Likelihood to Recommend 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 MessageGears can be a solid, inexpensive email solution and you can be able to send millions of emails per year. In 2020, we delivered over 235 million emails at a fraction of what that would cost with any other email service provider. We worked with MessageGears on a custom solution with our database.
Read full review Pros 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 The MessageGears Support team is very helpful. Read full review Cons 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 Multivariate testing WYSIWYG email builder SQL audience error report Native reporting 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 Our situation is unique so I believe we are working on a semi-outdated UI which needs a tune up / version upgrade. Similarly, our custom connection means that we do not have access to the full feature set so I've never experienced MessageGears' best functionality
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 MessageGears support is always quick to respond when we have an issue, which is rare. Gail has been our main rep and she has been great. We don't have many issues so luckily, we don't need to lean on their customer support team much. That said, it would be beneficial to hear from upper management more.
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 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 MessageGears doesn't come close to
Salesforce Marketing Cloud. We chose MessageGears based on how data was accessed. We never really got a good preview of how the system works or what was available, so we didn't know everything that it was lacking until we started using it.
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 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 Sending more email! Onboarding handoff was a little rough Great control on who we are sending to Dynamic content is very easy! Read full review ScreenShots