Why I love Active Campaign for Small Business Email Marketing

*FYI: This post includes affiliate links because, well, who doesn’t love (somewhat) passive income. But you should definitely know that I ONLY share links to products or services I genuinely know, love and use myself. If you use any of these links there will never ever be additional costs for you.  Usually you get a discount and I get a small commission, but it just depends. :) 

My review of activecampaign for small online business and solopreneurs

Looking for the best email marketing software for your online small business? I’m a small online business owner and I believe ActiveCampaign is a game-changer for online business email marketing.  My affection for ActiveCampaign runs deep. Its intuitive interface and robust features seamlessly cater to the dynamic needs of online enterprises. The ability to create targeted, personalized campaigns through automation is a godsend—it streamlines my workflows and enhances engagement with my audience like nothing else. The platform's flexibility in segmentation allows me to pinpoint specific customer groups, ensuring that my messages resonate with precision. Not to mention, the comprehensive analytics offer invaluable insights, empowering me to optimize campaigns for maximum impact. With its unwavering reliability and innovative tools, ActiveCampaign isn't just a tool—it's the heartbeat of my online business's communication strategy.

The US Department of Commerce states that 99/9% of all businesses in the US are considered “small businesses''. Any business with less than 1500 employees is considered small by the US Census. If that’s you and you’re wondering what the best email marketing software provider is for you, then keep reading. ActiveCampaign may be a good fit for you. It has been for me. 

 
 

From Mailchimp to ActiveCampaign, the journey

When I started my online business back in 2014-ish, I opened a MailChimp account as many beginners do. In fact, I recommend to my beginner clients that they start by learning email marketing with MailChimp, simply because it is one of the only free software tools out there. It’s easy, simple and can help you get started.

When you get to a point - and you’ll know when you do - you’ll start to want to be more professional, organized and in-depth with your email marketing strategy. When you get to that point, I recommend checking out ActiveCampaign.  In my personal journey, moving from the simplicity of MailChimp to the well-rounded depth of ActiveCampaign was one of the best business decisions I’ve made. I’ve been able to grow my business and email leads exponentially by learning the strategy of email marketing through ActiveCampaign and by utilizing all of their fabulous tools.

If you’re thinking of making the great migration from free software to paid, I highly recommend moving up to ActiveCampaign. I’ve used them for 3 years now and I feel I have grown with them and them with me - and the sky's the limit from here on out! I can comfortably say I will be with ActiveCampaign for the rest of my time as an online business owner. I don't need anything else to succeed. 

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10 Things I Love About Using ActiveCampaign as a Solopreneur

  1. Customer Support is Best of the Best

    More and more these days I think people are valuing a great customer support team.  I’m not positive, but I have an idea that all of ActiveCampaign’s customer support team seems to be in house and highly responsive. Every time I need support I click the chat bubble at the bottom and am talking to a real human in minutes! Multiple times I’ve even had them jump on the phone with me in the moment in order to more quickly resolve the issue at hand.

    None of this - send us a chat and then we’ll send you an email, and then in 5 days when you forgot what your question was, we will get back to you with another email or a long distance call. 😵‍💫 That stuff will wear you out! ActiveCampaign is much smoother than that! 

 
 

2. In Person Trainings

In the past year I have gone to two different in person “Study Hall” sessions with ActiveCampaign, one when I was living near Denver and the other when I was living near Dallas. Both times I learned a ton and came home with pages and pages of notes. If you get the chance to attend one of these events, I highly recommend it! Get all your questions answered with their overly friendly and helpful staff as well as make great connections with other savvy email marketing folks. 

 


3. Segmenting Capabilities

If anyone asks me why they should upgrade from a free email service provider to a paid software, this is my number one answer. Segmenting your campaigns. Segmenting your mailing lists. Segmenting means you can get super duper granular in who you send what to. When the data is working for you, segmenting can take your efforts to the next level with very customized messaging for specific customers and customer groups. 

4. Easy to Use Interface

Once you get the basic elements down, ActiveCampaign is very simple and easy to use. Like any new technology software, you’ll have a small learning curve, but compared to other email marketing companies, I feel like ActiveCampaign is relatively easy to understand. Plus, as I mentioned earlier, their customer support is out of this world! Ask all the questions you have! They aim to please. 

5. Advanced Design Capabilities

One of the main reasons I switched to ActiveCampaign in 2021 is because I wanted more customization in my email design. Yes, I’m an artist and things must be pretty! With their new design system, ActiveCampaign makes it super simple to drag and drop elements when designing your email campaigns. They also have tons of templates that make it even easier to have beautiful emails too!

