Infusionsoft

Commentaires: Infusionsoft by Keap (AKA the "classic Infusionsoft") has been on top of the small business automation marketplace for years, and for good reason. In the right hands, it's a perfect marriage of automation + CRM. Its strengths are best-in-class, and it is refreshingly light on gimmick features that claim to fulfill a business need without offering real capability. That said, there are some noteworthy holes in functionality. Caveat: the power comes with a substantial learning curve, and you *do* need to learn the software well to use it effectively. Campaign builder has many quirks, there are multiple ways to accomplish any result, and the number of settings is astonishing. Infusionsoft's own (paid + mandatory) onboarding at the time we started using it was insufficient. Fortunately, its history means there are many good Certified Partners and tons of free blogs, videos, and other resources to guide your implementation. I recommend having at least one person on your team who can take on the role of Infusionsoft expert and take responsibility for configuring, organizing, and maintaining the app. For a solopreneur whose time is better spent doing the business, or a small organization that's just beginning to figure out its digital processes, IS is likely to be too overpowered and cumbersome. (FWIW, we started with IS too early ourselves. We've grown into it and are now very happy, but the first couple years were frustrating.)

Avantages: The campaign builder is an unmatched canvas for automating almost any business process imaginable. It doesn't restrict you to a single workflow paradigm, so you have the freedom to design systems to match your business AND organize them how you want. I love the options of using tags, custom fields, notes, and API goals for storing data on the contact record, segmenting contacts, or automating based on that info/event. Plus, all of this feeds a reporting system that can track any aspect of a business's growth and health (with some configuration). The extensive API and HTTP post automation supercharge all of this with custom development or addon tools. The new responsive email builder is extremely user-friendly, and has a nice assortment of premade templates, as well as letting you build a library of your own custom templates. Lastly, the Infusionsoft community is deep and extremely knowledgeable. Practically any question you have, you can find an answer to. Infusionsoft's own support is solid and generally satisfactory, but the breadth of experience available from other users is an incredible resource.

Inconvénients: Over the past year, a lot of development resources were directed toward the creation of the new, entry-level Keap product, so Infusionsoft has gotten a bit dusty. Reportedly this has changed now that Keap is launched, and Infusionsoft development is once again getting its fair share of attention. This means, however, that there are a number of modern marketing functions that IS cannot handle natively. Examples are Facebook custom audience syncing, SMS messaging, website event tracking (unlike Drip, for instance, there is no JavaScript API that can be used to trigger automations inside IS as a result of a contact's activity on a webpage). Web forms and order forms are dated. Tracking online orders made through 3rd party shopping carts is complicated and frustrating. Reporting, though *immensely* capable, is hampered by the lack of built-in charts or graphs. Stripe is not natively supported as a payment processor. At some point, it becomes essential to start using "satellite" helper tools, like PlusThis or MyFusionHelper, to address some of Infusionsoft's shortcomings, manage data more effectively, build graphic reports, or create custom automations. This adds to the baseline cost.

Commentaires: It was worth all the time and effort it took to set up. I've generated over a million dollars as a stay at home mom of seven children thanks to Infusionsoft and the power of automation. Now I make good money while I tend to my family. I set my own hours. I love what I do. With my campaigns in place, I can build an email, send a broadcast, and watch the system do the rest while I go enjoy my life. Thank you!

Avantages: There are so many ways to engage my subscribers. I use what works for me. I know I'm not using all the features, but it's nice to know there is no limit to all the ways I can increase my revenue. I've just made it a practice to try a feature, fine tune it, and then integrate another feature... and my income grows. Super powerful! And because Infusionsoft has established itself so well in the marketplace, there are so many partner apps available across so many different kinds of platforms, which help me understand, reach, and serve my audience even better.

Inconvénients: I am not a fan of the new landing pages. I think they're supposed to be a friendlier interface but instead they feel more limiting. I am also disappointed in the quality of tech support, especially chat. I can't fault the employees - I've spent thousands of hours in the software over the last 10 years, so most of the time it feels like I have to wait for them to catch up to what I know before I can finally get an answer to my question. Phone support is usually better. I also wish I could go into my Email Builder (Previously Sent) and more quickly find an old email from which to build a new one. It takes too long to load the visual thumbnails, and the search option never works. It appears to only search previous emails whose thumbnails have already loaded. All the others seem to be ignored. OH! My biggest peeve is with chat support. It's maddening how long it takes for the rep to get underway. "Hi, thank you for contacting Infusionsoft Support today. My name is ___. I hope you're doing well today." I don't have time to be chatty, so I go straight to the question. I wait for a reply, but then they greet me again. If I'm feeling patient I'll greet them back. If not, I'll ask the question again. I wait for a reply, and they tell me something like they'll do their best to assist me. I wait for an answer, and then they repeat my question and ask if that's right. PLEASE teach the rep to REFLECT the customer's chattiness. If I'm being brief, be brief. If I'm chatty, be chatty.