Acoustic CampaignFormerly Silverpop / IBM Watson Campaign Automation
Overview
What is Acoustic Campaign?
Acoustic Campaign (formerly IBM Watson Campaign Automation) is a scalable, SaaS-based, cross-channel, digital marketing platform providing digital marketers the ability to implement and manage email, mobile, social, and lead management campaign processes.
Hopeful that Acoustic will continue to improve and evolve from what IBM was
Powerful, but clunky and hasn't innovated fast enough
IBM Watson Campaign Automation Review
Nice integration between b2b and b2c
Although there is a learning curve, mastering IBM WCA can prove beneficial for your email services.
If you're looking for an easy email platform, look no further!
Heaps of features straight out of the box; a great little tool!
Takes Email Marketing to another level
I Love Silverpop!
Constantly Evolving Product with Great Functionality
A must-have solution for digital marketing!
Silverpop and SFDC inegration
Silverpop, the good, the bad, the ugly.
Silverpop, great marketing automation solution with a interesting vision
Marketing evolution
Awards
Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards
Popular Features
- Email deliverability reporting (10)8.080%
- A/B testing (10)7.070%
- Dashboards (10)4.242%
- WYSIWYG email editor (10)4.040%
Pricing
What is Acoustic Campaign?
Acoustic Campaign (formerly IBM Watson Campaign Automation) is a scalable, SaaS-based, cross-channel, digital marketing platform providing digital marketers the ability to implement and manage email, mobile, social, and lead management campaign processes.
Entry-level set up fee?
- No setup fee
Offerings
- Free Trial
- Free/Freemium Version
- Premium Consulting/Integration Services
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Alternatives Pricing
What is Salesforce Marketing Cloud?
Marketing Cloud is an AI-powered, cloud-based digital marketing platform within the Salesforce Customer 360 ecosystem. Marketers can segment their audience, deliver personalized messages, track campaign performance, engage leads and accounts, and optimize strategies based on real-time insights.
What is Oracle Marketing?
Oracle CX Marketing (formerly Oracle Marketing Cloud) is a solution designed to enable marketers to plan and execute automated marketing campaigns via email, display search, video advertising, and mobile while delivering a personalized customer experience for their prospects.
Product Demos
Acoustic Campaign demo - introduction
Features
Email & Online Marketing
Using software to manage lists, send emails, automate email campaigns, and track results.
- 4WYSIWYG email editor(10) Ratings
Users can create html emails through a drag-and-drop interface, without html coding knowledge.
- 8Dynamic content(7) Ratings
Users can tailor email, website or landing page content depending on the viewer or recipient (e.g., email salutations that include the recipient’s name).
- 7.5Ability to test dynamic content(8) Ratings
Users can test dynamic content prior to launching a campaign.
- 5.1Landing pages(8) Ratings
Users can create web pages that are customized to a particular email or campaign. Landing pages often include web forms which can capture visitor information and integrate it back into the MA software.
- 7A/B testing(10) Ratings
Users can experiment with different variations of a campaign and measure results. Testable aspects might include subject lines, header images, or landing page copy.
- 6.9Mobile optimization(7) Ratings
Users can easily optimize emails and landing pages for mobile devices.
- 8Email deliverability reporting(10) Ratings
The software helps ensure inbox delivery of email campaigns, through features such as deliverability tests, opt-in management, bounce handling, suppression lists, dedicated IP addresses, and delivery monitoring.
- 8List management(9) Ratings
This involves creating, filtering, editing, merging and de-duping lists of contacts.
- 8Triggered drip sequences(8) Ratings
The software allows users to set up automatic / drip email campaigns triggered by certain events.
Lead Management
The process of tracking and managing prospective customers from lead generation to conversion.
- 6.1Lead nurturing automation(8) Ratings
Users can set up targeted drip email campaigns based on time intervals or prospect behavior, to automate the lead nurturing process and move them further down the sales funnel.
- 7.9Lead scoring and grading(7) Ratings
Users can set up the software to automatically rate leads based on calculations such as buying signals, such as form submissions, or page views, and automatically qualify leads based on demographic factors.
