iContact 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
SendPulse
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
SendPulse is an integrated messaging platform providing user communication that includes emails, SMS, web push, SMTP, and user management.. This solution includes 15,000 free emails with up to 2,500 subscribers per month.
N/A
Pricing
iContact
SendPulse
Editions & Modules
1500 Users
$15.00
per month
2500 Users
$25.00
per month
5000 Users
$45.00
per month
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
iContact
SendPulse
Free Trial
No
Yes
Free/Freemium Version
Yes
Yes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
No
No
Entry-level Setup Fee
No setup fee
No setup fee
Additional Details
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Pricing starts from $9 a month and depends on the number of messages sent.
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.
SendPulse is great if you want to connect with your list on a more personal basis, and making sure that your email reaches your subscriber when it is best for him/her. You can also use the SMS function (though I haven't used it yet). Let's say you have clients and want to send a message to them automatically on their birthday, SendPulse allows you to do that. It allows you to add in specific fields that are relevant to you, in order to customise your messaging as much as you want and need.
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.
I like its Drag and Drop function to design e-mailers but it lacks in some functionalities. Foe example when I write two different contents in a same box I need a line to show separation between my contents in the same box but this feature is unavailable in SendPulse.
They should include more fonts. Every product or service needs different kind of fonts to make a right impact on customers. With limited option of fonts it restricts user's creativity.
It is good to have templates to give users some idea for designing campaigns but here SendPluse has nothing much to offer. They have very limited number of templates.
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.
I find that overall SendPulse is very intuitive to use and the support is there to help you out in case you don't find how to do what you wish to do. The drag and drop functionalities make it easy to create the newsletters you want. Every field is explained and small tutorials are included to show you how to create a new template, newsletter, etc. which makes it very easy to use.
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.
Every time I contacted the support team with a question or a problem, they were very fast in replying and helping me out solve it. Usually latest within 10 minutes I would receive a first answer, and the problem would get solved on the same day.
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.
For SendPulse's price point, I consider their competition to be the likes of Mailchimp, ConstantContact, etc. While SendPulse rates roughly average across the board in all areas, for businesses looking for the cheapest option (which comes with a lack of features/quality), ConstantContact beats them. For quality/features/value, I'd say Mailchimp is the best option for small businesses.
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.
