iContact vs. Rafflecopter

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

This is such an easy platform to set up and connect to the different social media channels that you would want to use for an upcoming giveaway. It makes it simple for your participants to join and is an easy way for you to increase your engagement in the contests.

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

• Rafflecopter helps to connect our business with our clients outside of clinic.
• Rafflecopter allows the ability for our clients to spread the word about our clinic through our social media efforts.
• Rafflecopter truly lets us see how successful we are with our clients, especially because if our patients were not truly satisfied with our services, then they would not want to take part in the giveaways and promotions that we run through Rafflecopter.

• 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

• Does not have an API. A knowledge base article saying they are considering one has was last updated 8 years ago.
• The list of integrated email service providers has not been updated in a very long time.
• Must login to download payment receipts--no emailed receipt.

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 think not that the problem was with Rafflecopter, but rather our company and it's approach to Social Media. Being a conservative B2B company in the manufacturing / safety industry doesn't, at this time, offer us many "social" connections that leads to sale/brand awareness. I think we might be better served on a different social network, say LinkedIn. On a personal note, it was a pleasure using Rafflecopter. Easy, fast, cheap and I can see how it can be hugely effective to a social media campaign for those that are in a different industry than the one I work in. I will certainly be recommending the product to my friends and other businesses that are more appropriately served by Rafflecopter.

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 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.

Rafflecopter is widely used and people have usually heard of it before. The other way we coordinate giveaways is to have a. spreadsheet with all the entries. Then use Google's random number generator which correlates to one of the rows in the spreadsheet which would be our winner

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

• Rafflecopter helped the brands I was working on start implementing a social media strategy because of the consistent results I saw.
• The widget helped increase engagement on Twitter by using the customized tweet forum.