- 8Data quality management(7) Ratings
The software helps store, manage, and organize data around each lead, and avoid data problems such as duplicate contacts or non-standard formats.
- 7.5Automated sales alerts and tasks(4) Ratings
The software helps ensure that a sales person is notified of lead activity and can act on the information in a timely fashion.
Campaign Management
Users can schedule campaigns and/or events with reminders, announcements, etc.
- 6.5Calendaring(8) Ratings
The software helps users maintain a calendar of all marketing activities.
- 7.4Event/webinar marketing(4) Ratings
Users can streamline event marketing with features such as personalized invitations, registration, reminders and post-event follow-ups.
Social Media Marketing
Using social media networks to help amplify marketing endeavors.
- 6.5Social sharing and campaigns(4) Ratings
Users can incorporate social share buttons into campaigns to allow recipients to easily share content. Users can track shares as well.
- 6.2Social profile integration(5) Ratings
The software incorporates social profile data and social share histories to enhance segmentation and scoring of contacts.
Reporting & Analytics
Users can report on and analyze usage, performance, ROI, and/or other metrics of success.
- 4.2Dashboards(10) Ratings
Users can create, customize and share dashboards, which provide an overview of the most important metrics.
- 4.2Standard reports(10) Ratings
The software offers pre-built reports with metrics standard to the category.
- 5.1Custom reports(8) Ratings
Users can create custom reports.
Platform & Infrastructure
Features related to platform-wide settings and structure, such as permissions, languages, integrations, customizations, etc.
- 5.2API(9) Ratings
An API (application programming interface) provides a standard programming interface for connecting third-party systems to the software for data creation, access, updating and/or deletion.
- 6Role-based workflow & approvals(4) Ratings
Permissions to perform actions or access or modify data are assigned to roles, which are then assigned to users, reducing complexity of administration.
- 5.9Customizability(5) Ratings
Users can customize their instance with features like custom fields and custom objects.
- 4.3Integration with Salesforce.com(8) Ratings
The software can integrate with Salesforce.com bi-directionally, allowing for data syncs, activity alerts, campaign triggers, enhanced reporting, and lead assigning.
- 5Integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM(3) Ratings
The software can integrate with Microsoft Dynamics CRM bi-directionally, allowing for data syncs, activity alerts, campaign triggers, enhanced reporting, and lead assigning.
- 8Integration with SugarCRM(2) Ratings
The software can integrate with SugarCRM bi-directionally, allowing for data syncs, activity alerts, campaign triggers, enhanced reporting, and lead assigning.
Product Details
- About
- Integrations
- Competitors
- Tech Details
- FAQs
What is Acoustic Campaign?
According to the vendor, Acoustic Campaign is a comprehensive platform designed to enhance businesses' understanding of customer behavior on both a personalized and large-scale level. The product provides various tools for insights, planning, and implementation that enable data-driven experiences across multiple channels. By leveraging these features, brands aim to develop enduring connections with customers while driving revenue through tailored and impactful interactions based on individual preferences. Integration capabilities with existing tools and systems offer marketing processes flexibility, efficiency, and optimization. Although no specific industries or professions are explicitly mentioned, it can be assumed that any business desiring enhanced marketing efforts and increased customer base may find value in utilizing this platform.
Deep Insights and Personalization
The product is designed to provide marketers with the necessary tools to deliver personalized experiences across various interaction points, both online and offline, in order to enhance customer retention and establish enduring brand allegiance. The vendor asserts that by utilizing behavioral data, Acoustic Campaign enables marketers to construct meaningful and timely messages, fostering long-term connections with customers. Through its real-time personalization functionalities, the product aims to empower marketers to deliver compelling experiences that promote customer advocacy and drive revenue expansion.
Integration and Efficiency
The product is designed to enhance operational efficiency and streamline business processes through its advanced technology and extensive capabilities. The vendor claims that Acoustic Campaign delivers a user-friendly experience, supported by cutting-edge technology, enabling users to navigate the platform effortlessly. By seamlessly integrating with existing tools and systems, the product aims to simplify workflows, eliminating manual data transfer or redundant procedures. This integration also facilitates smooth collaboration between teams, ensuring a seamless marketing process from initiation until completion. Ultimately, Acoustic Campaign equips businesses with the necessary resources to optimize returns on investment and effectively achieve their marketing objectives.
