. During the decision stage, that prospect might enjoy a webinar or demo about how to use your specific product.

Here at Act-On, we experiment quite a bit with marketing automation segmentation. In the past, we’ve used ICPs, but more recently, we decided to switch things up and segment based on interests and the buyer’s journey stage. The difference in results was significant.

Tip: Do you already have Act-On and want to see how to build a segment? Here’s a complete walk-through.

A Real World Example

Ready for a real example? Last year, we experimented with our lead nurturing programs. With these programs, our audience might consume content (like you’re doing now), download a helpful resource, and enter a lead nurturing series where we continue to provide value.

Our internal expert, Kesley Yen, decided to take a fresh look at these programs and see whether we could get even more personalized. While in the past we segmented the audience based on ICPs, she decided to segment based on interest and stage in the buyer’s journey.

After only six months, the results were excellent.

With the previous program, we averaged a 25% open rate in our programs. The click-through rate was 1.3%, and we had a 1.4% opt-out rate. With the new program, the open rate jumped to 48%, the click-through rate increased to 17.9%, and the opt-out rate was roughly 1.2%.

So, yes, aligning with your ICPs is a great start. But the more personalized you can get, the better. That’s why it’s helpful to use audience segmentation based on factors like interest and stage of the journey to get even more specific in the needs you’re serving and build stronger, more meaningful relationships.

Automate Segmentation with Act-On

Leverage Act-On’s powerful automated customer segmentation to reach your goals. Until we teach AI to buy products, your audience will continue to be human, with human interests and human behaviors. They will do what serves them best. And when you make your interactions more valuable through audience segmentation and personalization, you align with those ‘best interests.’

Your audience will be more likely to want to hear from you, read your content, and eventually become customers. And because of the synergy you’ve created with audience segmentation, you’ll have far less friction along the way.

So, remember:

Decide how you’ll segment your audience (demographics, industry, behavior, interests, buyer’s journey, etc.).
Segment them into appropriate groups.
Create content, experiences, and interactions that meet their needs in order to nurture stronger relationships.

And if you need help learning how to gather data to segment and nurture more effectively, we’ve got you covered with an on-demand webinar that covers all the important details.

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Marketing Automation Migration: Key Steps & Mistakes to Avoid

Act-On — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 19:35:48 +0000

Migrating to a new marketing automation platform can be intimidating. But it doesn’t need to be. Consider first whether you even need to perform a full marketing automation migration. Changing providers offers a unique opportunity to take a look at your current programs and lists and determine what’s working, and what’s not. You might not need a full migration.

Once you are 100% confident in the need for a change, it’s crucial to make sure the process goes well. Use this article as your guide for a smooth marketing automation migration.

Gather critical assets

A successful marketing automation migration starts with gathering your critical assets. Inventory what assets need to migrate to the new marketing automation platform and which assets you’ll discontinue using. As you create your list, consider the following:

Take inventory of templates. What templates do you currently use in your marketing automation program? Do you use email templates? Landing page templates? Make a list of all templates that need to migrate to the new platform, and include screenshots and design elements whenever possible.
Evaluate your existing nurture programs. What automated programs do you have in place, and which programs will you migrate to the new system? Gather all relevant assets that need to migrate in order to continue your existing nurture programs.
Gather media assets and images. One of the biggest sources of migration pain is making sure your marketing content comes over too. From ebook PDFs to logos, icons, and even stock images, one of the best ways to ensure a smooth migration to your new marketing automation platform is to make sure you inventory and organize all of it.
- Pro Tip: Create a complete inventory of media and visual assets with a Google Sheet, and save the assets into an organized system of folders using Google Drive, with appropriate file names. At that point, whoever is helping you migrate will have an excellent source of truth on what to move and where it is.
Reference existing branding requirements. Most established marketing departments have strict branding guidelines, and it’s important to keep those guidelines front and center as you migrate and re-create assets in the new marketing automation system.
Create a list of integrations. What integrations are needed in the new system? First, make a list of the existing technology stack. One of the most important integrations is with your CRM tool.

Identify contacts and lists to migrate

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You have an inventory of assets that need to migrate to the new system. Now you need to consider how your contacts and lists will migrate. Unfortunately, many organizations make the mistake of trying to pull lists from their already-segmented CRM. Although this process works, there is a more effective method to save time and improve data integrity.

Try creating a list of all contacts that is not segmented in your CRM. You can then pull this single list into the new marketing automation tool and segment people using the new tool. This keeps things simple and gives you the valuable opportunity to cleanse the data. Existing databases may have duplicate contacts, creating inefficiencies in your marketing programs. Migration is the perfect time to clean up this duplicate data.

