Active Campaign Lists Vs Segments

You can likewise see whether the conclusion rate has actually increased or reduced, the length of time it takes for contacts to reach that goal, and you can browse all contacts to see who did and didn’t reach the goal. ActiveCampaign’s Message Variables is my preferred feature. It saves me a lots of time and effort, and neither MailChimp nor ConvertKit (update: 9/2020 ConvertKit now has ” bits”) has a similar feature.

Let’s say you have the given name of just a few of your contacts, which is the case with my list. I typically do not require a given name to register to my list, however often I get a given name, such as when somebody purchases a product. Wouldn’t it be nice to welcome your contacts by name, in the cases when you have it? You can do this, but it’s cumbersome.

I’m likewise filtering for generic terms added by other systems, such as a dash, or “Visitor.” If they have a given name, I state “Hey,” and after that their first name. If they don’t, I just say “Hey there,” (Active Campaign Lists Vs Segments). By developing a Message Variable in ActiveCampaign, I can quickly change my welcoming according to whether I have the contact’s very first name.

Active Campaign Lists Vs Segments

I created a variable that’s just %greeting-hey%. If I have the contact’s name, it reveals up in the e-mail. If I do not have the contact’s name, it defaults to “Hey,”. Where Message Variables actually conserve me a lot of time is by enabling me use the same automation over and over again for my webinars, and I can rapidly change out all of the details.

Here vary for a webinar I run called “Bust Through Creative Blocks.” You can see I have a bunch of various variables here, such as the date and time of the webinar, the cost of the product, offer terms, discount coupon code, and more. Each time I run a brand-new webinar, I can alter each of these variables to match any schedule changes or offer changes.

And here it remains in an e-mail. This message variable allows me to quickly alter out a countdown timer. I did mention earlier that a person of the cons of ActiveCampaign is their e-mail modifying experience. I switched from MailChimp, and MailChimp occurs to have the very best email editing experience. I really like to send simple e-mails.

Active Campaign Lists Vs Segments

I have actually found that extremely hard to do with ActiveCampaign. For some time, I was modifying emails in ActiveCampaign’s hybrid editor, which is rather cumbersome. For a long time, I used ActiveCampaign’s hybrid HTML and WYSIWYG editor, which was triggered by a standard design template I created. The user interface for the HTML editor looks like it was pulled from some complimentary open-source job. Active Campaign Lists Vs Segments.

However, adding images is a little bit of a chore. You have to pick them from a file internet browser. There’s no drag and drop alternative. ActiveCampaign’s HTML email editor requires that you make up entirely in HTML. The option to this, if you want to have control over the HTML, is to edit pure HTML, with a sneak peek on the side.

Adding images to ActiveCampaign’s abundant full-screen editor is a clunky experience. You need different text boxes for above and listed below the image. Lately I have actually started using ActiveCampaign’s rich text editor. They have some nice design templates, however I still want to send out the plainest email possible. They do have some plain-looking emails, but they have some degree of very little formatting, which you can’t remove – Active Campaign Lists Vs Segments.

Active Campaign Lists Vs Segments

But, with some adjustments, I can make my e-mail pretty standard. I can make it immediately use up the entire window, and I can tweak the typography to be slightly bigger, and have a bit more leading. The most discouraging part of ActiveCampaign’s rich full-screen editor is adding images. Imagine you’ve just typed out a fantastic e-mail. Active Campaign Lists Vs Segments.

You can’t just add an image to a block of text. Instead, you have to create two blocks of text: one for prior to the image, and one for after the image. If you have actually made any format modifications, you’ll need to keep an eye on those to stay constant. That’s one thing to deal with when you desire to include one image, however when you wish to include a number of, it ends up being a huge chore.

They even have a fundamental mage editor where you can crop the image – Active Campaign Lists Vs Segments. MailChimp’s editor is the very best I’ve seen in all of the email marketing platforms I have actually tried. You have access to the underlying code, so you can create a genuinely plain e-mail, provided you make a standard template initially.