Acoustic Campaign Screenshots
Acoustic Campaign Video
Acoustic Campaign Integrations
- TrenDemon
- Salesforce Marketing Cloud Interaction Studio, on marketing cloud
- Aurea List Manager (formerly Lyris LM)
- Aventri (formerly etouches)
Acoustic Campaign Competitors
Acoustic Campaign Technical Details
Deployment Types | Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based |
---|---|
Operating Systems | Unspecified |
Mobile Application | No |
Frequently Asked Questions
Comparisons
Compare with
Reviews and Ratings
(123)Community Insights
- Business Problems Solved
- Pros
- Cons
- Recommendations
Users have found Silverpop Engage to be a valuable tool for their mass mailing and global program campaigns. It has also been used for automated lead nurturing and mass mailing. Marketing teams have utilized the platform to administer customer-facing marketing emails, while marketing communications managers have accessed it to track the performance of their individual email campaigns. Large enterprises like Texas Instruments have been able to engage with customers across different locations using Silverpop Engage. Its relevant and responsive marketing automation capabilities have enabled users to engage with customers at the right time based on their actions on the site. The platform has been widely used for emails, landing pages, marketing automation tracks, and lead scoring within global marketing organizations. Sales teams have benefited from its features by being able to rank leads based on their actions and qualify them accordingly. E-commerce departments have relied on Silverpop Engage for powering their entire email programs, including promotional messages, browse behavior, confirmation emails, and more. With its versatility, Silverpop has assisted organizations in communicating quickly and effectively with customers, leading to improved revenue generation. Additionally, the web tracking functionality of Silverpop allows for deeper insights into subscriber interactions with websites, leading to more targeted messaging based on opens, clicks, and interactions.
Toggle between HTML and Design views: Users have appreciated the ability to toggle between HTML and Design views for creating emails. This feature has been mentioned by several reviewers, making it easy to update photos and hyperlinks in emails.
Newly added features for test emails: Reviewers have mentioned that the newly added features for test emails have made it easier to ensure the accuracy of the email before sending it out. This improvement has been well-received by users, who find it valuable in preventing errors and mistakes.
Thorough examination process before sending: Users have commended the thorough examination process of the email before sending it, which helps prevent it from getting stuck in junk mail and ensures proper rendering on different platforms. Several reviewers have highlighted this aspect as a positive attribute of the product.
Outdated Usability: Users have consistently mentioned that Engage's usability is outdated and cumbersome, with confusing user interfaces, cryptic notifications, and old-style drop-down menus. Some users even reported browser lock-ups when editing signup forms.
Limited Email Creation Engine: Several users expressed frustration with Silverpop's email creation engine, which requires manual HTML coding instead of offering advanced Ajax or jQuery based creation engines like other ESPs. This limitation hampers flexibility in layout design and adds complexity for users.
Confusing Reporting Tools: Many users criticized the overall reporting in Silverpop, stating that it is confusing and lacks flexibility. They found it difficult to generate comprehensive reports, as well as extract contact information for opens/clicks. The presence of two different reporting engines, one legacy and one new, further added to the confusion.
Users have provided several recommendations for IBM Watson Campaign Automation. The three most common recommendations are:
Consider the software for organizations: Users recommend considering IBM Watson Campaign Automation for organizations, especially those with a limited marketing budget. They believe that the software has an edge over competitors like Adobe campaign and Salesforce marketing cloud in terms of intuitiveness and quick setup.
Use the software for marketing automation: Users highly recommend using IBM Watson Campaign Automation for marketing automation and automating inbound and outbound campaigns. They find it great for creating and managing end-to-end campaign management.
Seek help and support from IBM: Users advise seeking help and support from IBM when using IBM Watson Campaign Automation. They recommend hiring an Acoustic Partner consultant for implementation and training to ensure better long-term results. They also suggest reaching out to tech support for assistance before considering switching to another program.
Overall, users recommend considering IBM Watson Campaign Automation for organizations, utilizing it for marketing automation, and seeking help and support from IBM throughout the process.
