Choosing a marketing automation platform can be a daunting undertaking. It’s a decision that will have an impact on almost every aspect of your marketing programs ‒ and your bottom line ‒ for years after purchase.
An appropriate and strategically-chosen system can help ground and organize all of your marketing activities helping your campaigns soar and thrive. A well-implemented platform can enable you to increase productivity, automate your workflow, track and monitor progress, grow brand awareness and demand generation, catalyze more customer connections, and help cement those relationships.
The right marketing automation solution goes beyond simple automation, beyond inbound marketing, and beyond demand generation, to support you at every stage of the customer lifecycle. Act-On does, and that’s why our customers love us.
Act-On is different than other platforms. It was built with modern tools on a next-generation platform for today’s digital marketer. Our focus from the beginning has been to make it easy for you to get your work done faster and better, and lessen (or even eliminate) your dependence on the IT department.
Our unrivaled support helps our customers succeed with our platform, regardless of what their goals may be. And, regardless of their subscription, they get unlimited access to training and support services for the lifetime of the relationship. It’s just one more thing that sets Act-On apart from our competition.
We understand that we are one among many vendors out there. It’s natural that picking a platform can seem a little overwhelming at first. And while we stand by the fact that our platform is miles ahead of our competitors, we think it’s best if you hear it straight from our users.
Jonas Construction Software
Jonas Construction Software makes accounting software for the construction, mining, moving/ storage, and metals industries. Each of Jonas’ market segments has specific requirements, and the company meets them with six products – all designed to streamline operational and accounting processes.
Like many businesses with a long sales cycle, Jonas struggled to stay top of mind with their prospects. The company was using HubSpot to reach potential customers, but the platform wasn’t capable of dynamically nurturing leads based on prospects’ profiles and actions.
Jonas chose Act-On for its robust automation programs and ease of implementation. “We needed the ability to set up more than 100 different reach campaigns, and nothing came close to Act-On,” said Sam Mendelsohn, Jonas’ Vice President of Business Development. “The level of detail it provides and the way it integrates with Salesforce is better than anything we’ve encountered.”
When Jonas switched to Act-On, it was able to run more than 100 automated programs and distribute thousands of emails daily to both prospects and customers. The company also dramatically increased the number of leads and opportunities and re-engaged 20% of prospects that had fallen dormant.
Today Jonas uses Act-On to engage their audience through a myriad of communications, including newsletters, tradeshow announcements, and sales emails. The marketing department automates almost all of its campaigns and leverages their vast library of content to personalize each message.
“We’re not just automating our marketing; we’re actively supporting our buyers’ entire journey,” said Mendelsohn. “Act-On logs every prospect’s behavior in their activity history, which allows the sales team to respond strategically to that data in Salesforce. It helps us keep Jonas top of mind, and reduces the length of our sales cycle.”
iCharts
iCharts delivers business data visualization to companies worldwide. With iCharts, businesses can track and visualize everything from sales numbers to worker productivity to market fluctuations.
When Ted Sapountzis, joined iCharts in 2014 as head of marketing, the company had virtually no marketing: very little content, no ongoing email campaigns, and no marketing automation.
iCharts needed to build a content marketing strategy, then attract potential sales leads through campaigns promoted via search ads, social media, and email campaigns. The process was manual and Sapountzis knew he needed to automate the outreach. “I wanted something with the capabilities to hit the middle of the funnel, to nurture leads after we attracted their interest.”
That meant a platform that could track leads and automatically send content based on a buyer’s actions and interest. As a one-person marketing team, the marketing automation platform had to be easy to use and, most of all, effective. “I’ve used other platforms in the past that just took too much time to get up and running,” he said. “I needed to get our marketing off the ground quickly and without any complications.”
Act-On immediately made a big difference to iCharts’ marketing program, including streamlining and simplifying its twice monthly webinars. “The Act-on webinar integration allows us to minimize the manual work needed to get them up and running and nurture leads once they attend the webinars.” iCharts’ marketing team can quickly and easily setup WebEx webinar campaigns through Act-On. Leads receive invites, confirmations, and reminder emails as part of Act- On campaigns.
A nearly 20-fold increase in leads and sales opportunities has driven iCharts’ growth. Now the company has a 10-person sales team and three dedicated marketing positions. The company also works with outside marketing firms for creative and Google AdWords campaigns. It’s a far cry from where iCharts was when Sapountzis first joined.
Act-On is at the center of it all. “I don’t think we would be where we are today if it had not been for Act-On,” Sapountzis said.
Conclusion
Regardless of the size of your team, the Act-On marketing automation platform can put your marketing programs on track for much greater success! But don’t just take our word for it ‒ our customers will confirm why they love Act-On’s ease of use and integration, quick implementation, and ability to grow and nurture all stages of your customers’ lifecycles.