iContact vs. Pinpointe On-Demand

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

Pinpointe is perfect for managing large numbers of contacts, including gathering new contacts and storing them throughout your databases, which can further be broken into lists and then individual tags for sorting and sending. Where it really excels is in the email marketing sector. We are able to send as many as several hundred thousand emails per hour, making sure all of our customers get time sensitive marketing material quickly.

• 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

• The detailed statistics page is really helpful.
• Excellent and flexible Builder.
• Customer Service responds within one hour.
• Stock photos included.
• Database separation & sub-accounts.
• Excellent multi-inbox previewer available.
• Responsive templates.
• Invaluable webinars and training.

• 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

• Depending on the amount, when I am in the middle of uploading a list of contacts I get bumped out and have to submit a request to increase my dataset. That being said, our company as a whole is happy with what Pinpointe provides us with as is.

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.

Pinpointe On-Demand is a critical component of our marketing infrastructure and we will continue to use it to support our email marketing requirements

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

They are quick to respond to requests, usually within an hour. If they don't have an immediate fix to a problem, they let me know what the status is and what they are doing about a request. In some cases, if the development team needs to be involved because a bug is found, they have fixed and patched the system same day. Rarely do I ever get that kind of customer support response with any other company. They don't have a premium support tier because they treat every request with the same level of professionalism and response time (again, to at least let you know it was received and an actual person is looking at it, even if they are busy with other requests).

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.

Pinpointe is a great #2 for specialty campaigns. Our bounce rates were higher than with other providers. Pinpointe's detailed reports and interface are a step above the competition.

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

• Our ROI has gone up significantly since using Pinpointe.
• We are able to use the coding to implement a join form on our website directly so we don't have to download from our website and upload to Pinpointe each time we want to add our contacts.
• Our emails show up white-labeled so it is our own branding on all emails.