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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    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

    Pulsar CORE

    Score10 out of 10
    N/APulsar is a social media monitoring platform offering social listening, owned channels analytics, and social CRM. Customers use Pulsar for brand tracking and campaign measurement. The platform includes 4 tools: TRAC: Social media listening across topics, audiences and content diffusion. CORE: Owned channels analytics to measure your content performance and audience growth. FLOW: Social customer relationship management and social media publishing. TEAM: Analyse your internal social networks…

    $1,200

    150,000 mentions

    Pricing
    iContactPulsar CORE
    Editions & Modules
    1500 Users
    $15.00
    per month
    2500 Users
    $25.00
    per month
    5000 Users
    $45.00
    per month
    TRAC (starter package)
    $1,200
    150,000 mentions
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    iContactPulsar CORE
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—Prices listed are on a 'starting from' basis. All TRAC packages have unlimited user log-ins, unlimited search queries and are charged on the amount of mentions pulled in. Bespoke packages are available.
    More Pricing Information
    Features
    iContactPulsar CORE
    Email & Online Marketing
    Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of iContact and Pulsar CORE
    Feature
    iContact
    6.6
    26 Ratings
    20% below category average
    Pulsar CORE
    -
    Ratings
    WYSIWYG email editor7.024 Ratings00 Ratings
    Dynamic content7.021 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ability to test dynamic content5.021 Ratings00 Ratings
    Landing pages7.014 Ratings00 Ratings
    A/B testing5.017 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile optimization7.021 Ratings00 Ratings
    Email deliverability reporting7.025 Ratings00 Ratings
    List management8.025 Ratings00 Ratings
    Triggered drip sequences6.015 Ratings00 Ratings
    Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of iContact and Pulsar CORE
    Feature
    iContact
    8.0
    26 Ratings
    5% above category average
    Pulsar CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Dashboards8.026 Ratings00 Ratings
    Standard reports8.025 Ratings00 Ratings
    Custom reports8.015 Ratings00 Ratings
    Pre-Send Testing
    Comparison of Pre-Send Testing features of iContact and Pulsar CORE
    Feature
    iContact
    7.0
    1 Ratings
    15% below category average
    Pulsar CORE
    -
    Ratings
    URL Validation7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Link Tracking7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Image Validation7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Inbox Display7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Email Accessibility Tools7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Spelling and Grammar Check7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Spam Testing7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Email Previews7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    iContactPulsar CORE
    Small Businesses
    Mad Mimi
    Score10 out of 10
    Mention
    Score8 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Campaign Monitor by Marigold
    Score9 out of 10
    Mention
    Score8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Emma by Marigold
    Score8.5 out of 10
    Social Suite by Reputation.com
    Score9.4 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    iContactPulsar CORE
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.0
    (45 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    3.4
    (19 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    8.0
    (6 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    Availability
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.9
    (9 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    1.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.5
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    iContactPulsar CORE
    Likelihood to Recommend
    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
    Pulsar
    I think that Pulsar is a good tool for brands or agencies who have a set list of competitors or subbrands that they are looking to do a monthly/weekly comparison of engagement metrics. When you have the brand account inputted, the data is shown in a visually tangible way and easy to comprehend.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    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
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    Pulsar
    • Track engagements over time
    • Easy to use interface
    • Modern and updated display
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    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
    Pulsar
    • Unfortunately, when exporting data it is often hard to read in an easy format.
    • I've used other tools where you can get historical data once you put into the tool but Pulsar cannot do that.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    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
    Pulsar
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    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
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    Pulsar
    Pulsar is not a complex tool by any means. The interface is updated and comprehensive, and I've used multiple tools in the past where the interface was very outdated and exporting data was often a difficult process since it was not well organized. The tool works well in visualizing complex data.
    Incentivized
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    Reliability and Availability
    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
    Pulsar
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    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
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    Pulsar
    I have not had to reach out to Pulsar support before but my coworkers have and said the support was good.
    Incentivized
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    Online Training
    iContact
    The templates are difficult to customize, and they don't render well in email platforms
    Read full review
    Pulsar
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    iContact
    i wouldn't be using it if i wasn't satisfied. time is money
    Read full review
    Pulsar
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    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
    Pulsar
    I think that Pulsar is one of the more updated platforms that I have used and the metrics exported/shown in the dashboard are accurate. I think that some tools report inaccurate metrics gathered from social media platforms due to the new APIs, something that often causes confusion and lack of clarity.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    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
    Pulsar
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    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
    Pulsar
    • Input into our algorithm for brand strength and stature
    • Quick engagement tracking
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Pulsar CORE Screenshots

    Screenshot of The activity dashboard gives you a thorough snapshot of all the key numbers in your datasetScreenshot of Pulsar TRAC advanced location detection gives you up to 100% geo-localised data by city, country and GPS coordinatesScreenshot of The Network map visualizes the engagement patterns within your audience and identifies the most influential usersScreenshot of Slice and dice the data with contextual, behavioural and content filtersScreenshot of See the bigger picture. Pulsar CORE gives you integrated brand-level metrics across all owned channels, so you can measure the total reach and engagement you're getting.