GetResponse Review: Another Scam or Legit Email Marketing Software?

The internet is full of crap and dishonest product reviews, we vowed never to follow the suit. Some marketers compile general user comments and other reviews then fake them to appear real. It may not be wrong to them, but sorry, we won’t take that route either considering that it’s not one of the best practices. This is the most authentic and honest review of GetResponse you’ll ever come across on the internet in 2021. As our mantra has been, we don’t write reviews of products we’ve never tested. We’ve purchased the services of GetResponse from the lowest to highest tier plan and used the services for almost a year and here comes our verdict. Keep scrolling down.

The Website Magazine in 2011 announced GetResponse as the second-best email marketing provider. Have you started wondering about its most recent ranking? Well, the market doesn’t pay you for having the best product, it pays you for solving problems. Since it wasn’t the best of the best, GetResponse strove to boost its game in the industry. The race has not been for the faint-hearted and with other online email marketing service providers offering more at a less price. To keep themselves afloat in the race, GetResponse has advanced its features with the latest features appearing in June 2021 such as 24/7 chat support on the basic plan.

Straightforward, we don’t hold any shares in any email marketing company. We neither hold grudges nor receive payment to praise a particular product or taint its name. This review is from the bottom of our hearts and it’s compiled by the end-users. We tend to think that the management of GetResponse made radical changes leading to a paradigm shift in its operations since 2020. The devil is in the details below.

Essentials of Online Email Marketing Services

There’s still money in the list and you can build your list. In fact, going by the statistical projections from Statista, the value of email marketing will be more than double its value in 2020. The value rising from $7.5 billion to $17.9 seems ridiculous right? You should start making your list now to utilize the projected business opportunity as money is still in the list. You simply need to send a high value content to your subscribers and make a financial breakthrough without breaking a bank. We recently took you through the process of building a list for effective marketing.

What hits your mind when looking for email marketing services? Check these now;

1. Customer support
2. Integrations and autoresponders
3. AI website builders
4. Price Predesigned templates for emails, landing pages and forms
5. Photo gallery
6. Acceptability or rejection of your existing list
7. Refund policy
8. Interface
9. Automation and workflows
10. Email deliverability
11. Ability to host webinars
12. Storage space
13. Security
14. Any other [comment]

If none of the above issues bother you and you’re a digital marketer, I hereby appeal to you to stop scrolling down. This guide may not be tailored for you.

Still reading? Then roll up your sleeves and get ready to work. Let’s begin by checking the current plans and prices.

GetResponse Price and Plans

You can sign up for FREE and enjoy the services of GetResponse for the first 30 days. It’s not mandatory to insert your payment details during the trial period. Once the trial period ends, you’ll be prompted to upgrade. In case you choose 12-months and 24-months payment, you’ll get 18% and 30% discount respectively. During Black Friday, there are other offers available and you could provide your email at the bottom section if you wish to obtain offer updates on your selected products. The four payment plans and price for 1,000 contacts in GetResponse are detailed below at the time of this publication.

But before checking the prices, are you wondering what happens when your list exceeds 1,000? Your list will be securely kept, you’ll only top up your payment and proceed with your campaigns.

Let’s now talk of money and accompanying features

Basic Plan

Price

Currently, its market price is $15/month for 1,000 contacts. You can order now

Pros vs Cons

Pros

1. Unlimited access to all predesigned templates, images and website builder having AI website creator
2. Access to advanced tracking and reporting of campaigns
3. Terrific access to drive traffic through social ads
4. Available 24/7 chat and email support
5. Ability to conduct A/B testing
6. Access to unlimited leads funnel

Cons

1. Lacks webinar funnels and can’t host webinar sessions
2. Limited access to only 1 sale funnel
3. No integration to Microsoft Dynamics 365 despite over 150 integrations
4. Lacks a dependable IP address
5. Poor account migration support
6. Lacks web-push notifications that higher-tier plans have
7. Limited automation on workflows and segmentation
8. Lacks access to abandoned cart for eCommerce
9. Uncommitted customer support with BLOCKED access to both phone and slack support

Basic Plan Verdict

In case you want to migrate from one account to another, this may not be the best plan for you because of the poor account migration. Previously, the only support offered for this plan was email support which was inconstant although recently 24/7 chat has been introduced. Considering the lack of access to abandoned carts, upcoming eCommerce sites could consider higher-tier plans that track abandoned carts. This plan is for beginners who want to explore and have budget constraints. Comparing it to its competitors such as ActiveCampaign which offers $25/month for 1000 contacts as its lowest plan, GetResponse carries the day. It’s not advisable to pay for more months ahead considering that if you like the services, you might opt to upgrade. You can try the services now for 30 days.

Plus Plan

Price- $49/month for 1,000 contacts available now

Pros vs Cons

Pros

1. Ability to host up to 5 webinars
2. Access to 5 sales funnels
3. Proper mail automation with up to 5 custom workflows
4. Unlimited access to all eCommerce tools
5. Available capacity of 3-member team management
6. Comes with all benefits of the basic plan

Cons

1. Webinar attendees limited to only 100 with storage capacity limited to 3 hours
2. No access to unlimited paid access
3. Lacks web push notifications and on-demand webinars
4. Unenthusiastic account managers and uncommitted IP address
5. Lacks transactional mails and account migration support
6. Lacks assisted IP warmup and integration of Microsoft Dynamics 365
7. Lacks an enthusiastic phone and slack support

Plus Plan Verdict

The most commendable plan for eCommerce websites that will start their campaigns on this platform. Considering the poor account migration support, it’s not recommended for one to import an existing mail list because it may be blacklisted and with unreliable customer support, you might be frustrated. Most GetResponse subscribers utilize this plan considering that its monthly subscription isn’t abnormally high and worth the features it offers. Beginners may find it sufficient to have 5 workflows, webinar sessions recording of 3 hours. As your list grows, you may consider moving up the ladder to the professional plan below.

Professional plan

Price- $99/month for 1,000 contacts available now

Pros vs Cons

Pros

1. Unlimited access to webinar, lead, and sales funnels
2. Presence of web push notifications and on-demand webinars
3. Unlimited access to all automation including workflows
4. Increased capacity for team management to 5 members
5. Comes with all benefits of the plus plan

Cons

1. Limited 300 webinar attendees with a storage capacity of 6hours per session
2. Poor account migration support and unreliable custom branding
3. Lacks transactional emails and integration with Microsoft Dynamics 365
4. Unable to have multiple accounts and users

Professional Plan Verdict

The plan works well for a medium-sized eCommerce enterprise that has grown and would wish to have extra automation features while holding more webinars. This plan is recommended for eCommerce websites that have previously used the previous plan wish to upgrade. As you upgrade, you may need extra space for your contact list.

Max plan

Price- varies and you can first contact Geresponse for a quotation available now

Claim 18% offer for a one-time12-month subscription here

Get a 30% discount on a one-time 24-month payment today

Pros Vs cons

Pros

1. Committed support with access to phone and slack support 24/7 live chat
2. 150 integrations including Microsoft Dynamics 365, PayPal, and WordPress
3. Reliable IP address, IP warmer, and account migration support
4. Full access to transactional mails Activated multiple account and users
5. Availed option for custom rebranding and single sign-on (SSO)
6. Able to host online webinars with up to 500 attendees with storage per session of 10 hours
7. Allows advanced integrations
8. Allows member capacity of 10 for team management
9. Comes with all benefits of Max plan

Cons

1. Currently lacks website builder features although it’s work on the pipeline
2. Monthly cost is relatively high, especially for beginners

Max Plan Verdict

Considering the pros outweigh its cons, this is the best plan for an eCommerce platform that considers growth in its goal. The phone and slack customer support offered in this package make it the most suitable tier plan. The value of solutions that this plan offers the eCommerce industry outweighs its price.

Disclaimer: The Non- profit organizations (NGOs) are guaranteed a 30-50% discount for all the plans mentioned. If you’re looking for such an offer, check here

Features and Benefits of GetResponse

Ideally, all email marketing service providers will provide you with diverse landing pages and email marketing templates. We’ll not mention the obvious features that almost all GetResponse alternatives offer. The following outstanding features of GetResponse are worth noting.

AI Web Builder

If there’s anything that gives sleepless nights to competitors of GetResponse, then it’s the AI website builder feature it offers. This is a complete marketing ecosystem considering its integration with over 150 systems such as WordPress, Shopify, PayPal etc. In case you want to purchase a domain, host and make it live within 15 minutes, then the answer is in GetResponse. Security of your website is guaranteed since a free SSL certificate is issued. The website speed is also fast and this plays a critical role in your website ranking.

The website builder also comes with a complete SEO package and you may no longer need Yoast SEO plugin to check your meta title and keyword score. We found a wide range of marketing apps included and these are majorly useful for CRM. At first, we thought that upon the addition of these features, the management would hike the price. On the contrary, 18% and 30% discounts are available for a 12 and 24 month period. The built-in website pop-ups clearly distinguishes its website builders from the rest. However, we didn’t like the drag and drop editor considering that it was slow especially when using the mobile. Perhaps, there’s a bug which will need to be rectified in future.

