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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Benchmark Email

    Score10 out of 10
    N/ABenchmark is an email marketing platform on a global mission to help businesses everywhere ignite relationships with their customers, from the company of the same name in St.Louis, Missouri.

    $0

    per month

    VerticalResponse

    Score10 out of 10
    N/AVerticalResponse is an email campaign management software and services platform from Deluxe. In addition to providing email marketing tools, VerticalResponse offers fully managed email marketing services from campaign launch and management to reporting and analysis.

    $9

    per month

    Pricing
    Benchmark EmailVerticalResponse
    Editions & Modules
    Pro
    Starting at $13
    per month
    Enterprise
    Custom
    Basic
    $11.00
    per month
    Pro
    $16.00
    per month
    Pro Plus
    $196.00
    per month
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Benchmark EmailVerticalResponse
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Benchmark EmailVerticalResponse
    Considered Both Products
    BenchmarkONE
    Chose Benchmark Email
    Mail Chimp. Vertical Response
    Incentivized
    VerticalResponse
    Chose VerticalResponse
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    Benchmark EmailVerticalResponse
    Email & Online Marketing
    Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of Benchmark Email and VerticalResponse
    Feature
    Benchmark Email
    9.5
    7 Ratings
    18% above category average
    VerticalResponse
    9.9
    8 Ratings
    22% above category average
    WYSIWYG email editor7.86 Ratings10.07 Ratings
    Dynamic content10.06 Ratings10.05 Ratings
    Ability to test dynamic content9.34 Ratings10.04 Ratings
    Landing pages10.04 Ratings10.04 Ratings
    A/B testing10.06 Ratings10.05 Ratings
    Mobile optimization10.07 Ratings10.05 Ratings
    Email deliverability reporting10.06 Ratings10.08 Ratings
    List management10.07 Ratings10.08 Ratings
    Triggered drip sequences8.24 Ratings9.02 Ratings
    Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Benchmark Email and VerticalResponse
    Feature
    Benchmark Email
    8.3
    7 Ratings
    8% above category average
    VerticalResponse
    10.0
    9 Ratings
    26% above category average
    Dashboards7.66 Ratings10.09 Ratings
    Standard reports10.07 Ratings10.09 Ratings
    Custom reports7.23 Ratings10.06 Ratings
    Pre-Send Testing
    Comparison of Pre-Send Testing features of Benchmark Email and VerticalResponse
    Feature
    Benchmark Email
    10.0
    1 Ratings
    22% above category average
    VerticalResponse
    10.0
    1 Ratings
    22% above category average
    Inbox Display10.01 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Email Previews10.01 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    URL Validation00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Link Tracking00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Image Validation00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Email Accessibility Tools00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Spelling and Grammar Check00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Spam Testing00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Benchmark EmailVerticalResponse
    Small Businesses
    Mad Mimi
    Score10 out of 10
    Mad Mimi
    Score10 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Everest (Return Path + 250ok)
    Score10 out of 10
    Everest (Return Path + 250ok)
    Score10 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Emma by Marigold
    Score9.4 out of 10
    Emma by Marigold
    Score9.4 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Benchmark EmailVerticalResponse
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.0
    (7 ratings)
    10.0
    (28 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.6
    (19 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (5 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (4 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (4 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Benchmark EmailVerticalResponse
    Likelihood to Recommend
    BenchmarkONE
    For low volume non-profits, Benchmark Email provides a respectable free service. Ease of use is high and customization of the email is good. The discount for 501(c)(3) organizations and fully free use for non-profits that help children is commendable. Although the GUI editor is flexible and easy to learn, it does have some issues with certain detailed formatting concerns, like properly showing the newlines between paragraphs. Image/photo processing and presentation is similarly both easy to use, but frustrating due to some capability gaps and quirks, like specifying image sizes and display on hi-resolution devices.

