Are you planning to include email marketing in your strategy?
Do you want to know about GetResponse as an email marketing provider?
We already have a review of GetResponse but it would be nice to share an updated review since it was dated 2013.
GetResponse is another experienced email marketing provider and all-in-one marketing platform, established in 1997. It is a well-developed email marketing tool and to date has built up well over 350,000 loyal customers.
Now that we have seen the history behind GetResponse, let’s look at how well it performs for email marketing today?
Pro’s
- Developed automation workflows
- Support for website event tracking
- Plenty of conditional elements and tags for automation
- Comprehensive A/B testing abilities
- Good selection of form templates and types
- An extensive collection of pre-designed templates
- Several useable integrations
- Activity and ROI tracking
- High-quality support channels, easily accessible
Cons’s
- Visual automation builder is relatively tricky
- Unable to build emails from within the automation builder
- Minimal customization for some of the form types
- It’s dated and minimal reporting interface
In the following article I will share my experiences of this software and highlight the pros and cons with the tools’ processes.
System & Segmentation
GetResponse for subscriber management uses a custom-field and tag-based method.
You may be wondering exactly what the difference is with this tool, but GetResponse shows this clearly.
By using automation workflows, it made it easy to design behavioral-based rules for tagging.
This is where the system’s true capabilities lie.
For instance, you can design a smooth ‘trigger and action’ workflow to add tags to particular subscribers. These are potential customers who have clicked a link in one of your emails.
By creating an altogether new automation workflow, you can take advantage of tags using conditions.
Although this may seem like a straightforward example, but I hope you can spot precisely why tags are a vital part of automation.
Let’s talk about ‘web-event tracking’ – which, on entering a snippet of code, allows GetResponse to track how your visitors interact with your website.
This opens up an entirely new world of effective tagging. An example would be when a subscriber views a specific page on your site.
Note, this is only one example; however, I’m in no doubt that you can see how capable this system can be when you start to implement dynamically added tags.
Verdict: Aside from not being able to use manual tagging, this system puts you in the driver’s seat when it comes to subscriber management and targeting.
Automation
Having talked about automation within the last section, I’m positive you know that solid marketing automation isn’t purely dependant on tags.
Let’s touch on the automation workflow builder. It’s here that you are most likely to spend a fair amount of time in if you choose GetResponse.
Although building blocks and elements appear in the right pane, there may not be as many as some of GetResponse’s competitors. On the whole though the selection holds its own.
Combining the elements would mean dragging to the workflow section, then dragging each point from one block to another.
At this point, I became slightly frustrated. Having to change the connections around can get a little tricky, but eventually you will get the hang of it.
Not being able to design emails in the automation builder does lower my score here, the simple reason being you can’t!
By adding what’s called, “Send Message” which is what they call it, you are then only able to select from existing emails, and unable to make one up on the spot.
Having to keep coming out of the builder in order to create new emails really takes you out of your zone, making this an altogether lousy experience.
Verdict: Despite picking up on some minor user experience issues, I feel GetResponse ticks off a lot of boxes when it comes to their automation functionality.
A/B Testing
I can honestly say how surprised I was at the lack of A/B testing abilities for the more favored tools in this review.
The good news is that GetResponse is one of the few who will go beyond the basic subject and delivery time testing. Alternatively, you can test real email content against one another.
To reach the A/B testing setting, you must check the option as you design your email. Take care though, it’s not that obvious.
As you make headway, you can then select which kind of test you want to run.
In this example, I decided to test email content, and look at how seamless it is to set up. What’s more, you have the option to add a further five variations, which are a great bonus.
Right here is where you drag the slider to choose what percentage of your subscribers will be involved with the test, and who will gain the winning variant, not to mention a few other options that are available.
Verdict: I was surprised by GetRespones split testing abilities, making this one of the better tools in this area.
Form Building
Let’s state right here that NO email marketing tool is fully complete without a form builder. This is a fundamental part of the puzzle when it comes to collecting emails, and luckily GetResponse offers numerous options under the forms tab.
The wizard template will be of interest to many users and is template driven with a step by step method.
To begin with, you can choose from a considerable amount of pre-design form templates for virtually every use-case imaginable.
Clicking on any of these choices will take you to the form editor.
The editor works by drag and drop, and has guides to help you both position and place elements.
Customizing the existing elements was relatively straight-forward, with a majority of the design created through the sidebar.
So not at all bad, but what about form behavior?
Any form designed in the wizard can be inserted anywhere within your site. But remember it’s just an inline form.
If you want things such as fixed-header forms, exit-intent popups or animated overlays, then you will have to use a list builder app.
