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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Google Ads

    Score8.4 out of 10
    N/AGoogle Ads (formerly AdWords) is Google's pay-per-click online advertising program. With Google Ads users set their budget and choose where their ads appear in search listings, and on partner websites. Google Ads uses cost-per-click (CPC) bidding.

    $500

    in Ads credit in the first 60 days

    iContact

    Score6.8 out of 10
    N/AiContact is an email marketing solution that was acquired by Vocus in 2012. The product is integrated with Facebook and Twitter and is aimed at SMBs with unlimited sending as a key feature.

    $14

    per month

    Pricing
    Google AdsiContact
    Editions & Modules
    Offer A
    $500
    in Ads credit in the first 60 days
    Offer B
    $1500
    in Ads credit in the first 60 days
    Offer C
    $3000
    in Ads credit in the first 60 days
    1500 Users
    $15.00
    per month
    2500 Users
    $25.00
    per month
    5000 Users
    $45.00
    per month
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Google AdsiContact
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Google AdsiContact
    Considered Both Products
    Google
    No answer on this topic
    iContact
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    81%
    Would buy again
    42 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    76%
    Delivers good value for the price
    37 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    79%
    Happy with the feature set
    41 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    69%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    34 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    70%
    Implementation went as expected
    35 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    Google AdsiContact
    Ad Campaigns
    Comparison of Ad Campaigns features of Google Ads and iContact
    Feature
    Google Ads
    7.2
    11 Ratings
    10% above category average
    iContact
    -
    Ratings
    Ad campaign creation7.911 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad deployment7.510 Ratings00 Ratings
    Display advertising7.410 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad display and retargeting segmentation7.511 Ratings00 Ratings
    Sequence targeting6.910 Ratings00 Ratings
    Contextual advertising7.210 Ratings00 Ratings
    Social advertising6.35 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Ad Reporting & Analytics features of Google Ads and iContact
    Feature
    Google Ads
    7.3
    11 Ratings
    6% above category average
    iContact
    -
    Ratings
    Ad dashboards7.511 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad performance reports7.911 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad conversion tracking7.311 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad attribution reporting7.211 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad forecasting and optimization6.911 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad Auctions
    Comparison of Ad Auctions features of Google Ads and iContact
    Feature
    Google Ads
    7.9
    10 Ratings
    6% below category average
    iContact
    -
    Ratings
    Ad bidding7.910 Ratings00 Ratings
    Email & Online Marketing
    Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of Google Ads and iContact
    Feature
    Google Ads
    -
    Ratings
    iContact
    6.6
    26 Ratings
    19% below category average
    WYSIWYG email editor00 Ratings7.024 Ratings
    Dynamic content00 Ratings7.021 Ratings
    Ability to test dynamic content00 Ratings5.021 Ratings
    Landing pages00 Ratings7.014 Ratings
    A/B testing00 Ratings5.017 Ratings
    Mobile optimization00 Ratings7.021 Ratings
    Email deliverability reporting00 Ratings7.025 Ratings
    List management00 Ratings8.025 Ratings
    Triggered drip sequences00 Ratings6.015 Ratings
    Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Google Ads and iContact
    Feature
    Google Ads
    -
    Ratings
    iContact
    8.0
    26 Ratings
    5% above category average
    Dashboards00 Ratings8.026 Ratings
    Standard reports00 Ratings8.025 Ratings
    Custom reports00 Ratings8.015 Ratings
    Pre-Send Testing
    Comparison of Pre-Send Testing features of Google Ads and iContact
    Feature
    Google Ads
    -
    Ratings
    iContact
    7.0
    1 Ratings
    15% below category average
    URL Validation00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Link Tracking00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Image Validation00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Inbox Display00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Email Accessibility Tools00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Spelling and Grammar Check00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Spam Testing00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Email Previews00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Google AdsiContact
    Small Businesses
    WordStream
    Score6.9 out of 10
    Mad Mimi
    Score10 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    WordStream
    Score6.9 out of 10
    Campaign Monitor by Marigold
    Score9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    No answers on this topic
    Emma by Marigold
    Score8.5 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Google AdsiContact
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.7
    (126 ratings)
    8.0
    (45 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.6
    (21 ratings)
    3.4
    (19 ratings)
    Usability
    7.7
    (17 ratings)
    8.0
    (6 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.0
    (8 ratings)
    9.9
    (9 ratings)
    Online Training
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    1.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.5
    (2 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    1.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Google AdsiContact
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Google
    Google Ads is a useful advertising tool to build brand exposure and generate lead volumes for your chosen product. Whilst it can be costly at times due to competitor bidding strategies and requires constant monitoring to ensure campaigns perform as expected, it typically provides the desired quality and quantity of leads for custom budgets.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    iContact
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Google
    • Automated targeting via Smart Shopping campaign. It's one of the best campaign types in Google Ads. In the beginning, you may see lower revenue and ROAS, but once you give some meaningful time to your campaign, it is most likely to perform well.
    • Smart bidding strategies: Google Ads has developed some really great bidding strategies such as maximizing conversion and maximizing conversion with ROAS settings. Based on one's requirement and their goal with revenue and target ROAS, they can choose the appropriate bidding strategy.
    • Reporting: A business owner and advertising must know about their audiences, how their campaigns have been performing, what's working and what's not, and for that reason, powerful, effective reporting is needed, and Google Ads provides rich details reporting that covers almost every aspect of a business.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    iContact
    • 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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Google
    • If you don't know what you're doing, it will be a costly mistake. You need to target ads, and it is difficult the first time to do that.
    • There isn't a feature to run an add for a couple set date spans, just hours you want to run them or a single date span.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    iContact
    • 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).
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Google
    I think Google Ads is good for getting your company out there and becoming more visible to potential customers in general. However, for specific product launches, social media advertising might be a better fit. Also, our user base is younger so social media is a better channel for our target audience.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    iContact
    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
    Google
    This is more of a subjective rating, because I think it can be increased with how much our ad spend is. The more of an ad spend, the more visibility we can get, and therefore all features can climb. With an overall larger presence the usability is that where we can get messages out quick, and that's the main thing we try to do with our campaigns.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    iContact
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    iContact
    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
    Google
    We have not yet had an account rep who hasn't tried to bully me or other employees to raise our budgets. At the same time, several years ago, one attempted to help refine our ads and ended up changing the ads to be something we were not affiliated with
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    iContact
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Online Training
    Google
    Daily use with advanced account structures. Familiarity with reporting/api and complex setups.
    Read full review
    iContact
    The templates are difficult to customize, and they don't render well in email platforms
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    iContact
    i wouldn't be using it if i wasn't satisfied. time is money
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Google
    Our agency invests heavily in Google Ads (particularly paid search advertising) on behalf of our clients relative to competitors like Microsoft and Yahoo because Google is the top search engine in the world. Google collects the most search data which enables the company to improve its AI to drive better performance for agencies and brands. As such, our paid search and app install campaigns always start with Google. If a client has a large budget, we will allocate media dollars to other search engines, but in some cases, the entire search budget goes to Google because we see the best returns.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    iContact
    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
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    iContact
    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
    Google
    • Google Ads is often one of our highest ROI channels, especially when you factor in branded ads.
    • Depending on the stage your business is in, search ads can be really powerful from an ROI perspective, providing an investment with a very high spend cap.
    • If you do not manage the campaigns well though, you can quickly spend a lot of money on nothing. So make sure someone is keeping an eye on your account.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    iContact
    • 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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots