E-mail marketing is really picking up as a commonly used marketing tool for small businesses. It’s so cost effective, it seems like everyone is doing it. And there are some really decent service providers out there at the small business price point.
I wrote a post praising Constant Contact for their fair pricing and excellent overall service for entry level e-mail marketing campaigns, but around that same time, for comparison’s sake, I started using another e-mail marketing service that was recommended to me. I have to say I’ve been converted. Vertical Response gives Constant Contact a run for it’s money, and then some.
These are the top 5 reasons we think Vertical Response is better than Constant Contact:
- Smooth ActiveX interface (that basically just means there’s a lot of “click and drag” functionality available), making the site faster to navigate
- Better contact management capability (editing and adding contacts is easy)
- Nice graphical reporting
- Easier to launch a new campaign (simple 6 step process to send an e-mail)
- Pay per e-mail sent (based on number of e-mail addresses used). Constant Contact’s pricing is reasonable, too, but they charge you based on the size of your contact list, regardless of how many e-mails you send
I still have questions about deliverability, though. Vertical Response shows recipients who have ‘unsubscribed’ and those who have flagged you as ‘spam’ both as ‘unsubscribed.’ So, I can’t tell what my ‘spam’ rate is with Vertical Response. This is an important factor, for Vertical Response as much as for me – so I’m a little skeptical about why they don’t make the ‘spam’ number available.
Overall, though, I’ve been pleasantly surprised with some of the advantages that Vertical Response has over Constant Contact, and we’re going to continue to evaluate the two side by side.
“I have to say I’ve been converted. Vertical Response gives Constant Contact a run for it’s money, and then some.”
How much is it possible?