This iContact review determines that it is best for larger businesses needing superior personal customer services, solid automation, reporting & salesforce integration, complete with unlimited user accounts for teams.
iContact Review: Rating
iContact Rating | 4.2/5.0 |
💸 Pricing | ★★★★✩ |
⚡ Features | ★★★★✩ |
📧 Email Deliverability | ★★★★✩ |
🖱 Ease of Use | ★★★★✩ |
👩❤️👩 Client Satisfaction | ★★★★✩ |
☎ Customer Support | ★★★★★ |
iContact Review Summary
This iContact review reveals it is neither the most expensive service nor the best value for money. It has a portfolio that covers email marketing and basic automation but lacks the innovation in machine learning, intelligent send, and visual auto-funnels.
The CRM is OK but does not include tracking the customer’s cross-platform journey. It is a reasonable price for a reasonable set of services. As an enterprise customer it is good value, with Salesforce integration, but lacking cutting edge features.
iContact Review: Features
⚡ Features | CRM, Automation |
🏆 Unique Features | SalesForce Integration |
🎯 Best for | Medium to Large Business |
♲ Subscription | Monthly |
💰 Price | $30-$199/mo |
✂ Discount | None Available |
🌎 Region | Global |
North Carolina-based iContact was established in 2003 and has grown to be a leading service for medium to large size businesses. While their price model is competitive for small businesses, some of their features unlock enterprise-level benefits, but many features are missing compared to their competitors.
iContact Pros
★ Personal Customer Success Manager for All Paid Accounts
★ Easy to Use Basic Automation
★ 24/7 U.S. Phone & Chat Support
★ Salesforce Mass Email
★ Getty Images Included
iContact Cons
✘ No CRM
✘ No Timezone or User Timing Delivery
The Review Process
I have compared 30 of the most popular email marketing software vendors out of a list of over 100. We have compared over 80 key features and benefits to make a solid and fair comparison. In total, over 2,400 data points have been compared over our months of testing. Also, I run multiple businesses, which means collecting customer contact information and providing them the right information at the right time is a core part of the service. For further details on what we tested, jump to How We Rated the Service.
iContact Pricing
There are two types of pricing models in the email marketing industry.
- Per Contact Pricing means you are charged for storing a number of contacts; this model usually includes unlimited email sends.
- Per Email Pricing – this model usually means that you can have an unlimited number of contacts, but you pay per thousand emails sends.
All email marketing vendors also offer multiple tiers of service, a basic tier providing email messaging, autoresponders, and segmentation. More advanced tiers usually provide more in-depth services such as email marketing automation, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Sales Funnels, Payment Gateways, and landing pages.
When it comes to pricing, iContact is reasonably priced, but you need to balance that against the features on offer
Competitor Pricing Table – All Email Marketing Services
Value Ratings | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Value | ☆☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ |
Model | Contact | Contact | Contact | Contact | Contact | Contact | Contact | Contact | Contact | Contact | ||
Free-Tier | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | 6K/m - $0 | 9K/m - $0 |
#Contacts | ||||||||||||
500 | $7.49 | $15 | $19 | $13 | $17 | $25 | $15 | $9 | $30 | $79 | 30K/m - $9.65 | 40K/m - $25 |
2,500 | $15 | $25 | $29 | $30 | $38 | $49 | $50 | $39 | $50 | $147 | 60K/m - $18.95 | 60K/m - $39 |
10,000 | $39 | $65 | $69 | $76 | $81 | $119 | $99 | $111 | $110 | $297 | 150K/m - $69 | 120K/m - $67 |
25,000 | $112 | $145 | $149 | $144 | $191 | $166 | $219 | $179 | $199 | $497 | 450K/m - $230 | 350K/m - $173 |
50,0000 | $172 | $250 | $392 | $237 | $295 | $316 | $299 | $239 | $379 | $599=< 125K | ||
Unlimited | $2,999 | $99 per extra 100K | ||||||||||
Cost per Contact (cents) | 0.39 | 0.65 | 0.69 | 0.74 | 0.81 | 1 | 1 | 1.11 | 0.67 | 2.97 | NA | NA |
Visit SendX Services | Visit GetResponse | Visit AWeber Services | Visit Benchmark | Visit ConstantContact | Visit ConvertKit | Visit Mailchimp | Visit ActiveCampaign | Visit iContact Services | Visit Ontraport | Visit MailJet Services | Visit SendinBlue |
Unlike most email service providers, iContact does not offer complicated tiers of service. There is simply the Pro service.
