The basic function of a form is to collect some information into Fields, and send that information to the ActiveCampaign record for the Contact.
ActiveCampaign forms do a really reliable job of collecting optins for newsletters, lead magnets etc, as well as for updating information held in custom fields.
They’re not always the prettiest from you could use with ActiveCampaign – but they’re by far the most robust way to get up to date info and email consent into ActiveCampaign. And, they are included with all ActiveCampaign plans at no extra cost.
You can use them is a lot of really creative ways, but let’s start with the basics.
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Understand what ActiveCampaign Forms are actually used for
An ActiveCampaign Form collects values (including basics like email address and name) into fields, and updates them on the contact record.
You are totally in charge of which fields are offered up on any ActiveCampaign Form.
The email address field has to be included, otherwise ActiveCampaign doesn’t know which contact the info belongs to.
You can make some fields on your ActiveCampaign form required. This is very useful, so the person filling out your ActiveCampaign form can’t wriggle out of agreeing to your perfectly reasonable terms and conditions, for example.
Form abandonment is a risk though – where someone just gives up and goes away in disgust at a form that is just too annoying or hard to fill out. A major cause of form abandonment is over-use of the required setting on every single field.
Make your ActiveCampaign Forms easy and clear to fill out. This way you’ll get it submitted when you needed it, with the info you want.
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Learn about Action settings for ActiveCampaign Forms
You can have ActiveCampaign do extra things when a Form is submitted, like adding a tag, or sending you an email. Handy! These are called Form Actions.
Here are a few of the ActiveCampaign Form Action settings available:
- Enable double opt-in, or turn it off
- Re-direct to a thank you page
- Trigger an ActiveCampaign Automation (eg. for a lead magnet) – this is super useful!
- Add an ActiveCampaign Tag
- Send an email to you or a team member
Forms that take action do a lot more than collect data and grow your email marketing list.
ActiveCampaign Forms can save you a lot of time and perform some smooth marketing moves for you too.
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Get some basic Forms best practice for ActiveCampaign
Instead of leaving in the rather boring default form copy, a lovely and easy thing to do is adapt the words that go with your ActiveCampaign form fields.
When you add a field to a form, the field name is used as the label (or Field Header as it’s called in the settings)
Replace the name of each form field with some much nicer words that feel more human.
Edit the words that say what the field is, so instead of the field name “wedding date” on the form it could say, “What is the date of your wonderful wedding?”.
Now, imagine it’s you filling in the form. Wouldn’t you get a warm glow thinking that someone really cares about your big day? It’s a big dose of humanity, in just a few words, and it can make all the difference.
Of course, make sure you use words that reflect your brand voice. So don’t be formal if you’re informal. Use words you might use in your social posts or website copy. Make it *you*.
Four ways to be more creative and human-friendly with ActiveCampaign Forms
- add prompts using Default Text
- use Field Header to change the field name to more human friendly words
- you can add extra text using an HTML block
- definitely edit the submit button – no one has ever felt connection with a human on seeing the word Submit
We teach strategy, best practice and forms use cases in our Academy – come find us if you need more help, inspiration or support with ActiveCampaign Forms.
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Discover how to style an ActiveCampaign Form so it looks on-brand
Embedded ActiveCampaign Forms do not look good straight out of the box, with their default settings.
There, I said it.
Happily, there are some very simple ways to improve the look of ActiveCampaign Forms.
Four easy ways to style an ActiveCampaign Form better
- Add a heading, images and text to your form
- Make the background of the form transparent so it blends in easily on your site
- Style the submit button with your brand font and colours
- Style the field labels and prompts with your brand fonts
Want to see a step by step on how to style your ActiveCampaign forms better?
Of course you do…. So go take my FREE Accelerated ActiveCampaign Course, and in the lesson on ActiveCampaign Forms, you’ll find a speedy guide. There’s a sneaky trick in there to use CSS (not as scary as it sounds, I promise) to really upgrade your AC forms.
(You’ll also learn how to do lots of other basic but brilliant things with ActiveCampaign – double win!).
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FAQs for how to use ActiveCampaign Forms
What happens if a contact submits an ActiveCampaign form using a different email address?
A new contact is created
- ActiveCampaign uses the email address to identify contacts
- If the form has an email not in your list, a new contact is created
- If the email address is already in ActiveCampaign, that contact is updated, which overwrites field values
What can I customise on ActiveCampaign forms?
- Form appearance
Add titles, images, and logos - Fields and prompts
Use any field type, and edit prompt/label text - Submit button
Change colour and wording - Actions after submit
Thank you message or redirect - List actions and tags
Add to lists (with or without double opt-in), and assign tags automatically
How do I turn off double opt-in for ActiveCampaign Forms
You have to switch this off in the settings for the List action
The default for double optin is ON when you add a List action to an ActiveCampaign form
Go to the form’s List action settings, and toggle double opt-in OFF if you don’t want it
Where is ActiveCampaign form submission logged?
ActiveCampaign automatically logs when a form is submitted by a contact – it’s recorded in Contact Activity, and can be used to trigger automations and find contacts using conditions.
Do I need to use Tags to track every form submission in ActiveCampaign?
No – Form submission is tracked automatically in the contact’s activity record
Only use tags if you need to segment by form behaviour beyond what’s already captured
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Get more help with how to use ActiveCampaign Forms
Now obviously, there is a ton more cool and wonderful stuff I want to tell you about for using ActiveCampaign Forms.
You can get so many business use-cases done better, faster, and more effectively with forms – and your customers and leads will love you for it too.
There’s way too much to cover in a blog… and most times, you just want to know “how do I get this done best with an ActiveCampaign form?”
In our Academy, we are there with our members every day, guiding them quickly to the best, easiest way to use forms for them, their business, and their customers.
Forms bring in leads, drive sales, collect data, drive internal process, and lots more. But only when you know how to make them work…
So come on in to the Academy, and you’ll have Kay Peacey and the Slick Business team, and all your lovely fellow members, to guide you every step of the way to forms fabulousness with ActiveCampaign.
Learn more about our Slick Business Academy
Fast effective Email & Automation training & support from Kay Peacey