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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    OutboundEngine

    Score10 out of 10
    N/AOutboundEngine provides a hands-off way for small business owners to market and grow their business. The product aims to provide small businesses with what big companies have achieved with marketing automation. The service aims to help users keep in touch with clients and prospects with professionally designed, branded campaigns. Benefits include: driving engagement, surfacing warm leads from current contacts, generating referrals and repeat business from their existing contacts, social…

    $199

    per user

    VerticalResponse

    Score10 out of 10
    N/AVerticalResponse is an email campaign management software and services platform from Deluxe. In addition to providing email marketing tools, VerticalResponse offers fully managed email marketing services from campaign launch and management to reporting and analysis.

    $9

    per month

    Pricing
    OutboundEngineVerticalResponse
    Editions & Modules
    Essential
    $199
    per user
    Value
    $299
    per user
    Premium
    $499
    per user
    Basic
    $11.00
    per month
    Pro
    $16.00
    per month
    Pro Plus
    $196.00
    per month
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    OutboundEngineVerticalResponse
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup Fee$99 per userNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsMore information is available on the vendor's website.—
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    OutboundEngineVerticalResponse
    Considered Both Products
    Elm Street Technology
    No answer on this topic
    VerticalResponse
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    75%
    Would buy again
    42 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    75%
    Delivers good value for the price
    38 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    75%
    Happy with the feature set
    42 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    67%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    37 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    84%
    Implementation went as expected
    47 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    OutboundEngineVerticalResponse
    Email & Online Marketing
    Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of OutboundEngine and VerticalResponse
    Feature
    OutboundEngine
    5.9
    50 Ratings
    22% below category average
    VerticalResponse
    9.9
    8 Ratings
    21% above category average
    Mobile optimization8.643 Ratings10.05 Ratings
    Email deliverability reporting3.050 Ratings10.08 Ratings
    List management6.044 Ratings10.08 Ratings
    WYSIWYG email editor00 Ratings10.07 Ratings
    Dynamic content00 Ratings10.05 Ratings
    Ability to test dynamic content00 Ratings10.04 Ratings
    Landing pages00 Ratings10.04 Ratings
    A/B testing00 Ratings10.05 Ratings
    Triggered drip sequences00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
    Lead Management
    Comparison of Lead Management features of OutboundEngine and VerticalResponse
    Feature
    OutboundEngine
    5.3
    38 Ratings
    23% below category average
    VerticalResponse
    -
    Ratings
    Automated sales alerts and tasks5.338 Ratings00 Ratings
    Social Media Marketing
    Comparison of Social Media Marketing features of OutboundEngine and VerticalResponse
    Feature
    OutboundEngine
    10.0
    48 Ratings
    36% above category average
    VerticalResponse
    -
    Ratings
    Social sharing and campaigns10.048 Ratings00 Ratings
    Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of OutboundEngine and VerticalResponse
    Feature
    OutboundEngine
    -
    Ratings
    VerticalResponse
    10.0
    9 Ratings
    27% above category average
    Dashboards00 Ratings10.09 Ratings
    Standard reports00 Ratings10.09 Ratings
    Custom reports00 Ratings10.06 Ratings
    Pre-Send Testing
    Comparison of Pre-Send Testing features of OutboundEngine and VerticalResponse
    Feature
    OutboundEngine
    -
    Ratings
    VerticalResponse
    10.0
    1 Ratings
    20% above category average
    URL Validation00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Link Tracking00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Image Validation00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Inbox Display00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Email Accessibility Tools00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Spelling and Grammar Check00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Spam Testing00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Email Previews00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    OutboundEngineVerticalResponse
    Small Businesses
    HighLevel
    Score9.3 out of 10
    Mad Mimi
    Score10 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    LocaliQ
    Score8.6 out of 10
    Campaign Monitor by Marigold
    Score9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    No answers on this topic
    Emma by Marigold
    Score8.5 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    OutboundEngineVerticalResponse
    Likelihood to Recommend
    10.0
    (61 ratings)
    10.0
    (28 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.0
    (2 ratings)
    8.6
    (19 ratings)
    Usability
    7.6
    (7 ratings)
    9.0
    (5 ratings)
    Availability
    8.8
    (27 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.9
    (24 ratings)
    8.0
    (4 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (4 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    OutboundEngineVerticalResponse
