This product assessment is based on a synthesis of 9 recent reviews covering various aspects of Act-On Software. Act-On is primarily used for marketing automation and email campaign management. A significant portion of users, 6 of 9 reviewers, leverage it for email campaigns, while 4 of 9 employ it for broader marketing automation. The software particularly shines in its CRM integration, especially with Salesforce, cited by 6 reviewers, enabling seamless data flow and targeted communications. Several reviewers, 3 of 9, also appreciate its ease of use and the time savings it provides through features like email cloning and journey automation.

However, the reviews also point to areas needing improvement. A notable concern, mentioned by 3 reviewers, is the platform's interface and usability, specifically regarding automation management and opt-in/opt-out processes. The email editor's limitations, particularly around HTML editing, were noted by 2 reviewers. Reporting also received some criticism, with 2 reviewers citing difficulties in understanding AI-driven reports and desiring more granular data analytics capabilities.

Overall, Act-On presents a compelling value proposition for organizations seeking to streamline marketing efforts through automation and CRM integration. Its intuitive interface contributes to time savings and ease of use, making it particularly beneficial for smaller marketing departments. However, potential buyers should carefully consider the reported limitations in interface usability, email editing, and reporting functionalities.

Pros

Strong CRM integration, particularly with Salesforce, facilitating seamless data flow and targeted communications (6 of 9 reviewers)
User-friendly interface contributing to time savings and ease of use, especially valuable for smaller marketing departments (6 of 9 reviewers)
Effective audience segmentation capabilities, enabling the creation of detailed and insightful segments (3 of 9 reviewers)
Flexibility and breadth of features, allowing for the implementation of a wide range of marketing automation ideas and data integration (4 of 9 reviewers)
Streamlined marketing automation capabilities, simplifying the creation and execution of campaigns (3 of 9 reviewers)

Cons

Interface and usability issues, particularly concerning automation management and opt-in/opt-out processes (3 of 9 reviewers)
Limitations in the email editor, specifically regarding HTML editing capabilities and workarounds for formatting tasks (2 of 9 reviewers)
Challenges with reporting, including difficulties in understanding AI-driven reports and a desire for more granular data analytics (2 of 9 reviewers)

Act-On Software was built with an intuitive interface made to streamline marketing automation. How has Act-On Software’s ease of use impacted your work, if at all?

From 9 reviews

Summary

This report synthesizes 9 recent reviews to assess how Act-On Software's ease of use impacts users' work. A key theme emerging from the reviews is the software's usability, with 6 of 9 reviewers highlighting its intuitive interface and time-saving benefits. This ease of use appears to facilitate marketing automation capabilities, mentioned by 3 of 9 reviewers, by streamlining the creation and execution of campaigns. Reviewers appreciate Act-On for its ability to simplify marketing processes, enabling them to scale their efforts efficiently.

Related topics

Ease of use Automation capabilities

Top Quotes

Ease of use

“Once out of the box (so to speak), I've been able to craft emails and automation to flow just how we want them, and apply that same aspect to later emails/automations with ease.”

Automation capabilities

“Once out of the box (so to speak), I've been able to craft emails and automation to flow just how we want them, and apply that same aspect to later emails/automations with ease.”

Act-On Software was created with flexibility in mind, as well as integration and CRM capabilities. Has Act-On Software proven to be a flexible tool in your organization? Please explain.

From 9 reviews

Summary

This report synthesizes 9 recent reviews to assess the flexibility of Act-On Software, particularly regarding its integration and CRM capabilities. A key aspect of Act-On's flexibility, according to 6 reviewers, is its CRM integration, especially with Salesforce. These reviewers emphasize the seamless data flow between Act-On and their CRM systems, which facilitates timely and targeted communications. Beyond CRM integration, 4 reviewers highlight the general flexibility and breadth of Act-On's features, noting the ability to implement a wide range of marketing automation ideas and integrate data using various methods like API calls. Reviewers appreciate Act-On's adaptability to different needs and its capacity to accommodate custom processes.

