There was a time when only the world’s most elite brands were adopting marketing automation systems. Marketing software vendors tuned into the corporate need for streamlined marketing processes that companies could easily manage — and it worked.
But that desire for automated marketing campaigns soon trickled down, and today, companies large and small across the globe are absorbing marketing automation systems into their staple software diets.
Naturally, the emergence of platforms like Mautic — a free, cloud-hosted, and open source marketing automation system — has helped marketing automation reach the masses.
First Impressions
I’ve been keeping tabs on Mautic ever since it launched in 2014. The promise of a free, open source, and hosted marketing automation system with all the features an SMB would ever need was enough to pique my interest.
Today, over 50,000 organizations make use of Mautic to grow their business.
David Hurley, the founder of Mautic, gave us all an insight into what motivated him to create the platform: “The entire concept of marketing automation has historically been perceived as difficult and complex. I wanted Mautic to change that. Every page, every link, every interface needed to be intuitive and familiar.”
I for one, was eager to see this change in action.
Getting Started With Mautic
After signing up for Mautic, which took no more than a few seconds, I was directed to my enticingly sleek dashboard.
You can customize the dashboard with an array of widgets, all of which are easy to add and then arrange with Mautic’s drag-and-drop interface. Different widgets allow you to keep tabs on things like contacts by location, emails ignored versus read, popular assets, and a whole lot more.
The dashboard also serves up notifications, a search bar, a link to helpful documentation, and access to your account settings. Plus, the sidebar is collapsible, which gives you more space to work when you need it.
Core Features
Once I was done tinkering with Mautic’s customizable dashboard, I began feeling my way around its different features and interfaces – and it all ran smoothly.
Mautic allowed me to add contacts quickly, segment them into configurable categories, and then feed them into marketing campaigns rigged with triggers and automated responses.
Those automated responses could come via email, social media, or SMS – although the latter is only available to Mautic Cloud Pro users.
Learning Opportunities
Webinar
Mar
30
An Optimized Customer Contact Strategy Combines Transparency and Intelligence: The State of Outbound Communications
Learn from the Neustar-commissioned Forrester Consulting study on challenges and solutions for contact centers
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Apr
5
Adopt a Modern Digital-First Marketing Strategy
Learn how to use a composable DXP to your advantage
Webinar
Apr
13
Accelerating Content Velocity Across the Digital Supply Chain
Learn to integrate DAM with upstream tools to improve workflow efficiency.
Webinar
Apr
13
Composable Commerce The Future of Retail
The Adobe Commerce approach to composable and why it's best in class
Webinar
Apr
18
Drive Business Growth Through Customer Service and Support
Defining the future of technology. What is AI’s role in the future of customer service?
Webinar
Apr
26
Future-proofing Your Marketing Through Better Customer Understanding
Understanding your customers and how to reach them in real-time across all channels
Webinar
Mar
30
An Optimized Customer Contact Strategy Combines Transparency and Intelligence: The State of Outbound Communications
Learn from the Neustar-commissioned Forrester Consulting study on challenges and solutions for contact centers
Webinar
Apr
5
Adopt a Modern Digital-First Marketing Strategy
Learn how to use a composable DXP to your advantage
Mautic’s ability to integrate with a long list of third party platforms only adds to its potential. Those platforms include Facebook, Mailchimp, OpenStack, HubSpot, SugarCRM, and Salesforce.
Pricing
As previously mentioned, Mautic Cloud is free, although it does come with limitations. It restricts you to one user account, 5,000 contacts, and 1,000 emails per day.
If your brand needs more room to maneuver, you’ll need to reach out to Mautic to enquire about Mautic Cloud Pro, which imposes no limitations.
The Verdict
Mautic doesn’t just look the part, it also packs a punch in terms of functionality.
The pretty user interface grabbed me right from the get go, but I was equally impressed once I had myself a small list of contacts, a landing page, and a simple automated marketing campaign within a matter of minutes.
Being able to leverage the impressive power of Mautic for free is also great, but because it limits you to just one user, a team as small as two would struggle to work efficiently – which is a big shame.
Pros
- Mautic offers a free and cloud-hosted package
- It serves up enough features to satisfy most brands
- Contact and campaign management is simple, yet powerful
- Every page offers you a quick and relevant tip on how to get started, and Mautic’s documentation is accessible from anywhere in the backend
- The landing page builder is easy to use
Cons
- The free version limits you to just one user account
- There’s only a small range of landing page templates to choose from
- Form building is a bit tricky, especially because you have to start from scratch each time
Conclusion
All in all, Mautic’s feature set is broad enough to cover the needs of most — if not all — SMBs. For those looking to ease into marketing automation, Mautic makes for a powerful, yet easy-to-use solution.
