Are you reconsidering your tech stack?

You’re busy, working on everything at once, and you’re realizing that the tools you have are causing more of a headache than necessary. To execute and deliver on specific goals, you need tools that help you get it all done and make your day-to-day easier. 

You’ve heard it before: do more with less. Easier said than done, especially for those who work on an endless list of tasks like writing emails, creating content, managing customer relationships, managing a website, and supporting sales, all while maintaining a memorable, top-of-mind brand. It’s a lot.

Once you know where you’re starting from, other more specific questions will arise about the logistics of migrating, your unique challenges, and how much your preferred tool will cost you.

No matter if your tool is basic, advanced, or nonexistent, it’s totally normal to feel overwhelmed by the beginnings of the research process. There’s a lot to consider. Every platform out there claims to be the best marketing automation platform, but when you actually dig in, it's not always obvious what each platform does or how it's different from the other options. And the features you need are dependent on the goals you’re focused on whether they be marketing-related, sales-related, or a mix of both.

In this guide, you won’t be told what tool is the best. Instead, you’ll walk away with a clearer understanding of how to make that decision for yourself. You’ll have a better idea of what different platforms offer and how to identify the features that can help your business reach its goals, whether you're focused on marketing, sales, or both. Let’s make this process a little easier and get you on track to finding the right solution.

The impact of email and automation

Let’s zoom out and talk about email. There’s a reason so many businesses rely on email marketing today. In a Forbes report, 73% of B2B marketers said email marketing is their most effective way of contacting prospects. And when you couple email and automation together, the return on investment is huge. Automated emails achieved 84% higher open rates, 341% higher click rates, and a staggering 2,270% increase in conversion rates.

Today, there are hundreds of tools out there that all want your attention. This is why choosing the right email marketing or marketing automation platform can be such a time-consuming and overwhelming process.

Think about the marketing automation tool you're using. What made you choose it?

• It seemed like a quick fix for handling my email campaigns.
• It promised to help with customer engagement and lead nurturing when things started slipping through the cracks.
• I needed a simple way to automate tasks and track conversions without too much setup.

But now, ask yourself: how many different tools are you juggling to get the full picture? Are there things you're still doing manually or across multiple platforms that could be handled by just one tool? Let’s look at a real-world example.

Why Bonjoro switched tools

In 2020, Bonjoro realized that they were running into limitations with their systems. They used Mailchimp for their email marketing, pairing it with HubSpot CRM to handle all sales motions. Ultimately, they came to the realization that they needed to choose another tool for two main reasons: they were hitting the ceiling with basic features and using multiple tools to connect the entire buying process. On top of that, Mailchimp’s pricing kept going up and they realized they were spending $500 for a tool that only offered basic email functionality.

This was their “I need to switch tools” moment. They grew out of certain features and had an incompatibility of their tech stack making managing the entire process a nightmare. Bonjoro set a goal to replace as many tools as they could with one singular tool, knowing that managing email, automation, and sales under one roof would prove tremendous value. Migrating to ActiveCampaign gave them that value.

This in tandem with their integrated CRM made ActiveCampaign the right tool for Bonjoro, eliminating the need for disparate tools.

You may be in the same position as you research marketing automation tools, or you could be in a position where you need to simplify and choose a tool that does exactly what you need it to do without having to pay for all the features you don’t use yet. There’s no one-size-fits-all tool. A tool that works for one company may be the wrong choice for another.

At their core, marketing automation platforms are designed to help you manage and streamline repetitive marketing tasks—think sending emails, scheduling social media posts, or segmenting your audience—without having to do it all manually. These tools help you create automated workflows that trigger based on customer actions, like sending a welcome email after someone signs up or offering a discount when they abandon their cart.

There are also things that aren’t possible without automation. If a tool doesn’t have something like site or event tracking, you’re not able to identify the products, pages, or content your customers are interested in. Without site tracking, you don’t have the chance to follow up after someone lands on a site page (eliminating the chance they make a purchase decision).

This improvement wouldn’t be possible without automation.