Top Quotes

CRM integration

“With it's ability to sync so well with our CRM, we can stop on a dime to create and send emails that are timely and update lists as needed day to day.”

Flexibility and features

“We have been able to use so many different features within Act-On, but we feel that we are hardly scratching the surface. In the 10+ years of using Act-On we have been able to utilze FTP, API, Extension Lists to really bring so many different types of personalization and automation to life.”

What positive or negative impact (i.e. Return on Investment or ROI) has Act-On Software had on your overall business objectives?

From 9 reviews

Summary

This report synthesizes 9 recent reviews to assess the return on investment (ROI) of Act-On Software. Reviewers most frequently cited the software's ease of use and associated time savings (3 of 9 reviews each). These factors appear to contribute to the software's ability to help users generate sales, mentioned in 2 of 9 reviews. The time savings are specifically attributed to the ability to clone emails and automate journeys, which is particularly valuable for smaller marketing departments. The ease of use enables teams to execute a high volume of marketing communications.

Top Quotes

Ease of Use

“Due to the product's ease of use, our team of three sends over 1,200 unique emails, landing pages, forms, etc., each year.”

Time Savings

“Significant time savings in keeping up with a heavy email outreach calendar”

Helps Generate Sales

“Helps us turn leads into sales”

Besides Act-On Software, what other software do you regularly use? How likely would you be to recommend it to a friend or colleague?

From 9 reviews

Summary

This report synthesizes 9 recent product reviews to identify software products commonly used alongside Act-On Software and to gauge user recommendation likelihood. Reviewers mentioned several other software solutions, with Salesforce being the most frequently cited. Specifically, 3 of 9 reviewers mentioned using Salesforce products, including Salesforce CMS, Salesforce Lightning Platform, and Salesforce Data Cloud. Microsoft products were also noted by 2 of 9 reviewers, with specific mentions of Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Teams. Given the small sample size, these findings provide directional insights rather than definitive conclusions about software ecosystems.

Related topics

Salesforce Microsoft products

Top Quotes

Salesforce

“Salesforce CMS”

Microsoft products

“Microsoft Dynamics 365”

Describe how you use Act-On Software in your organization. What are the business problems the product addresses and what is the scope of your use case?

From 9 reviews

Summary

This report synthesizes 9 recent product reviews to understand how users employ Act-On Software within their organizations, focusing on the business problems it addresses and the scope of its use. Reviewers commonly utilize Act-On for email campaigns (6 of 9 reviewers) and marketing automation (4 of 9 reviewers). Act-On's capabilities extend to managing and automating email communications, from customer service to nurture campaigns. A notable aspect of Act-On is its integration with Salesforce, mentioned by 3 of 9 reviewers, which facilitates database management, segmentation, and streamlined information sharing. The reviews suggest that Act-On is primarily used to streamline marketing efforts through automation and integration with existing CRM systems.

Top Quotes

Marketing Automation

“We use their email automation for customer service emails based on product categories (and a general one that links to a survey), and we use the email automation for nurture campaigns based on specified product categories that we have within our sales.”

Email Campaigns

“We use Act-On Software for multiple email avenues.”

Salesforce Integration

“The software provides a fantastic one-stop shop for email design, database segmentation and management (syncs well with Salesforce), A/B testing, drip campaigns, and reporting, which makes it easier and quicker for my department and company to acclimate to Act-On's features, share vital information and attribute our performance.”

Please provide some detailed examples of areas where Act-On Software has room for improvement.

From 9 reviews

Summary

This report synthesizes feedback from 9 recent Act-On Software reviews, focusing on areas where users see room for improvement. A notable area of concern, cited by 3 of the 9 reviewers, involves the platform's interface and usability, with specific callouts for automation management and handling opt-in/opt-out processes. Two reviewers mentioned limitations with the email editor, specifically around HTML editing capabilities and workarounds required for certain formatting tasks. Reporting also emerged as an area needing refinement, according to 2 reviewers, who cited difficulties in understanding AI-driven reports and a desire for more granular data analytics capabilities. These points collectively suggest opportunities to enhance user experience, expand email editing functionality, and improve the clarity and accessibility of reporting features.