iContact Email Marketing Features
Like all of the services reviewed, iContact offers a selection of predesigned email templates and a good selection of high-quality images for use in your email campaigns. The email design process is also fully drag-and-drop, making crafting your message a breeze.
In fact, iContact has a good collection of newsletter templates and hundreds of high-quality Getty licensed images. This should ensure your emails will look professional and unique.
iContact Key Features
Highlights of the iContact Pro Service:
- Email Marketing Automation
- Unlimited Email Sends
- Segmentation, Tagging, Autoresponders, Drip Campaigns
- CRM Integration to Salesforce
- Events Management
- Polling & Surveys
iContact Capture Forms
iContact also a solid collection of predesigned email capture forms that are fully customizable using a drag and drop interface. They also have a plugin for WordPress and, alternatively, a javascript embed code option.
You can also support your capture forms with landing pages hosted by iContact.
Unopened Resends
Again the simple approach to design and functionality adopted by iContact means you can easily resend an email to contacts who did not open the original email by changing the title/subject line and resubmitting.
iContact RSS to Email
Email to RSS is a simple yet effective way to streamline the communication process with your audience. You can set it up so that when you publish a new article on your website in a specific category, the email service will be notified and can build a customized email and send it to your audience without you having to do anything. This is a huge timesaver.
Surprisingly, iContact is missing this feature, but it can be enabled with a Feedly Zapier integration. To view the other vendors offering this service, check out our Email Service Master Comparison Table.
Email to Facebook & LinkedIn
You can quickly and effectively integrate the Benchmark mailing engine into Facebook. Any broadcast email you setup can, with a single click, also send an update to a Facebook page.
Email to Twitter
A nice addition is the ability to send an automatic update to your Twitter profile from a broadcast message. It is these little process improvements that save time and effort.
iContact Marketing Automation
Most software providers offer Autoresponders, Email Sequencing, Drip Campaigns, Customer Tagging, and Segmentation. iContact provides all of these services included in the price. However, the scale of the automation engine cannot compare presently with GetResponse or Active Campaign. Take a quick look at the video below.
iContact Automation Screenshot
iContact Reporting & Analytics
iContact has a good set of reporting and analytics. You will have the ability to analyze and improve your campaigns with reporting that allows you to compare open rates, undeliverable, unsubscribe clicks over time, and more.
You can also seamlessly segment your list based on the responses or actions against your email.
They also have a nice way of reporting the social activity an email generates.
Click Reporting For Email & Landing Pages
In addition to the already solid set of features, visualize what links in any given email are clicked the most. The Click heatmap is very valuable, and when used in conjunction with A/B testing, it can improve your email campaigns’ effectiveness.
[Related Post – Compare All Email Marketing Services Side By Side]
Of course, you can also see list growth, unsubscribes, and even social shares. Finally and importantly, A/B Testing, the ability to test the email performance with different subject lines and content, is included in the service.
Visit iContact for a Free 30 Day Trial.
Advanced Email Features
A/B Testing With iContact
I really like the way iContact has integrated A/B testing for emails. As you are getting ready to send a mail, you can simply select the advanced features to unlock A/B Testing.
