More than an email marketing service, GetResponse advertises its platform as a complete automation tool with landing pages, e-commerce, and conversion funnels. To see if it could automate my marketing efforts without overcomplicating my workflows, I tried out GetResponse’s cheapest plan. Overall, I was impressed by the funnels and intuitive interface but found it a bit much for marketers seeking a simple email marketing tool.
Overview
GetResponse Boasts Advanced Automation – but Is It Worth the Investment?
GetResponse describes itself as a “powerful, simplified tool to automate marketing” for growth marketers and small and mid-size businesses. This piqued my interest right away. A user-friendly tool that could add some much-needed automation to my agency’s workflow? Sign me up!
I’ve tried several other email and marketing automation tools for my clients, but I’ve always found them lacking. Sure, they can automate some of my marketing tasks. But if I have to spend tons of time designing and troubleshooting automations, are they worth the investment? I wanted to see if GetResponse could offer more value than similartop email marketing services.
I considered trying GetResponse’s free 30-day trial (which offers access to most features) or signing up for one of the higher-priced plans, which include webinars, contact scoring, and collaboration tools. But first, I wanted to see if GetResponse could meet my basic email and marketing automation needs on its cheapest plan.
I tested GetResponse to find out whether the automation platform is as easy to use and powerful as the company claims – and to determine if it delivers enough value for money.
With the basic plan, GetResponse offers email marketing tools like newsletters and autoresponders. It also includes visual automation workflows and conversion funnel essentials like social ads and e-commerce.
In short, it’s packed with automation features. Yet I was curious to find out if the features would compare to other professional automation tools I’ve used.
Performance
GetResponse Can Help You Avoid the Spam Folder – Most of the Time
GetResponse offers a spam testing feature that lets you do a spam check at any point during the design process. Although my example email passed the spam test, you would see a list of problems if your campaign was too spammy. For example, one spam check alerted me that I had too many images and too little text and encouraged me to change the sender email address from Gmail to my agency’s domain.
GetResponse automatically shows you the results of your spam check on the main dashboard for your campaign, too. Since this is the campaign scheduling screen, this extra notification can help catch any last-second issues.
Interestingly, my test campaigns showed that GetResponse’s spam check wasn’t totally accurate. First, the good news: all of my Gmail subscribers (about two-thirds of my list) received both of my emails in the primary tab, which means my campaigns didn’t get relegated to the promotions tab.
Now for the bad news: all of my Outlook and Hotmail subscribers (the remaining third of my list) received both of my emails in the junk folder, which means the emails didn’t pass the spam test.
If your list contains mostly Gmail subscribers, GetResponse could be a great solution for avoiding the junk folder. But if you have a lot of subscribers who use other email providers, you may need to do some extra work to warm up your list. As I learned later in the testing process, GetResponse has some helpful tips for getting into subscribers’ inboxes.
GetResponse claims its deliverability rate is 99%, which is excellent. Yet I was curious whether the deliverability would be that high for my campaigns, especially as a new user.
I was glad to find that deliverability was just as strong as promised. The deliverability rates were 100% for both of my test campaigns. All of my contacts received the emails I sent, and none of the messages bounced.
While I’d feel comfortable entrusting GetResponse to deliver my email campaigns, I’d want to invest more time in making sure I could avoid the spam folder for a wider range of subscribers.
Some email marketers prefer a platform with a massive selection of templates, like AWeber, which offers 700+ options. Yet when it comes to AWeber vs. GetResponse, I preferred the latter’s smaller yet better-designed collection. GetResponse has more than 200 responsive templates, including categories for welcome emails, e-commerce, and other standard topics.
In addition to templates and blank layouts, GetResponse lets you save prior campaigns as templates for future use. I found all the options easy to customize using GetResponse’s drag-and-drop editor.
When creating an email on a laptop, it’s easy to forget it needs to look good on a variety of devices. GetResponse lets you check side-by-side previews so you can make sure your emails get the message across on both desktop and mobile devices.
GetResponse has dozens of automation templates, and I was happy I didn’t have to spend time creating automations from scratch. They’re organized in categories, so you can easily find engagement workflows to reconnect with lapsed subscribers, sales promos to share product launches, abandoned cart automations to encourage completed checkouts, and many more options.
However, if you do want to build an automation from scratch, you need a higher-priced plan, which could be a drawback. For example, if you want to add another email to a premade automation, you’d have to upgrade.
That said, I did like GetResponse’s easy-to-follow map for each automation. The editor makes it really easy to modify the workflows. By clicking on any element, you can customize the actions or change the conditions to get the automation just right.
With app integrations, you can get even more functionality out of your email service provider. GetResponse gives you direct links to social media apps like Facebook, CRM apps like Salesforce, and e-commerce apps like Shopify.
