Latrac Education

Starting an email marketing campaign is the number one way to increase revenue online. You have a list of targeted individuals who you can give away free bonuses to, keep them updated on your own products and service, and promote affiliate programs. But how do you know which service to choose? Like everything in life, I usually stick to things with proven track records instead of trying to break the mold. Although there may be times to avoid this, choosing an autoresponder is not the time.

Free autoresponders- I do not recommend that you use any free service for your email campaigns, simply because of the way that these companies make money- through advertising. Every company has to make money in order to stay afloat, so free autoresponder companies must advertise on your newsletters! To save less than 20 bucks a month, I think you need to re-evaluate whether or not you are serious. This is one expense you do not want to skimp on.

Paid autoresponders- Like I said, I like to stick with services that have proven track records. In this case, it means Aweber, Getresponse, and constant contact. These are the three big dogs in this game and I will break each one of them down for you to make a better decision about each.

Note: I have tried both Aweber and Getresponse, but my experience with constant is from a friend that uses it.

Aweber- Almost every internet marketer is using this service, and for good reason. They have the best customer service in the industry, highest deliverability rates (yes, believe it or not, some mail does not get to its destination), and the quickest delivery rates I’ve seen. Currently, the basic package is selling for just under 20 bucks per month. But I do not use this service. Why?

When I first started learning long ago, I understood the importance of getting an autoresponder service, so I signed up with Aweber because they had the best reviews online. Plus, you get to try the system for 30 days or your money back. You got 10,000 potential subscribers in the basic package. I got a letter in the mail introducing me to the service, the system is so easy a 3rd grader can use it, and deliverability was outstanding (on my test runs). Back then, I got exactly ZERO subscriptions to my newsletter, got frustrated, and chucked it.

My love for IM was eventually rekindled and when attempting to sign up for Aweber, I noticed that you only get 500 subscribers when you sign up now. To get 10,000, you now have to be paying about 70 bucks a month.

Constant Contact- I know someone who uses constant constant and I have to give it an A++ in style. The template he uses is a newsletter for a club that he is the president of, and it looks amazing. Everything is easy to read and scan through, and he often has ads (that are related to his club) that promote great local businesses. However, the pricing is eerily similar to aweber’s new structure, which is not good. 500 subscribers is all you get for the basic package. For a small club that you want to promote as president or head of member education, this would be a great option. What if you want more subscribers? Enter GetResponse.

Getresponse

This is the email marketing program I currently use and I have been very impressed. I can hold up to 10,000 for under $18 per month and the interface is very easy to use. I can manage several campaigns with ease, and deliverability rates are close to that of Aweber. Also, there are newsletter templates that are very professional. The only problems- unless you are careful, your subscribers might end up at a Getresponse advertisement page instead of a cancellation page that looks like your website. Simply url forwarding fixes this. Also, the interface takes some getting used to, but after a week or so, I adjusted to it and it has worked fine.

Which one is best for you? You decide.