The ActiveCampaign self-audit checklist
Make the most of your ActiveCampaign subscription by ensuring you’ve done the basics
I’m Jacob, an ActiveCampaign-certified marketing automation consultant. Working with clients using ActiveCampaign for the past 5 years has given me a clear understanding of the platform, and which strategies are most likely to result in email marketing success.
So I’ve consolidated my knowledge into a simple checklist of how your ActiveCampaign should be set up to get the most ROI from your subscription. Whether you’ve been running email marketing for a while and want to make sure you’re covering your bases, or you’re new to email marketing, this checklist is for you.
The Checklist
Click each point for more information!
⬜ Is there a subscriber opt-in form on your website
⬜ Do you have a welcome automation for new subscribers
⬜ Do you have an abandoned cart automation
Is there a subscriber opt-in form on your website?
Why is it important? A signup form is almost certainly the way you’ll gather most of your subscribers, and more subscribers = more revenue.
I highly recommend a popup form. Despite what you may think about how annoying popups are, they work. They give people visiting your website a clear call-to-action (CTA), and they result in a higher conversion rate than other forms.
Here’s what a popup form looks like:
It’s called a popup because it takes up the center of the page, and user interaction is required to return to the website.
If you don’t have a popup form, check out this ActiveCampaign guide (look for the “Modal” option when creating a form).
However, I do find ActiveCampaign’s own form tools to be rather limited, so I encourage using a third-party form tool (e.g. OptinMonster, Poptin, Popup Maker). Most of these send leads to ActiveCampaign directly, and give you much better customization options.
Popup tips:
Give your popup a bonus to make it enticing - see how the popup in the image above gives a bonus of free shipping
If you’re using a third-party popup tool, I recommend “exit intent” - which means the form only shows when someone goes to close their browser. This reduces friction while your visitors are navigating your website, and instead presents a “last chance” method for converting them before they leave
Do you have a welcome automation for new subscribers?
Why is it important? Leads are hottest when they first sign up - and a welcome series is a chance to convert them and continue to stay top-of-mind while they’re making their decision.
Your welcome series should contain at least 3 emails:
The first email goes out immediately, and should deliver your bonus (if you promised one in your signup form), let them know a bit about you, and answer the biggest question they have about your products
The second and following emails act as informative reminders. I recommend sending the second email 1-2 days after the first, and from then on send emails at 1-5 day intervals. These emails should help your subscribers understand the differences between your products, why yours are better than your competitors, and overcome any barriers they might have to purchasing (for example price)
These emails don’t have to be long - the key is that they’re reminders to put your business back in your subscriber’s minds, and offer them some valuable information to help them decide to purchase from you
I don’t think your email design needs to be fancy, but it should match your website branding
The first welcome email for one of my clients - note how the header image matches the website branding, the email welcomes the reader, and delivers the offer that was promised.
Do you have an abandoned cart automation?
Why is it important? Abandon cart automations are easy to set up and very successful at increasing revenue with minimal effort.
First, if you sell your products via a compatible eCommerce store (Shopify, WooCommerce, or a few others), make sure that first up it’s connected to ActiveCampaign.
Then, follow this ActiveCampaign guide to set up your abandon cart/checkout automation (note that if you’re using WooCommerce, you need to .
Abandon cart automation tips:
ActiveCampaign’s default abandon cart email template is totally fine - the main goal is for this automation to be a reminder to catch people
The first email should go out immediately when the cart is “abandoned” (for Shopify and WooCommerce, make sure the cart is set to be “abandoned” at 1 hour)
The second email should go out 4-36 hours after the first, and should include a discount code. This gives people umm’ing and aah’ing about price a clear incentive to purchase
Here’s how your abandon cart automation will look (click image to expand).
Do you send a regular newsletter?
Why is it important? Half of the value of your email list is simply the ability to regularly stay top-of-mind with your audience. For example, one of my clients who sends regular, informative newsletters gets over 2/3rds of their website traffic directly from email.
Newsletter tips:
It doesn’t have to look like a typical “newsletter”, it just has to be an email sent out on a consistent basis that shares some kind of value, whether that’s helpful guides, updates on your products, sale notifications - the list goes on
Prioritize consistency over a fancy design or lots of content - the goal is to get your audience into a rhythm of hearing from you, so when they are ready to buy, they think of you
Timing: A valuable email once a month is better than one every week that don’t really offer anything new
Do your results show open rates >20%
Why is it important? In my experience, open rates lower than 20% are one of the biggest red flags that your email marketing is suffering a critical issue.
To check the results of your recent campaigns:
In ActiveCampaign, go to Reports, Campaigns, All Campaigns
Hover over the bar next to “Opens” for each campaign
Numbers show how to reach the correct page, the arrow shows where to hover your mouse.
If you see that your campaigns are regularly receiving open rates lower than 20%, check out my deliverability article for more about how you can fix this.
Bonus move:
Now you know how to see your results, take a look at your click rates and your “Revenue” numbers as well. Which emails have higher click rates? Which ones generated more revenue? You can use this to start identifying what your audience likes most, and applying it to future emails
Are your emails authenticated properly?
Why is it important? If your email isn’t authenticated, it could be going directly to spam
Go to https://www.activecampaign.com/dkim-spf-check/ and enter your domain into the first box.
You should see green checkmarks - if not, you’ll need to troubleshoot your ActiveCampaign authentication (use the link on that same page for further help).
An example of a successfully authenticated domain
Summary
These are the first steps I always recommend (and implement) with each client I partner with, and they’re key to a successful email marketing strategy. ActiveCampaign has many many more features available - and plenty more value to add to your business.
If you’re looking for help with implementing any of the checklist actions I’ve mentioned here, or you’ve gone through this checklist and you’re wondering “what should we do next?”, please feel free to grab a time with me to talk about your next steps.
