Marketing 360 Review

What is Marketing 360?

Marketing 360 is software owned by Madwire, a digital marketing company. Madwire, and eventually Marketing 360, was founded by father and son team Joe and JB Kellogg. Their headquarters is located in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Over the last decade, Madwire has acquired or developed a cornucopia of auxiliary companies, including Websites 360, SpaceCraft, and Top Rated Local, which all feed into the Marketing 360 total solution.

Their business model is to offer free accounts with limited use, eventually leading potential customers to sign up for their software subscription and marketing services.

Through this software, clients get access to tools for scheduling and booking appointments, invoicing, CRM, and reputation management. It's billed as a do-it-yourself approach, but one that comes with a dedicated marketing team.

What features does Marketing 360 include?

Marketing 360 is a catch-all software that covers a set of broad features, many of which we outline below. Some are free, but most are chargeable.

It's not clear what’s included under each service. For example, under social media marketing, what platforms do they support? How many posts per month does it cover, and does it also include engagement? Unfortunately, they don't provide a thorough breakdown of each service in an upfront manner.

We also found it confusing trying to sort out the do-it-yourself software and their paid-for marketing services. The line between these two options is far from clear. Most of the reviews reported issues with the marketing and design services rather than the software side of the business.

Marketing 360 Software

All of Marketing 360 services revolve around their all-in-one software that promises to be one part business management tool and one part do-it-yourself marketing management dashboard. It includes all of the below features. Some limited features are free, while others are paid for and managed by their in-house team of marketers.

Reputation management

Your brand's online reputation can hinge on customer reviews. Marketing 360, which is interconnected with Total Rated Local, aims to help you manage your online presence by creating profiles and monitoring comments in the online spaces that matter most.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Marketing 360 promises this is an easy-to-use CRM portal that helps you manage leads. From an inbox to a project database to follow-ups, this platform is designed to help you transform leads into conversions.

Social media marketing

Manage multi-channel ad campaigns by connecting your Facebook, Google Business Profile, and LinkedIn accounts through the Marketing 360 dashboard. This marketing software can help you schedule content and strategize social media campaigns from one calendar.

Other marketing solutions

Marketing 360 includes a myriad of other services. For example, they have a team of content marketing specialists. Or they have a team that can build SMS marketing campaigns or email marketing campaigns. If you can dream it, they seem to offer it.

How much does Marketing 360 cost?

Despite plenty of calls to action on the Marketing 360 website for "Plans and Pricing," this is completely deceiving. There are no plans and pricing listed anywhere on their website.

Instead, once you click on "Plans and Pricing," you are advised to sign up for a free account to access "Plans and Pricing" information.

After handing over your email and many additional details on your business, income, and industry, you can log in to the Marketing 360 backend portal.

Unfortunately, you still won't find any rates, packages, or plans here. Instead, you are encouraged to schedule a meeting with a sales consultant. Once you speak with the sales team, this may be where you'll get information on Marketing 360, but only after you've given up your email address and valuable time.

With no costs available on-site, we looked for information off-site. Crozdesk, a software review service, reported that basic access to Marketing 360 costs $395 per month, and social media marketing costs $595 per month.

For design work, Crozdesk estimated prices start at $2,000, while custom websites can reach upwards of $20,000. From reviews left elsewhere, it sounds like many Microsoft 360 web design projects quickly end up over budget.

As one unhappy customer shared, "They nickel and dime you for every little thing on your website, all set up costs thousands and takes MONTHS or longer to be up and running." It's a sentiment shared by many in the comments. Most former clients speak to spending thousands of dollars, sometimes tens of thousands, with little to no return on their investment.

Who is Marketing 360 best suited for?

Very rarely do we find ourselves ultimately advising against a company. Usually, even the worst web design companies have one or two redeeming qualities.

But, when it comes to Marketing 360, there are so many unhappy y customers and one-star reviews that we can only come to one conclusion: Buyer beware.