A final tip for identifying contacts to migrate is gathering a list of opt-outs. You can download this data from your existing platform so that you don’t inadvertently contact people who previously requested to opt out. Not only will this keep you compliant with important regulations, but it also will help contact only recipients who are interested in receiving your messages.

Additionally, identify who has permission internally to complete website-related tasks, such as implementing beacon tracking. For example, a marketing department may have a team member internally trained to complete this task, but the responsibility often resides in IT. At times, marketers need to navigate several IT layers to complete beacon tracking. Identifying the right person and processes early helps build the appropriate lead time to complete tasks and keep your projects on schedule.

Locate stakeholders early to prevent future challenges

One of the most important steps for a seamless marketing automation migration is identifying stakeholders early in the migration process. Locate “champions” in critical departments (usually including sales and IT, in addition to marketing) to help keep your project moving.

Setting up technical requirements can be frustrating without the support of IT. Schedule a kickoff meeting with relevant departments, and find the appropriate point people in each area to help with migration. For example, you need contact with the Salesforce administrator and the CRM administrator in your company to ensure the integration with your new marketing automation platform runs smoothly.

Preview the migration process and support

As you shop for a marketing automation partner, ask about the process of re-creating assets in the new system. This process should be simple so that your team can quickly re-create the relevant assets. Ask your new marketing automation provider for a demo of the re-creation process to understand the ease of use and how you can get your assets into the new marketing automation platform.

Also, think through how you’ll organize the assets. Create folders for each asset type, and then download all relevant files to a specific folder using a zip file. This process makes it faster and easier to group relevant assets. Finally, consider file naming during the migration. As time progresses, marketing staff may come and go, and it’s important that new team members be able to find the files they need through proper naming and organization.

Assemble the right team

Not all marketing automation paths are created equal. Support is a huge variable in ensuring an easy migration process. A critical question to ask when shopping for a new solution is “What happens after I purchase the solution?” The answer should focus on connecting you with strong migration, onboarding and training resources to ensure your success.

Training should include several one-on-one sessions that focus on your immediate goals and how to get value from the new tool quickly. Additionally, you need resources, such as webinars and on-demand training, that will continue to guide you along your journey. This will ensure that you transition to the new tool easily and begin experiencing results faster.

Avoid common migration mistakes

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Marketers often delay migration due to worries about the process, but the good news is that migration can be smooth and easy with a good partner. A critical component is an experienced onboarding team that understands common migration pitfalls and how to avoid them. Common problems include:

Bringing your CRM point person late to the party. CRM integration is a common trouble spot for marketers during migration, but it doesn’t have to be a challenge. Instead, bring your CRM information technology contact into the loop early, so if you encounter any challenges, you can move through them quickly.
Doing too much too fast. A tried-and-true approach that marketing automation experts take is moving in phases. Your onboarding team should talk about your most important goals and guide you to achieving those goals using a strategic and phased approach.
Not having the proper support. During the early weeks of migration, you need a dedicated training team. This team should spend time getting to know your goals and helping chart a clear path to meeting those goals quickly.

Measure your results along the way so you can iterate as necessary and get the most from your new solution. For example, most marketers (61%) identify lead generation as a top goal. So if your goal is lead generation and you’ve generated 1,000 new leads after the marketing automation migration, you’re likely on target. If not, you can often make small changes to improve results, and a good partner can support you along the way.

Finally, remember to test, test, test. The risk for error exists with any tool, which is why the testing process is so important. Every team uses marketing automation differently based on goals. Test tracking codes, and pay specific attention to email formatting. For example, if you’re sending emails, make sure the format is consistent across different email clients. Testing will ensure that you avoid the potential stress and wasted time associated with fixing mistakes and dealing with the potential fallout.

Increase performance throughout the sales funnel

Migrating to a new marketing automation tool can help you capture more leads and give you back a valuable resource – time.

During the migration, you have an opportunity to evaluate your existing programs and determine what’s working and what isn’t. In a sense, it’s a time to “clean house.” You can strategically select the best programs to bring to the new solution, cleanse your existing data, and ensure that data integrity is achieved.

Additionally, migrating to a new solution provides the opportunity to increase performance at every step in the sales funnel. Increase conversion rates and customer engagement, and nurture customers throughout every stage in their journey. The result is that customers will experience more relevant interactions and build stronger and more meaningful relationships with your business.

Marketing Automation: What it Takes to Make the Switch

Act-On — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 19:32:01 +0000