Email Marketing

There are a lot of email marketing and automation tools available. In this post, we are going to compare Convertkit and ActiveCampaign. Bottom line: ActiveCampaign has more features while Convertkit is easier to use.

Why I Switched To ConvertKit Video

Email marketing remains an important part of many business marketing plans. With many new channels and platforms gaining momentum, there is still value in email marketing as one of the most effective messaging channels.

Hubspot estimates:

• 90% more orders are seen in response to welcome emails
• 63% more orders were made due to abandoned cart reminder emails
• Email campaigns sent to a segmented contact list get nearly 75% higher click rates.
• A/B testing gives a 37% higher return than email marketing for brands that don’t test.

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An Overview of ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign has been around since 2003 and is typically considered the go-to option. As a leader seeking to capture the whole market, ActiveCampaign is a comprehensive email marketing experience.

The email templates are better on ActiveCampaign and there are stronger tools for reporting.

The lead scoring and machine learning tools available make it easier to determine top performing campaigns.

ActiveCampaign will also provide website analytics that can help you create better strategies for tagging and segmenting lists.

ActiveCampaign allows you to create forms with CAPTCHA security, checkboxes and custom fields.

You can alter your styling with CSS and have the options to reach your audience via SMS text or Facebook with certain plans.

You will also get a lot of control over testing, which helps you determine what campaigns and landing pages work better with your audience.

This platform also has more in-depth support if you do run into a question or need live training.

An Overview of ConvertKit

Convertkit slowly built up a strong presence, starting in 2015.

Convertkit marketed itself largely to bloggers as the ultimate tool to help with email campaigns. Simplifying the process has made Convertkit more likable for users, like bloggers, who might find email marketing a bit overwhelming.

The tools function well but are basic and easier for beginners to use. Convertkit also provides more support for contact list integration and segmentation.

Convertkit also allows you to design landing pages from a number of templates that will work with WordPress.

The forms are simple and you can choose how you want them presented (dialog boxes, slide-in boxes, inline boxes).

Pricing Comparison of ConvertKit vs ActiveCampaign

Both Convertkit and ActiveCampaign operate on a sliding scale that changes with the number of subscribers you have on your contacts list. While both offer free trials for their various plans, Convertkit offers a free plan for beginners for the first 500 subscribers.

The free plan includes:

• Unlimited landing pages
• Unlimited, customizable CTAs & signup forms
• 30+ premium landing page templates
• Unlimited traffic
• Customizable domain setup
• Mobile responsive designs
• Email broadcasts
• Subscriber tagging
• Seamless Unsplash integration

The paid campaigns are done slightly differently With ActiveCampaign and Convertkit.

The Convertkit plan is complete (all features offered in one plan) with a sliding price scale for sizing that goes up every 2,000 subscribers.

Examples of pricing for the Complete plan based on a handful of available subscriber levels:

$29/mo for up to 1k subscribers

$49/mo for up to 3k subscribers

$119/mo for up to 10k subscribers

$259/mo for up to 35k subscribers

The Convertkit pricing is more comparable to the Lite pricing of ActiveCampaign for the number of subscribers. It offers everything in the free plan, plus:

• Visual automation funnels
• Automated email sequences
• Reporting
• Integrations & API
• Premium support
• Free migration from another tool

With ActiveCampaign, they offer four plan levels that shift price by number of contacts and all plans are paid yearly (so 12x the rate upfront):

• Lite ranges from $9/mo to $111/mo for 500-10,000 contacts and includes unlimited sending, subscription forms, marketing automation, support and up to three users.
• Plus ranges from to $49/mo to $199/mo for 500-10,000 contacts and includes everything from Lite, along with Facebook custom audiences, lead & contact scoring, integrations, SMS marketing, content and up to 25 users.
• Professional ranges from $129/mo to $279/mo for 500-10,000 contacts and includes everything from plus along with predictive sending, predictive content, customer attribution & path to purchase, win probability, conversion attribution reporting, split automations, site messaging, onboarding consultation, automation strategy, training sessions and up to 50 users.
• Enterprize ranges from $229/mo to $399/mo for 500-10,000 contacts and includes everything from professional, as well as custom reporting, custom mailserver domain, custom domain, dedicated account rep, design services, social data, phone support, uptime SLA and unlimited users.

