Likelihood to Recommend Small businesses with even smaller marketing budgets and no email marketing experience would be better off selecting a lower-end email marketing provider. However, Adestra will provide a growing company with every email marketing tool along the way.
Read full review JangoMail is only good for sending mass email and nothing more. While its interface is simple to use, it doesn't have a good amount of features attached to it. That probably explains why it's quite cheap compared to other mailing services. It's lacking features and additional functionalities. It's a cheap alternative mainly for sending mass email though, which is nice for a company that sells product to consumers like us.
Read full review Pros Adestra's "dynamic" list allows users to consolidate multiple lists in combination with data filters and exclusion lists. This implements segmentation and is a powerful marketing tool. Adestra's MessageFocus API integration provides developer-tools for list, campaign or transactional automated requirements. Campaigns can be sorted into project folders. This allows marketers to group campaigns together for management or reporting requirements. Moving or copying campaigns from one project to another is a simple process. Data downloads via Reporting is available at every level, from overview to individual KPI. Creating "core" tables helps marketers develop lists with similar attributes. Whether a list has many fields or simply the one required email address field, a "core" table helps to quickly map data labels from spreadsheet to online database. Creating data labels on the fly is a simple process, as well. The "core" table also groups similar contacts into one core database. Any list can be quickly "emptied" for to manage refreshed data. The contacts within the "emptied" list would still be members of the "core" table and so the process does not negatively impact reporting. Unsubscribes can be managed in one list (as a default) or individual lists. Creating individual unsubscribe lists -- dependent on business requirements -- would allow for a preference center, whereby recipients could be given a choice as to which campaigns they receive. The Form tool creates signup forms, simple surveys and landing pages. These can be hosted via Adestra or otherwise on the web. The tool provides for branding and proprietary cascading stylesheets, with a number of actions available through a drag-and-drop interface. Read full review The platform is inexpensive. Their support people are very nice. Read full review Cons As of this writing, there are at least 3 different editors available (a drag-and-drop, a WYSIWYG and HTML). However, only a small template library is available if requested through support. Those expecting to find ready-built templates for re-branding would find them through the third-party EDM Designer drag-and-drop editor. Read full review So far I haven't had any troubles, or problems with JangoMail. I'd love to just paste a WORD doc into the HTML window, but I am not going to risk having the links broken. So I preformat my copy with the long links and then insert them in the HTML window and make them look pretty. JangoMail's "add additional fields" in the into the body of the email is not very transparent, but when you add additional features and that depth of functionally then there is going to be a higher learning curve. I have not explored all of their tutorials.....and they have a great blog to explore also. This is not a big thing but maybe a clock could be installed to show that the email is being sent and that there is x amount of time until the "report" is ready to view. There is a no man's land time that as a user you are not sure if the mail got delivered or is being delivered. Read full review Likelihood to Renew It satisfied the basic purpose for which my company bought the license. No complaints there.
Read full review Usability I have been self-trained on different ESPs for over 10 years, so my experience isn't comparable to most users. However, I've trained people on various email marketing platforms, and with some training, clients have a positive user-experience with Adestra.
Read full review Support Rating I have had campaign related issues solved very quickly. When there are technical issues, that involve more than one departmental, it may involve a longer turn-around and management.
Read full review Alternatives Considered For medium and large sized businesses, Adestra competes well with
dotMailer . While many of the functions are available through either provider, creating campaigns, managing lists and reviewing metrics are somewhat different. As of this writing,
dotMailer 's drag-and-drop editor dominates that platform and performs well for low-end users with little-to-no HTML experience. Even high-end users will appreciate how quickly campaigns can be built via the drag-and-drop editor. While Adestra utilizes the EDM Designer drag-and-drop, the third-party functionality is not completely cohesive and lack of a template library gives
dotMailer a bit of an advantage.
Read full review I selected JangoMail because I wanted to try something new. Usually I find myself using YAMM which is Yet Another Mail Merge but using a new interface was refreshing and it was also very easy to learn and use. I would definitely use it again in the future and recommend to others
Read full review Return on Investment For companies that focus on goals and analytics, Adestra provides all the necessary tools. Read full review Sending mass mails so consumers can get an update on our newly released products Quite inexpensive so we don't have to break bank for this Lack of functionalities and features is a downside which caused more manual works Read full review ScreenShots