Our Review of ActiveCampaign Email Marketing

ActiveCampaign stands out in the crowded email marketing landscape by offering a comprehensive suite of features that extend well beyond basic broadcasting. It aims to be a central hub for customer communication and automation.

ActiveCampaign Email Marketing Functionality

ActiveCampaign has aimed for a comprehensive approach, trying to be more than just an email marketing platform. They offer a genuine marketing automation and CRM hybrid in their higher tiers, which is a significant differentiator and contributes to the breadth of their functionality.

Here’s a summary of ActiveCampaign’s features and functionality across its tiers:

Lite:

Email Marketing: Broadcasts, autoresponders, triggered emails for basic campaign management.
Marketing Automation: Basic automation builder for simple workflows (e.g., welcome series).
Segmentation: Allows grouping contacts based on various criteria for targeted emails.
Forms: Tools to create signup forms for website integration.
Landing Pages: Basic builder for creating dedicated campaign pages.
Chat: Live chat functionality to engage with website visitors.

Plus (includes Lite features, plus):

CRM: Contact management, lead scoring to prioritise prospects, and sales automation tools.
Deeper Integrations: Enhanced connectivity with platforms like Shopify and Salesforce.
Custom Branding: Ability to apply your brand to emails and landing pages.
SMS Marketing: Send text messages to contacts (additional cost may apply).
Conditional Content: Personalise email content based on contact data.
Advanced Automation: Split testing within automations, visual automation maps for complex workflows.

Professional (includes Plus features, plus):

Site Tracking: Monitor contact activity on your website.
Attribution: Understand which marketing efforts are driving results.
Predictive Sending: Optimise email send times for better engagement.
Predictive Content: AI-powered content recommendations for personalisation.
Win Probability: Predict the likelihood of a lead converting.
Automation Health: Monitor the performance of your automations.
In-depth Reporting: Detailed analytics on campaign performance and contact behaviour.

Enterprise (includes Professional features, plus):

Custom Reporting: Tailored reports to meet specific business needs.
Custom Mailserver Domain: Enhanced control over email sending reputation.
Unlimited Users: Allows access for your entire team.
Dedicated Support: Priority support and account management.
Enhanced Security and Compliance: Advanced features for data protection.

ActiveCampaign offers a remarkably broad range of functionality, especially when you look beyond the entry-level Lite plan.

What strikes us is how they’ve managed to integrate email marketing so tightly with sales-focused features like the CRM and lead scoring in the higher tiers. This isn’t just about sending emails; it’s about managing the entire customer lifecycle, from initial contact to potential sale and beyond.

The inclusion of features like landing page builders, forms, and even chat in the lower tiers provides a solid toolkit for lead generation and engagement right from the start. As you move up the pricing ladder, the depth of the automation capabilities truly shines. The ability to create complex, branching workflows based on a wide array of triggers and conditions is impressive. Features like split testing within automations and automation maps offer a level of sophistication that many other platforms reserve for their top-tier offerings.

Then you layer on the more advanced analytics in the Professional plan – site tracking, attribution, and predictive features – and you’re looking at a platform that allows for highly data-driven marketing. This moves beyond simply sending emails and delves into understanding customer behaviour and optimising campaigns for better results.

While the sheer volume of features can feel a bit overwhelming initially, particularly for newcomers, it ultimately provides a powerful and scalable solution. Businesses can start with the essentials and gradually unlock more advanced functionality as their needs and expertise grow.Take a look at our analysis and comparison of the features of the top ten email marketing platforms.

Take a look at our analysis and comparison of the features of the top ten email marketing platforms.

How Much Does ActiveCampaign Cost (And Is It Worth It?)

ActiveCampaign offers four main pricing tiers, each unlocking increasing levels of features and functionality. It’s worth noting that the pricing itself scales based on the number of contacts you have. The prices mentioned below are indicative for 1,000 contacts and are based on monthly billing. Annual billing typically offers a discount.

Lite:

Price: Starting from approximately £23 per month.
Features: Email marketing (broadcasts, autoresponders, triggered emails), marketing automation (basic automation builder, goal tracking), segmentation, forms, landing pages, chat (live chat).
Functionality: This tier provides a solid foundation for businesses looking to move beyond simple email blasts. The basic automation allows for welcome series and simple follow-ups. Segmentation enables more targeted messaging. The inclusion of landing pages and chat is a nice touch for lead generation and engagement.
Value for Money: For smaller businesses or those just starting with automation, the Lite plan offers good value, providing essential tools at a reasonable entry point.

