Likelihood to Recommend Works well, relatively easy to use - but lacks some up-to-date and modern features as well as look and feel. The support provided is OK but not world class. It is too bad as APSIS as a company is quite good at inspiring and providing insights into trends in email marketing.
Read full review I would only recommend it if someone was a small business. I think they are the best suited for companies who will send out a coupon or offer here and there. The most recent updates made it more complicated to use for more complicated processes. It is easy to train someone on the program, and so quick to learn. But I would also only stick to the simpler things. I also think the colorful templates are great, and show great creativity. But again, it is hard to justify recommending the program when it isn't WYSIWYG.
Read full review Pros We have a pre-designed template and pre-build elements and thus it is quite easy to compose nice looking newsletters. Doing split-tests on subject, clicks etc. is quite easy and requires no tech help. Imporing new contacts and adding to the list is straight forward. Read full review Contact management. iContact is really great for entering all your contact. You are able to put them onto different lists, and let them choose which lists they would like to be a part of as well. There are many data fields provided to fill in information. Emailing. We use the email feature at least once a month. They are always improving and adding new features, which is very helpful in presenting content in a new and exciting way to our readers. There are many options with remade templates and themes, or you can add your own. Insights. It is really helpful being able to have the data to see what is working and what isn't. It is nice to be able to go back and see how things went in the past compared to now. Opens, clicks, shares, etc. Read full review Cons The user interface is not good. Too much scrolling and too many menues to navigate. Half of the pages are updated to a "new" look with the rest still being the (really) old design. This badly needs a make-over. There is no one-click "send reminder to those who did not open". To send reminders, it is nescessary to build a filter a do a new send using the filter. Such a simple and often repeated task should be automated. It is not possible to add a "Why did you leave us?"-page for opt-outs... Really misses this. The statistics are too limited and to difficult to use - mostly due to the UI design as described above. Read full review We also would like to send transactional messages which don't require an opt-out, this is a challenge with iContact. (May be a feature with pro?) The regular version of iContact doesn't support event management or logic flows for automated messaging. Custom form fields have limited field type options (can't build a drop-down). Read full review Likelihood to Renew iContact has been a quick and easy way to send any announcements and news directly to email and social media subscribers. Its tracking and reporting capabilities turn a simple email into a marketing campaign that can be used as a tool to efficiently gauge reader response and customer satisfaction, and ultimately to reach potential customers. The consistency and excellent customer service is what makes this program a pleasant experience.
Read full review Usability I rate iContact as an easy to use program due to its user friendly dashboard and user interface. Most companies of small to medium size do not have a dedicated marketer, therefore it is someone multitasking who may or may not have this kind of experience. iContact makes it relatively simple and can actually expand one's knowledge in the area of business promotion.
Read full review Reliability and Availability iContact is regularly up and running. Only once has it been unavailable for maintenance, which is to be expected and even desired for optimal performance when needed.
Read full review Support Rating They have always been responsive to any issues or concerns that have arisen with our account. Our customer account manager participates in our monthly county-wide communicators meetings via telephone to ensure that we are getting the most from the service. He also analyzes our lists to help us weed out inactive contacts.
Read full review Online Training The templates are difficult to customize, and they don't render well in email platforms
Read full review Implementation Rating i wouldn't be using it if i wasn't satisfied. time is money
Read full review Alternatives Considered MailChimp offers more flexibilty but also seems a bit more complicated to use. We did not use it long enough to really get an idea of the positive and negative.
Read full review I didn't have a say in the decision because I wasn't with the company at the time. I listed
HubSpot here because I know we used it in conjunction with iContact for email automation, but
HubSpot Email was only recently built-out to the point where it is today. Now, iContact and
HubSpot are no longer integrated.
Read full review Scalability iContact stays the same with the number of users added or taken away. It certainly remains reliable despite increased usage, and so, can be considered scaleable in that aspect.
Read full review Return on Investment We are still trying to figure out how to use this medium for sales. We have had some success with Black Monday sales, but in general we do not have much response to our emails. We have increases our visibility with our customers by making sure to land in their mailbox regulary with nice looking messages. Read full review We have a template for webinars that we send every month. We just edit it and send. This couldn't be easier (once you know where to find it). We like the breakdown of statistics in the dashboard. They're easy to read. iContact isn't a comprehensive solution, so it is only one of a few products we use for marketing. Read full review ScreenShots