How this is implemented means you can:
- select and create multiple subject lines,
- then select that you want to send the different titles to 30% of your list
- finally, based on those results, send the best subject titles to the remainder of the list hours later.
iContact’s Features for Enterprise & Ecommerce
iContact is also taking aim at larger enterprise customers by offering a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. Most small email marketers do not really need this level of functionality. But if you are part of a larger team that needs CRM, you will want to consider GetResponse, ActiveCampaign, or Ontraport. GetResponse has a great price point and a complete set of features. However, iContact does have some enterprise functionality; read on.
Multiple User Accounts & Collaboration
iContact does allow you to host multiple accounts to enable better workflow and collaboration in the marketing/sales department. You can add different accounts with different permissions.
iContact CRM
iContact also has a CRM service. It is not really enterprise-ready but has some nice features like the ability to track all user actions and work directly with Gmail (via a plugin) that allows you to tag leads directly from your inbox.
iContact Integrations
iContact does not have native payment processors or eCommerce functionality like GetResponse, but it does have a set of powerful integrations that enable this functionality.
iContact’s strategy is not to build a completely integrated solution themselves but to build integrations to a select group of 3rd parties. In addition to that, they have a Zapier integration, which enables another 1,000+ services. So you can rest assured all the usual payment processors and eCommerce services are covered, including:
- Paypal – Payments
- Stripe – Payments
- Shopify – eCommerce
- Samcart – eCommerce
- WooCommerce – eCommerce
- LinkedIn – Social
- Slack – Collaboration
- WordPress – Web Hosting
Security & Certifications
At this stage in the development of the internet, cybersecurity is of utmost importance. High-profile data leaks and hacks result in large fines to businesses that do not adequately protect their customer’s data.
Email Service Provider Security Compliance Table
GDPR Compliant | ✔ |
SSL TLS Encryption | ✔ |
EU-US Privacy Shield | ✔ |
Ease of Use & Customer Ratings
Using as many independent sources as possible, we have rated the services provided.
Our rating on ease of use and design | ☆☆☆☆ |
Using the independent ratings from Trustpilot Users – we also filtered out obviously biased ratings. | N/A |
Customer Twitter Sentiment Index | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
Support (Chat, Email, Phone) | Phone, Chat, Email |
Support Times | 24/7 |
Response Time | Immediate |
Average Ratings of Support Times, Response Times & Accessibility | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
iContact scores highly in customer service and customer satisfaction. Whatever problem you may be facing, the talented and passionate support team is available instantly, the support service is easy to navigate and use.
iContact Professional Services
There is a selection of services that are included with the special plans that iContact offers. Two key plans are the Mass Sender Plan and also a Premier service.
The Mass Sender Plan includes a dedicated strategic advisor for your account and custom-made graphic-designed email templates to match your company branding.
Premier accounts also include a strategic advisor dedicated to reporting development to match your business reporting needs.
At an additional cost, Email Delivery Advisors are available for lists above 35,000 contacts and other development services such as template creation, repair, and sign-up form design.
iContact Review Summary
iContact is neither the most expensive service nor the best value for money. It has a portfolio that covers email marketing and basic automation but lacks innovation in machine learning, intelligent send, and visual auto-funnels. The CRM is OK but does not include tracking the customer’s cross-platform journey. It is a reasonable price for a reasonable set of services. As an enterprise customer, it is good value, with Salesforce integration, but lacks cutting-edge features.
