iContact vs. InboundWriter

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

I think most users have found that InboundWriter is every bit worth what you pay for it. At a freemium model, it's affordable and helpful in analyzing your posts for SEO direction. It is particularly well suited for getting focused terms on specific topics, and less on more general terms.

Incentivized

• 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

• Very easy to use and follow direction.
• The price is right for this freemium Wordpress plugin.
• Helps discover what content and keywords are popular around your subject matter.

Incentivized

• 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

• Sometimes tough to decide what direction to follow without keyword stuffing your content.
• Colleagues have complained about the Document Score being unreliable at times.
• It's only as good as the information you put into it and lacks the ability to give you more high level though leadership terms/topics.

Incentivized

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.

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

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.

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

The InboundWriter support is certainly sufficient for the type of troubleshooting you may encounter when using the tool. There are chats and forums available with best practices or knowledge share. For bigger issues, even WordPress can serve as a support system for getting to the answer quickly. Luckily, you're more likely to find that it is a very intuitive tool that is easy to use.

Incentivized

The templates are difficult to customize, and they don't render well in email platforms

i wouldn't be using it if i wasn't satisfied. time is money

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.

While Yoast is also very useful as a free WordPress plugin that helps up your SEO game, where it stops at just providing direction for your meta data, like titles and descriptions, InboundWriter takes your search engine reach a bit further and helps you create relevant content for your industry that targets the right keywords and topics.

Incentivized

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.

• 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

• InboundWriter has helped us craft more SEO-driven content and balance our keyword usage.
• InboundWriter has also helped us hone in on the specific topics we should be covering for our industry.
• Overall, it has helped us achieve our goals of creating pillar content and driving more organic traffic.

Incentivized