Pricing for both platforms is very similar, though Convertkit is usually the better option for beginners that aren’t ready to spend money on email marketing quite yet.

ConvertKit vs ActiveCampaign: Which is Better for You?

Convertkit is designed to be friendly for those users who haven’t done automation maps or segmentation before.

They offer a simple visual interface for their tools so you can understand how you are funneling subscriber’s content or what consumer actions will trigger an automated email (like a welcome email or a thank you email with an upsell opportunity).

ActiveCampaign also provides a visual workflow tool that is easy to use, but the language is a bit more complicated.

The tools on ActiveCampaign can be as simple or complicated as you want, making it a better tool for more complicated tasks.

You will be able to combine CRM integration and automation to improve sales with targeted marketing.

The comprehensive approach provides more in-depth options, but will take more work to sort through and organize.

So at the end of the day, both are great platforms depending on what you need.

• If you need a free starter program that can grow with you, use Convertkit.
• If you want a basic email marketing software that has user-friendly tools, use Convertkit.
• If you need an in-depth sales funnel and are planning multi-factor segmented customer lists, use ActiveCampaign.
• If you want to do more testing and need in-depth reporting to better target your audience, use ActiveCampaign.

So, bloggers are usually ideal candidates for Convertkit, while businesses that want to sell products often prefer the features of ActiveCampaign. If you think you know which tool is right for you, you can test out a free trial to see how the platform works for you.

Popular Email Programs

Constant Contact

With Constant Contact, you can create effective email marketing and other online marketing campaigns to meet your business goals. Start your FREE trial today!

KEAP

With KEAP you can create a repeatable sales process that makes it easy for you to set-up appointments, track leads, and get quotes accepted all from your CRM.

Ontraport

Most business owners want one thing: more customers. Turn your business on with Ontraport. CRM, marketing automation, landing pages, email, analytics, membership sites & more. Ecommerce. landing page Builder. CRM Reporting & Dashboard.

Get Response

Connect directly with your audience anywhere using personalized email marketing and webinars. Use prebuilt, beautiful email templates to easily send your emails with GetResponse. Boost your online presence by creating a landing page to generate leads. Sell services and products effectively using sales funnels within GetResponse that easily integrate with payment processors.

If your business struggles to generate leads or sales with email marketing, perhaps you should use a drip campaign.

Subscribers often require nurturing before they’ll take action.

Even when acquired using an opt-in form, most won’t click links or respond to commercial emails unless they’ve developed a relationship with the business that sent them.

With a drip campaign, you can nurture subscribers so that they are more likely to not only open your emails but also take action after viewing them.

Video tutorial

Overview of Drip Campaigns

Also known as an automated email campaign, a drip campaign is an email marketing tactic that involves automatically sending a series of pre-made emails to subscribers over time.

Some campaigns consist of just three or four emails, whereas others consist of 20 to 30 emails.

Regardless, each email is part of a larger series that’s used to cultivate a relationship with subscribers while gently pushing them towards the end goal of taking action.

Drip campaigns don’t flood subscribers with commercial-heavy emails. Rather, they slowly drip marketing messages into subscribers’ inboxes. It’s a subtler marketing tactic to which subscribers respond strongly.

Convertkit is a lead capture tool with an easy to use email funnel for follow up emails and delivery of lead magnets. I personally tested AWeber, Constant Contact, Mailchimp, Zoho, Infusionsoft, and KEAP, and found Convert Kit to be the winner for simple subscriber based offers and emails.

