Dec 10
12
Searching for the best E-mail Marketing Autoresponder?
In the event which you’ve located this page, it is because you are definitely:
1.) Serious about establishing or growing your online business, and
2.) Keen to choose the right autoresponder for your needs
Email marketing is a serious component of your enterprise, that you need to need to begin the correct way. If you’ve concluded that having an auto-responder will build your business, then good for you! You’re way ahead of the majority.
First, let’s evaluate the two alternatives. Truthfully, you will find way more than two possibilities for autoresponders out there, from to Infusionsoft, to ConstantContact, to 1Shoppingcart.
Let’s face it – those are not worth your energy. They’re either for people who need every facet of their marketing tied to one company (just try to change, I challenge you), or just love spending a lot.
Marketing with email should be fun, affordable and simple.
Let me be clear: I’m not saying email marketing should be free. You know as well as I do that in this world “you get what you pay for”. In other words, you end up paying somewhere along the line, might as well not pay for shoddy service or for sending unwanted advertisements to your list.
If you have $30 USD, that is sufficient to begin. Of course, you could certainly spend more if you are ready to, say you own a big existing email list that you would like to upload. There may be an adjustment fee tacked on for help importing your list with some of the vendors. The important thing to keep in mind is to not just go for all the bells and whistles online mailing account even before you have the subscribers to justify the cost.
You are most likely ready to discover which two I would recommend – here they are: GetResponse and Aweber.
Disclaimer: I recieve a small commission through you buying after studying this particular blog post. Does this affect my analysis? Absolutely no, because I have a deal with BOTH services for the same affiliate percent. So if there’s any prejudice to be found, just assume I was telling lies about iContact and Infusionsoft before. I am not getting money if you click those. Or am I? You decide, true believer!
Next up…
Let me start out by saying that both services are excellent. I’ve worked as an online marketing manager for four years and have used both services. GetResponse I’ve utilized more extensively, but that was before they did their “stop the presses!” upgrade where they added a lot of new features. I went back to investigate the improvements and did a re-evaluation of how they measure up to Aweber now.
Let’s check out how the two compare:
Breakdown:
GetResponse and Aweber both have interfaces that are user-friendly so it’s easy to design emails such as broadcasts and follow-up messages. Both also have excellent tracking capabilities so you can see who opened your message, who clicked on which links, etc. If you are an email marketing ‘newbie’, one neat thing about using an autoresponder is the ability to set up scheduled email messages that go out in sequence. Have you ever seen a website that offers you a “7 day ecourse,” that’s an almost sure sign the site owner has their autoresponder mail server set to drip an email “lesson” to you one day after sign-up, 2 days after sign-up, 5 days, and on the 7th day.
If you had the inkling, you would be able to set up a year’s worth of emails ahead of time. When you had a special announcement or sale outside of the message series, you could use your email marketing service provider to send those broadcasts here and there as needed.
If your email message appears as “spammy”, it’s more likely it will fall into your subscriber’s junk mail folder, or worse bounced altogether. Fortunately, both services allow you to see a SpamAssassin rating of your message before it goes out. This gives you a clue on how secure your chances of getting your message delivered to the subscribers main inbox are.
Personally, I thought GetResponse was a bit easier to learn how to use. However, I’ve seen recent complaints from users who don’t like how they moved things around on the interface. As far as consistent reviews go, Aweber has received the most accolades on their autoresponder functionality.
Split-testing
It was good to learn that GetResponse added split-testing finally. For those who are not familiar with the term ‘split-testing’ it means you can send different variations of one email message out to different parts of your list so you can learn which message receives the highest open rates, click-throughs and of course sales!
Of the two, GetResponse has the best program for split-testing. On the surface it might look like GetResponse is just attempting to “one-up” Aweber by allowing their clients to send out 5 splits instead of the 4 that Aweber allows. However, on closer inspection you’ll see that GetResponse has really thought it through because the give you the option to send out different splits to percentage portions of your list you want to “experiment with”, effectively allowing you to send out six different variations at the same time.
For testing purposes, GetResponse also allows you to select different times to send the emails out. Now you no longer have to be tormented about when to broadcast your message, worrying about how west coast subscribers will receive their email in another part of their day in contrast to those on the east coast. You can’t do this in Aweber as of right now.
Bells & Whistles:
As of right now, GetResponse does have cutting edge features like video email broadcasting, an iPhone app, and survey creators. I agree these are neat features, but bear in mind it’s easy to integrate Aweber with third party services that do the same thing, possibly better. But if you’re the kind that doesn’t order a pizza without being able to eat it off your iPhone screen, I’m guessing GetResponse is going to be your obvious choice.
Fees
Ok, I’m going to lay it all out on the table for you right here. Cost of both services is just about the same. Inspecting both plans will reveal that GetResponse costs a TINY bit less, but the savings are at a maximum four dollars each month. I just have to ask – is it worth sacrificing ANYTHING in service for a measly 4 bucks? Not in my world. I suggest you go ahead and choose the one you like most.
Oh, regarding purchasing multiple months in advance, don’t worry about it. I do get a better sales commission when you buy a big block of time in one shot, but I am willing to relinquish that because I want you to make a good decision for your company.
Doing the math shows how much you would save if you bought a long term plan, and the savings are small. For example, upon buying a quarterly plan, you only save $2.77 per month. Ya big saver, you! It would only take two months of saving up to get a Value Meal at McDonalds. And if you hold out for three months, you can “Super-Size” your fries and drink too!
Oh, and if you buy using a YEAR’s worth of service, you can actually save $2.86 a month. No joke, that’s 9 cents more than the quarterly plan.
Now it’s a silly savings plan, but don’t let that turn you against either company. They lay it out right in front of you, and if you don’t do the math, that’s your own damn fault.
Now let’s look at the final verdict. I choose…
Aweber.
Want to know why?
The bottom line is that it has the best reputation. In fact, the smartest and most successful internet marketers I know use Aweber. I also know some good businesses using GetResponse, but quite a few of them admit to me that if they were starting over, they’d go ahead and start with Aweber. GetResponse definitely has some cool features, however the reliable service, high deliverability, always right there customer service, and long term split testing feature makes Aweber the way to go. They have a 30-Day satisfaction guarantee, plus your first month is only one dollar. And yeah, you can get your $1 back, ya cheap bastard.
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