VerticalResponse Email Marketing System is one of the many affordable “Do It Yourself” hosted software services for creating and managing professional email campaigns.  In addition to using VerticalResponse for our own email marketing, we have setup many clients on this program. And they actually use it, because it is so easy.

The Good:

• Lots of professional-looking, ready-to-go Email templates to choose from.
• Affordable!  Our favorite aspect of VerticalResponse is their flexible payment options.  Monthly plans start at only $10 per month. But what we really like is the Pay-As-You Go option, which starts at only $.015 (yes, that’s a penny and a half) per email.  So you can send 200 emails for just $3!  Since most of our customers are small and seasonal, they do not send emails out year-round.  So no need to pay for months you don’t use with the Pay-As-You Go option.
• We also like the option to start with a template, but them customize it further with a bit of HTML.  It’s a nice middle-ground.
• Easy to segment email lists. For example, you can send your email only to people living in a certain state or only to people who have pets.  The possibilities are endless.  And it really helps to target the message to your recipient, thus resulting in higher conversions.
• Good reporting.  The Dashboard gives an at-a-glance look at how the email performed and compares it to past email campaigns.  Or you can drill down deeper to look at the details.  By downloading results to a spreadsheet, you can slice and dice the data any way you like.
• Easy contact management.  Very simple to add subscribers to the list one at a time, using a bulk upload, or by adding a signup to your website.
• Free Trials. VerticalResponse is very good about letting you try before you buy.  The always offer 100 free email credits to use within 30 days.  And often times, they run specials with even more free email credits.  The functionality is not at all limited, so you can really test drive the product to make sure it meets your needs.  And they don’t require a credit card or any money down.

The Not-So-Good

• VerticalResponse requires a mandatory double opt-in.  While this is good to enforce that people really intended to signup for your list, there are times when we wish we did not have to use it.  But it keeps you walking the straight and narrow.

How To Get Started

It’s very simple to give VerticalResponse a try.  Just Click Here to visit their website. Then:

• Complete the signup form
• They will email you a confirmation.  Click the link in that email to activate your free trial membership.
• Manually enter your contact list, or upload it from a spreadsheet.
• Create your first test email from the many different templates available.
• Proof your email by sending a test to yourself.
• And send it out!

That’s really all there is to it.  Give it a try today.  What have you got to lose?