Altogether, GetResponse has about 30 integrations, which is way fewer than most platforms. However, you can connect GetResponse to Zapier, which adds about 2,000 integrations to the total tally. If you don’t mind adding the extra Zapier step, you could link GetResponse to almost any other software platform.
The GetResponse API offers even more integration options, as it allows connections to a wider variety of apps. You can get your API key by navigating to the Integrations panel and clicking API.
Unlimited Landing Pages
When it comes to landing pages, a lot of marketers compare GetResponse vs. MailChimp. I’ve tried both, and I thought GetResponse’s pages were better designed and more straightforward to personalize. I counted well over 100 landing page templates, including convenient categories for promotions, downloads, webinars, and more.
Even with limited design skills, I found GetResponse’s landing page editor easy to figure out. It lets you add advanced options to your landing pages, like forms, PayPal buttons, and countdown timers. You can create unlimited landing pages, even on the cheapest plan.
Web push notifications can be an important part of a funnel, as they ask website visitors to opt into browser alerts. You can set these up to notify customers about new products, limited-time sales, and other company news.
Most platforms only offer push notifications as a third-party integration, but GetResponse includes them as a built-in feature. I found it easy to set up on my site, and actions like managing permissions and sending notifications were a breeze.
GetResponse offers a range of prebuilt conversion funnels, including options for sales and lead generation. This feature saves you time while making the results much easier to track.
It was easy to set up a simple lead magnet funnel that included a landing page, a download page, an email to prospects, and optional Facebook Ads. The funnel visualization helps you understand how your prospects move from one stage to the next, and the built-in analytics is great for monitoring your results.
GetResponse Is User-Friendly, Even for Email Marketing Beginners
I was glad to find that even on my first GetResponse login, the platform was easy to figure out. From email marketing to conversion funnels, you can access all services using the menu in the upper left corner. You can also quickly access subscriber lists and reports by clicking in the center of the top menu bar.
It took me less than an hour to upload my contacts and create my first campaign. Although advanced features like automations can be more complicated to learn, GetResponse makes it easy.
When you first use advanced tools like automations, the interface directs you to video tutorials to help speed up the learning process. And when you’re setting up your first conversion funnel, an animated GIF will direct you to the next step so you don’t get lost. You’ll also find that almost every section of the dashboard links out to helpful how-to guides.
Customizable Dashboard
You can easily adjust the main dashboard to meet your needs. Because the dashboard is made of widgets, you can add, remove, or reorder them to place the most important information front and center. You can even add widgets for monitoring list growth, tracking conversion funnels, or giving you quick access to everyday tasks.
GetResponse’s A/B testing feature was easy to use – once I realized there are separate interfaces for standard emails and split tests. I was able to split test subject lines, but I couldn’t find an option for trying different sender names or email content. Ideally, I’d want more testing options so I could try out more combinations, but I was impressed that split testing was included on the cheapest plan at all.
It was super simple to choose a test audience size and time frame. You can opt to automatically send the winning message to the rest of your list or review the A/B test results first.
Contrary to Some Reviews, GetResponse Reports Are Comprehensive
Before testing this platform, I’d read more than one GetResponse review indicating the analytics were inadequate. However, I found GetResponse’s reporting options better than similar email marketing services. In addition to standard email, subscriber, and automation numbers, the reporting dashboard offers customization and goal-setting tools.
GetResponse lets you customize the reporting dashboard so you can compare any two versions of an email. With this feature, you can quickly see which version of your split test generated better results to help identify the best times and subjects for your audience.
GetResponse Reports Allow Ample Customization
Basic GetResponse reports have all the metrics you’d expect, such as open rates, click-through rates, social shares, and deliverability. Yet sometimes you might want more specific metrics, such as clicks to certain webpages or website purchases. GetResponse lets you add custom metrics through the goal-setting option. After adding a goal, it will appear on reports for that account.
GetResponse lets you schedule both subscriber and campaign reports so you can share results with clients or colleagues. You can also customize the timing for your reports and automatically send them to as many stakeholders as necessary. But while GetResponse is great for sharing results, it’s also worth noting that you can only have multiple users if you upgrade to the Plus plan or above– more on that later.
GetResponse’s Live Chat Makes Up for Its Lack of Phone Support
I was a little disappointed to find that GetResponse doesn’t have phone support. However, GetResponse’s live chat exceeded my expectations – even when I needed help at 1 am.
The first time I used the 24/7 live chat support was when I realized my first campaign was going out with the wrong sender name. A support specialist joined my chat almost immediately and answered my question in less than three minutes. The response was easy to follow and resolved my issue.
Next, I emailed the support team for help with deliverability. I wanted to know if they could recommend ways to avoid the promotions tab or spam folder. It took about 20 hours to receive an email back, but the support team had some helpful tips for resolving the issue. Although I was happy with the resolution, next time I’d probably start a live chat for a faster response.