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Elm Street Technology
    OutboundEngine does a referral campaign and I've been able to close a couple of deals based on getting in touch with people who engage with this campaign and state they could use my services in the next 6 months. This is a great follow up tool for those you may or may not know are going to be needing your services.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    VerticalResponse
    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
    Read full review
    Pros
    Elm Street Technology
    • The content that they generate to send to our clients is relevant and the clients want to engage with us. It makes us appear more professional and consistent, even though we are a smaller company.
    • It helps us stay in touch with clients and helps us stay top of mind. We are able to generate more new business leads if we are in consistent contact with current, former, and potential clients.
    • Their customer service and support is outstanding. All my questions were answered and I went into the program feeling confident and knowledgeable.
    Read full review
    VerticalResponse
    • 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
    Read full review
    Cons
    Elm Street Technology
    • I do not like the use of drawings to attract new customers, and they have ignored my requests to eliminate that for my personal emails.
    • I do not like it when a competitor in my immediate market has the same posts. It cheapens the service or makes it appear that I am simply sharing another's post.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    VerticalResponse
    • 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.
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Elm Street Technology
    The biggest issue is poor ROI. The second biggest issue is rigid customer service process, lack of a sense of urgency, and inability to reach out to upper management with issues.
    Read full review
    VerticalResponse
    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.
    Read full review
    Usability
    Elm Street Technology
    Overall, OutboundEngine is very user friendly. It is simple to set up and explore, and if there are any issues or questions, the customer service team and account managers are always available to help. They are very knowledgeable and were able to explain everything in detail to me. The program is easy to navigate and helps me stay organized, and an uncomplicated and straightforward solution was exactly what I was looking for
    Read full review
    VerticalResponse
    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
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Elm Street Technology
    I haven't had to contact Outbound Engine because I haven't had any application errors or unplanned outages. I basically have had such a trouble free experience with them that I haven't had to call. Everything is automated and I get a notice to review every isse. I suppose if I personalized the newsletter a bit more and added some of my own articles, I would need to contact them, (which I should really start to do) but so far things have been so on point, I haven't felt the need.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    VerticalResponse
    Never had an issue with uptime
    Read full review
    Performance
    Elm Street Technology
    No answers on this topic
    VerticalResponse
    No issues
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Elm Street Technology
    The customer service was excellent! Everyone I spoke to was kind and knowledgeable. My account manager was easily reachable. Setup of the OutboundEngine program was explained really thoroughly, and we knew how we could best use the product to meet the needs of our clients and get our online and social media presence off the ground.
    Read full review
    VerticalResponse
    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
    Read full review
    Online Training
    Elm Street Technology
    No answers on this topic
    VerticalResponse
    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
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Elm Street Technology
    No answers on this topic
    VerticalResponse
    Salesforce integration never worked right. We had to abandon.
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Elm Street Technology
    I selected it for the ability to have an automated system do 3 things all at once, social media posts, emails and the instant communication with the chat box. I have never seen a chat come through that lead to a helpful client touchpoint. I have never used another product but have since begun to weigh some of the less expensive options.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    VerticalResponse
    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
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Elm Street Technology
    • One client identified how one article I sent that he read saved him from having to replace his entire AC system.
    • One client actually thought I was sending this to him personally because I valued him
    • One of the above transacted with me twice for over $3M in sales
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    VerticalResponse
    • 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
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    OutboundEngine Screenshots

    Screenshot of Automated Social Media MarketingScreenshot of A personalized snapshot of your account activity and warmest leads.Screenshot of Personally designed, tested, and automated emails