Top Quotes

Interface and Usability

“Some extra ease of use would be nice (like a pause all automations button)”

Email Editor Limitations

“The new generation wyzywyg editor needs to have the ability to edit the HTML source code”

Reporting Issues

“The AI reporting feature could use some refining. Often, I get data or reports, and it's hard to know what it's measuring or which time frame.”

Please provide some detailed examples of things that Act-On Software does particularly well.

From 9 reviews

Summary

This report synthesizes 9 recent reviews to identify areas where Act-On Software is particularly strong. Reviewers highlighted the platform's audience segmentation and reporting capabilities. Specifically, 3 of 9 reviewers mentioned audience segmentation, noting the ability to create detailed and insightful segments. Another 3 of 9 reviewers cited reporting as a strength, without further elaboration. Additionally, 2 of 9 reviewers found the system to be user-friendly. While these aspects were noted positively, the small sample size suggests caution in generalizing these findings.

Top Quotes

Audience Segmentation

“Detailed marketing lists that we can segment”

Reporting

“Email performance metrics and reporting”

User Friendly

“User Friendly”

Reviews

229 Reviews

A streamlined user-friendly platform with excellent Salesforce integration

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

April 28, 2025

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Our company uses the Act-On email marketing platform for all lead and customer email communications. We chose Act-On because of its seamless integration with Salesforce and the ability to finely tune audience segments.

Pros

Audience Segmentation
Journey Building
User Friendly

Cons

The new generation wyzywyg editor needs to have the ability to edit the HTML source code
More flexibility for importing custom reports from Salesforce to ensure no information is inadvertently lost in the de-duplication process

Likelihood to Recommend

Act-On is ideal for this department of one. The user interface is simple and intuitive. I know there are a lot of features of the platform that I don't personally use, like contact scoring, webinar, form or landing page build outs, so I can't speak to those. But for the purposes of audience segmentation and emails, it does exactly what I need it to do. I love how seamlessly it integrates with Salesforce.

Jenny Alonzo

Vice President of Marketing in Marketing at Good Funding (11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

4 years of experience

View profile

Act-On Software is a user-friendly one-stop-shop for your email sms and data needs

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

April 9, 2025

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Act-On Software to automate our email needs and review analytics. This helps streamline our project management processes while ensuring accurate data feedback. The software has a lot to offer with email, sms, landing pages, and crm connections. The software is very customizable which is helpful in using it for many needs.

Pros

Building emails and using dynamic content
List segmentation
data feedback
creating landing pages
very user friendly
great customer help rather it's ai bot or connecting me to a live person

Cons

provide live url's for email proofs
allow email schedules to run continuously day to day
have hard coded buttons rather ones that show up when hovering over the area
allow data analytics to search sender profiles

Likelihood to Recommend

Act-On Software is well suited for needing to create multiple versions of an email because it offers dynamic content. Also, it has the ability to build landing pages for the emails so there's no need for the web team to build them if it's a last minute request or a one time use.

Verified User

Manager in Marketing (10,001+ employees)

Vetted Review

2 years of experience

Highly Recommend to Increase Visibility.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

March 30, 2025

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We mainly use Email blasts, scheduling, storing customer contact info and sales data, and data analytics.

Pros

Email Deliverability.
Reporting
Trigger Marketing/Drip Marketing Campaigns.
User Friendly.

Cons

The AI reporting feature could use some refining. Often, I get data or reports, and it's hard to know what it's measuring or which time frame.

Likelihood to Recommend

Great for growing engagement with a customer list. The adaptability is invaluable given the changing market landscapes, so we can adjust quickly when needed.

