The good thing about email marketing is that it is affordable and easy for anyone to manage. But the challenging thing about it is that there are too many email marketing software out there and it is not easy to make the right choice. In this comparison review I will try to make the picture clear for you so that you don't have to go through my experience of testing each one. GetResponse, AWeber and Vertical Response are the top 3 email marketing programs and each one has its unique advantages. But whether it is price or features, GetResponse has a slight advantage over the others. KEYWORD
Features Comparison
I will like to compare the features of all these 3 platforms before discussing the pricing:Email Newsletter Creator
Vertical Response also offers a similar platform, allowing you to create elegant and attractive emails within minutes. A/B Testing is offered by all the 3 to test your newsletters before rolling out a full fledged campaign. Similarly, social sharing and responsive design are also common features between all the software.
Overall, all the 3 software are equivalent in their email creation department, but GR still gives you a better feeling of ease with its dashboard.
AutoResponders
The smarter the autoresponders, the more effective your email marketing program will be. All the 3 email marketing programs have smart autoresponders. They allow me to send out custom messages automatically based on the stage where a user is in the sales funnel. Vertical Response not only allows creating autoresponse messages, it also delivers simple reports to keep me updated.AWeber has a slightly different autoresponder that is more of a follow-up program. You schedule it and forget it, and it keeps working on its own.
Contacts List Building
When it comes to list building, all the platforms offer several tools for expanding your contact lists. You can import lists from multiple sources, use single opt-in or web form builder. GetResponse has a slight edge thanks to its add-on, GetSubscribers. It is a paid feature that allows you to gather contacts automatically.
- Creating unique forms to build subscriber lists. There are hundreds of HTML templates to choose from.
- Simple analytics for keeping track over subscribers.
- Facility to segment subscribers list. Segmenting can be done by CTR, open rates, sign-up info, and location and much more.
Vertical Response offers a more interactive interface to import lists from multiple sources. You can import your email contacts, contacts from social accounts or create sign-up forms.
GetResponse takes contacts list to a new level by allowing you to import email lists from multiple sources. You may store your contacts on Google docs and load onto GR, or you may upload a file or simply copy paste. In fact, there are 16 ways for uploading contacts to your GR account.
Customer Support
All the three email service providers have an impeccable track record for customer support. My experience with them has also been positive.
All the 3 providers support email and phone support, but only GetResponse and AWeber provide live chat support. Besides, GR also offers support in more number of languages.
Pricing
Given all these features, and the slight advantage that GetResponse has, price still plays an important factor in choosing the best email marketing program from the 3.AWeber, which doesn’t have features as rich as GetResponse’s, has a plan starting at $19 per month for up to 500 subscribers. GetResponse, on the other hand, starts with a plan that costs just $15 per month for up to a 1,000 contacts. It is easy to decide which one to choose here. The price comparison is almost neck to neck for accounts with larger lists. Besides, GR also offers an 18% annual discount over this price. That simply translates into more savings.
Vertical Response has prices that sit somewhere between what is offered by GetResponse and AWeber.
If you have a list of 1,000 subscribers, GR will cost you $15, VR will cost $22 and AW will cost $29 a month. Thanks to GetResponse’s annual discount, it will cost you just around $12 per month if you sign-up for a year. A price comparison between the three makes things clear here:
When you compare the features and the price advantage, GetResponse is easily the best email marketing software among the 3.
If you have a non-profit operation, both GR and VR offer special prices. All the email service providers offer 30-day free trial period. It is recommended to try each one before you make your final decision. While GetResponse and Vertical Response allow you to sign up without putting down your credit card details, AWeber makes an exception.
When you look at the packages and pricing options, it is again easy to see who the winner is!
Conclusion
All the 3 email marketing platforms, GetResponse, AWeber and Vertical Response, are quite powerful and feature-loaded for running effective campaigns. It is difficult to make a decision between the three, but once you have tested them, you will find that GetResponse has an edge over all the others.The email newsletter creator is more intuitive and offers more features in GetResponse. The dashboard is easier to use even though all the platforms offer almost the same number of email templates and images. GR also has a more advanced autoresponder. It is unlike AWeber’s ‘follow-up series’ that is based more on scheduling actions. Vertical Response also has an autoresponder but it is not as sophisticated. GR has an action-based and time-based, advanced autoresponder that makes things simpler and more effective.
Whether it is contacts list building, customer support, pricing or any other feature, GetResponse stands out from the crowd. It is difficult to understand why it has prices lower than the competition, but it outclasses almost all of them in most features. Together all of these email marketing programs rank in the top 5 options on the market. But GR delivers the perfect combination of functionality and price.
