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I’m a relatively new internet marketer, and have used Aweber since the beginning (which, for me, is about 17 months ago).  I’m not real “techy”, so this review will not include integration info or anything else beyond pretty basic day to day use.  In this short article, I compare Aweber and GetResponse and explain why I’ve chosen to move my lists.

Deliverability

Lately I’ve heard from more established marketers that deliverability is better with GetResponse. Hearing this, while watching my deliverability rates fall with Aweber over the past several months is one of the things that made me start to dig into this.

In my initial testing, deliverability is at least 50% better – using the same lists I built with Aweber. Wow. Click Through Rate (CTR) is (not surprisingly) dramatically better as well. Check this out:

GR test open percentage

Open rates for me in Aweber have been peaking around 7%!

 

Crazy Amazing UI (User Interface)

I feel like I stepped into the future in this switch from Aweber to GetResponse. Wow.  Took a little while surfing around inside my new account to get a feel for how things work, but once I had a basic grasp of it, I was so impressed that I immediately bailed on my free trial and did this:

Testing GR

 I received an additional 18% off by purchasing a year in advance!

 

The UI is so intuitive and awesome – you should see it for yourself!  They’ve got a free 30 day trial (no credit card info requested) so you can kick the tires with zero obligation!

Autoresponder 2.0 = WOW

The GetResponse Autoresponder system is the best I’ve seen (I’ve seen a few). Very powerful ninja tools built in, and easy to use. There are “action based” message options, letting me “auto respond” if:

  • Someone clicks on a link in a particular message
  • Someone opens a particular message
  • Someone subscribes to a particular list
  • A goal is reached (I haven’t used this, really cool option though)
  • Someone’s data is changed
  • It’s someone’s birthday (assuming you collect that info)
  • A particular autoresponder message is sent

This is pretty ninja stuff. I used just ONE of these angles last year in my marketing and received dozens of extra conversions because of it. And with GetResponse, it’s built in and EASY to set up. Love it.

Check out the results from my first test of one of the “ninja” features:

Ninja GR stuff

DO try this at home! Tips & Tricks tutorial videos coming soon!

Transitioning from another Auto Responder?

No sweat!

My transition was very smooth and easy. Imports are a cinch, with approval times of 48 hours or less promised (a few of mine were processed within a few hours).   All of my lists are single opt-in, and GR allowed every opt in request I made, so I didn’t have to bother my subscribers with an additional opt in during this transition!

Have a list of subscribers that’s still receiving messages in your current autoresponder?

No problem with GetResponse!

With each file upload (import), you can add your subscribers into an auto responder cycle where they’re supposed to be (custom importing is easy) so none of your subscribers have to start over in a series or get duplicate messages at all!

Built in Survey Tool

This is cool. It’s not Survey Monkey, but it covers enough bases to be very useful, and since it’s built in, you get all the great analytics under the same roof. Very nice!

GetResponse goes the Extra Mile with Features

This will not be an exhaustive list – just the stuff that’s jumped out at me in my first 10 days or so of use:

Built-in Symbol Tool – for easily adding a wide range of symbols to your subject line:

add symbol GR

Now adding symbols is a snap!

Built in Mobile View and Optimizer (statistically speaking, nowadays almost 50% regularly read their email from a mobile device!) – this is standard (and off to the right side of the page) when constructing your emails. It automatically enters your content, as it would show up on a small mobile device!

Mobile view

 No more wondering how it’ll look on your phone!

Time Travel Option – when setting email to go out at a specific time, you can have it “follow” your user, keeping the message in-line with the recipient’s time zone. Nice touch.

iPhone & Android app – very useful, very well done app. Easy to communicate with your list, manage campaigns, and keep an eye on statistics…all from your mobile device!

Inbox Preview – this cool feature allows you to see exactly how your email will look in your subscriber’s inbox, across almost 50 different service providers (AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, etc)

Drag & Drop Editor – coming from Aweber, I’m used to having a “drag & drop editor”, but this one is even easier to work with. Really nice job, GetResponse!

Email Analytics – these guys do a really nice job, giving several options in displaying your statistics, and making drilling down on the specifics very easy to read and understand. Newsletters (equivalent to “broadcasts” in Aweber) are fully tracked, as are both the time and action based auto responders, and surveys!

One-Click Segmentation – this was such a pain at Aweber. Segmenting and moving subscribers from list to list is SUPER easy. Love it.

The Bottom Line

GetResponse is very competitively priced, and has seriously impressive features. Comparing against Aweber ultimately made for an easy choice! Although they both offer a good range of tools to help you create, maintain, and communicate with an email database, GR has put together a much better user interface, is significantly cheaper than Aweber, and offers annual discounts.

My emails look nicer, they are easier to put together and send exactly as I intend, the customer service is top notch, deliverability is significantly better, and the savings are big!

What about Alternatives to GetResponse and Aweber?

I’m aware of at least a dozen other options on the market right now.  I chose GetResponse after consulting with marketers I trust (marketers producing millions of dollars per year in sales), and considering mine and my teams’ specific needs.  I easily ruled out InfusionSoft, MailChimp, SendReach, iContact, GVO, and PureLeverage.

GR Pricing