While the ActiveCampaign Chrome Extension and connecting your IMAP/Exchange email account to Deals may have very similar functionalities, they also have a few key differences. This can lead to some confusion when deciding which feature to use and what to expect when either or both are enabled. In this article, we’ll define both features, discuss what each feature does, and lay out the differences between the two.
Access to the features below depends on your ActiveCampaign plan.
ActiveCampaign Chrome extension
Available all plans.
The ActiveCampaign for Chrome extension allows all plan levels to view, create, and manage contacts right from Gmail. For accounts on Marketing Plus plan and up or Sales Plus plan and up, you can track opens for emails sent within Gmail, and add contacts to your account from anywhere on the web. Additionally, for accounts on Sales Plus plan and up, you can also manage tasks and deals from Gmail.
Learn more about this feature and how to set it up here.
Note that the functionalities unlocked in this feature depend on what plan level you have:
| Functionalities |
|
Sales |
|||||
| Lite | Plus | Professional | Enterprise | Plus | Professional | Enterprise | |
| Create and manage contacts from Gmail | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Create and manage contacts from anywhere on the web | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Delete contacts in ActiveCampaign from Gmail | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Add tags to contacts | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Update custom field information from Gmail | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Add a note to a contact from Gmail | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Add contact to an automation from Gmail | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Create and manage tasks from Gmail | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Create new deals | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Track email opens for messages sent from Gmail* | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
*When open tracking is enabled, the contact will be added to your account if they do not yet exist and the message will be synced to their contact profile page; any replies received from your contact will not be synced.
In addition to adding a contact directly to an automation from the extension, you can also trigger an automation when a contact opens your email.
Connecting your IMAP/Exchange email account under My Settings > Deals
Available with the Pipelines and Sales Engagement add-on.
When you connect your IMAP or Exchange email account under My Settings > Deals, all sent 1:1 emails will be listed on the contact profile page if that contact is the primary contact on a deal with an open status. Replies and other emails sent from the contact to the connected email account will also be synced in ActiveCampaign.
Learn more about this feature and how to set it up here.
Listed below are more benefits to using this feature:
- 1:1 emails related to an open deal for a contact will be listed in their activity stream
- All received emails, including replies from your contacts to your connected email account will also be listed in the activity stream
- Emails can be sent either from the ActiveCampaign interface or your connected email account
- Opens are automatically tracked, allowing you to trigger an automation to run when a contact opens your email. You can also trigger an automation to run when a contact replies to your email
- You can choose to track clicks on links included in your emails. You can also trigger an automation when a contact clicks a link in your 1:1 emails
- All sent emails and replies are consolidated into the activity stream for that contact, making it viewable to all account users