Sneak Peak behind designing one of my latest emails.

6. Super Simple Scheduling! 

I’m not sure what I did before I could schedule emails. ActiveCampaign makes it super easy to schedule your emails for whatever day and time you want. I almost always have my emails scheduled for a week or two in advance. This helps me sleep easy, knowing I don't have to rush around to get an email out every week. I stay scheduled and work a week or two ahead to ease my stress.  Plus - you can checkout reports to see when the best time of day for your specific audience is. This is fascinating stuff! More on that below.

7. Campaign Reports

One of my favorite features of ActiveCampaign is all the reports and data you can use to find out who’s opening your emails, how often and what time of day. This is segmented by campaign but also by contact! I can click on an individual campaign I see in an instant if my links were clicked and by who. This is very helpful information when it comes to online sales! 

8. Contacts Reports and Data trends

Alongside campaign reports are contact reports and contact data trends. I love to see how many new contacts I add on average. When I click on a specific contact I can also see their entire journey with me. How they found me, how they opted in and if they opened my last email or not! Wild.  I also have my website connected to ActiveCampaign so I can tell what web pages they have visited recently.  All helpful information for sales and marketing. 

 
email marketing for small business

A screenshot of contact reports dashboard inside of ActiveCampaign.

 

9. Forms for Opt-ins and Lead Captures

There are three styles of forms I can create in ActiveCampaign and drop into my SquareSpace website easily. These forms help capture leads with very little effort on my part. Oh I love it when technology supports me with ease and joy!

Here are a few examples I am currently using:




10. Easy Website Integration for SquareSpace, plus tons of others 

Personally, I use and love SquareSpace. I’ve used them since 2014 and have never thought about using anyone else since.  ActiveCampaign is great in that it plays nicely with SquareSpace. It’s one of their main integrations which helps me track who’s visited my website AND opened my emails.  I also can easily drop opt-in forms all over my website that directly connect with my ActiveCampaign account. Easy peasy. ActiveCampaign also has integrations for hundreds of other apps like Calendly, Stripe, Zapier… so I can see who’s booked a call or paid an invoice to work with me - all from the dashboard of my ActiveCampaign account. Wow! 

Activecampaign for Online Business

If you’re an online business owner, you know how important email marketing is in today’s industry. ActiveCampaign has become my go-to choice for email marketing in the realm of online business, and my fondness for it knows no bounds. Its user-friendly interface and extensive toolkit cater perfectly to the ever-evolving landscape of digital entrepreneurship. The automation capabilities are a true gem, allowing me to craft personalized campaigns that effortlessly reach and resonate with my audience. I particularly adore how easily I can segment my audience, ensuring that each message hits its mark with precision. Plus, the in-depth analytics provide invaluable insights, empowering me to fine-tune my strategies for optimal results. ActiveCampaign isn't just a platform—it's the backbone of my online business's communication, providing reliability, innovation, and the power to truly connect with my audience on a deeper level.

 
try activecampaign for free

The Best Email Marketing Software for Solopreneurs

Try ActiveCampaign for your small online business at no cost ; no risk.

 

Activecampaign Pricing for Solopreneurs and Small Businesses

When I have attended the in-person trainings for ActiveCampaign users, it seems to me that many ActiveCampaign users are larger companies who are on the Professional or Enterprise plan.  I would like to point out that ActiveCampaign is also great for solopreneurs like myself; the small businesses who want a professional email marketing strategy and a software to match.

Even for us small business owners, ActiveCampaign is very robust and very affordable in my opinion. Especially when you realize that this tool can be the backbone of all your online marketing and sales. For just $29 a month you can have a robust online marketing software for your business. Segment your audience communications, track website visits per contact and integrate your online payment software all from one place. That’s less than $350 a year.  You likely have spent more on that by jumping around from software to software. 😳

 
 

If you’re still not sure, I recommend giving their free trial a go! It’s no risk and allows you to play with all of the features to see what ActiveCampaign can do for you and your business. 

Email Marketing for Small Online Coaching Business

I’m often asked by clients what I recommend for email marketing as far as online coaching, spiritual and wellness based businesses goes. My answer still remains - ActiveCampaign. Online business is online business is online business. Set yourself up for professional success. Commit to learning the software and sticking with it. It will grow with you as you move into higher and higher levels of success in online business. 

✨Ready to exponentially grow your online business? Combine email marketing strategy with SEO >> read my article here.


I hope you found this post helpful! If you have any additional questions about why I recommend using ActiveCampaign for your small online business, feel free to comment below!

Haley HooverComment