Plus:

Price: Starting from approximately £46 per month.
Features (in addition to Lite): CRM (contact management, lead scoring, sales automation), deeper integrations (including Shopify, Salesforce), custom branding, SMS marketing, conditional content, advanced automation (split testing, automation maps).
Functionality: The Plus tier significantly expands the capabilities, particularly with the integrated CRM. This allows for a more holistic view of customer interactions and enables sales-driven automation. Features like lead scoring and SMS marketing can be very valuable for nurturing leads and driving conversions. Advanced automation features offer more sophisticated customer journeys.
Value for Money: For businesses that need CRM functionality integrated with their email marketing and want more advanced automation capabilities, the Plus plan offers strong value for money.

Professional:

Price: Starting from approximately £115 per month.
Features (in addition to Plus): Site tracking, attribution, predictive sending, predictive content, win probability, automation health, in-depth reporting.
Functionality: This tier focuses on providing deeper insights into customer behaviour and optimising marketing efforts based on data. Site tracking allows you to see how contacts interact with your website, while predictive features aim to improve engagement and conversion rates.
Value for Money: This plan is best suited for established businesses with a significant volume of contacts and a strong focus on data-driven marketing and sales alignment. The price jump is considerable, so it’s only worthwhile if you can fully leverage the advanced analytics and predictive features.

Enterprise:

Price: Custom pricing (typically significantly higher than Professional).
Features (in addition to Professional): Custom reporting, custom mailserver domain, unlimited users, dedicated support, enhanced security and compliance features.
Functionality: The Enterprise tier is designed for large organisations with complex needs, requiring scalability, dedicated support, and enhanced security.
Value for Money: The value proposition here depends entirely on the specific needs of the enterprise. The custom pricing reflects the tailored nature of the plan.

Take a look at where ActiveCampaign sits on our ranking of the most cost-effective email marketing platforms.

ActiveCampaign: Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths	Weaknesses
Powerful Automation: Highly customisable automation builder for complex workflows.	Price: Can become expensive as your contact list grows, especially for higher tiers.
Integrated CRM: Seamlessly combines email marketing with sales CRM features in higher tiers.	Complexity: The sheer number of features can be overwhelming for beginners.
Strong Segmentation: Offers granular segmentation options based on various data points.	Learning Curve: Mastering the advanced automation and CRM features takes time and effort.
Good Deliverability: Generally regarded as having strong email deliverability rates.	Tiered Features: Some essential features are locked behind higher-priced tiers.
Extensive Integrations: Connects with a wide range of other business tools.	Customer Support: While generally helpful, response times can vary for lower-tier users.
Landing Page Builder & Forms: Useful tools for lead generation.
SMS Marketing: Available in higher tiers for multi-channel communication.

Our Analysis: What Type of Business is ActiveCampaign Best Suited For?

ActiveCampaign is a versatile platform that can cater to a wide range of businesses, but it particularly shines for:

Small to Medium-Sized Businesses (SMBs) with Growth Ambitions: Businesses that are looking to move beyond basic email marketing and implement more sophisticated automation and CRM processes will find the Plus and Professional tiers particularly beneficial. The integrated CRM is a significant advantage for sales-focused SMBs.
E-commerce Businesses: The strong integrations with platforms like Shopify, coupled with features like segmentation based on purchase history and abandoned cart automation, make ActiveCampaign a powerful tool for online retailers.
Businesses Focused on Lead Nurturing: The advanced automation capabilities and lead scoring features are ideal for businesses with longer sales cycles that require nurturing leads through targeted communication.
Marketing Agencies: The platform’s flexibility and scalability can accommodate the diverse needs of marketing agencies managing multiple clients.
Businesses That Value Data-Driven Marketing: The advanced reporting and analytics features in the Professional tier are well-suited for businesses that want to deeply understand their customer behaviour and optimise their campaigns accordingly.

While smaller businesses with very basic needs might find the Lite plan sufficient, they should be prepared for the platform’s inherent complexity compared to simpler email marketing tools. Start-ups with tight budgets might want to carefully consider whether they will fully utilise the more advanced features before committing to a higher tier.

Conclusion

ActiveCampaign is a robust and feature-rich email marketing platform that offers significant power and flexibility. While the pricing can become a consideration as your contact list grows and you move up the tiers, the value for money is generally strong, especially for businesses that actively utilise the automation and CRM capabilities.

The platform’s strengths lie in its powerful automation builder, integrated CRM (in higher tiers), and strong segmentation options. However, its complexity and tiered feature structure mean that it might not be the best fit for absolute beginners or businesses with very basic email marketing needs.

For UK businesses looking to scale their marketing efforts, nurture leads effectively, and integrate their email marketing with sales processes, ActiveCampaign is a compelling option worth serious consideration. Just be prepared to invest the time in learning the platform to unlock its full potential.

ActiveCampaign Competitors

Check out our comparison of the best email marketing software, and see where ActiveCampaign sits in the top ten.