Getresponse real review- The ultimate email marketing machine
By: Rohit Prakash
Tags: Email Marketing, Email, Getresponse Review, Getresponse, Email Marketing Tips

GetResponse labels itself as the world’s easiest email marketing software to use to send out email newsletters, campaigns, online surveys, and follow-up autoresponders.

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

There are a lot of unique features that make GetResponse stand out, not least of which is the landing page creator and the ability to engage your contacts through live Webinars.

GetResponse offers a variety of premium email marketing plans. There’s also a free trial plan that you can try for free for 30 days and build an email list of up to 250 subscribers.

GetResponse’s cheapest email marketing plan is 15.00 per month.

OVERVIEW OF GETRESPONSE

With more than 15 years in the industry, GetResponse has grown to become one of the easiest to use platforms for:

Creating and tracking email campaigns

Creating landing pages that convert

that convert Creating marketing automation that enables you to individual target customers with information that’s relevant and valuable to them

The company has won multiple awards and has been featured on CNN, Forbes, and Huffington Post (among many other media outlets).

GetResponse serves more than 350, 000 paying customers in 182 countries around the world and reports over 1 billion subscribers every month.

WHAT TYPES OF PLANS DOES GETRESPONSE OFFER?

GetResponse offers a variety of premium plans, namely Email, Pro, Max and Enterprise. There’s also a free plan that you can try for 30 days and build an email list of up to 250 subscribers. For the paid plans, prices increase based on the size of your list. GetResponse plans are available on a month-to-month basis. However, paying upfront for 1 or 2 years allows you to save up to 18 or 30 percent respectively.

The downside with signing up for annual or biannual plans is that GetResponse does not provide a refund for canceled accounts. So, unless you’re planning on staying with this email marketing platform for the foreseeable future, it’s best to stick with the pay-as-you-go billing cycle.

CORE FEATURES THAT COME WITH ALL PLANS

When it comes to features, GetResponse offers so many useful functions that you’ll be spoiled for choice. Of course, some features are only available with specific plans.

The following are the main features to expect from this autoresponder program regardless of the package that you choose to settle for:

1) AUTORESPONDER 2.0

GetResponse provides the 2.0 autoresponder, which automatically sends out messages based on certain factors. For example, you can set up the autoresponder to send out newsletters on a specific date or broadcast special promotional messages to subscribers on their birthdays.

GetResponse even throws in some detailed guides on how to use their 2.0 autoresponder, which will help you increase subscriber engagement.

2) EMAIL EDITOR

As with most email-marketing systems, GetResponse features an email creation tool. The email creator/editor lets you compose messages from scratch or choose from hundreds of pre-designed templates.

Other handy features that come with the GetResponse Email Creator include the ability to edit HTML code or preview the message before sending, as well as the spam checker tool. Once you’re done creating your email message, you can broadcast the message immediately to selected contacts.

Alternatively, you can use the time travel feature to send messages at a later time. This tool segments contacts by time zone then delivers messages when recipients are likely to check their mail.

3) LANDING PAGE CREATOR

GetResponse goes beyond providing autoresponder services. It also offers the landing page creator as an extra tool should you require such a feature. However, this comes at an additional cost.

GetResponse is flexible with its landing page creator in that you can choose to host your page for free on a GetResponse subdomain or on a different server of your own choosing. The landing page creator is very intuitive as well. It lets users edit page elements with easy-to-use drag-and-drop tools.

4) A/B SPLIT TESTING

You can use GetResponse to run a series of tests that will help you send the most effective messages to contacts. This can be achieved through A/B split tests that let you try out different newsletters, subject line variants, email content, time of sending, and many other factors.

5) RSS TO EMAIL

The RSS to email feature automatically sends messages to your blog audience every time you post a new article. Not only does this feature increase readership but it can also boost engagement and conversions when used properly.

MORE FEATURES

Here’s a closer look at some of GetResponse’s other features.

EASY-TO-USE FORMS

Much like the landing page and email creators, the GetResponse form builder is a simple WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) interface with drag-and-drop elements. It’s a great tool for creating sign-up forms for Facebook and websites.

The autoresponder automatically sends opt-in messages whenever new contacts subscribe to your email list.

CONTACT MANAGEMENT

A good email marketing platform should have reliable list management functions. The GetResponse team understands this need and that’s why they designed their program with plenty of features to help marketers manage their subscriber list.

INCREASE CONVERSIONS WITH ADVANCED SEGMENTATION

For instance, you can use advanced segmentation to divide contacts into separate or overlapping subgroups, and then build targeted email marketing campaigns designed for relevant engagement and conversion. What’s more, GetResponse also allows you to import contacts from third-party apps or send surveys to members on your mailing list.

CREATE CUSTOM FIELDS

The contacts section makes it possible to add custom fields to your contact list and carry out searches. You can even blacklist the email addresses of contacts you do not want to receive email campaigns or follow-ups.