But here’s the thing… your overall marketing strategy is either constrained or unlocked by the capabilities of your tools. If you’re working with a platform that can’t handle complex automations or integrate with the rest of your tech stack, your growth is going to hit a ceiling. On the other hand, you don’t want to pay for a tool that has an abundance of functionality you have never used.

Choosing the right marketing automation platform is not just about saving time, it’s about unlocking your potential to scale, personalize, and fine-tune every aspect of your marketing while addressing the challenges personal to your business.

As you’re researching marketing automation software, you’re usually looking to solve a few common problems: automate repetitive tasks, improve customer engagement, send emails to the right group of people at the right time, and track results in one place.

All of these answers can be found on sites like G2, where real users leave honest reviews. Today's buyers don’t just take a company’s word for it. In fact, 92% of B2B buyers are more likely to purchase after reading a trusted review. Review sites play a huge role in helping people make informed decisions. Buyers rely heavily on third-party opinions to gauge real user experiences and see how a platform stacks up in the real world.

Most decision-makers will spend a lot of time reading these reviews, comparing features, and checking out ratings before they even think about reaching out for a demo or trial. By the time they do reach out, they’ve usually already narrowed down their choices and are looking for that final piece of information to push them over the line.

Immediate benefits of investing in marketing automation

When you begin using an automation platform, there are a handful of benefits you’ll see right out of the gate. Below are just a few that you can expect with most platforms:

And there’s data from real customers to back up the benefits you’ll see when you start using an automation platform:

• Belkins, a B2B lead generation agency, reduced time spent on agreements by 90% with the PandaDoc app for HubSpot.
• Salon chain Hair Candy saw a 528% year-over-year growth in revenue since implementing ActiveCampaign.
• AdHoc, a publication and concert promoter, grew its audience by 93% after using Mailchimp’s tags and Eventbrite integration.

All of this is helpful data to understand why automation is so valuable. Before talking about the challenges you may be facing and the features that can address them, it’s important to note that the core of your decision comes down to what you’re trying to do with the platform.

When you’re reevaluating an existing tool or looking for an entirely new one, the one question that will guide you is “What am I fundamentally trying to do with this tool?”

• If you need to send a newsletter every so often and need access to a library of nice templates, tools like Mailchimp and Constant Contact offer basic plans that will work perfectly for you.
• If you need a tool that can handle email marketing, managing leads, outbound marketing, PPC management, and also comes with a content management system to help you build a website, create blog content, and access analytics, HubSpot is a better choice.
• If you need a tool that combines powerful email marketing and automation that allows you to segment leads based on behavior or send personalized follow-up emails, ActiveCampaign fits the bill. They also offer an integrated CRM for those who may need a tool for contact management, lead scoring, and deal monitoring.
• If you’re running an e-commerce business on Shopify and need a tool that can automate abandoned cart reminders, product recommendations, and post-purchase emails that are all personalized based on customer shopping behavior, Klaviyo is a common choice.

Every company will need something a little different depending on the goals they’re working towards and what kind of customers they have. And the fact is, there are hundreds of other tools that may be better than those listed above, making this entire process a lot more complex.

It’s true that even the best platforms come with growing pains. Maybe you find that after migrating to a new tool, some of your automations broke or didn’t migrate over at all. Or an integration you absolutely need doesn’t work in the way you need it to.

These are real concerns when choosing a new tool, whether it’s your first automation platform or you’re coming from a platform that no longer serves you. Looking at real reviews from G2, even the most popular tools have dissatisfied users.

So what should you look for in a marketing automation tool to make sure you won’t be leaving a review like this in a year? It depends on each feature and what you need it to do. But it all starts with the setup process.

How easy is setup or migration?

One of the first barriers to entry is set up or migration. A lot of hesitation that comes with switching to another tool comes from a non-intuitive setup process and if you’re coming from another tool, an intense migration that doesn’t bring everything over one-to-one.

You may be wondering:

• Will migration and setup be straightforward? Will it cost extra outside the sticker price?
• Will I need to work with an outside party to get the tool set up?
• Will I even be able to move everything (tags, fields, templates, automations, contact records, reporting history, etc.) from my old platform?
• If you’re promised a dedicated set up team, what specifically does that mean? What are they going to do to help make the process as easy as it can be?