Sadly, there is no way to view these form template on a mobile display, at least not from within the editor itself — unlike with email templates. Luckily, I managed to use my browser to test it anyway:
For some bizarre reason, they appeared very small in the centre of the page, rather than adapting to the screen dimensions.
For those of you that wish, you can create a form from scratch by using HTML.
This is way more complex and is not something I can envisage many people using. However, the capability is there if desired.
If you are someone who has already been using the likes of Leadpages or Thrive Architect, then this won’t apply on d standard form editor aren’t too shabby, but it quickly feels limited when you start throwing popups and form behaviours into the mix.
Verdict: The standard form and templates are adequate, it’s when you want to add form behaviours and popups that the system feels limited.
Email Templates
GetResponse comes jammed with 200 pre-designed email templates spread over different industries.
Admittedly, not all of them are racy, but you can find some hidden gems amid the pile.
Clicking on any of these templates will open the editor.
It’s not that bad, and I was able to make some modifications without any trouble, but it could benefit from being a bit more intuitive.
It’s not apparent what all these buttons can do without testing them? I know I struggled!
The one thing I did like was the addition of an interactive, responsive view.
This sits on the right side of the screen and updates in real-time as you change your template design.
With most people now choosing to browse the internet and emails through a mobile device, I surely don’t need to tell you how crucial this is.
Verdict: The template editor needs a little care and attention, but with mobile view and a huge template library I have to give it some credit.
Integrations
GetResponse has the capability to integrate with 178 different apps and services, including the likes of Shopify, PayPal, and Zoho.(click to tweet)
So, how does this truly compare to other email marketing providers on the market today?
With regards to the numbers, it can’t compete with tools such as MailChimp (add link to this article) as this offers around 700 possible integrations.
It’s good to know that GetResponse is supported by Zapier, which can open doors to various other integrations.
Verdict: If your existing setup relies on some confusing applications, and if you’re not sure, it’s always recommended you subscribe to the service.
Tracking & Reporting
Tracking emails are set up before you create and send them, this is using the ‘distribution settings.’
Here, you can enable click-tracking and Google Analytics.
The Google Analytics integration is cool, as it enables you to move data to the free software with one simple click.
There are also some appealing additions such as ROI tracking and real-time tracking. This gives GetResponse an advantage over some of the other tools out there today.
Support & Documentation
The support you get with GetResponse comes in the forms of FAQ’s, webinars, tutorials, and downloads.
As for many of us, the knowledge base is where we usually start. For some strange reason, you have to disable Adblock to do this, making this slightly odd, as well as highly annoying!
Several of the results may then guide you through a video, together with a transcript, which is incredibly helpful.
In all fairness, this is quite well documented, and it’s what I would have expected from one of the longer running tools.
Let’s not forget the community and Facebook group which is quite active. Posts to Twitter on a daily basis provide links to articles and tips.
Don’t forget live chat, you honestly can’t beat speaking to an actual human.
I managed to get through to an agent in just a few minutes, who answered my query swiftly and efficiently.
Note to remember- there is always phone support within business hours.
Is GetResponse Right For You?
GetResponse may not be the right tool for everyone, so let’s get to the bottom of precisely who this tool is suitable for.
Budget Bloggers
If you’re just starting your handmade business, then you may find what you’re looking for with GetResponse.
GetResponse, together with MailChimp, is the cheapest option for 1,000 subscribers, making this an excellent choice if your lists are smaller.
Although GetResponse did perform quite well in my testing, I can’t say I found it better than MailChimp, who are currently offering an excellent free plan.
However, if you want a more tag-centric type of system, which can offer more with automation, then I would recommend GetResponse.
If these things are not important, then Mailchimp would be your better option.
Beginner Bloggers
If you’re just starting out then, GetResponse isn’t the worst option out there.
It’s not as simple as some other tools I’ve tested, but it is relatively easy to use.
For the beginner, there are a number of other tools which are better suited to the novice’s level of experience.
Best for Support
With live chat, phone, email and social media support you won’t have to wait long to get your question answered.
Best for Small Businesses
Small businesses can customize the workflow to what befits their marketing scenario and be able to launch with just a few clicks.
They are designed to be able to convert the leads to greater effect and to gain more repeat purchases.
If you want to learn more about GetResponse, check this video by Jordan Alexo:
Conclusion
As one of the older email marketing tools available it did feel a little dated, however, I was impressed by its capabilities.
GetResponse does hold its own next to its competitors, as the results show, however in my opinion, there are better options, such as MailChimp and ConvertKit.
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