Attribute Ratings
Reviews
(1-5 of 5)Constantly Evolving Product with Great Functionality
- Obviously, sending email is its core function and it does it well. It has all the necessary functionality to help maintain sending reputation (throttling, spam threat estimation, etc). The built in functionality that allows you to have "mail-merge" type functionality (through personalization, dynamic content, and adding data from relational tables) really adds a whole new level to email marketing -- it lets you take your marketing to as detailed a level as you can potentially go.
- Scoring models allow you to quickly and easily automate lead qualification by adding your own rulesets and criteria. Very easy to tweak and add email alerts when people meet specific ranks or scores.
- The Landing pages (form builder) allows a user to quickly add a form on a webpage that interacts directly with Engage database. You can either use their default form builder (which, honestly, is not real attractive and very difficult to alter the appearance of), or you can import your own forms and map your form fields to fields in the database.
- The Engage API is very well done, and very well documented. It is constantly evolving and being updated.
- The community forum and knowledge base are also a very excellent resource for finding answers to questions without having to call support. Of course, it takes action on the user's part to find these answers - but it's a really valuable resource for those willing to take the time to search.
- I think the Programs functionality of Engage is amazing, and you can really do a lot of awesome stuff with it -- but testing (and sometimes even updating) a program is laborious and sometimes difficult to do. I know they are aware of this and there has been much discussion regarding the topic on the community forum and within Silverpop.
- The WYSWYG editor used by Silverpop (at the time of this writing is a version of FCK Editor) isn't super great in terms of the HTML it produces. It's not going to maim your email to look terrible, but it will alter your code if you have imported it (ex, changing hexidecimal colors to rgb, adding various font and span tags, etc). Nothing super critical, and if the user is comfortable with HTML - probably won't care (or even be aware it's doing it).
- CRM Integration. Currently, Silverpop integrates with Salesforce.com (SFDC) and MS Dynamics. Salesforce integration has been available for years, and I cannot personally speak to it. We use MS Dynamics, and it is in its infancy. Current features and functionality are extremely limited. The initial introduction of the integration service was introduced mid-2013. Also, there is additional cost (setup and monthly licensing fee) for CRM integration, and - at least for MS Dynamics, requires a subscription to Scribe Online for usage (another cost, but not through Silverpop).
They also do annual user-group conferences (in various cities) that allow users to meet other local users and discuss features and do hands-on examples. Not as helpful as the conference, but good nonetheless.
- While I am usually not on the ROI side of things, I do know that we have seen a increase in conversions (using the automated lead scoring) by about 14% for one business line.
- We have seen our deliverability increase significantly, and open and click-thru rates increase gradually over the last two years.
- We are now able to provide a unified, consistent brand-experience for all our email campaigns on a global basis.
- Pricing was much more transparent and was not "seat-based"
- The price included the full system instead of having to pay for each piece separately. (Since then, Silverpop has begun introducing "apps," which are enhancements, but not part of the core product.)
- Time from signing of contract to usage was very quick.
- Email marketing.
- Internal corporate communications.
- Client updates (regulatory announcements, etc).
- Surveys.
- Automated lead scoring.
- Implemented in-house
- Online training
- Self-taught
Additionally, there is also the user community and knowledge base for those who want to research on their own.
- MS Dynamics
- Our CMS (using the API)
- Not at this time.
Only tip - as with anything ... it can never hurt to ask (about anything and everything).
Inexpensive, but usability an issue.
- Inexpensive to implement: Our inexperienced team was able to begin utilizing the toolset very quickly and the starting price was very low.
- Constant improvements: The regular upgrades have addressed many usability challenges
- Helpful Support: The support team is knowledgeable, repsonsive, and attentive.
- Training Materials: The basics are easy to learn using their on-line video library
- Usability for non-technical marketers: While I believe all marketers should strive to be highly technical, the level of user-friendliness, especially around data management is quite low
- Documentation Deeper Usage: Even after years using similar tools, there are some features I don't understand and that aren't well documented.
- Error messages: There are some common use cases that fail and present users with an entirely unsatisfactory error message.
- Through many tweaks and iterations, we have gotten to a very effective scoring model that has accelerated our recognition of contacts that should be nurtured and contacts that should be qualified by sales.