Active Campaign Lists Vs Segments

MailChimp’s integrated image editor is exceptionally effective. You can resize, crop, and add custom-made text to your images. I miss out on MailChimp’s email-editing experience (Active Campaign Lists Vs Segments). It would conserve me a little time to have that exact same experience on ActiveCampaign. But the highly-customizable automations I can develop on ActiveCampaign more than offset that possible time savings.

ConvertKit’s e-mail editing experience is really plain, however easy to browse. Their templates are restricted, which is great with me, however their e-mail modifying experience is a little much easier because you can develop inline images, and you can create a totally plain e-mail, and even edit the underlying HTML. If you wish to make some fast edits to some emails in an automation, with ActiveCampaign, it’s troublesome.

I’ll click an e-mail, and it takes me to the editor for that email. Keep in mind that I can’t even Command + Click to open it in another tab. Whether they suggested to or not, ActiveCampaign has disabled Command + Click from the automation editor. If I desired to change backward and forward between different e-mails, I would intuitively be inclined open the same automation in different tabs, then open the respective e-mails from each of those tabs.

Active Campaign Lists Vs Segments

In the Automations section, there’s a “Handle Messages” location. From here, you can see all of the messages in each of your automations. You can modify each one, or you can Command + Click to open each in a brand-new tab to more easily edit your entire series. Active Campaign Lists Vs Segments. Contrast that with ConvertKit’s Sequences.

Again, it would save me a great deal of time to have ConvertKit’s automation e-mail modifying experience on ActiveCampaign – Active Campaign Lists Vs Segments. However selecting an email marketing platform is like selecting a partner. ActiveCampaign offsets it with their Message Variables, more robust automations, and advanced division. Speaking of segmentation, another factor I changed from MailChimp to ActiveCampaign was that MailChimp has limited division choices.

You can combine attributes with an AND/OR operator, and you can mix and match those groups of characteristics with another AND/OR operator. With MailChimp, you can just section by AND/OR, nevertheless MailChimp’s Pro plan enables more sophisticated segmenting, for an additional $199 a month. In my look for the ideal email marketing platform, I saw numerous others, some of which I have actually already mentioned.

Active Campaign Lists Vs Segments

ConvertKit. If I weren’t on ActiveCampaign, I would most likely be using ConvertKit. Their automations are much simpler to build, though they aren’t as flexible as ActiveCampaign’s, and their segmentations alternatives aren’t as advanced either. They likewise don’t have objective tracking, or Message Variables. MailChimp. You currently understand that I changed from MailChimp to ActiveCampaign.

Active Campaign Lists Vs Segments

To start building an automation in ActiveCampaign, begin with a “trigger.” There are a variety of ways you can trigger an automation, including: When a tag is added When a contact registers for a list When a contact sends a type E-commerce and on-site choices (offered in the “Pro” plan) When the contact reaches a particular point in another automation.

From there, you can start constructing the actions in your automation. Some actions that are offered in ActiveCampaign’s automations are: Send an email Notify a staff member Wait conditions If/then conditionals Split traffic for testing Skip to other parts of the automation Track goals (The contact can avoid to the goal’s location in the automation.) Start or end another automation, or end the present automation Post a webhook Subscribe or unsubscribe the contact to/from lists Update contact information Add and remove tags Add a note Lead scoring, SMS and website messages, and Facebook Custom-made Audience management are all “Pro” functions – Active Campaign Lists Vs Segments.

Contrast with ConvertKit‘s Automations, which are more minimal. On ConvertKit, you can activate an automation when: The contact sends a form The contact makes a purchase A tag is included to the contact A custom field is updated with a specific value From there, you can produce Conditions, to examine whether the contact has a specific tag or custom-made field worth.

Active Campaign Lists Vs Segments

You can likewise create Events, which are a bit like ActiveCampaign’s Objectives, however without the reporting. You can track an Occasion when: A tag is included or removed The contact purchases A date happens A customized field is upgraded with a particular worth You don’t create e-mails in ConvertKit’s Automations.