Let’s look at this a little closer.

What to look for when onboarding and migrating

What you’ll need to look for in terms of onboarding and migration support will depend on the size of your business and how many lists, templates, automations, etc. you’ll need to transfer to another tool. With tools like HubSpot and Keap, you may have to work with an outside partner to set up your instance whereas tools like Mailchimp, ConvertKit, and ActiveCampaign claim that setup can be done on your own.

Migration is a mixed bag across tools. Let’s look at a few tools and the range of assistance they offer for setup, migration, and onboarding.

Setup with Mailchimp 

Mailchimp offers extensive help with both migration and setup, claiming you’re able to easily migrate from any platform to Mailchimp with help from their resources and onboarding professionals to get you started. They also promise help with set up. When you choose their Standard or Premium plan, you get to meet with a dedicated onboarding specialist 1:1 for multiple one-hour sessions in your first 90 days. If you know you’ll need hands-on assistance when you’re setting up your account, Mailchimp may be the best fit.

Migration with HubSpot

If migration is your headache, HubSpot offers things like template setup, website migration, and CRM migration to transition your content, design, and data to help you get your account up and running. This is part of their Professional Services and it’ll cost you extra. For example, their template setup is $250 and provides a premade set of templates that will resemble your website branding.

Their website migration runs an extra $500 for setup and $20 per page of content. This is all important to know as you consider your options and decide if you’ll have enough support (and budget) while migrating to another tool. This price may work for you if you’ve got a healthy budget and don’t have hundreds of website pages to migrate.

Migration and setup with Keap

If you need help with both migration and setup, tools like Keap and ActiveCampaign may be your best bet. With Keap, you get an entire team of experts who will help you get up and running quickly. This includes a customer success manager, an implementation success manager, and import/migration specialists.

Migration and onboarding with ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign’s onboarding process is quite extensive. Your email lists will be migrated, your templates will be transferred, your automations will be rebuilt, and your forms and landing pages will be set up. All for free. You’ll also get one-on-one sessions with a real person along with resources like help articles and the ActiveCampaign community to get you set up fast.

Once you’ve assessed how hands-on you’ll need a tool’s support team to be as you migrate and set up, there’s plenty more to consider that ties directly to the work you do inside the tool. Some companies will need a simple tool with basic features. Some will need a tool that can support all their email marketing, build multi-step automation, and help them manage their leads.

Narrowing down your search for a new tool will hinge on the specific problems you’re dealing with today.

Every business will have a different set of challenges that call for specific features. While you may be able to live with them for a while, it’s important to identify the specific pain points that are holding you back so you can have a clearer understanding of what you actually need to look for when looking for a new automation tool.

Not all platforms will have the features or complexity you require. Some only handle email marketing automation and that’s okay if that’s all you need it for. But the quicker you map out your pain points with your current tool, the better you can prepare yourself by knowing what specific features you will need to look for in another tool.

A standard marketing automation tool will include integrations to give you tons of ways to connect your favorite apps and streamline your workflow. Although including integrations is fairly typical, it’s important to know the difference between native integrations and third-party integrations.

With a tool like ActiveCampaign, you get a solid mix of both, 950+ to be exact. Their native integrations really stand out, ensuring smooth connections with popular platforms like Shopify, Salesforce, WordPress, Square, and many more.

When you’ve narrowed down the features you know you need in a new tool and you have a few in mind, you’re getting closer to the procurement process. But you’re not done yet. Before each call, put together a list of must-haves and questions you need answered before you do so much as to sign up for a free trial.

Get super specific to the unique functionality you need. When you bring specific questions like this into these demo calls, it’ll be easier to spot the red flags where features may be lacking.

All of these discoveries should be conversations you have with each platform. It’s to your benefit to ask about these things before you sign any contract. Use these demos to pressure test each tool and work out which tool has the features, support, and growth path you need to help you drive your business forward in the coming years.

Your next consideration is to understand the true cost (outside the sticker price). Here’s a breakdown of what you should consider before buying a tool — and being surprised by the bill.