Nathan Baine

Director of Marketing in Marketing at The Magnet Group (201-500 employees)

Vetted Review

12 years of experience

View profile

Act-On Software Powerful Intuitive and Effective Marketing Automation.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

March 30, 2025

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

My organization has used Act-On for more than 10 years. We use Act-On to communicate with our internal associates, customers, suppliers, and prospects. Many of our customers have limited marketing resources. To help them, we utilize the Marketing Network capabilities to offer email marketing programs. We share personalized content that is relevant to their business. The emails connect directly to their e-commerce site so their customers can purchase what they need. We also offer a variety of behavior-based targeted automated programs that they can use to market to their end customers.

Pros

The support team is very responsive and helpful. They communicate well and follow up until an issue is resolved.
Act-On is always looking to improve its product and make it worthwhile to more customers. There are so many features!
The product is very intuitive. When a new feature is added, it is easy to learn about it and understand how to use it.

Cons

The interface has been improved on an ongoing basis. Preparing for new releases so that we are fully up to speed to train our customers on the new changes is challenging when supporting our customers.
We would have preferred that the enhancements be fully implemented and the software switched over once completed rather than having gradual rollouts of each feature.
There are some limitations to the new composer that require finding workarounds. (i.e., inserting an informational table in an email, editing HTML).

Likelihood to Recommend

We often have quick turnaround time requests, and Act-On's new composer is great because it is easy to make an email look great in desktop or mobile views. This has been a huge time-saver for us! We have benefited from using Act-On for many years and are accustomed to where everything is and how to use it. For the new accounts we train, we will sometimes hear that the organization of where things are could be improved.

Collin Williams

Marketing Automation Manager in Marketing at Essendant (1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

10 years of experience

Verified on LinkedIn

Act-On Software Review

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

March 29, 2025

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Act-On Software for the following: Email campaigns, form submissions, landing pages, automated programs, lead score follow up. It is used to develop potential leads and use all of their included tools to develop relationships that turn into sales. The product works seamlessly with Salesforce and our team really loves it.

Pros

Reporting
Lead Scores
Email Templates
Automated Programs
Landing Pages

Cons

Suppressing Robo (Spam) Fake Clicks

Likelihood to Recommend

It's well suited for sales organizations that want to have a detailed program that shows the timeline of anything a potential lead has ever done since they were added to your CRM. It's less appropriate for orgs that simply send one blast email a quarter and want quick results on the spot.

Verified User

Manager in Marketing (51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

9 years of experience

A jack of all trades for our marketing

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

March 6, 2025

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

For the past nine years, I have used Act-On Software as my company's primary resource for email automation, website visitor reporting and other key marketing communication and sales enablement functions. The software provides a fantastic one-stop shop for email design, database segmentation and management (syncs well with Salesforce), A/B testing, drip campaigns, and reporting, which makes it easier and quicker for my department and company to acclimate to Act-On's features, share vital information and attribute our performance.

Pros

Database segmentation
Automated email programs
Email performance metrics and reporting

Cons

The ability to save email distribution lists for future use

Likelihood to Recommend

Due to the breadth of its capabilities, any company will be able to benefit from Act-On Software. However, I would recommend it foremost as an email automation tool.

Kevin Bastian

Global Marketing Communications Manager in Marketing at Thomson Industries, Inc. (1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

9 years of experience

Come for the integration, stay for the ease of use!

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

March 6, 2025

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Act-On Software for multiple email avenues. We use their email automation for customer service emails based on product categories (and a general one that links to a survey), and we use the email automation for nurture campaigns based on specified product categories that we have within our sales. We also use it for monthly newsletters or product launch sends, and for LinkedIn social media connection and distribution.

Pros

Syncs with MS Dynamics
Ease of setup for automations/emails
Detailed marketing lists that we can segment

Cons

Some extra ease of use would be nice (like a pause all automations button)
Updating the footers in individual emails isn't fun every year
Constant changing of our Act-On contact

Likelihood to Recommend

If you have MS Dynamics CRM, this is the automation platform for you and your operations. Act-On Software easily syncs with dynamics, and we've never had a problem with this since we set ours up years ago. If you use a different CRM, I'd check to see if other options might make more sense. Having that ability for the systems to seamlessly talk is critical.