For more on how ActiveCampaign compares to ConvertKit, read my ConvertKit vs ActiveCampaign comparison. The primary way I develop my list is through an email course. ActiveCampaign makes it easy for me to construct my email course precisely how I ‘d like to develop it. Numerous marketers build very easy email sequences for their “e-mail courses.” A contact signs up, and after that that contact instantly starts getting lessons.

It was easy to develop with ActiveCampaign, but impossible when I was with MailChimp. I do not do that technique. My e-mail course is by hand synced with this countdown timer on my website. You have to sign up by Friday night, and a brand-new course starts each Monday morning. When I first attempted this method, I was on MailChimp.

Active Campaign Lists Vs Segments

Here’s the automation I utilize to welcome brand-new students to my Design Pitfalls course. There’s a couple of things going on here: The automation sends all contacts a “welcome email (Active Campaign Lists Vs Segments).” The automation verifies that it’s not Friday. If it’s not Friday, the automation waits until it is Friday. At 11am, it sends out a “pump up” e-mail to get the trainees ready for next week’s course, and motivate them to share it with buddies.

The contact will begin getting lessons the following Monday morning. If it is Friday and after 7pm, the contact missed enrollment for next week’s class. They’ll get the pump up e-mail the following Friday morning, and lessons the Monday after that. It was difficult for me to automate this with MailChimp.

When I run a webinar, I don’t wish to send out the same e-mail to every person on my list. I wish to send them the appropriate email for their level of engagement – Active Campaign Lists Vs Segments. Active Campaign Lists Vs Segments. Here’s the automation I use to promote an evergreen webinar: First it verifies that they have not already bought the product I pitch in the webinar.

Active Campaign Lists Vs Segments

Then it sends a series of e-mails to get them interested in the webinar, and to encourage them to sign up. If they register, they instantly hit the “Objective” toward completion of the webinar, and the automation ends. If they do not register, they get contributed to an automation promoting a rebroadcast of the webinar. Active Campaign Lists Vs Segments.

This allows me to customize my messaging, in other automations, based upon the contact’s engagement with the webinar. Here’s the WebinarJam integration panel: I can add tags based upon whether the contact signed up, participated in, missed, or based upon how long they remained in the webinar. These tags can then trigger automations within ActiveCampaign.

It costs me money, and it makes it most likely that my e-mails go to spam or Gmail’s promotions tab. Individuals who don’t open my e-mails make it harder for other emails to get to individuals who truly want them! The “Pro” strategy of ActiveCampaign has actually lead scoring integrated in.

Active Campaign Lists Vs Segments

Here’s an automation I obtained from ActiveCampaign’s library of automations, which I use to inform which contacts aren’t engaging with my emails. When a contact subscribes, this automation adds a “0 days” tag. As time passes, it adds brand-new tags for 7 days, one month, 60 days, etc Each time they open an email, a separate automation eliminates them from this automation, gets rid of all of those tags, and begins this automation over once again.

This automation can be overwhelming in the beginning, and this is one of those cases where I want ActiveCampaign had a more out-of-the-box option. However, because you can do anything with ActiveCampaign, sometimes you have to develop things from scratch. ActiveCampaign has an option to delete inactive subscribers, which I don’t advise.

Some subscribers do not have tracking switched on, so their opens aren’t taped. Others still want to be subscribed however have been hectic. Here’s my reactivation series: I send one e-mail asking if they still desire to be subscribed, and briefly explaining why I keep my e-mail list clean. In one week, I send them another email (if they already clicked on the verification link in the previous e-mail, they have actually already been eliminated from the automation utilizing a different automation) – Active Campaign Lists Vs Segments.

Active Campaign Lists Vs Segments

The automation then unsubscribes them. My e-mails likewise have a link to a type where they can enter their e-mail address to let me understand that they don’t have tracking enabled. This type includes a tag that I use to filter those contacts out. Active Campaign Lists Vs Segments. I used to include this tag when they clicked on a link, however when individuals don’t have tracking on, it makes those links not work so dependably! I only send out a simple “do you still want my e-mails?” confirmation.