Active Campaign Merge Fields

You can also see whether the conclusion rate has actually increased or decreased, for how long it considers contacts to reach that objective, and you can search all contacts to see who did and didn’t reach the objective. ActiveCampaign’s Message Variables is my preferred feature. It conserves me a lots of effort and time, and neither MailChimp nor ConvertKit (upgrade: 9/2020 ConvertKit now has ” snippets”) has a comparable function.

Let’s say you have the given name of just some of your contacts, which is the case with my list. I normally don’t require a first name to sign up to my list, however often I get a given name, such as when somebody purchases a product. Wouldn’t it be nice to greet your contacts by name, in the events 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 say “Hey,” and then their given name. If they do not, I simply say “Hey there,” (Active Campaign Merge Fields). By constructing a Message Variable in ActiveCampaign, I can easily alter my greeting according to whether or not I have the contact’s very first name.

Active Campaign Merge Fields

I produced a variable that’s merely %greeting-hey%. If I have the contact’s name, it appears in the email. If I don’t have the contact’s name, it defaults to “Hey,”. Where Message Variables truly save me a lot of time is by enabling me utilize the same automation over and over again for my webinars, and I can rapidly change out all of the information.

Here vary for a webinar I run called “Bust Through Creative Blocks.” You can see I have a lot 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 new webinar, I can change each of these variables to match any schedule modifications or deal modifications.

And here it remains in an e-mail. This message variable allows me to easily change out a countdown timer. I did point out earlier that a person of the cons of ActiveCampaign is their email editing experience. I changed from MailChimp, and MailChimp takes place to have the best e-mail modifying experience. I really like to send basic emails.

Active Campaign Merge Fields

I’ve found that very hard to do with ActiveCampaign. For awhile, I was modifying emails in ActiveCampaign’s hybrid editor, which is rather cumbersome. For a long period of time, I utilized ActiveCampaign’s hybrid HTML and WYSIWYG editor, which was set off by a basic design template I developed. The interface for the HTML editor looks like it was pulled from some free open-source job. Active Campaign Merge Fields.

However, including images is a little a task. You need to pick them from a file internet browser. There’s no drag and drop option. ActiveCampaign’s HTML e-mail editor needs that you make up totally in HTML. The alternative to this, if you desire to have control over the HTML, is to edit pure HTML, with a sneak peek on the side.

Adding images to ActiveCampaign’s rich full-screen editor is a clunky experience. You need separate text boxes for above and listed below the image. Lately I have begun utilizing ActiveCampaign’s rich text editor. They have some good templates, however I still desire to send out the simplest email possible. They do have some plain-looking e-mails, but they have some degree of minimal formatting, which you can’t eliminate – Active Campaign Merge Fields.

Active Campaign Merge Fields

But, with some adjustments, I can make my e-mail quite standard. I can make it immediately take up the whole window, and I can fine-tune the typography to be somewhat bigger, and have a bit more prominent. The most discouraging part of ActiveCampaign’s rich text editor is including images. Picture you have actually just typed out a terrific e-mail. Active Campaign Merge Fields.

You can’t just add an image to a block of text. Rather, 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 changes, you’ll have to keep an eye on those to remain constant. That’s one thing to deal with when you desire to add one image, but when you wish to include numerous, it ends up being a big task.

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

Active Campaign Merge Fields

MailChimp’s integrated image editor is incredibly effective. You can resize, crop, and include custom text to your images. I miss out on MailChimp’s email-editing experience (Active Campaign Merge Fields). It would conserve me a little time to have that same experience on ActiveCampaign. However the highly-customizable automations I can develop on ActiveCampaign more than make up for that prospective time savings.

ConvertKit’s email editing experience is extremely plain, however easy to navigate. Their design templates are limited, which is fine with me, but their email editing experience is slightly simpler because you can create inline images, and you can produce a totally plain e-mail, and even edit the underlying HTML. If you want to make some quick edits to some e-mails in an automation, with ActiveCampaign, it’s cumbersome.

I’ll click on an e-mail, and it takes me to the editor for that email. Note 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 wished to change back and forth in between different emails, I would intuitively be inclined open the same automation in numerous tabs, then open the respective emails from each of those tabs.

Active Campaign Merge Fields

In the Automations area, there’s a “Handle Messages” location. From here, you can see all of the messages in each of your automations. You can edit each one, or you can Command + Click to open each in a brand-new tab to more quickly edit your whole series. Active Campaign Merge Fields. Contrast that with ConvertKit’s Series.

Once again, it would save me a great deal of time to have ConvertKit’s automation e-mail editing experience on ActiveCampaign – Active Campaign Merge Fields. But picking an e-mail marketing platform resembles choosing a partner. ActiveCampaign makes up for it with their Message Variables, more robust automations, and advanced segmentation. Speaking of segmentation, another reason I changed from MailChimp to ActiveCampaign was that MailChimp has limited division options.