EMAIL CREATION AND TEMPLATES

The GetResponse Email Creator comes with more than 500 templates. You can use the editor to create highly visual emails that are compatible with both mobile and desktop devices.

You can also edit the HTML code to design forms to customize further.

Although the photo editing features are not that advanced, they still enable you to experiment with a drag-and-drop toolbar that can include images and buttons in your email messages. GetResponse’s email creator also offers the option to save elements as snippets for later use. Users that know their way around HTML can code their own templates as well.

YOU’LL GET SOME UNIQUE TESTING TOOLS

The Inbox Preview feature is a fantastic addition for those who pay great attention to detail. It lets you get a preview of how email messages will look on different mobile and desktop devices as well as various email client programs.

Before sending the message, you can also run a “spam check” scan. This gives a spam score after detecting elements that might get your messages flagged as spam.

GET THE RIGHT MESSAGE TO THE RIGHT CUSTOMER WITH MARKETING AUTOMATION

One of the most important offerings of GetResponse is their marketing automation. This enables you to easily create “if-then” rules for a series of email communications. Rather than every customer getting the same message regardless of their behavior, they will receive messages (that you create in advance) that are responsive to their behavior.

For example, a recipient who does not open an email for 2 weeks, could receive a different follow-up message than one who did.

Using these easy flow-chart like tools, you can win back customers, identify leads, send persuasive messaging to individuals that abandon carts in your online store, create qualification actions that trigger subsequent messages and much more.

WHAT KIND OF CUSTOMER AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT IS AVAILABLE?

The customer support service from GetResponse is generally good. Although there are a handful of negative reviews on the web, the vast majority of customers rate the company’s support services highly.

In fact, GetResponse won the 2013 Bronze Stevie Award in categories such as customer service team of the year, customer service department of the year, best use of technology in customer support and innovation in customer service.

The company’s support resources are as follows:

LIVE CHAT, PHONE AND E-MAIL

GetResponse’s support team can be reached via phone, weekdays from 9 am to 5 pm EST. Alternatively, live chat and email support are available 24/7/365. Messages sent using the contact form are replied to via email.

GETRESPONSE LEARNING CENTER

The GetResponse Learning Center has plenty of helpful resources, such as 1–3 minute video tutorials and searchable FAQs in addition to downloadable whitepapers, manuals, and reports.

LIVE WEBINARS

What GetResponse lacks in the forum support it more than makes up for with its weekly Live Webinars. Live Webinars educate users on different aspects of using the GetResponse autoresponder and email marketing in general.

SOCIAL MEDIA

GetResponse takes customer support where most online marketers like to hang out: social media. Its support team sometimes responds to comments and questions on Facebook.

TAKE ACTION WITH ANALYTICS AND REPORTING TOOLS

With GetResponse reporting tools, it’s possible to measure your email campaign’s success or lack thereof. The Email Analytics page generates a few basic reports about your email campaign and displays all your stats on a single page.

For instance, the tracking tools record how many people open your emails, unsubscribe, complain, or clicking on links. You can even generate line and bar graphs detailing key metrics like bounce and click-through rates.

GetResponse offers its own tracking code that you can embed on certain web pages to track conversions, downloads, or other events. The tracking tool supports Google Analytics integration too.

You can view members on your mailing list who have performed a certain action, subscriber list growth reports comparing previous campaigns, desktop vs. mobile activity, and many other autoresponder statistics.

PROS AND CONS

So, is GetResponse any good?

PROS

1 month free trial (no credit card required) for a list of up to 250 subscribers.

(no credit card required) for a list of up to 250 subscribers. Import contacts from third-party address books such as Zendesk, Salesforce, and Magento.

address books such as Zendesk, Salesforce, and Magento. Unlike Campaigner, GetResponse does not impose email sending limits.

Easy-to-use tracking tool with Google Analytics integration.

with Google Analytics integration. Comprehensive help library with plenty of resources.

Top notch, award-winning customer support service.

Landing page creator : an extra service that you would not find in a typical email service provider.

: an extra service that you would not find in a typical email service provider. Powerful list management tools.

CONS

No refunds on annual plans upon cancellation.

upon cancellation. Landing pages are not free. However, this isn’t a requirement to sign up for the autoresponder packages.

SUMMARY

GetResponse offers plenty of useful features that have exceeded what most marketers would expect from an email marketing service provider. There are a lot of unique features that make GetResponse stand out, not least of which is the landing page creator and the ability to engage your contacts through live webinars.

For those looking to save money with long-term subscription plans, GetResponse’s lack of a refund policy on annual plans may be a bit of a turnoff. However, this email service provider still offers competitively priced plans on a month-to-month basis.

Best of all, GetResponse provides a wealth of features that can meet both small and large email marketing campaigns.

If you want to find out whether this email marketing platform is worth your hard-earned money, then sign up for the 30-day free trial to evaluate the product for yourself.