You will be fascinated to know that more than 74 trillion emails are sent on a yearly basis? In this time and age, B2B and B2C businesses make solid use of email marketing to boost customer engagement and drive sales. Honestly, it is quite shocking given that social media is considered a faster channel to reach out the right kind of target audience at the right time.
But no - emails are here to stay and how! In fact, emailing is considered to be 40 times more effective at acquiring new customers on Facebook or Twitter. Perhaps, that's why when 34-year-old Noah Jackson learned of the importance of email marketing, he set out to choose the perfect tool for his advertising agency. And guess what? When he did find one, his clientele size increased exponentially in a matter of months!
As of today, his ad agency has won 5 prestigious awards - all because he applied the right marketing tactic when he needed to and he applied it aggressively. He was able to retain his customers and expand the existing pool of clients quite easily. The agency now boasts of having 50 board members - so you see, Jackson's ad agency did make it big and all because of a simple email marketing tool called "GetResponse".
What is GetResponse?
Often called the world's easiest email marketing platform, GetResponse is used by more than 3,50,000 customers from 182 countries and the tool is available in 21 different languages. It was launched in 1997 by Simon Grabowski and provides top quality online marketing solutions to entrepreneurs to enable them to make their businesses grow.
The reason the tool is called "easy" is because of its supremely user-friendly varied features which will explore in detail in this review soon. The best part is that GetResponse offers customized software features to businesses - depending on the size and requirements. This means that no business will go empty-handed if it comes to GetResponse for help in choosing and using the right marketing solutions.
GetResponse Review
GetResponse is an email marketing and online campaign management platform designed to support entrepreneurs and their growing businesses. If you are looking to build targeted subscriber lists, send quality and impactful newsletters, circulate video emails and do follow-up campaigns, then GetResponse is the tool for you.
GetResponse takes pride in being a spam-free solution that conveniently achieves a consistent email deliverability rate of over 99% - which is considered to be the highest across industries. The support team of GetResponse is available on chat 24/7 which adds to the convenience of using the tool.
A comprehensive list of all the features of GetResponse
Looking to grow your sales and maximize ROI by giving a boost to your online marketing efforts? GetResponse has got you covered.
1. Email designsIf you are specifically looking to send attractive emails, then this tool has the right options to offer you. Drag-and-drop/HTML code editor, 500+ pre-designed templates, 1,000 free iStock images, mobile previews, etc. are just for starters. Whether your graphic designer is a novice or comes with an experience of 10 years, he or she will have a blast creating your emails from scratch for you.
Moreover, if your marketing team members design the templates themselves, then also they will have a great time creating and writing those emails. Either way, you win because your target audience is receiving stellar emails and who doesn't want that? From sports and retail to travel and health, the tool offers a variety of templates to choose from. You just need to select the right style for your brand and you are good to go!
2. GetResponse Review of Responsive designYou know your clients/subscribers are not just going to use the desktop to read emails. They will also use mobile phones and tablets to read your emails because well, it is about convenience. So if your email template is not responsive, then you will not be able to keep the subscribers engaged for a very long time. They will see your business name pop up on their mobile phones and think, "not again!". You don't want that to happen!
Thanks to GetResponse, it is easy to see a mobile email preview - a feature that is available inside the email creator in real-time! The tool specifically mentions that all emails designed and all pre-designed templates are mobile-friendly and you don't need to spend extra cash to ensure the responsiveness.
3. GetResponse Review of Advanced segmentationSince no two customers are alike, the communication that goes out from every business has to be tailored to serve the right content to the right people. You can easily create multiple campaigns for multiple groups of people - all just to boost your engagement rate. You can use different images to display products or services that are relevant to that particular target audience.
You can tweak the content as per the segment and can engage those people by using different CTAs. If you can send emails demographically, you can do that too. GetResponse also gives you the option to generate unique promotional codes to boost conversions - because just sending emails and not receiving any response to them is not enough, right?
Of course, it's juvenile to think that doing just that will drive business growth and expansion. So yeah, thanks to " advanced segmentation ", you can easily target people from different segments and drive business growth at a faster speed.
You can even address your subscribers by name and include contact details in your messages. The tool also offers real-time tracking analytics that will let you see when your clients receive, open, and click your messages and from where.