Convertkit also works well with the Genesis eNews Extended Plugin. With Convertkit, you don’t need Ninja Forms.

How a Drip Campaign Works

Drip campaigns are powered by email marketing software like Convertkit, KEAP, Constant Contact, Get Response or AWeber

While it’s possible to create and send a series of emails manually, true drip campaigns are automated, so they require software. You’ll need an email marketing program like ConvertKit

Using email marketing software, you can both create your drip emails and schedule them for delivery.

The software will automatically send your drip emails to subscribers at the appropriate times.

You can configure drip campaigns to send emails on specific dates or at specific intervals. Alternatively, you can configure them to send emails in response to a trigger event.

A trigger event is simply some type of trackable action a subscriber takes. You may want to send new subscribers a welcome email, for instance, in which case you can target new signups as the trigger event.

When a new prospect subscribes to your newsletter, he or she will immediately receive the welcome email.

Common trigger events used in drip campaigns include:

•   New signups

•   Email views

•   Email link clicks

•   Email replies

•   Subscribers’ birthdates

•   Membership or subscription renewals

•   Repeat purchases or conversions

•   Product views

•   Abandoned e-commerce shopping carts

•   Website visits

Drip Campaign Benefits

By using a drip campaign, more subscribers will open your emails. According to a study by Martech Zone,

Drip emails have an 80 percent higher open rate on average than single-serve or other nonsequential emails.

Drip emails generate high open rates because they are familiar and trusted by subscribers. If you only send a single email, subscribers may fail to associate it with your business.

As a result, fewer subscribers will open it.

You can expose subscribers to your business’s brand, however, by using a drip campaign. After seeing several emails from your business, they’ll feel more confident opening and viewing them, especially when nurtured along the way.

Using a drip campaign can improve your sender reputation. With spam accounting for 45 percent of all emails sent globally, according to Spam Laws, mailbox providers must scrutinize incoming emails to determine whether or not they are legitimate.

Sender reputation helps mailbox providers filter spam emails by revealing which senders have been flagged for spam.

Your sender reputation is linked to the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the email address from which you send emails.

Therefore, a poor sender reputation will follow you around while lowering the deliverability of all your emails. The good news is a drip campaign can improve your sender reputation in several ways.

It can drive higher open rates, for example, which is a sign your emails are legitimate and not spam.

A drip campaign can also improve your sender reputation by using a consistent delivery schedule. It won’t flood subscribers’ inboxes with an excessive number of emails at the same time.

Instead, subscribers will receive your drip emails periodically over time.

When mailbox providers see the consistent way in which you send emails, they’ll raise your sender reputation so that your emails aren’t automatically filtered as spam.

Another benefit of using a drip campaign is increased conversions.

According to optinmonster, businesses that use drip campaigns generate 80 percent more conversions than their counterparts.

As more subscribers open and interact with your drip emails, you’ll experience more conversions.

Getting Started With Drip Campaigns

To create your first drip campaign, you’ll need to secure email marketing software. ConvertKit is probably the easiest one to get started with.

All of the leading email marketing software providers offer drip campaigns.

With that said, some of them offer a deeper level of customization than others.

Check out some of the web-based email marketing software plans offered by AWeber, GetResponse, and Constant Contact, and choose one that’s aligned with your needs and budget.

AWeber is Powerfully-simple email marketing software. Build your email lists, send beautiful emails, and connect with your audience faster than ever before.

When creating a drip campaign, you should strive to maintain a logical flow from one email to the next. In other words, each consecutive drip email should continue or expand upon the message of its predecessor.

If there’s a break between the logical flow of your drip emails, subscribers may not respond to them.

Don’t forget to personalize the subject lines of your drip emails. Depending on which email marketing software you use, you should be able to add a tag or token for subscribers’ names.

When added to an email’s subject line, the tag or token will display the respective subscriber’s name. Personalizing your subject lines will encourage more subscribers to open your drip emails.

