Why I prefer GetResponse over VerticalResponse for email marketing

Online email marketers need the best tools to manage and run their campaigns effectively; and choosing an email marketing software can be challenging. 

The competition of email service providers has become stringent over the years. From the ease of use, offering diverse ways to manage contacts, send emails, and track results to boosting customer relations and increasing client revenue, every company will make claims and try to stand out from the crowd. (READ: What is email marketing?)

This post looks at and compares GetResponse vs VerticalResponse, two of the most commonly known email marketing solution providers.

GetResponse

GetResponse is an email marketing software that allows you to do the following:

•   Create a mailing list and capture data into it
•   Create newsletters that can be sent to the subscribers on your mailing list
•   Automate your emails to subscribers by using autoresponders
•   View and analyze statistics related to your email marketing campaigns such as open rate, click-through, forwards, etc.

GetResponse labels itself as the world’s most accessible email marketing software to send out email newsletters, campaigns, online surveys, and follow-up autoresponders. (READ: How to set up GetResponse for email marketing)

It offers plenty of powerful features that have exceeded what most email marketers expect from an email marketing service provider.

GetResponse stands out several unique features, not least of which is the landing page creator and the ability to engage your contacts through live webinars.

(READ More: GetResponse Review)

The good things about GetResponse

GetResponse offers you a variety of features. It will help you a lot in making your online campaign successful. The following are the top features and the good things about GetResponse.

1.       GetResponse enables you to design custom landing pages, which helps you in obtaining more leads.
2.       It has a 99% delivery rate.
3.       GetResponse offers its users a free trial of 30 days without any advance credit card details.
4.       GetResponse also has autoresponder 2.0 that allows you to enable you to send time and event-based emails to all of your subscribers.
5.       GetResponse includes the inbox preview feature that helps you preview the message before it is sent to your contact list.
6.       It helps you to build email signup forms for any website, any blog, or Facebook.
7.       You can use A/B testing to analyze the campaign’s working, whether it is successful or not.
8.       GetResponse offers you hundreds of stock images. You will be able to add them to your emails before sending them.
9.       GetResponse enables its users to generate mobile-friendly emails that help in growing the reach of your emails.
10.   It provides better split testing as compared to other email marketing tools.

VerticalResponse

VerticalResponse provides email marketing tools that help small businesses stay connected with their customers. You can send professional-looking emails like newsletters, offers and promotions, and invites, without any HTML coding.

VerticalResponse offers a variety of templates that adapt automatically to make your email campaigns look great. With a couple of clicks, you can reach more people by sharing the same message on Facebook and Twitter.

The good things about VerticalResponse

The following are the features and the good things about using VerticalResponse.

1.       VerticalResponse allows you to set up your account without any credit card information.
2.       VerticalResponse offers you many different types of video tutorials for guidance and training.
3.       It also offers a free plan for 30 days, which includes 4000 mails to 1000 customers.
4.       Includes customizable Opt-in forms
5.       Enables sharing on social media like Facebook and Twitter
6.       Includes list segmentation along with other management tools
7.       VerticalResponse offers real-time reporting and is easily accessible from any browser.
8.       It allows you to segment your mailing list, and you can send your mail to any subgroup according to your requirement.
9.       VerticalResponse also has a “Pay as you Go” option. This option provides you flexibility in payments every month.
10.   Better support community

The Faceoff: GetResponse vs VerticalResponse

If you are looking for an excellent email marketing service, you should consider these two great choices.

GetResponse is one of the most reliable and feature-rich email marketing services around. In contrast, VerticalResponse presents itself as a promising competitor.

Get to know more about these top email marketing services for you to make an informed decision.

Design

GetResponse offers plenty of responsive and free professional landing page templates that allow users to create and manage beautiful campaigns in minutes. Indeed, there are more than one hundred available templates with a drag-and-drop tool and online forms.

Also, users can create responsive email newsletters that look good on mobile and desktop devices. Customization is also easy. You can add and edit photos, change fonts and colors, use social media sharing buttons, and so on.

With VerticalResponse, users have access to several responsive and mobile-friendly email templates. They can also import custom codes into Vertical Response’s HTML editor. Some of the features that you can edit include background colors and patterns, custom call to action buttons, a drag and drop tool for images and text blocks, and image editing tools cropping, resizing, and flipping images.

AutoResponder

GetResponse Autoresponder is also known as Autoresponder 2.0. It allows users to target relevant subscribers with time and action-based-1-to-1 communication through a system based on the needs and interests of the users.

The Autoresponder of VerticalResponse messages like welcome emails, thank you notes, or promotional information can be sent to subscribers.

Reach

With GetResponse, powerful features like audio-video email and hashtags make it possible for users to expand their market reach. The implementation of anti-spam technology and policies also means that you can benefit from better delivery rates.

Thanks to the mobile-compatibility of VerticalResponse, responsive emails can reach subscribers on smartphones and tablets in addition to desktop devices. Moreover, users can attain additional 20-40% open and click rates through Automated Follow-up emails, which can resend messages to subscribers who fail to open an original message.

Reporting

With GetResponse’s A/B testing, users can test, analyze, and optimize campaign elements like the Subject Line, call to action, and so on. Furthermore, its Email Intelligence makes tracking, measuring, and analyzing data from an email campaign easy. Users can compare follow-up data, gauge site conversion, explore social sharing data, set time preferences, analyze email performance, and segment subscribers to maximize their investment return.

For VerticalResponse, users can view several reports, including the number of emails sent, delivered, and opened. It also includes clicked links and delivery rates through easy to read engagement charts.

Campaign Tweaking

The way you compose your emails can affect the success or failure of your business. That’s why campaign tweaking is often necessary. You need to have an A/B testing functionality to do tweaks that can yield excellent results.

Both GetResponse and VerticalResponse come with their A/B or split testing functions to draft more effective marketing emails. These tests are used to determine what subject line and CTA works best, how the content should be laid out and written, or when is the best time and day to send the emails.

Several users and those who have written email marketing service reviews think that GetResponse has a more sophisticated testing system than VerticalResponse.

Additional Features

Additional features of GetResponse include Inbox Preview, which allows users to preview the recipient’s mailboxes. Another one is  Form Builder, making it possible to build embeddable signup forms on the web and social media sites, and List Booster to import contacts directly into email campaigns quickly.

Additional features of VerticalResponse include App Integrations, Contact Management, Developer API, and Preference Centre.

Pricing Plans

GetResponse is easily one of the most affordable email marketing services available. While it may have a free plan, its lowest monthly plan only costs $15 for a maximum of 1,000 subscribers. In contrast, the VerticalResponse plan costs $22 for the basic version and $32 for the pro version. For 2,500 subscribers, it’s $25 vs. $33 or $48. The prices go up as your subscribers increase.

If you are new to email marketing services, it’s hard to consider VerticalResponse as an option, based on the prices alone.

The Verdict: GetResponse vs VerticalResponse

Both tools have their strengths and weaknesses. However, considering their strongest points, GetResponse appears to be the most comprehensive tool depending on your needs.

Specifically, GetResponse offers a 360 platform to cater to more significant business and higher volume mailers. On the other hand, VerticalResponse is free to use for up to 1,000 contacts with no restrictions on features. It connects to Facebook and Twitter easily from the main homepage.

Based on the above, the clear winner is GetResponse simply because its features go beyond the classic autoresponder/mass mailout tool. It far outweighs the price point in this comparison.

Indeed, GetRespnse has a more dynamic platform for users who want to create more engaging campaigns and reach a wider number of subscribers. Therefore, users can have more freedom and ease of use rather than having to contend with limits like those placed on VerticalResponse bonus features.