You can combine characteristics with an AND/OR operator, and you can mix and match those groups of traits with another AND/OR operator. With MailChimp, you can just section by AND/OR, nevertheless MailChimp’s Pro strategy enables more advanced segmenting, for an additional $199 a month. In my look for the ideal e-mail marketing platform, I saw many others, some of which I have actually already discussed.

Active Campaign Merge Fields

ConvertKit. If I weren’t on ActiveCampaign, I would probably be using ConvertKit. Their automations are a lot easier to build, though they aren’t as flexible as ActiveCampaign’s, and their segmentations choices aren’t as sophisticated either. They also don’t have objective tracking, or Message Variables. MailChimp. You currently know that I switched from MailChimp to ActiveCampaign.

Active Campaign Merge Fields

To start developing an automation in ActiveCampaign, start with a “trigger.” There are a number of ways you can set off an automation, consisting of: When a tag is included When a contact signs up for a list When a contact submits a type E-commerce and on-site alternatives (offered in the “Pro” plan) When the contact reaches a specific point in another automation.

From there, you can start constructing the actions in your automation. Some actions that are available in ActiveCampaign’s automations are: Send out an email Alert a staff member Wait conditions If/then conditionals Split traffic for testing Avoid to other parts of the automation Track objectives (The contact can skip to the goal’s place in the automation.) Start or end another automation, or end the existing automation Post a webhook Subscribe or unsubscribe the contact to/from lists Update contact details Add and eliminate tags Add a note Lead scoring, SMS and website messages, and Facebook Custom-made Audience management are all “Pro” features – Active Campaign Merge Fields.

Contrast with ConvertKit‘s Automations, which are more restricted. On ConvertKit, you can activate an automation when: The contact submits a type The contact makes a purchase A tag is contributed to the contact A custom-made field is updated with a particular value From there, you can create Conditions, to examine whether the contact has a particular tag or customized field value.

Active Campaign Merge Fields

You can also produce Occasions, which are a bit like ActiveCampaign’s Goals, however without the reporting. You can track an Occasion when: A tag is added or eliminated The contact buys A date happens A custom-made field is updated with a certain worth You do not produce e-mails in ConvertKit’s Automations.

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

It was simple to develop with ActiveCampaign, however difficult when I was with MailChimp. I do not do that method. My e-mail course is by hand synced with this countdown timer on my site. You need to sign up by Friday night, and a brand-new course begins each Monday morning. When I first attempted this method, I was on MailChimp.

Active Campaign Merge Fields

Here’s the automation I use to invite new trainees to my Design Pitfalls course. There’s a few things going on here: The automation sends all contacts a “welcome email (Active Campaign Merge Fields).” The automation verifies that it’s not Friday. If it’s not Friday, the automation waits until it is Friday. At 11am, it sends a “pump up” e-mail to get the students ready for next week’s course, and encourage them to share it with friends.

The contact will start getting lessons the following Monday early morning. If it is Friday and after 7pm, the contact missed out on registration 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 impossible for me to automate this with MailChimp.

When I run a webinar, I do not wish to send out the same e-mail to every person on my list. I want to send them the suitable email for their level of engagement – Active Campaign Merge Fields. Active Campaign Merge Fields. Here’s the automation I use to promote an evergreen webinar: First it validates that they have not currently bought the item I pitch in the webinar.

Active Campaign Merge Fields

Then it sends a series of emails to get them thinking about the webinar, and to encourage them to register. If they sign up, they instantly struck the “Goal” toward completion of the webinar, and the automation ends. If they don’t sign up, they get added to an automation promoting a rebroadcast of the webinar. Active Campaign Merge Fields.

This enables me to customize my messaging, in other automations, based upon the contact’s engagement with the webinar. Here’s the WebinarJam combination panel: I can add tags based upon whether the contact signed up, went to, missed out on, or based upon the length of time they remained in the webinar. These tags can then set off automations within ActiveCampaign.

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

Active Campaign Merge Fields

Here’s an automation I obtained from ActiveCampaign’s library of automations, which I utilize to tell which contacts aren’t engaging with my e-mails. When a contact subscribes, this automation adds a “0 days” tag. As time passes, it adds new tags for 7 days, 1 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 starts this automation over again.

This automation can be frustrating at first, and this is among those cases where I wish ActiveCampaign had a more out-of-the-box option. However, because you can do anything with ActiveCampaign, often you need to construct things from scratch. ActiveCampaign has a choice to delete non-active customers, which I don’t suggest.

Some customers do not have actually tracking switched on, so their opens aren’t taped. Others still desire to be subscribed but have actually been hectic. Here’s my reactivation series: I send out one e-mail asking if they still wish to be subscribed, and briefly discussing why I keep my email list clean. In one week, I send them another e-mail (if they already clicked the verification link in the previous email, they have actually already been removed from the automation using a different automation) – Active Campaign Merge Fields.

Active Campaign Merge Fields

The automation then unsubscribes them. My e-mails also have a link to a kind where they can enter their email address to let me know that they do not have tracking enabled. This form includes a tag that I utilize to filter those contacts out. Active Campaign Merge Fields. 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 just send a basic “do you still want my emails?” verification.