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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

    VanillaSoft

    Score3.7 out of 10
    Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
    VanillaSoft is a lead optimization platform designed to assist fast-response sales teams in maximizing their conversion rates. By providing a structured and efficient approach to lead management, VanillaSoft aims to ensure that every potential customer receives the attention they deserve. This platform is beneficial for sales teams that operate in high-pressure environments where timely follow-ups can significantly impact sales outcomes. The primary audience for VanillaSoft…N/A
    Pricing
    iContactVanillaSoft
    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
    iContactVanillaSoft
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—VanillaSoft offers several add-ons to use in conjunction with our base platforms including: Auto Dialing Call Recording VoIP SmartCaller ID SMS
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    iContactVanillaSoft
    Considered Both Products
    iContact
    No answer on this topic
    VanillaSoft
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Would buy again
    82 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    65 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    99%
    Happy with the feature set
    81 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    55 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    96%
    Implementation went as expected
    55 Answers
    Features
    iContactVanillaSoft
    Email & Online Marketing
    Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of iContact and VanillaSoft
    Feature
    iContact
    6.6
    26 Ratings
    19% below category average
    VanillaSoft
    -
    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 VanillaSoft
    Feature
    iContact
    8.0
    26 Ratings
    5% above category average
    VanillaSoft
    -
    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 VanillaSoft
    Feature
    iContact
    7.0
    1 Ratings
    15% below category average
    VanillaSoft
    -
    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
    iContactVanillaSoft
    Small Businesses
    Mad Mimi
    Score10 out of 10
    HubSpot Sales Hub
    Score8.8 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Campaign Monitor by Marigold
    Score9 out of 10
    Mixmax
    Score9.8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Emma by Marigold
    Score8.5 out of 10
    Groove (legacy product)
    Score7.7 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    iContactVanillaSoft
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.0
    (45 ratings)
    8.3
    (88 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    3.4
    (19 ratings)
    9.0
    (3 ratings)
    Usability
    8.0
    (6 ratings)
    9.0
    (3 ratings)
    Availability
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Performance
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.9
    (9 ratings)
    8.9
    (3 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Online Training
    1.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.5
    (2 ratings)
    9.0
    (3 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    iContactVanillaSoft
    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
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    VanillaSoft
    VanillaSoft is well suited for any marketing operations or sales operations team looking for a tool to help them efficiently reach prospects and engage with them through a streamlined method. This can be a great way to manage that engagement, measure it, and keep track of various aspects of prospects.
    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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    VanillaSoft
    • Our employees love it - very user friendly, easy to grasp, very little down time to learn it. They feel very confident immediately.
    • Great technical support - I can get solutions to customer problems that make our company look more responsive to our clients. Our clients appreciate our solving their problems immediately.
    • Because of the real time analytics - we can address immediate issues with marketing campaigns to make our client's personnel look great to their superiors.
    • Because of all the functionality - we can provide a turnkey approach from a small company with big company capabilities.
    Incentivized
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    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
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    VanillaSoft
    • It really needs an "undo" button. I can't tell you how many times I was typing notes etc and hit a wrong button and all was gone so I had to start over.
    • This may be the way we have it set up....we have term codes which are how the callers terminate a call they were on. They finish the call, then type notes in the notepad section of what happened, then they terminate the call. But there are times that I need to go onto a record and just leave a note but don't need to terminate it as anything. If there is a way to do that, it would make my life a lot easier.
    Incentivized
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    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
    VanillaSoft
    We have no reason not to renew. VanillaSoft has been the best CRM (for us) that we have ever used. The value is great, we love the system, and it's easy to get assistance from VanillaSoft team when needed. Our team is so used to the calling and admin functions there is no desire to change.
    Incentivized
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    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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    VanillaSoft
    The entire system is set up so perfectly. It makes training callers much quicker, and admin tools are so easy to navigate when you get used to using it. Also, if there is ever something I cannot figure out, I can get support from VanillaSoft very quickly to resolve and get my task accomplished.
    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
    VanillaSoft
    It is very rare that we have system issues. Maybe a handful of times over the years, we had to contact support about being unable to access. It was always a quick response from the VanillaSoft team, and they would clearly explain the issue and usually give time frame on fixing, or have it fixed immediately.
    Incentivized
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    Performance
    iContact
    No answers on this topic
    VanillaSoft
    I work on all aspects for VanillaSoft for our company. The pages overall do load very quickly. Reports are amazing, I can get quick report, customized reports, and anything I may need to present to client in very little time. It has made my job so much simpler. As far as I know, integration goes smoothly as well.
    Incentivized
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    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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    VanillaSoft
    Response time was acceptable for the relatively few problems any of our users may have encountered. Fortunately, such occasions were rare.
    Incentivized
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    In-Person Training
    iContact
    No answers on this topic
    VanillaSoft
    It was very helpful and informative. The learning of the tool is something anyone can do, as the setup is so well thought out.
    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
    VanillaSoft
    It was very thorough. VanillaSoft team did not rush us. They explained the various functions clearly and were open to any and all questions we had as we began to learn the system. Also, once training completed, if we encountered anything we could not figure out, the support team was fantastic in helping us out.
    Incentivized
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    Implementation Rating
    iContact
    i wouldn't be using it if i wasn't satisfied. time is money
    Read full review
    VanillaSoft
    Our implementation was very easy.
    Incentivized
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    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
    VanillaSoft
    VanillaSoft stacks up against Microsoft Power BI very well by allowing the data visualization in a more effective way, Power BI has positioned itself as one of the more robust and intuitive tools for business intelligence and data presentation. VanillaSoft and Microsoft Power BI are a great bundle for the report and analytics team.
    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
    VanillaSoft
    VanillaSoft has been great. The flexibility of the system is wonderful. The scalable software options are impressive as well. I would strongly support VanillaSoft's capabilities in this area. You really can do just about anything to get the setup and or integrations you may desire for your company needs.
    Incentivized
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    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
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    VanillaSoft
    • Ability to contact more clients each day.
    • The ability to save my correspondence and notes on each interaction allowing for the appearance to the customer that I am very engaged when we are speaking.
    • Increased sales from the calendar setting and saving my notes.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots

    VanillaSoft Screenshots

    Screenshot of the VanillaSoft Call Activity Dashboard, used to to monitor sales campaigns.Screenshot of where to build reports using the VanillaSoft Web Reports Wizard.Screenshot of where VanillaSoft offers the ability to arrange modules into four panels for access to almost everything in one screen.Screenshot of VanillaSoft's caller screens, which can be displayed in three panels.