4. GetResponse Review of A/B testingIt's a rather common feature in all email software, thanks to the increasing importance of personalization in marketing campaigns. In GetResponse, you can conduct split tests as they are integrated into the Settings. Creating such a campaign is quite simple and you can easily A/B test the email campaign with up to 50% of the subscribers just with the help of a handy slider.
Oh, my God! Do you know how simple it is to create a drip email marketing campaign for your clients? No, you didn't because you haven't used GetResponse which makes this happen yet! But well, this feature is definitely a solid reason for why you should use it for your business.
With this feature, you can create a flowchart of responses you want to email to your subscribers as per their response or behaviour towards "your" email. For instance, you can create a series of emails for a new subscriber: introduce yourself, send a blog post, send a free trial link, send another blog if he or she still doesn't sign up, etc.
You can build hundreds of scenarios and actually keep a response ready for every action of your subscriber. This particularly comes in handy for eCommerce businesses who have to track and address potential buyers who have abandoned their carts.
You can read about marketing automation in-depth here.
6. GetResponse Review of Email deliverabilityOne of the major issues that every email marketing software faces is the fear of getting blacklisted. After all, every business relies on the tool to send out messages, and if their clients don't receive them in their inboxes but in the spam folder - then it looks bad on the business' part. GetResponse understands this and has thus, has set up an anti-spam support team that monitors accounts and sends warnings whenever and wherever necessary. You can read more about it here.
7. GetResponse Review of perfect timing email deliveryThis is an important feature because getting buried under the pile of emails in your subscriber's inbox is not your aim, and it shouldn't be ever! So how does GetResponse help here? It offers a super cool feature that allows the tool to predict the optimal delivery hour of the day! Wow - this is a first, honestly speaking!
It basically selects a timing when the subscriber is most likely to read open your emails. The prediction is made using historical data or how he or she behaved with your email previously. This means your email will most likely land at the top of the subscriber's inbox, thus boosting click-through rate.
8. Advanced analyticsWhat's the point of sending emails when you can't analyze any of the email marketing metrics? From open click rate and CTR to subscriber's activity patterns and the device used to read your emails - GetResponse will share each and every detail with you.
Do you know you can actually optimize your emails so that they match your target audience's needs and preferences? You can even collate social data such as likes, shares, RTs, etc. to see how well your email content has fared.
Basically, you have the option to accurately monitor a plethora of metrics depending upon the nature and aim of your email campaign. Oh, and there's something called the Global View as well that lets you locate your subscribers across the globe.
9. GetResponse Review of High-converting landing pagesWhy stop at emails when you can also offer the option to build quality landing pages? That's the mantra of GetResponse and it's a brilliant option to explore! You can design a landing page of your own or design your own from scratch by choosing photos from a pool of 1,000 free iStock images.
The tool offers a drag-and-drop option which makes it easy for an amateur professional to design a landing page. You can choose any GetResponse subdomain for free and access flexible publishing options. Just like your emails, you can split test your landing pages as well to see which ones are the best performing web designs.
This means you can start your own marketing campaign in a jiffy. Build a landing page, which can be of ClickFunnels or Instapage quality. Start a drip email campaign and analyze both digital platforms to calculate the performance of your campaign. Marketing a product has never been easier, thanks to GetResponse!
10. GetResponse Review of Easy webinar solutionsYes - you have read it right! GetResponse also offers the feature of creating and broadcasting your own webinars. Continuing from point #9, webinars are also an upcoming marketing tactic to engage with the audience on a much more personal platform.
Using GetResponse, you can customize your webinar URL, use advanced date-and-time picker and schedule accordingly, choose to keep the webinar private or open for all and ensure the webinar is secure with SSL-encrypted URLs.
GetResponse Pricing: is it really worth it?
The most convenient thing about GetResponse is that you can use it for free for 30 days without giving any credit card details. Once the trial period gets over, you can choose any one of the four options available on the website. The most popular option is the Pro version which supports the marketers and small businesses. Have a look and decide yourself:
Alternate software existing in the marketing
This is perhaps the most popular email software among amateur marketing professionals who have just stepped into the world of email marketing. But MailChimp is a definite favorite of eCommerce or online stores that are looking to sell their products at a much faster pace.
A. Users
This tool is used by all kinds of professionals and businesses. Since it has been in the market for a long time, it is the first-choice.
B. Email content and functions
You can choose from a variety of predesigned email templates and tweak them as per your brand's taste and preference. The tool puts a lot of emphasis on drag-and-drop function and HTML - perfect if you want to build something from scratch. It also gives a lot of CTA options.