I used the live chat option another time to ask about uploading contacts. I was curious if I could upload a Word document with subscribers instead of converting it to a CSV file. It took about five minutes to connect with a support specialist and about two minutes to get an answer. I was happy to learn that I could upload a TXT file with email addresses, which would save me time.
I was happy enough with the convenient live chat feature, and I never had to search the FAQs for more complete answers.
GetResponse Has Reasonable Pricing for Most Businesses
GetResponse has affordable plansthat would work for most small and midsize businesses or growth-focused marketers. Overall, I found GetResponse pricing to be slightly cheaper than similar automation platforms. All plans are based on the number of subscribers you have and include unlimited sends.
The basic GetResponse plan has features that would cover most small businesses, including email marketing, autoresponders, e-commerce, unlimited landing pages, lead funnels, and social ads. However, one potential drawback is this plan doesn’t support multiple users. That means it would be best for one-person marketing teams or colleagues who can work separately.
Higher-priced plans offer additional features like webinars, teams, more sales funnels, and contact scoring. Enterprise-level plans have dedicated IPs, dedicated support, and personalized deliverability consulting.
The one thing that lets GetResponse down is that it doesn’t offer a free plan, like AWeber and Sendinblue do. It does, however, offer a 30-day free trial on any plan, no credit card required.
GetResponse offers a decent discount for annual subscriptions and big savings on 24-month subscriptions, which would entice me to commit to a longer plan. No matter which plan you choose, you can pay with major credit cards like Visa, MasterCard, Discover, Maestro, JCB, and American Express. You can also use PayPal, but only from select countries.
Beware of GetResponse’s Cancellation and Refund Policy
Like most email marketing services I’ve used, GetResponse doesn’t offer refunds once you’ve paid for the month or year. Because I’d opted to pay monthly, canceling my plan early wasn’t overly expensive, so I’d recommend doing the same if you’re just starting out with GetResponse.
After cancellation, some email marketing services retain the information until the end of the billing period. I was hoping GetResponse might do the same, just in case I needed to log in and download a report or list. That didn’t turn out to be the case. However, I appreciated the clear warning that upon cancellation, all my data would be deleted.
Despite the lack of a refund, the GetResponse cancellation process was painless. I appreciated the offers to lower my costs as well as the reminders I’d lose access to my account data right away. With a few clicks, I was able to close my account. I also received an email about the closure immediately afterward with confirmation I wouldn’t be billed again.
A colleague recommended GetResponse for our email marketing needs, and it was one of the best decisions I made last year. What I like most about this software is that it didn't require extensive training. My office admins were able to pick up the software quickly, and they haven't needed a lot of hand-holding like you do with some products. The functionality I would rate as mid-range, so unless you are managing a large company, this product should do everything you need.
This is an excellent tool for any small business looking for reliable email market software. I really appreciated the drag and drop functionality as it didn't require a ton of tech expertise. You can create promos emails, newsletters and more with just a few clicks. Better still, you can assign multiple admins, allowing you to split up the workload. One of us does newsletters while the other does general promotional emails. The templates are great as well and make our job so much easier.
Great product with great pricing. The new email editor is awesome and simple to use. I recommend GetResponse for every who want doing great email marketing.
GetResponse is a powerful yet user-friendly automation platform with email marketing, advanced conversion funnels, and more than 2,000 Zapier integrations. The platform offers an impressive list of features, and although the learning curve isn’t steep, live chat support is always available when you need it, and there’s a 30-day free trial to get you started.
Although I’d prefer a free plan for small lists, I would definitely recommend GetResponse to growth marketers and small or mid-size businesses.
FAQ
What is GetResponse?
GetResponse is a marketing automation platform designed for growth marketers and small or midsize businesses. It includes email newsletters, autoresponders, and landing pages as well as webinars, social ads, and conversion funnels. It’s also one of our top email marketing services in 2020. You can use the 30-day free trial to see if it’s right for you.
Is GetResponse free?
GetResponse doesn’t offer a free plan like some of its competitors (Sendinblue, for instance, offers a generous free plan). However, you can try any plan at no cost when you sign up for GetResponse’s free 30-day trial (no credit card required).
How much does GetResponse cost?
GetResponse pricing is based on plan choice and list size. The larger your contact list, the more you spend per month, although you can always save money with our GetResponse coupons. The good news is that GetResponse doesn’t have sending limits, so you can email your list as often as you want.
Is GetResponse a good email marketing service?
GetResponse is a good option for marketers and businesses that want to take advantage of automation tools and conversion funnels. If you need email marketing only and don’t care as much about landing pages or sales funnels, a simpler platform like Sendinblue may be a better option for you.
Anna Sonnenberg
Anna Sonnenberg is a digital agency owner who specializes in email marketing, content strategy, and social media management. For over 6 years, she has run Sonnenberg Media, a digital micro agency that works with small businesses in the CPG, SaaS, marketing, and health & wellness industries.