Free Trial

Unlike its competitors such as Aweber that offers a free plan without requiring credit card details while limiting the number of contacts, GetResponse currently offers only 30 days free trial then you’re prompted to upgrade. You don’t have to put your payment details during the trial period. We recommend that beginners utilize the 30 days trial period before deciding to upgrade or reconsider GetResponse alternatives.

SMS and email marketing services

Although SMS marketing is an emerging form of digital marketing, research conducted by Pew indicates that 97% of Americans own a phone.  Since another research conducted in 2012 by UK Direct Marketing Association (DMA) showed that a third of Americans prefer receiving product offers through SMS. Consequently, some email marketing software providers have integrated SMS marketing into their plans. GetResponse is one of the email service providers that allow you to reach your audience through both email and SMS. You won’t get this in many of the email marketing providers.

Considering that most plans allow for 1000 contacts, in case you exceed the limitation, your data will be stored and it’s upon you to pay extra money for extra capacity. Ideally, it’s advisable that you build a mail list that may not have duplicate contacts. Otherwise, in case you have similar information on different mail lists, they are regarded as different contacts. Here is where segmentation of mail lists plays a critical role when you have one mail list for different landing pages. The good news with GetResponse email marketing software is that in case the email address is similar; you’ll be charged only once. This makes it beat its competitors that don’t consider charging per unique email address on all your mail lists. Similarly, you can transfer an email from a prospects list to a buyer’s list using GetResponse if you’ve analyzed and found that the person completed the transaction.

Automated mail Triggering

Although this is available for higher-tier plans, if you run an eCommerce site, you’ll get this feature handy. You can trigger your audience for abandoning the cart or if they’re unresponsive. Considering the transactional email feature available, we tested it almost 40% of abandoned carts were fulfilled within one week.

Hosting Webinars

If you upgrade from the standard plan to any higher-tier plan, you’ll have the ability to host online webinars with limited space for attendees and storage space as outlined in the mentioned plans. The highest-tier plan offers a capacity of up to 500 attendees per session with a recording capacity of up to 10 hours. The integration of your webinar and mail list gives GetResponse an edge in the market. Considering that you can utilize social ads creator on GetResponse for your paid campaigns, our webinar sessions were well-attended. Our worst experience with webinars was when we had over 1000 participants registered for a session but we couldn’t host over 500 participants. Even when you call the support on phone, it’s impossible to exceed the 500 attendee capacity. This is the sole reason why we had to look for GetResponse alternative.

What we liked about GetResponse webinars

1. Attendees don’t have to install any application
2. The integration of mail list and webinar broadcasting tools
3. You can record and playback the webinar sessions
4. Presents outstanding screen sharing functionality

What we disliked about GetResponse webinars

1. Webinars are unavailable in the basic plan prompting for an upgrade
2. Storage and attendee limitation per session is low for the plus plan
3. You can’t host over 500 participants per webinar session even on the highest tier plan

Automated marketing through workflows

You can automate your mailing schedule considering the behavior and reaction of your readers. GetResponse allows you to make automated mails and depending on the tier you’ve subscribed to; you can easily automate your campaigns. We found the segmentation feature of GetResponse appealing, having triggered mails depending on the site and the event of our website visitors. It’s easy to automate birthday emails to your subscribers and give them special birthday promo codes for your products.  Conversion channels in GetResponse is also a recent feature that makes the software useful in both email marketing and CRM.

Customer Support

The recent introduction of 24/7 chat on GetResponse’s platform may redeem its tainted image when it comes to customer support. The max tier subscribers enjoy the widest range of customer support having access to phone, slack and 24/7 chat support. If you used any plan of GetResponse other than Max before June 2021, you’d know that GetResponse had the most pathetic customer support. I can confidently report that things changed and you no longer have to depend only on the previously unreliable email support.

A/B testing (Split testing)

Split or A/B test feature which is available in all paid tier plans allows you to test various mail components such as CTR, open rate etc by altering mail components such as colour, headline, personalization and others. GetResponse further allows you to conduct advanced analysis and report of your campaigns.

Refund Policy

Once you pay for the services of GetResponse, you won’t get a refund. You can only cancel subsequent billing and utilize the time already subscribed for. If you’re here to test the services of GetResponse, don’t expect any refund. Despite paying for 12 months, if you’d want to cancel your subscription during the first month, you’ll count your losses for the remaining 11 months. It’s pay as you go service

Our thoughts on GetResponse

Its services majorly favor the eCommerce website and if that’s your path, consider starting your campaigns with the trial version then upgrade. Considering a considerable offer for NGOs, this would be a better option taking into account that GetResponse also has a user-friendly interface.

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