Act-On Helps Quantum Learning Network Expand Its Marketing and Activate Sales

Kevin’s sales team was just as hindered. “MailChimp doesn’t integrate with Microsoft Dynamics CRM, so our reps couldn’t tell when prospects clicked on our emails or visited our website,” Kevin said. “Not knowing how engaged our buyers were made it difficult to further nurture and convert them.”

Kevin knew marketing automation would give him the power he needed to revitalize SuperCamp’s marketing and sales, so he began evaluating several platforms. He participated in extensive demos of each one, but soon realized Act-On was the right choice. He was impressed with its functionality and ease of use, but the deciding factor was its native, out-of-the-box integration with Microsoft Dynamics.

“I knew Act-On would help align our marketing and sales efforts, and I liked its native integration with Microsoft Dynamics,” Kevin said. “One of the other packages I was considering also integrated with Dynamics, but it cost more and required the involvement of a third-party, which made me leery.”

Kevin’s instincts paid off. “Implementing Act-On and connecting it with Microsoft Dynamics went quickly and smoothly. We had everything up and running in two weeks, and probably could have had things in place sooner, if I had known how easy it was going to be,” he said. “I expected there to be more technical requirements than there were, and I even spent time writing some plug-ins that we didn’t need. My over planning slowed us down.”

Kevin may have inadvertently delayed Act-On’s implementation, be he wasted no time putting it to good use. He had an agency develop content that addressed the needs of his buyers at each step of their journey, and then built an automated drip campaign in Act-On to deliver it. The program included a trigger to resend an email with a new subject line to recipients who didn’t open the first one, which increased the open rate.

Email metrics like open and click through rates are just some of the information Kevin pulls from Act-On to help him refine QLN’s marketing strategy. “Act-On’s reports help me optimize my campaigns by providing web tracking and other details that reveal what’s working and what’s not,” he said. “And improving a program makes me more confident in repurposing it, which saves me development time. The platform is helping me market more efficiently and intelligently.”

It’s also helping him market more precisely. QLN has SuperCamps for different age groups, and students move through the camps sequentially. Kevin uses this information to divide his audience into sub-groups and send targeted messages to each one.

“Segmenting lists in Act-On is intuitive, which makes it easy for me to deliver more relevant communications to prospects, such as promoting our Senior Forum to students who just completed the Junior Forum,” Kevin said. “I can also tailor messages based on the actions prospects have taken. For example, I can send one email to leads who recently requested information, and a different one to those who contacted us several years ago. Personalizing my content makes it more effective.”

Act-On is empowering QLN’s sales reps as well. They can view prospect behavior through a dashboard in Microsoft Dynamics, and Kevin scores each prospect action to identify the most qualified leads. “Sales reviews the dashboard daily and receives an alert when a lead reaches a certain score,” Kevin said. “This enables them to respond quickly and with greater knowledge, which helps them make the sale.”