Onboarding fees

Setup and activation costs: Some tools charge initial fees to set up your account or activate specific features. These fees can vary significantly, so be sure to ask if there are any costs associated with getting started.

Onboarding and training: Some tools offer onboarding services to help you set up and use the platform effectively, but these may come at an additional cost. Training your team to use the new system can also incur costs, especially if you need to hire external trainers.

• For example, Mailchimp Marketing Hub’s one-time onboarding fee starts at $3,000 and go up to $7,000. With a tool like Keap, onboarding fees start at $1,500 and go up to $3,500 depending on the plan you choose. These prices vary from tool to tool and are outside of the subscription fee. As you migrate and set up with another tool, it’s important to keep these extra fees in mind.

Integration costs: If the new tool needs to be integrated with existing software (like CRM or e-commerce platforms), consider the costs associated with these integrations. Custom integrations can be particularly expensive.

Hidden fees

Transaction fees: Some platforms may impose transaction fees for certain actions, like sending emails or processing payments. Be sure to read the fine print to understand what costs could be lurking.

User licenses: If you have a team that will be using the tool, check if there are extra charges for additional user licenses. Many tools have tiered pricing based on the number of users.

Data migration costs

Migrating email lists: If you’re moving from another email marketing platform, consider the costs of migrating your email lists. Some tools provide this service for free, while others may charge a fee.

Transferring existing templates: If you have custom email templates or workflows, moving these to the new platform can involve additional costs, especially if they require redesigning or adjustments to fit the new tool’s specifications.

Risk mitigation during data transfer

Data backup services: It’s crucial to ensure that your data is safe during the transfer process. Check if the new tool offers data backup services to mitigate the risk of losing valuable customer information during migration.

Contact verification: Look for tools that provide options for contact verification during migration to ensure that the email addresses and other data being transferred are accurate and up-to-date.

Ongoing costs

Subscription fees: Understand the subscription model (monthly or annual) and how costs may change as your business grows. Be aware of any potential price increases over time.

Maintenance and upgrades: Some tools require regular maintenance or come with upgrade fees for new features. Make sure to factor these potential costs into your budget.

Understanding typical billing practices can save you a lot of headaches (and dollars). As you explore your options, a few different considerations about subscription models that should be top of mind.

Monthly vs. annual fees

Most marketing automation platforms operate on a subscription model, where you pay a monthly or annual fee. The choice you make depends on convenience versus cost savings. Many platforms offer a discount if you pay annually, so it’s worth considering how that fits into your budget.

Subscriber-based pricing

A common practice among these tools is to charge based on the number of subscribers you have. This means that as your email list grows, so does your monthly bill. Not all platforms follow this model. Some charge based on active contacts which helps you save money by regularly cleaning your list and removing inactive subscribers.

Charging based on email sends vs. contacts

While many tools use a subscriber-based pricing structure, some charge based on the number of emails sent rather than the number of contacts. This can work in your favor if you have a small list but send frequent communications.

Add-ons and premium features

A large number of platforms offer add-ons for advanced features that may not be included in their basic plan. For example, if you want additional automation capabilities, SMS marketing, or advanced reporting, these may cost you extra. Before committing, determine what features are included in the base price versus what features you cannot live without, and if those features will put extra strain on your budget.

The true cost of adopting a new marketing automation tool goes beyond the initial price tag. By considering the above, you can make a more informed decision about whether the tool is worth the investment. Always take the time to do thorough research and assess the long-term financial implications before making a switch, ensuring that your new tool aligns with your business goals without breaking the bank.

It’s also important to acknowledge that there’s a balance between cost and value. What’s more affordable at first may limit you as you continue to grow your business. While an attractive initial pricing structure can be tempting, consider the long-term costs associated with using the platform. Look at how your expenses might evolve as your business grows—more subscribers, more features, and potentially more hidden fees.

Considering everything you’ve just read, you’re in a better position to make a decision on what marketing automation platform will suit you best.

Learn more about ActiveCampaign

Curious about what ActiveCampaign can offer you? Learn more about how it stacks up against other marketing automation platforms and dive deeper with these resources.