Email Marketing Dilemma: GetResponse vs VerticalResponse

Having a hard time choosing your email marketing provider? Two big players in the market are GetResponse and VerticalResponse, but one of them is bound to be superior or more preferable. One is touted as the “world’s easiest email marketing” service while the other comes with the tagline “Unbelievably simple email marketing.” But which one is better than the other? Which one should you choose?

Overview

GetResponse is a popular email marketing service option for many online marketers. With hundreds of thousands of customers in different countries worldwide, it is without a doubt one of the biggest email marketing service providers. It enables the creation of attractive emails, comes with autoresponders, and promises 99% deliverability. It can automate the email marketing process and facilitate audience targeting for more effective results. Moreover, it enables the creation of professional-looking newsletters and the publishing of designer-quality landing pages. GetResponse basically provides virtually everything a small business owner, blogger, or marketing specialist would need to do a successful email marketing campaign.

VerticalResponse, on the other hand, is an email and social media marketing service that makes it possible to quickly create, send, and track marketing emails and social posts. Just like GetResponse, it also promises good looking marketing emails but it places emphasis on speed and ease of use. It features a drag-and-drop editor, which makes it truly easy to use. Best of all, VerticalResponse is free (but with limitations). It may not be as popular as GetResponse but its unique approach in combining email and social media marketing is certainly worth considering.

To simplify and systematize the process of choosing which one to use, perhaps a SWOT analysis is in order. Learn about the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats involved to make a smarter choice.

Strengths

GetResponse is a feature-rich email marketing service that offers almost all of the functions offered by other services. These include more than 500 mobile-friendly email templates, an intuitive email creator that allows users to come up with great looking emails without any coding or complicated procedures, free access to more than a thousand iStock photos, A/B testing, the convenient Inbox Preview system, landing pages, surveys, web forms, and support for list importing. GetResponse also has mobile apps for iOS and Android to make it easier to manage email campaigns while on the go. Additionally, it comes with a multimedia studio that enables users to upload images and documents to the GetResponse server for more reliable storage.

GetResponse is without a doubt a highly convincing option. Its number of users alone says a lot about its reliability and quality. It even features a learning center that offers hundreds of videos and downloadable guides to help new users in more quickly acquainting themselves with the interface and features. It appeals to newbies but it also attracts experienced marketers who are looking for a stable and dependable email marketing service provider.

GetResponse is already an established name in email marketing. Comparing it to VerticalResponse is like comparing the relationship between a champion and a challenger. Being older does not necessarily mean a strength but being more popular is most likely an advantage. GetResponse has strong enough points to make it comfortably rank higher than VerticalResponse.

Weaknesses

Of course, GetResponse is far from perfect. There are a number of weaknesses in it that should also be taken into account. One of these weaknesses is the fact that it is a paid service. Compared to VerticalResponse, which can be used for free (for up to 1,000 contacts), GetResponse is not going to be an option for those who have no intentions of actually spending for an email marketing service. It has a 30-day trial period but it is still not as good as the cost-free service of VerticalResponse.

Additionally, GetResponse has a little drawback with its inability to allow subscribers to simply click a link or button to subscribe to another list. With GetResponse, subscribers have to complete a new form or send an email to a certain email address to subscribe to a new list. This is rather tedious and something that will make you lose subscribers. Even without any formal survey, it’s not difficult to realize that subscribers are unlikely to follow you as you move to a new marketing platform, even without requiring for a new opt in..

Opportunities

So what are the opportunities you are supposed to take advantage of when using GetResponse? What are the opportunities you could be foregoing when you decide not to choose VerticalResponse? If you are new to email marketing services, you will be foregoing the opportunity to not spend a buck while trying an email marketing service through VerticalResponse. VerticalResponse can let you experience the many features and advantages of an email marketing service provider before you decide to actually pay for the service. However, (per our assessment and of others who reviewed VerticalResponse) it is likely that you will find GetResponse more preferable compared to the paid version of VerticalResponse. You may have had the opportunity to not pay for the service to try it but it is inconvenient having to eventually move to another service provider. You will end up wasting time you could have used to establish your lists and campaigns.

GetResponse presents itself as the more dynamic platform. It is meant for users who are serious with their email marketing campaigns. GetResponse goes beyond simple autoresponders and mass mailout functions. The “free” offer of VerticalResponse may be tempting but in the long run, more opportunities will be wasted if you don’t decide to directly use GetResponse. It’s also important to note that many of the features of VerticalResponse tend to be limited. The number of social media follows, for example, is capped and you have to pay a relatively high price if you want this restraint lifted.

Threats

There are three attributes that allow VerticalResponse to pose a credible threat to GetResponse. These are its simplicity and intuitiveness, the fact that it can be used for free, and the social media integration. Not many email marketing service providers have decided to exploit social media yet and it appears VerticalResponse is on the right path with its social media infusion. This combination of simplicity or ease of use, free service, and social media is bound to attract newbie users or those who are inexperienced with email marketing services.

Conclusion

Needless emphasizing, GetResponse wins this two-way comparison. However, VerticalResponse also has its good points that make it a worthy competitor. It isn’t a bad option. It particularly appeals to new users who are still in the process of testing the waters and not planning on spending effort and time building lists and attracting subscribers. If you need something you can use for the long haul, get GetResponse. It saves you from the inconvenience of having to move from one email marketing service provider to another.

You always have the choice of starting with VerticalResponse first as you try your hands on email marketing. This way you wouldn’t have to worry about spending anything just to get acquainted with the functions and features to expect in email marketing solutions. Just be ready to take on the slight hassle of migrating your lists and subscribers as you realize later that GetResponse is better and slightly less expensive after everything is considered. If you want to integrate social media in your email marketing campaigns, there are creative ways to do it. GetResponse is flexible enough to allow you to create email marketing materials with your own social icons included.