[Related Post – Compare All Email Marketing Services Side By Side]
iContact Email Marketing – Full Features Data Sheet
Features | |
---|---|
Value for Money | ☆☆☆☆ |
Features | ☆☆☆☆ |
Deliverability | ☆☆☆☆ |
Ease of Use | ☆☆☆☆ |
Client Satisfaction | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
Support | ☆☆☆☆ |
Total Stars | 25 |
Price Model | Contact |
Free Option | No |
500 Contacts | $12 |
2,500 Contacts | $27 |
10,000 Contacts | $67 |
25,000 Contacts | $127 |
50,0000 Contacts | $254 |
Unlimited Contacts | |
Cost per Contact (cents) | 0.67 |
Primary Features eMail | |
eMail Templates | ✔ |
eMail Images | ✔ |
Email Form Templates | ✔ |
Drag & Drop Email Design | ✔ |
Autoresponders | ✔ |
Marketing Automation | ✔ |
Individual Customer Automation | ✔ |
Customer Tagging & Segmentation | ✔ |
Intelligent Timing Delivery | |
Time Travel (Global 9am Delivery) | |
Basic Email Analytics | ✔ |
Powerful Email Analytics | ✔ |
A/B Testing | ✔ |
SPAM Scoring | ✔ |
Advanced Features | |
Webinar Integration | |
Hosting Webinar & Recording | |
Email from RSS Feeds | |
SMS Marketing | |
Postcard Mailing | |
Automatic Product Recommendations | |
Site Chat CRM Integration | |
Membership Site Service | |
Team / Enterprise Functions | |
Multiple User Accounts | ✔ |
Sales Team Lead Distribution | |
Salesforce Service Integration | ✔ (i) |
Primary Features Funnels | |
Surveys/Polls | |
Sales/Lead Funnels | |
Landing Pages | |
Exit Popups | |
Primary Features Sales & Payments | |
eCommerce Integrations | |
Full Payment Gateways | |
Abandoned Cart Integration | |
Win Back / Bounce Back | |
Payment Mgt | |
Discount Coupons | |
Referral Program Mgt | |
CRM & Remarketing | |
CRM & Deal Management | ✔ |
Facebook Integration | |
Cross Platform Journey Tracking | |
Activity Scoring | |
Integrations | |
3rd Party Integrations | 28 |
Zapier App Integration | ✔ |
Deliverability | ☆☆☆☆ |
Security & Certifications | |
GDPR Compliant | ✔ |
SSL TLS Encryption | ✔ |
EU-US Privacy Shield | ✔ |
Ease of Use | ☆☆☆☆ |
Customer Satisfaction | - |
Customer Twitter Sentiment | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
Support (Chat, Email, Phone) | Phone, Chat, Email |
Support Times | 12/5 |
Response Time | Immediate |
Customer Support | ☆☆☆☆ |
Visit the Vendor | Visit iContact Services |
How We Rated the Service
Email Service Provider Ratings | Price Monthly (15-20% Discounts on Yearly Payments) |
Value for Money | Price Rating. Price Per 10,000 contacts |
Features | How Complete is the Toolset |
Deliverability | Email Deliverability ☆☆☆60% ☆☆☆☆80% ☆☆☆☆☆90% Deliverability Results from multiple sources. |
Ease of Use | Our rating on ease of use and design |
Client Satisfaction | Using Twitter Customer Sentiment: https://www.csc2.ncsu.edu/faculty/healey/tweet_viz/tweet_app/ we rated the tweets about the service. |
Support | Average Ratings of Support Times, Response Times & Accessibility |
Price Model | Entry Level/ Basic Package Prices – Per Contact Model = $ per ‘000 Contacts “unlimited Sends” or “Per Email Model per ‘000 email sends – Unlimited Contacts |
Primary Features eMail | |
Email Templates | Is there a broad selection of predesigned email templates? |
Email Images | Are images for emails available for free? |
Email Form Templates | Predesigned website ready templates for capturing new subscribers |
Drag & Drop Email Design | Easily design great looking emails without HTML code |
Autoresponders | Are timed and action-driven autoresponders available? |
Marketing Automation | Ability to automate sequences of emails to customers |
Individual Customer Automation | Automation to tailor and personalize email content |
Customer Tagging & Segmentation | Ability to Tag, Segment & retarget customers by their actions, locations, time zones |
Intelligent Timing Delivery | Service optimizes send times based on when the customer previously opened emails. |
Time Travel (Global 9 am Delivery) | The ability to target a specific time globally, e.g., deliver, occurs at 9 am according to the contact’s time zone. |
Basic Email Analytics | Reporting to allow reporting on list size, growth, open rates, bounce rates, etc. |
Powerful Email Analytics | Ability to see globally and individually the customer journey, actions, onsite and in email |
