Who the hell has time to survey and review all the email marketing companies?
Well, no-one, but I also feel that someone who intends to be helping her clients damn well better know the pros and cons of each before she starts recommending one over the others. So I spent 4 hours today – that's right, four bloody hours that I will never get back, so listen up – scrutinizing the field for you, dear reader.
First stop, Top Ten Reviews, a site that makes it their business to regularly do much of the initial research. Love those guys. Their 2008 review reveals a more accurate view of each contender.
I was surprised to see that Constant Contact was more expensive and had less features than iContact. Constant Contact is easily the best known of them all, so hats off to their marketing department, because they've certainly convinced many that they're the best.
I use iContact.com. Aside from the price and efficiency, I like their interface. It's simple and uncluttered. They offer everything that Constant Contact does, including strict anti-spam policies, but they offer more features at a lower cost.
That said, Constant Contact and iContact are so similar that it doesn't really matter. If you feel more comfortable with Constant Contact, by all means spend a bit more and go with them. Either company will let you download your list of subscribers at any time, so you can always change your mind later.
November 06, 2008 update: still loving iContact and now they are in the #1 spot at Top Ten Reviews. If you want to try it free for 14 days, click here.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
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32 comments:
I googled this. Thank you I found it helpful. iContact it is.
Hi there,
I googled this as well and found you. One of the first blogs that I actually stopped to read. I like your email sign up feature too!
Terry
Thank you so much for posting your opinion, it was really helpful! =)
Very helpful! I will definitely go with icontact if I decide to go with anything at all for my email list.
Thank you. Googled and found this post. I compared the features and iContact wins! Thanks for the post.
I tried using Constant Contact this afternoon, and finally had to give up! Too many restrictions and anomalies that make their user interface not friendly enough for me. I won't try again.
While searching for an alternative, I discovered Contactology. A mouthful, that's certain, but curious if anyone out there has an opinion? They look interesting.
(I don't yet know iContact, but will check them out also.)
Does iContact allow you to add a "subscribe to mailing list" button on your website?
Yes, they all give you a slice of HTML code (which you can tweak or leave as is) that when inserted into a page, results in a button for sign-ups or surveys.
Thanks for posting! I googled it and found exactly what I needed to know!
Thanks for this Belinda - I tried Constant Contact and had an okay but not great experience. Your post was a helpful perspective.
I, too, thank you for this post. I've been using both over the past year (and what that really means is I've been USING & PAYING for Constant Contact while just PAYING for iContact). I was gearing up for the big "compare" of the 2 services so I could move forward with just one, once and for all, and now you've SAVED ME that effort! Thanks so much!
Hi Belinda,
Thanks for the info. I am test driving Constant Contact but don't like the fact that you have to pay extra for surveys. iContact sounds like the perfect solution.
Susan
Thank you for your effort researching these products for all, it is very helpful. It helped me quickly see the differences & choose. iContact is it.
Thanks
Thank you Belinda.
I too am comparing the two for a paid subscription daily inspirational email. It's a new language with new terms and you have helped to make the decision far easier. See, your four hours helped a lot of people!
Thanks again,
Louie
Thank you! 4 hours is not a high price for the good karma you've got :)
This brief review is helpful, but much has been left out. iContact is only cheaper if you have a small list. Once you've got a few thousand addresses they are the same. iContact supposedly archives your previous posts so they can be viewed on the web by your list members. I'm sure there are other differences that anyone other than a casual user will want to check out prior to making their decision. FTR, I've yet to use either service.
Thanks for this really useful info. I will definitely go with IContact!
Thanks for the review. I'm a new webmaster/affiliate marketer looking to build more traffic. Looks like iContact will be a good tool for me.
Belinda! Just wondering if you are still using iContact. I read some bad reviews, but am hoping that is just a few out of the many (you can't make everyone happy). Am seeking an e-mail marketing site for my company, and would love an update from you on iContact!!! THANKS!!!
Yes, I wrote an update here: http://belindasbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/11/icontact-versus-constant-contact.html but it doesn't seem to register on searches. sigh.
Just used iContact yesterday to send out a newsletter to 275 subscribers. Went without a hitch.
Belinda, thank you this is a very helpful post. How do you use iContact vs. Feedburner? I would have thought they were mutually exclusive...no?
Gary
Feedburner provides basic tracking info for this Google-hosted blog. I use iContact to gather subscribers for my main website (which is way more important than my blog).
That makes sense, but I don't see a subscribe link on your website. How do you "gather subscribers" for your main website?
We took it down from the main site temporarily as we are re-positioning the newsletter. (It used to be pure entertainment, but it will be more of a sales pitch.)
Basically, you just insert some HTML code (which iContact.com generates for you)into your webpage, and the data is sent to your account at iContact.
I've been using icontact for about one year now. I've only had one clitch where a mailing didn't go out but as soon as I contacted them they fixed the problem right away. I like the fact that surveys are included in the price. I was originally a Constant Contact user at a previous organization and I do think the template interfaces might be nicer in Constant Contact but I think icontact has been easier to use over all.
A major difference I just noticed is that icontact does not seem secure...I don't know a lot about it, but when I enter my username and password, I know to look for the 's' after the 'http', and I don't see it for any webpage with icontact, but constant contact takes you to a secure 'https://' page. This seems significant... Otherwise I agree with posts I see here, more features with icontact for less money, templates nicer for constant contact.
Hmm, you might want to try again. Pages are secure once you login with password, etc. As a designer, I have to say I prefer iContact templates because they're easier to customize. That said, I am no fan of templates. Surprise, surprise.
Thanks Belinda. For what its worth, you saved me four hours.
Am in the process of choosing one of them so I appreciate you candid assessment.
This is super helpful. Found on Google to help me ensure I was making the right decision (have been testing both for about 3 hours this morning). I am going with iContact.
The surveys included in the price is what has led me to iContact, though my free trial experience was better with Constant Contact. Their marketing/follow up team with personalized phone calls (from Constant Contact) was impressive, but I am a small business looking for the most affordable deal. Presently, I send out more surveys than newsletters ....
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