GetResponse Autoresponder Review:
Free Version
May 24th 2008 04:41 pm
First on my review of the free version of autoresponders was GetResponse. (The most popular autoresponder is AWeber, but they do not offer a free version. GetResponse is the nearest competitor.)
In order to find the page for their free version, go to the GetResponse home page and look for the small type link that says, “Sign up for free.”
I signed up and tried it out by creating one immediate reply message and putting the form fields on a test webpage.
Here’s what I found.
Pros
Pro: Ability to set your own domain for GetResponse to use
This means you can have a designated domain of whatever.com and the visitor will never see a webpage that has an address of getresponse.com. I’ve never seen this feature before in an autoresponder and I think it’s pretty cool.
Pro: Webpage form is unobtrusive
I was happy to see very simple form fields with a small link to GetResponse at the bottom:
Pro: Lots of internet marketing tips
The day after I signed up, I received and email with advice on how to utilize the time-release emails for marketing purposes, which I found very helpful. And they have a forum and blog with lots of tips and articles.
Con: Opt-in message is confusing
When the visitor opts in, he gets an email that starts with this, “We have received your request for a subscription to a mailing list maintained by GetResponse email marketing service.”
I think the visitor should see my company name as the first thing, not GetResponse. That’s just going to be confusing.
Also, you get the ability to choose what type of list the person signed up for which it shows the visitor in the opt-in email, such as mailing list, newsletter, etc. But I would like the ability to type in my own definition, such as “squirrel-proofing tips.” None of their choices make sense for what I want to use it for. (Note: I know AWeber has this because I set it up for a client once. You can define your own “type” of mailing and once they approve it, they put it into your opt-in message.)
Con: Permission reminder is at top and is big
You have the option of turning on a permission reminder which reminds the visitor that he signed up for your email. Normally these things are at the bottom of the email, but this one is at the top. And it’s large, 6 lines.
Con: Heavy into Ads
I’m used to free versions of things having ads, but GetResponse takes this to a new level.
First the ad that shows in the email sent to a visitor has 7 lines at the top. This means that, if you also have a permission reminder set, there are 15 lines (including blanks) before the visitor sees your message. If the visitor is using a preview pane in his email program, he won’t even see your message unless he scrolls.
And the worst thing about the ad is it has no relevance whatsoever to your website. These seem to be mostly internet marketing ads, which would be confusing and irrelevant to someone who requested tips for keeping squirrels out of their bird feeders.
Here’s a screen shot of the email I received:
Another place ads show up is when the user first fills out the form and gets a thank you page. Again, these ads have no relevance to your website.
Can’t see message info about subscriber
When I looked up my test subscriber, I couldn’t see where in the message process the record was, so I didn’t know how many emails in the series were received. I also could not see any information on subscribers who had not confirmed. (This may be a safety issue for the subscriber and may be common, but I know AWeber has the ability to see unconfirmed records.)
Summary
Because of the amount of ads, I would not choose GetResponse as my free autoresponder. However, I must admit that I am leaning towards using their paid version. They have all the features of AWeber, but are slightly less expensive. I’ll post a review of the GetResponse paid version if I test it. .
I signed up and tried it out by creating one immediate reply message and putting the form fields on a test webpage.
Here’s what I found.
Unavailable Features
As with most of the other ones I tested, some features are unavailable in the free version. You’re limited by:- No broadcast messages
- Only one campaign
- Cannot set a confirmation URL to point to a page on your site
- Cannot include an attachment
- Cannot export
- Forced double opt-in
Unique Available Features
What set the free version of GetResponse apart were these things:Pros
- Ability to set your own domain
- Webpage form is unobtrusive
- Lots of support and internet marketing tips
- Opt-in message is confusing
- Permission reminder is at top and is big
- Heavy into Ads
- Can’t see message info about subscriber
Pro: Ability to set your own domain for GetResponse to use
This means you can have a designated domain of whatever.com and the visitor will never see a webpage that has an address of getresponse.com. I’ve never seen this feature before in an autoresponder and I think it’s pretty cool.
Pro: Webpage form is unobtrusive
I was happy to see very simple form fields with a small link to GetResponse at the bottom:
Pro: Lots of internet marketing tips
The day after I signed up, I received and email with advice on how to utilize the time-release emails for marketing purposes, which I found very helpful. And they have a forum and blog with lots of tips and articles.
Con: Opt-in message is confusing
When the visitor opts in, he gets an email that starts with this, “We have received your request for a subscription to a mailing list maintained by GetResponse email marketing service.”
I think the visitor should see my company name as the first thing, not GetResponse. That’s just going to be confusing.
Also, you get the ability to choose what type of list the person signed up for which it shows the visitor in the opt-in email, such as mailing list, newsletter, etc. But I would like the ability to type in my own definition, such as “squirrel-proofing tips.” None of their choices make sense for what I want to use it for. (Note: I know AWeber has this because I set it up for a client once. You can define your own “type” of mailing and once they approve it, they put it into your opt-in message.)
Con: Permission reminder is at top and is big
You have the option of turning on a permission reminder which reminds the visitor that he signed up for your email. Normally these things are at the bottom of the email, but this one is at the top. And it’s large, 6 lines.
Con: Heavy into Ads
I’m used to free versions of things having ads, but GetResponse takes this to a new level.
First the ad that shows in the email sent to a visitor has 7 lines at the top. This means that, if you also have a permission reminder set, there are 15 lines (including blanks) before the visitor sees your message. If the visitor is using a preview pane in his email program, he won’t even see your message unless he scrolls.
And the worst thing about the ad is it has no relevance whatsoever to your website. These seem to be mostly internet marketing ads, which would be confusing and irrelevant to someone who requested tips for keeping squirrels out of their bird feeders.
Here’s a screen shot of the email I received:
Another place ads show up is when the user first fills out the form and gets a thank you page. Again, these ads have no relevance to your website.
Can’t see message info about subscriber
When I looked up my test subscriber, I couldn’t see where in the message process the record was, so I didn’t know how many emails in the series were received. I also could not see any information on subscribers who had not confirmed. (This may be a safety issue for the subscriber and may be common, but I know AWeber has the ability to see unconfirmed records.)
Summary
Because of the amount of ads, I would not choose GetResponse as my free autoresponder. However, I must admit that I am leaning towards using their paid version. They have all the features of AWeber, but are slightly less expensive. I’ll post a review of the GetResponse paid version if I test it. .
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