Evan Fleishacker

Marketing in Marketing at Cisco-Eagle (51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

6 years of experience

View profile

I highly recommend Act-On Software to support your marketing efforts!

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

March 6, 2025

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use Act-On Software for email campaigns to multiple audiences, as well as for creating easy-to-use forms, informative landing pages, and even on-line quizzes and contests for our employees. I've been using Act-On since 2016 and the product, like a fine wine, only improves with age. Act-On services have allowed us to improve efficiency on many of our procedures.

Pros

DRIP Email Campaigns
Landing Page Creation
Form building and data collection
Image storage and ability to import images into emails and landing pages

Cons

I find handling opt-outs and opt-ins challenging.
I wish it was easier to find and copy a url from draft and live emails, forms and landing pages.

Likelihood to Recommend

Act-On Software offers a great product/service and I recommend them all the time. Also, when I submit a help ticket, I usually have an answer and a fix within 24 hours.

Verified User

Director in Marketing (1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

8 years of experience

Valuable tool for a fair price

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

February 11, 2025

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Act-On Software is our marketing automation tool where we design and execute campaign from, starting from segmentation and ending up with email outreach analysis. On top, Act-On Software is also used by our sales team within SFDC plug-in where they learn about anonymous traffic, and engagement of their owned prospects.

Pros

Customer Success & Support
Help and guidance with custom projects
Audience segmentation is limitless and provides insigthful data

Cons

Onboarding new users
Standard development courses are not offered anymore
Integrations with popular software

Likelihood to Recommend

Powerful functionality around segmentation and creating audience profile, AI features still need some improvements

Maria Krupinska

Global Field Success & RevOps Lead in Marketing at Neptune Sotware (51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

3 years of experience

View profile

"Act-On is an easy-to-use automation tool that can handle many tasks."

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

May 7, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Act-On's interface offers more functionality and flexibility. Simple to use requires no coding knowledge to use or navigate. It provides pre-built templates for automated programs that can be customized to meet our specific lead generation requirements. The drag-and-drop, list segmentation, and lead scoring options make the user-friendly interface appealing. It is possible to incorporate integrations. Our company uses this software both as an administrator and as a user. Switching between HTML and visual views is straightforward. With the integration of our CRM with our instance, we can create dynamically populated segments that are used to populate our automation. It is beautiful to download our data into more specific and affluent reporting tailored to our requirements. We could also create a proactive pipeline development program using MS Dynamics. It enables us to learn more about how our customers use our content (or not) to identify high-quality prospects.

Pros

The templates are easy to use and set up campaigns.
It's simple to use, and the email editor features a drag-and-drop interface.
It's easy to set up a drip campaign or a series of scheduled emails.
It has the flexibility of having a variety of scheduling options and the use of user experience automation.

Cons

A more straightforward UI and faster loading times are needed.
User direct communication within the platform would be fantastic.
There are a few areas where the functionality could be improved.

Likelihood to Recommend

Act-On simplifies the creation of landing pages, web forms, email campaigns, and other types of marketing automation. Designing a customer journey using the workflow builder (a nurturing flow) is possible. It is used in various ways and in a variety of contexts. Tactical's knowledgeable support team helped us unlock Act-On's potential for complex integrations and marketing campaigns. In some areas, it would be beneficial to improve functionality.

Sourov K Chowdhury

Database Software Engineer in Product Management at Best Web Design Ltd. (11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

1 year of experience

View profile

Loading Reviews List....

"Act-On is an easy-to-use automation tool that can handle many tasks."

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

May 7, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Pros

The templates are easy to use and set up campaigns.
It's simple to use, and the email editor features a drag-and-drop interface.
It's easy to set up a drip campaign or a series of scheduled emails.
It has the flexibility of having a variety of scheduling options and the use of user experience automation.

Cons

A more straightforward UI and faster loading times are needed.
User direct communication within the platform would be fantastic.
There are a few areas where the functionality could be improved.

Likelihood to Recommend

Sourov K Chowdhury

Database Software Engineer in Product Management at Best Web Design Ltd. (11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

1 year of experience

View profile