    Overall, Benchmark Email provides a good service that is easy to learn to expand your communication reach; however, the ROI and satisfaction may not be as high if paying fees comparable to other offerings.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    VerticalResponse
    For businesses requiring advanced email marketing features like sophisticated automation, in-depth analytics, and extensive customization, VerticalResponse might fall short due to its limited featuresVerticalResponse is ideal for small businesses or freelancers who need a simple, straightforward email marketing tool. Its ease of use and basic features make it suitable for those without extensive technical expertise in email marketing
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    BenchmarkONE
    • 2,000 contact list space available with no time limit to those who can't upgrade.
    • The AB Testing feature helps to improve the performance of your emails by experimenting with different content and send times to determine what works best. Thus great emailing objectives are easier to achieve.
    • There is a feature where website and email engagement trigger an automatic email series. For example, the automatic flow of a subscriber from a leads list to a customer list upon making a purchase is awesome.
    Read full review
    VerticalResponse
    • I love the ease of list builder because we often times have a lot of data to import. It would be simply impossible without this tool, considering the amount of customer data we have for any one given email.
    • We really enjoy the ease of use of the HTML wizard as well. It helps even a novice be able to make a beautiful and attention grabbing email.
    • The dashboard is functional and easy to find when you need with a quick search.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    BenchmarkONE
    • List maintenance -- navigating multiple lists is a cumbersome activity.
    • Analytics about user engagement could be better. It's not super robust, especially if you're used to Google Analytics.
    • Customer support is kind of slow to get back to us.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    VerticalResponse
    • The type face is small. Not sure if this is to avoid overwhelming the reader, but I could see this being an issue with vision-impaired people or people who don't see small print well.
    • Sometimes I find it takes multiple clicks to make one simple change. I wish there was a search field at the top of the screen that allowed me to jump directly to a client's entry to update it there.
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    BenchmarkONE
    No answers on this topic
    VerticalResponse
    Product is easy for both technical and non-technical people to use. A cost effective solution for sending out large number of messages. We can manage unsubscribes by individual accounts, so we can have multiple multiple accounts combined to maximize our buying power on credits. Effective API for sending/receiving data makes tool a valuable asset.
    Read full review
    Usability
    BenchmarkONE
    No answers on this topic
    VerticalResponse
    I truly love this product. We are moving to an all-in-one system next year and my greatest fear in doing so is how much I will miss this platform. Although we are excited for things ahead, I will always keep Vertical Response in my back pocket incase I don't love the new platform as much
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    BenchmarkONE
    No answers on this topic
    VerticalResponse
    Never had an issue with uptime
    Read full review
    Performance
    BenchmarkONE
    No answers on this topic
    VerticalResponse
    No issues
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    BenchmarkONE
    No answers on this topic
    VerticalResponse
    At Vertical Response the help desk associates are courteous, knowledgeable and helpful. You can tell they enjoy what they do. And clearly, they are well trained because most times, the first point of contact is able to resolve any issue you may have. There have been very few times where an associate has needed to get back to me or escalate me to a supervisor
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Online Training
    BenchmarkONE
    No answers on this topic
    VerticalResponse
    Basic functions and online help...we used what was needed, at the time, and will continue to explore other online trainings as our functional needs expand
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    BenchmarkONE
    No answers on this topic
    VerticalResponse
    Salesforce integration never worked right. We had to abandon.
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    BenchmarkONE
    I stated this plenty of times in my previous responses but we moved to Benchmark from Mad Mimi. Mad Mimi's feature set is extremely basic and only suited for start-ups or very small businesses. Benchmark provides enough customization to take the next step in your email marketing program. It's also fairly affordable
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    VerticalResponse
    In addition to using Vertical Response personally I also manage email marketing for clients that already use Mailchimp, Robly and Constant Contact. While most of these platforms all offer similar features I choose Vertical Response first if the client does not have a platform in place. Typically I am also teaching the client how to use this tool and the Vertical Response visual interface is very easy for me to teach a client how to navigate and create their own campaigns.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    BenchmarkONE
    • If we think particularly on the ROI then benchmark email gives you a definite amount of ROI. But it takes time, you will see the results after a six month span of time. Because sending an email itself is a slow and steady process to follow.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    VerticalResponse
    • We were able to blast out promotions our company was having to customers which created an increase in business.
    • By blasting out any service issues, it keeps our customers informed so that they are not wondering what is going on.
    • Allows us to store unsubscribed emails so that we are not constantly pestering people who do not want to be emailed.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Benchmark Email Screenshots

    Product screenshot