C. A/B testing
Yes, it is possible and just like any other software, you can split the subscriber list into half and check the performance of the two headlines.
D. Marketing automation
You can create a number of automation workflows - depending upon the historical behaviour of your subscribers. But you will have to opt for the paid version to be able to do so.
E. Built-in forms
Yes, you can. It's quite simple to use with a drag and drop functionality for all elements.
F. Integration
MailChimp can be integrated with a variety of tools such as WordPress, Eventbrite, Salesforce, Facebook, Google, and more.
G. API
MailChimp has a very complex and flexible API documentation and it quickly allows you to adapt your email marketing to fit the workflow that you have created without breaking any sweat.
I. Support system
If you are using the trial version, then you will not get any kind of support. This is the biggest drawback of using MailChimp.
This is one of the most popular email software tools and is used extensively by small business owners, bloggers and entrepreneurs from around the globe. It is known for its user-friendly interface and the fact that almost anyone can master its free version.
A. Users
This tool has been specifically designed for small business owners. However, bloggers also seem to love it. No wonder, it has a clientele of over 12,000 small business owners, entrepreneurs and bloggers all over the globe.
B. Email content and functions
There are two major email types that you can send: plain text and HTML version. Designing templates is not much of a hassle thanks to the drag-and-drop builder but this also mean you don't have a lot of options to choose from.
C. A/B testing
Yes, you can do that. Split your subscriber list into half and send one email with two headlines to see which one performs better using this email marketing software.
D. SMS marketing
It does allow simple SMS text and voice messaging, but doesn't have the capability to initiate a grand SMS marketing. It collaborated with CallLoop to be able to introduce this functionality within the software. If you are just starting with this, AWeber may be just the right tool for you.
E. Marketing automation
Autoresponders are called follow-ups in AWeber and it is quite easy to create a follow-up series with the use of this tool. There is something called "campaigns" which is still in Beta phase. This feature will allow you to create and manage multiple follow-up series all within the same list.
F. Support system
AWeber boasts of an award-winning customer service. A live customer support is available from 8AM to 8PM (EST) on the weekdays and from 9AM to 5PM on Saturdays and Sundays.
This drip email software shortens the sales funnel and is perfect for SaaS professionals. The features offered by Drip may not be very extensive but they are enough to get you started with your email marketing. You can even do a short Drip course to achieve better campaign results.
A. Users
Drip ( read this Drip Review ) is perfect for bloggers and Saas/product owners.
B. Email content and functions
Although you can send unlimited emails, you can only engage 100 contacts in the free version. Having said that, you can send unlimited autoresponders to those 100 contacts. Drip allows you to access their custom email templates which are responsive in nature. You can send three kinds of emails: drip campaign, one-off event email and broadcast messages.
C. A/B testing
You can A/B split test emails for subject lines, send times and sender names. If you are a beginner, this feature should make you comfortable conducting split tests.
D. SMS marketing
Drip does not support SMS marketing but subscription via SMS is available using the Textiful integration. If you are looking for a tool with just the email option, then Drip works best.
E. Marketing automation
Although Drip doesn't support direct mail automation, it does have a user-friendly workflow builder with six automation flow steps. You can easily create an email campaign and keep your subscribers engaged with email content that is relevant to their action or behaviour.
F. Landing page
There is no landing page builder integrated in Drip. The software is completely restricted to just email marketing functions.
G. Built-in forms
You do have access to the built-in form editor with four different opt-in form styles: embedded, widget, hosted and exit triggered. Your email campaigns can have different CTAs and even include videos.
H. Integration
You can integrate Drip with a range of software such as Instapage, LeadPages, Zapier, Shopify, Wistia and PayPal, and more.
G. Support system
You also have access to personalized support via email.
Over to youHonestly speaking, GetResponse is a comprehensive tool that can help any business organize and analyze marketing campaigns. And the best thing is you can do so many things at the same time - send emails, set up a landing page and schedule webinars.
GetResponse is really worth it if your business is still rising among the ranks. It will really give you the much-needed boost. Just make sure you sign up for its 30-day trial to see what each feature has to offer you. What one business may like might not suit your requirements. So literally - spend as much time as possible on the tool to come up with an informed decision.
Now finding the right email marketing tool for your business can be challenging and you might want to explore the options available. Go ahead and check out the comparisons we have made as well:
