In this age of the internet, it is not possible for e-commerce companies to individually mail their clients. Tools are required to automate the process and save time and effort. These tools are e-mail marketing software.
They help companies send a large number of e-mails at the click of a button. They help manage and filter the contact list needed by the company for mailing. You can do a lot of mass sending of e-mail related tasks using this software.
These tools help nurture leads and segment campaigns too. Like any tools that you would use for your business growth, make sure you choose the right email marketing service to suit your business needs.
In this article, we shall compare two top rated and most popular e-mail marketing services; AWeber and GetResponse.
AWeber vs GetResponse – E-mail Template Features
Template features are a must-have for the e-mail market service. They make sure that you can have a professional presentation for your business email. You don’t need to know to code as the template takes care of this. Your preference for AWeber v/s GetResponse templates is a personal choice.
Based on features GetResponse wins as compared to AWeber templates features quite easily. GetResponse features more templates that you can choose from. This fits the email landscape that is modern in nature. It has a smoother builder of drag and drop type for editing. AWeber is okay too, but it feels like it needs an upgrade as compared to GetResponse.
AWeber and GetResponse have a wider selection of templates for e-newsletters than their competitors. They have 700 and 500 respectively. So AWeber wins on the quantity criterion. The templates of both these email services are responsive. That means their layout will adjust automatically to suit the device on which it is being viewed.
The templates of Getrespose are modern and customizable. They can be highly personalized. They are compatible with the new Gmail.
Comparing the templates of AWeber and GetResponse, AWeber may have more in quantity but the quality of the templates of GetResponse is much better. However GetResponse has some old incompatible templates too.
AWeber vs GetResponse – Autoresponders
An autoresponder is a set of emails that you can automatically mail to subscribers. They are sent depending on pre-set intervals that you can choose.
Here is an example of how an autoresponder works:
For example, you can make a program of autoresponders making it do this: Just 10 minutes after anyone subscribes to your list, they would get a welcome message. One week after signing up they get a discount code.
Three weeks after getting the discount code; they get an email promoting a particular product and so on. This kind of email marketing is called a ‘drip’ campaign.
Both AWeber as well as GetResponse feature great autoresponder functionality. You can send broadcasts and newsletters depending on the triggers that matter the most.
GetResponse provides a better autoresponder experience. The range of actions that you can trigger for sending the e-newsletters is easier to configure. The action-based triggers are easy to set up.
GetResponse’s autoresponder goes beyond the traditional campaign of ‘drip’ style. In GetResponse you can configure not only drip campaigns but also auto funnels. It is easy for you to combine drip sequences with sign-up pages, landing pages, to build an email list to sell products, and more.
Get response has unique automated email marketing tools for unique drip campaigns, automation flowcharts, and more. You can drag-and-drop your complete email campaign to bring it to existence.
This lets GetResponse know what has to be done whenever a link is clicked by a user, or an email is opened, or any other action is taken.
In comparison to all these functionalities, AWeber is far behind. Initially, it may be difficult to find an autoresponder as it is termed “Follow up Series”. There is a functionality of drag-and-drop to build the autoresponder which is excellent but it is not as advanced as GetResponse.
This process is not that visual nor sophisticated.
For example, in GetResponse you can send emails to people who added products to their shopping cart and have abandoned the cart. You can bring to their notice that something is added and needs their attention.
In AWeber, you can only mail basic messages to your audience connected to you. This is less marketing and more nurturing. GetResponse helps you to connect with and nurture your clients too. This improves the chances of a purchase.
GetResponse comes as a clear winner for autoresponder technology. A lot can be done to target customers of a particular range with the right tools. The funnel building strategies of GetResponse are significantly better than AWeber.
AWeber vs GetResponse – Pricing
AWeber pricing vs GetResponse pricing is highly competitive.
These are the GetResponse plans:
Basic Plan – This plan starts at $15 a month and allows you to email 1000 subscribers. It includes landing pages, automated templates, form, surveys, Facebook ads, and also exit pop-ups.
Plus Plan – This plan costs $49 per month. It includes all basic features in addition to that it also includes sales funnels, list building funnels, e-products sales, simple sales, webinars, and collaborative tools.
Professional – $99 a month for everything in the Plus plan, as well as content scoring and tagging, automation builder, webinars, funnels for webinars, and collaboration for 5 people.
Among these plans, the Plus plan is the most popular. One disadvantage of the GetResponse plans is that you have to subscribe to the higher plan for basic functionality like content tagging and scoring.
Tagging contacts is a must-have feature that is needed for an auto-responder. However, you can get more advanced features like CRM, exit popups, and collaboration tools at a lower price. This is difficult to understand.
If you have 100,000 subscribers the pricing is such; $450/mo for Basic, $499/mo for Plus, and $580/mo for Professional.
GetResponse gives a 50% discount to NonProfits. That is great news particularly to charities that may need extra help. There is also an offer to sign up for free for a 30-day trial not needing a credit card.
Now let’s check out the pricing of AWeber. AWeber gives users a free trial lasting for 30 days. You get access to a lot of great features too. This includes access to AWeber’s email experts who help you get the best learning on how to use the new tool. This level of great support will never be seen in trial versions of other tools. There are 5 different plans. Unlike GetResponse, AWeber provides the user with all tools needed for email marketing. This is irrespective of the plan the user has subscribed to.
All the user has to do is choose the appropriate plan depending upon the number of subscribers. Following are the plans of AWeber.
- $19 a month for 0-500 subscribers
- $29 a month for up to 501 – 2,500 subscribers
- $49 a month for up to 2501 – 5,000 subscribers
- $69 a month for up to 5001 – 10,000 subscribers
- $149 a month for up to 10001 – 25,000 subscribers
In AWeber, you can start with the basic plan and increase as your business grows. Your email marketing service grows along with your organization. If you require a bigger plan then you would need to contact AWeber for an enterprise quote. There are no contracts involved, you can downgrade or upgrade whenever you like.
Comparing both, GetResponse is about $4 a month cheaper than AWeber plan for 1000 subscribers. Plus you can avail of a massive discount of about 20% if you pay up-front for one or two years.
With AWeber, you get all the features from the time you purchase it. You don’t have to pay extra for more features. This gives AWeber the edge as you don’t need to upgrade to higher premium plans.
Which is Better? – AWeber or GetResponse
Both AWeber and GetResponse have plenty of tools that would help businesses communicate with their lists, create emails, and deliver nurturing campaigns that are highly effective.
However, Getreponse comes out on top of these two. This is because GetResponse has a wider range of tools for marketing to help you to improve conversions, and not just do the job of only nurturing leads.
You can pick GetResponse if:
• You want competitive pricing cheaper than AWeber
• If you are a NonProfit or looking to pay up-front
• If you need exceptional autoresponder options and marketing automation
• If you want to send personalized emails having CRM functionality
• You’re looking to use a tool that is easy to use and intuitive
• You want easy to customize and modern email templates
You can pick AWeber if:
• You want the complete features to range irrespective of the package you choose
• You need to have peace of mind of 24/7 support
• Phone support is essential
• Looking for excellent analytics
• Multiple integrations
You can also check our article on How Much Does AWeber Cost?