Klaviyo vs. Listrak vs. VerticalResponse

Klaviyo is a leader in the space, but I might recommend it to a colleague for its price point. There are other options that are more affordable and provide most of the tools Klaviyo offers. I also think it can be complicated to use for a new user.

Incentivized

It is definitely a contender if you run an e-commerce website. It connects with a host of different e-comm platforms (we use Magento) which makes product recommendations, purchase history/amounts, website behavior, etc. a lot easier to segment on and set trigger campaigns or targeted sends. If you're a B2B company, you probably won't want to use Listrak. The tools they have don't accommodate that segment as well as B2C, as many features would go unused since they simply don't make sense. I'm sure there are instances where Listrak would work just fine, but coming from that area previously, it is definitely a B2C tool.

Incentivized

For businesses requiring advanced email marketing features like sophisticated automation, in-depth analytics, and extensive customization, VerticalResponse might fall short due to its limited featuresVerticalResponse is ideal for small businesses or freelancers who need a simple, straightforward email marketing tool. Its ease of use and basic features make it suitable for those without extensive technical expertise in email marketing

Incentivized

• Klaviyo's template builder is very intuitive yet straightforward enough that an inexperienced user can catch on quickly.
• Their flow builder is also quite intuitive and allows us to build intricate, highly targeted flows.
• I appreciate their built-in compliance warnings & checks as they apply to opt-out methods, SMS compliance, and overall deliverability.

Incentivized

• Segmentation is one of my favorite features. We love being able to pull specific audiences and tailor our marketing to the individual customer.
• Importing and exporting lists is very self explanatory and easy to manage.
• The main dash has a great overview of your most recent messages and metrics.

Incentivized

• I love the ease of list builder because we often times have a lot of data to import. It would be simply impossible without this tool, considering the amount of customer data we have for any one given email.
• We really enjoy the ease of use of the HTML wizard as well. It helps even a novice be able to make a beautiful and attention grabbing email.
• The dashboard is functional and easy to find when you need with a quick search.

Incentivized

• Needs more visible critical notifications as we once exceeded our monthly email limit right during the Black Friday campaign. The notification was not visible enough for us to catch it on time, as a result, some emails scheduled to be sent over the weekend were never sent
• Better library of dynamic values available for use inside emails

Incentivized

• It is rare that I have issues or feel like Listrak has an area to improve in. The company is constantly ahead of the market and making additions/improvements on a monthly basis. That being said ... I have one area to suggest improvements: COMPOSER
• Composer - Drag & Drop editor: Although their design software with the new 'Composer' is better than your average WYSIWYG editor, their drag & drop editor lacks some basic design tools that stunt your ability to design out-of-the-box email campaigns. I typically write all my email code, so this doesn’t necessarily affect me in a negative manner. But ... if coding emails isn't your strong point, then the lack of design features and limited template selection could be bothersome. (*disclaimer - I do not believe Listrak's drag & drop editor is garbage, but it does fall short when compared to some of its competition.)

Incentivized

• The type face is small. Not sure if this is to avoid overwhelming the reader, but I could see this being an issue with vision-impaired people or people who don't see small print well.
• Sometimes I find it takes multiple clicks to make one simple change. I wish there was a search field at the top of the screen that allowed me to jump directly to a client's entry to update it there.

Klaviyo is simply a great solution for e-com email marketing & customer relationship management:

1. User journey visibility: We can see our clients' customers on their individual user journeys (open email, site visits) to better understand and accommodate your customers.
2. Flow automation: Creating automated emails that follow up with new leads, those who abandoned carts, purchased.
3. Email design: So easy to use, and more friendly than some other visual builders that we've used.
4. Metrics visibility: We can see our clients' metrics very easily and adjust efforts accordingly.

Incentivized

Product is easy for both technical and non-technical people to use. A cost effective solution for sending out large number of messages. We can manage unsubscribes by individual accounts, so we can have multiple multiple accounts combined to maximize our buying power on credits. Effective API for sending/receiving data makes tool a valuable asset.

The only reason why I did not give it a 10/10 is that it cannot distinguish purchases that came through subscription recharges instead of purchases that were driven directly by email sends. Other than that, the automation qualities, design features, and segmentation options make this an incredible email platform, and I am very happy with it

Incentivized

I truly love this product. We are moving to an all-in-one system next year and my greatest fear in doing so is how much I will miss this platform. Although we are excited for things ahead, I will always keep Vertical Response in my back pocket incase I don't love the new platform as much

Incentivized

Never had an issue with uptime

No issues

Their support is always quick and we have recurring meetings with our advisor. they were great when we first started at walking us through the platform and helping us understand how to do the overall setup. They also have a wide variety of articles that cover must issues in a very clear manner that will get you out of a predicament really fast.

Incentivized

At Vertical Response the help desk associates are courteous, knowledgeable and helpful. You can tell they enjoy what they do. And clearly, they are well trained because most times, the first point of contact is able to resolve any issue you may have. There have been very few times where an associate has needed to get back to me or escalate me to a supervisor

Incentivized

Basic functions and online help...we used what was needed, at the time, and will continue to explore other online trainings as our functional needs expand

Don't cut corners, do it right the first time, if you take your time to build everything the way you want it then it will run itself. The platform will help you increase revenue as long as you use the tools it provides. Don't be scared to ask questions, the support team will help you get to the next level

Incentivized

Salesforce integration never worked right. We had to abandon.

Klaviyo's ability to really tackle the entire marketing contact ecosystem on one platform is what really won us over. The price for everything was competitive, not necessarily the cheapest but competitive, and the ability to see that data flow from every interaction was what was crucial to us. Additionally, Klaviyo is the core of our B2C business. We were not focused on anything other than how we interact with customers directly, and Klaviyo was a direct win for us. The one negative is Klaviyo's ability to work with our B2B side of our business, because it doesn't integrate with platforms like HubSpot. That is a massive downside, but the upside justified the investment.

Incentivized

The Bronto platform is so similar to Listrak in that it made no sense for us to move unless there were significant cost savings (there weren't). We are so intertwined with Listrak that it would be painful to move for the sake of moving. Klaviyo is very DIY which can be great. We find that we do our best work with hand-holding and account support.

Incentivized

In addition to using Vertical Response personally I also manage email marketing for clients that already use Mailchimp, Robly and Constant Contact. While most of these platforms all offer similar features I choose Vertical Response first if the client does not have a platform in place. Typically I am also teaching the client how to use this tool and the Vertical Response visual interface is very easy for me to teach a client how to navigate and create their own campaigns.

Incentivized

• Klaviyo brought our email channel to the top performing channel over Paid Ads several times (according to G Analytics), before Klaviyo Paid Ads were always top and the email channel struggled to even stay in 2nd place.
• Klaviyo did cost quite a bit more than our old email platform but the ROI was much higher so it paid for itself.
• Klaviyo implemented tools that allowed us to have a higher customer satisfaction with things like letting customers choose to receive less emails instead of unsubscribing.

Incentivized

• Increasing our awareness of effective marketing email campaigns
• Reducing the effectiveness of our campaigns due to the complexity of software and inability to cancel our contract despite being LOYAL customers for 2 years.

• We were able to blast out promotions our company was having to customers which created an increase in business.
• By blasting out any service issues, it keeps our customers informed so that they are not wondering what is going on.
• Allows us to store unsubscribed emails so that we are not constantly pestering people who do not want to be emailed.

Incentivized