Monitoring the performance of your drip campaign will help you understand which drip emails, as well as deliverability methods, drive the most subscriber actions. If few or no subscribers are opening a particular drip email, you can test one or more new variants with which to replace it.

Drip campaigns are effective because they allow you to nurture subscribers through your business’s conversion funnel.

You can pique their curiosity with a compelling welcome email after which can you send them a half-dozen or more other emails.

With each of these drip emails enticing subscribers to move through your business’s conversion funnel, they’ll drive meaningful results.

With Constant Contact, you can create effective email marketing and other online marketing campaigns to meet your business goals. Start your FREE trial today!

Email Marketing

• 
  ActiveCampaign vs ConvertKit
  There are a lot of email marketing and automation tools available. In this post, we are going to compare ConvertKit and ActiveCampaign.
• 
  What Is a Drip Email Campaign and How Does It Work For Marketing?
  Also known as an automated email campaign, a drip campaign is an email marketing tactic that involves automatically sending a series of pre-made emails to subscribers over time.
• 
  Email Marketing Software
  I’ve used so many email marketing software over the years. I’ve realized that it’s not one size fits all. In fact, I’ve had to make changes based on the business and needs at the time. Take a look at this list of email marketing software and find the one that works for you. Take trials wherever you can.
• 
  5 Campaigns You Need For Your Blog
  In spite of reports that email is dead, most bloggers who incorporate offers on their website, build their email list, and send appropriate messages and offers benefit considerably, including me!
• 
  Email Marketing With Convert Kit
  Email marketing is still a great way to get your message, products, and services in front of people that have requested to hear from you. Email Marketing with Convert Kit is easy. Create a lead magnet (offer), add a form to your blog, and build an easy automation sequence. Now THAT is easy!

In spite of reports that email is dead, most bloggers who incorporate offers on their website, build their email list, and send appropriate messages and offers benefit considerably, including me!

I use Optinmonster to make lead magnet offers on my blogs such as a free guide, free report, list, video, online course, coupon, launch notification, and more.

1. Email List Builder Campaign

optinmonster offers templates in the ‘grow an email list’ section that make this an easy task. Then, Optinmonsteer works well with my email platform, Convertkit“>Convertkit“>Convertkit to create simple automation funnels that distribute my emails automatically.

2. Targeting Abandoned Visitors Campaign

With optinmonster, you can create a pop up that is triggered when the visitor exits the website. The exit intent pop up can be a limited time offer, coupon, free report, video, social links, launch, a countdown to a webinar, and more.

3. Redirect Traffic

Redirect campaigns can help you get more traffic to a particular page, video channel, social channel, and so forth. The Alert Template works great for this. The Social Template is great to choose if you want to increase your social followers.

You can simply allow a single button to redirect the visitor or include an opt-in form to collect their email first.

Time Sensitive Offer

Create urgency by making an offer that expires. Using a countdown offer or limited time suggested offer, you can trigger the instinct to “Act Now”. You can also offer a bundle or upsell.

Holiday Offers

Choose a holiday offer from the optinmonster templates and make special offers related to that season such as Christmas and Halloween.

Optinmonster Affiliate

Do you already love optinmonster? You can apply to become an optinmonster affiliate and earn 20% or more by referring a buyer through your special affiliate link or banner.

• 
  ActiveCampaign vs ConvertKit
  There are a lot of email marketing and automation tools available. In this post, we are going to compare ConvertKit and ActiveCampaign.
• 
  What Is a Drip Email Campaign and How Does It Work For Marketing?
  Also known as an automated email campaign, a drip campaign is an email marketing tactic that involves automatically sending a series of pre-made emails to subscribers over time.
• 
  Email Marketing Software
  I’ve used so many email marketing software over the years. I’ve realized that it’s not one size fits all. In fact, I’ve had to make changes based on the business and needs at the time. Take a look at this list of email marketing software and find the one that works for you. Take trials wherever you can.