A/B Testing | Multiple sends with different content to test success rate |
SPAM Scoring | Does the service check your content to make sure your messages are not flagged as SPAM? |
Advanced Features | |
Webinar Integration | Integrations Available for 3rd Party Webinar Services |
Hosting Webinar & Recording | Full Webinar Hosting, Recording & Storage Service |
Email from RSS Feeds | Can you generate automatic emails from your website RSS feed? |
SMS Marketing | Can you send SMS messages and sequence and auto-respond? |
Automatic Product Recommendations | Ability to insert product recommendations into emails – great for eCommerce businesses |
Facebook Retargeting | The ability to retarget potential customer on Facebook after they visit your website or signup to your list |
Site Chat CRM Integration | Integrated site chat which enables your contacts’ activities or requests to be added into your CRM or Marketing Automation for further sequencing |
Membership Site Service | Does the provider offer site membership user management services |
Team / Enterprise Functions | |
Multiple User Accounts | Adding multiple user or sub-user accounts so that you can collaborate with your team |
Sales Team Lead Distribution | Sales team workflow to distribute contact and sales lead capture. |
Salesforce Service Integration | |
Primary Features Funnels | |
Surveys/Polls | Is there an integrated survey & customer polling service included in the price? |
Sales/Lead Funnels | Ability to visualize sales funnels and the customer journey through the pipeline |
Landing Pages | Hosted pending pages integrated into your marketing automation |
Exit Popups | Advanced exit popup for your website available |
Primary Features Sales & Payments | |
eCommerce Integrations | Native full suite eCommerce integrations available |
Full Payment Gateways | Does the provider offer full turnkey payment gateways integrated into the service? |
Abandoned Cart Integration | Ability to follow up with customers who did not complete a purchase |
Win Back / Bounce Back | An effective solution for launching customer win-back campaigns |
Payment Mgt | |
Discount Coupons | Integrated discount or promotional coupon service-connected to payment gateways |
Referral Program Mgt | Can you manage your own referral/affiliate program through the service – normally an expensive 3rd party service? |
CRM & Remarketing | |
CRM & Deal Management | Is there an effective customer contact and relationship management system available? |
Cross-Platform Journey Tracking | The ability to track customers activities across different platforms, Website, Facebook, Email, SMS |
Activity Scoring | Functionality to allow the grading of contacts/prospects by their activities, e.g., Points Scoring |
Integrations | |
3rd Party Integrations | How many are 3rd party integrations available through the platform? |
Zapier App Integration | Zapier provides over 1500 integrations. Is Zapier available with this provider? |
Deliverability | Email Deliverability ☆☆☆60% ☆☆☆☆80% ☆☆☆☆☆90% Deliverability Results from multiple sources. |
Security & Certifications | |
GDPR Compliant | Compliant to the EU General Data Protection Regulations |
SSL TLS Encryption | The site uses strong encryption |
EU-US Privacy Shield | Certified under the EU-US Privacy Shield. |
Ease of Use | Our rating on ease of use and design |
Customer Satisfaction | Using the independent ratings from Trustpilot Users – we also filtered out obviously biased ratings. Blank means no ratings were available. |
Customer Twitter Sentiment | Using https://www.csc2.ncsu.edu/faculty/healey/tweet_viz/tweet_app/, we rated the tweets about the service. |
Customer Support | Support (Chat, Email, Phone) |
Support Times | |
Response Time | |
Average Ratings of Support Times, Response Times & Accessibility |
iContact Review: Is iContact Email Marketing Worth It?
This iContact review reveals it is neither the most expensive service nor the best value for money. It has a portfolio that covers email marketing and basic automation but lacks the innovation in machine learning, intelligent send, and visual auto-funnels.
Price: 30.00
Price Currency: USD
Operating System: Web
Application Category: Email Automation
4.2