Item: AWeber
Rating: 7
Author: Ruby Javaid

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I currently use AWeber to send out email newsletters for a client. The client has compiled a list of over 7k people over the years, and one of the easiest ways for him to get his phone ringing is to send out a newsletter every month. Usually, each mailing yields several big projects.

Pros and Cons

List compilation -- I can make as many different lists as I need to on AWeber and send out newsletters to a certain group or segment easily. In addition to having the ability to create multiple lists, each list can be further broken down by adding tags to each subscriber
Email reliability -- Emails from AWeber typically make it to the inbox and have a lesser rate of going to spam
Content elements -- While there are design limitations, there are plenty of options to choose from on what kind of content you can add in your mailing

Content elements design/layout for newsletter -- getting things to look exactly as you want them takes some work. This is probably not an issue for the average user, but for a web/graphic designer perspective, it's more complicated than it should be to add columns or sections or styling in some instances.

Return on Investment

Each email newsletter that we send out with AWeber brings in solid leads and business
AWeber helps us stay on the mind to the audience we want to target

Alternatives Considered

Mailchimp and Constant Contact

I found Constant Contact's dashboard and email editor clunky and annoying to use. It's been several years so perhaps they have improved and updated it.
Mailchimp is pretty comparable, and it just depends on your needs as to which is more appropriate. I do feel that Mailchimp's email editor is a bit easier to use, though it has its own set of limitations. Again, probably not an issue for the average user, but it would definitely be noticed by a designer.

Other Software Used

Mailchimp, Constant Contact

Likelihood to Recommend

Email newsletters for audiences of over 2,000 subscribers work well with AWeber. The most well-known competitor, Mailchimp, is free for up to 2k subscribers, so I would go with that option if the list size is small.
AWeber also has a better spam/unsubscribe tolerance. Mailchimp is very strict and will shut down your account if you have too many people marking your email as spam. AWeber lets you know that you need to do something about it if your spam count is high, but will give you time to work out your issues rather than close down the account.

AWeber is an all around great email tool with excellent list management and reporting tools!

Overall Satisfaction with AWeber