Marketing 360 isn't what it claims to be. But we think the reviews of Marketing 360 speak for themselves:

"Scammers who lie and cheat and steal your money." Capterra, 2021

"Horrendous company who don't care about your business. I could have done way more marketing etc with the money I WANTED on this platform." Capterra, 2022

"Horrible Experience. They promised me a much improved website - all they delivered was the same site with a prettier font." Trustpilot, 2022

"This company is a scam. They make promises on services that they never deliver. Then when you call them out, they never respond and shut down your access." G2, 2022

"To be perfectly frank, you'd be better off lighting your money on fire than hiring Marketing360 - at least doing so would spare you months of frustration, anger, and disappointment. Hiring them was the worst decision I've ever made."Quora, 2018

What are the pros and cons of Marketing 360?

How good are Marketing 360's pre-built website templates?

All of Marketing 360's websites start with a template. Their templates are created to work for specific industries, like law, tech, ecommerce, healthcare, and many more. On the surface, their sites appear sleek and professionally designed, suitable for just about any type of small business.

But, the hundreds of negative reviews strongly suggest otherwise. Most reviewers leaving one star detail how they have spent thousands of dollars only to come away with a dysfunctional website or none at all.

A common thread among the reviews is that customers wasted their time and money working with Marketing 360. Then, after they escaped their contracts, they had to start from scratch.

Marketing 360's websites are built on the back of a platform called UXI. Unfortunately, this is not a beginner-friendly website platform. It is even more complicated than WordPress, Webflow, and other popular DIY options.

Because of the clunky, complicated backend, most small business owners won't be able to tackle edits or maintenance, even with training. This is part of the reason why Marketing 360 seems to trap customers in lengthy and costly contracts.

If they are the only ones that can manage maintenance and updates, they can hold small businesses hostage.

Does Marketing 360 offer copywriting, design, or technical support?

In review after review, we read the same feedback about their services: They were slow, subpar, or non-existent.

Whether it was copywriting, web design, or technical support, former customers all reported that Marketing 360 failed to live up to the high expectations created during the sales calls.

According to reviews, all the problems started immediately after a high-pressure sales call and the signing of a six-month contract. Customers report that websites took months longer than expected to launch, and when they did, they were completely dysfunctional.

There are also reports that customers paying for critical marketing campaigns failed to generate any leads or failed to launch at all.

Some customers even reported it taking weeks to get any follow-up on website issues. On weekends, there is apparently no one on call.

What are some Marketing 360 alternatives for small businesses?

There are dozens of possible alternatives to Marketing 360. It all depends on how much time you have, your patience, and the size of your marketing budget.

If you choose the custom route, you'll need a sizable budget. We’re talking $10,000 and up. But with the right company, you'll get exactly what you envision, including special features and custom graphics.

On the other end of the spectrum is the DIY approach. These are free to low-cost options that require you to build a website from a template through an online builder. Options include Shopify, Wix, and WordPress, among others. If you have the time, patience, and an aptitude for tech, any of these could make a great option.

But what happens if you don't have the time or the technical skill set to learn a new platform? You are trying to run a business, after all.

B12 is the solution. We are a powerful AI website builder complemented by a team of expert designers, copywriters, and SEO specialists who ensure your website uniquely suits your business.

It's a combination that makes it easy for professional service providers to attract, win, and serve clients with a beautiful, mobile-friendly website with built-in client tools like online payments, scheduling, intake forms, contracts, and more.

Marketing 360 review summary

After researching Marketing 360 (including signing up for their secretive platform), one thing is certain: Marketing 360 has left a trail of disgruntled customers in its wake.

Are their services worth it? As one former customer stated, "I might as well have taken $9,000 and lit it on fire, and that's the same I got from spending it on these guys." Another said, "To be perfectly frank, you'd be better off lighting your money on fire than hiring Marketing360 - at least doing so would spare you months of frustration, anger, and disappointment."

What alternative are small businesses left with if they need a professional website with online payment, scheduling, email marketing integrations, and other useful tools? B12.

We build you a website specific to your industry in no time. Then, we help you customize it with copy, SEO, and tools to better serve your market. Thanks to our growing suite of features, you'll expand your prospects, schedule more appointments, and engage clients in real-time.

Plus, our packages are straightforward and prices are clear. There are no surprises, and we're readily available to chat and help.

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