- Email marketing
- marketing data management
- lead behavior scoring
- web forms
Marketo
Bronto
Salesforce
SilverPop was selected because it had the minimum number of features needed to complete the current roadmap plans, had integration points to NetSuite (not true, as it turns out) and price. We were able to begin using it for a small fraction of the preferred systems, Eloqua and Marketo
- List segmentation based on behavior - It was very easy to pull an "openers" list or "non-opener" list, then re-market accordingly.
- Also, as previously mentioned, lead scoring with online behavior was easy to set up and post to Salesforce.com.
- Some of the improvements that they made to setting up the Lead Nurture programs I wanted weren't available until the next product roll-up.
- If you didn't test your processes thoroughly, strange errors could happen, like a lead never receiving an email, or receiving the initial email but not the second email in the workflow.
- The biggest ROI/KPI that we monitored was the quality of leads, which was something that the sales team had expressed frustration with.
- After implementing, marketing was able to identify "pain points" along the sales process, taking the data from the lead scoring model and identifying points when interest began to decline (due to lack of follow up, wrong information, or decision making role). We were able to tweak our marketing programs to better appeal to the actual decision maker, yet arm those doing research for a decision maker with the proper tools to understand our products and present our solution.
- Lead Scoring - Helping sales team categorize and prioritize leads based on information given (form submission) and a lead's activity on our website. Overall, more focused sales team leads to bigger opportunities to pursue, rather than following up with a lead to first qualify interest, then qualify the opportunity.
- Created lead ranking program, allowing sales to categorize their highest priority sales leads and manage their follow up accordingly. Leads that had both higher interest via interactions with our site, along with a fit score for the ideal prospect, were given the highest rank.
- Implemented a lead disqualification process through email interactions. If someone opened one email, then no emails X amount of sends later, they were removed from our database. This allowed us to both clean our database and focus on targets that were truly interested in our brand and product line.
- Eloqua
- ExactTarget
- Vendor implemented
- Online training
- Salesforce.com
Media Company Getting Email 'Pop' from Engage.
- Program creation and automation.
- Ease of setup and editability of templates.
- Dynamic content.
- Deliverability.
- Would be nice to have the ability to set different 'modes' - an instance for beginning or light users and an instance for power users.
- The new send process takes too much time.
- Improved tooltips for new users.
- Finally able to make email 'work for us' with automation. Has dramatically changed the way many of the marketers at our company have viewed email as a whole. Previous email client was very light on automation capabilities.
- Ability to have dynamic content in mailings has increased our efficiency; less overall number of templates/mailings by creating more customization within the template.
- The integrated marketing database and ability to trigger off of demographics and events is also something that has increased the quality of our mailings and efficiency of our campaigns. This also is something our previous email client did not specialize in.
- Automated drip campaigns to community members.
- Demographic targeting.
- Personalizing weekly newsletters with dynamic content.
- Transferred the handling of 'site' emails from site services to Silverpop.
- Have been able to get more users than previously expected involved in the creation process - due to the UI not being extreme or overwhelming.
- Survey Response.
- Gamification.
- SMS Marketing.
- ExactTarget Interactive Marketing Hub,MailChimp,ConstantContact
- Product Features
- Product Usability
- Product Reputation
Lots of promises, not a lot of delivery
- Heavy duty interface allows us to support multiple brands.
- Extensive API allows us to integrate with our data warehouse.
- Has all the standard marketing automation bells and whistles.
- Nice drag and drop program interface.
- Reliability has been a huge issue. We have had multiple outages where our redirect links in our emails no longer send visitors to our website but instead send them to some sort of backup site designated by Silverpop. Unfortunately, this backup site has a message regarding anti-SPAM. So when Silverpop's service is down it looks to our users like we're spamming them!
- API documentation often differs meaningfully from how the API actually operates. Sometimes you have to actually do what the API documentation says NOT to do to get it to work.
- Their database infrastructure is lacking. Huge problems with the database fragmentation.
- None, really. No better off than on Eloqua.
- Email marketing platform.
ExactTarget
- Implemented in-house
- Online training
- In-person training
- Self-taught