Item: iContact
Rating: 10
Author: Stacy Venditto

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

IContact was used in a previous engagement with a mid-sized business client. It was used only by the Marketing department to solve a couple of business challenges. They needed to be able to send email messages to a select number of contacts in a specific region in order to inform them of upcoming events and engage them for sales conversations. They needed a platform that would allow them to quickly launch ad-hoc email marketing campaigns to subscribers and identify potential opportunities based on an analysis of the results. The solution needed to be simple to use and affordable. iContact fit the requirements for this client initiative and I was in charge of implementing and managing the activities within iContact to meet our objectives.

Pros and Cons

A quick campaign creation process.
Easy to use interface.
Hundreds of attractive email templates.

There's a limited amount of storage space for images.
Their subscriber-based pricing can get high really fast.
The email customization options are limited.

Return on Investment

It's helped to engage and nurture a limited number of potential customers.
We outgrew the membership level quickly and decided to discontinue use due to the increased membership cost.

Alternatives Considered

Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, Constant Contact, Campaign Monitor, Vertical Response and Zoho Campaigns

In my opinion, Mailchimp is the top contender to iContact and really gives them a run for their money. Mailchimp offers users more features, and costs less. Of course, they both have their advantages and disadvantages. Overall, it is a tough decision to make between the two, but would need to be ultimately made based on the best fit for the scenario.

Other Software Used

Salesforce Marketing Cloud Email Studio, Zoho Campaigns, HubSpot CRM

Likelihood to Recommend

iContact is not the best solution for those with over 10,000 email subscribers. The lack of features does not compare to other solutions with a similar price point. This is also not ideal for those who want to have a lot of customization options when it comes to the content of their emails. However, they do offer hundreds of templates, which is a better option for those needing a quick and simple email campaign, especially where visual appeal is a priority. The email templates are very modern and sleek and would be a good fit where this is of high importance. iContact would be perfect for small business users, but mid-sized organizations may find it does not meet their needs. Enterprises are likely to have requirements that are overgrown for the iContact solution.

iContact -- A Great for Small Business Users

Overall Satisfaction with iContact