OutboundEngine vs. ReferralCandy

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
OutboundEngine
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
OutboundEngine provides a hands-off way for small business owners to market and grow their business. The product aims to provide small businesses with what big companies have achieved with marketing automation. The service aims to help users keep in touch with clients and prospects with professionally designed, branded campaigns. Benefits include: driving engagement, surfacing warm leads from current contacts, generating referrals and repeat business from their existing contacts, social…
$199
per user
ReferralCandy
Score 9.7 out of 10
N/A
ReferralCandy is an email-based customer referral platform.
$39
per month
Pricing
OutboundEngineReferralCandy
Editions & Modules
Essential
$199
per user
Value
$299
per user
Premium
$499
per user
Premium
$39
per month
Plus
$239
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
OutboundEngineReferralCandy
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup Fee$99 per userNo setup fee
Additional DetailsMore information is available on the vendor's website.Premium Plan: Starts at $39/month + up to 5% of Revenue generated by ReferralCandy Plus Plan: Starts at $239/month + 1.5% of Revenue generated by ReferralCandy
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
OutboundEngineReferralCandy
Features
OutboundEngineReferralCandy
Email & Online Marketing
Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of Product A and Product B
OutboundEngine
8.1
Ratings
10% above category average
ReferralCandy
-
Ratings
Mobile optimization8.60 Ratings00 Ratings
Email deliverability reporting7.80 Ratings00 Ratings
List management7.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Lead Management
Comparison of Lead Management features of Product A and Product B
OutboundEngine
5.8
Ratings
15% below category average
ReferralCandy
-
Ratings
Automated sales alerts and tasks5.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Social Media Marketing
Comparison of Social Media Marketing features of Product A and Product B
OutboundEngine
7.9
Ratings
18% above category average
ReferralCandy
-
Ratings
Social sharing and campaigns7.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
OutboundEngineReferralCandy
Small Businesses
LocaliQ
LocaliQ
Score 9.0 out of 10
OutboundEngine
OutboundEngine
Score 8.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
LocaliQ
LocaliQ
Score 9.0 out of 10
OutboundEngine
OutboundEngine
Score 8.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Kentico Xperience
Kentico Xperience
Score 8.1 out of 10
Influitive
Influitive
Score 8.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
OutboundEngineReferralCandy
Likelihood to Recommend
8.3
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
6.4
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
8.9
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
7.9
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
OutboundEngineReferralCandy
Likelihood to Recommend
OutboundEngine does a referral campaign and I've been able to close a couple of deals based on getting in touch with people who engage with this campaign and state they could use my services in the next 6 months. This is a great follow up tool for those you may or may not know are going to be needing your services.
Read full review
ReferralCandy is overall a great tool that saves me time and money. Creating a referral program on your own is incredibly difficult and this tool allows for an automated system to send us an option to opt into the referral program. Their customer success team is very helpful and they're quick to get back to us when we have a question. We also love the ban feature when a customer abuses the referral program.
Read full review
Pros
  • The content that they generate to send to our clients is relevant and the clients want to engage with us. It makes us appear more professional and consistent, even though we are a smaller company.
  • It helps us stay in touch with clients and helps us stay top of mind. We are able to generate more new business leads if we are in consistent contact with current, former, and potential clients.
  • Their customer service and support is outstanding. All my questions were answered and I went into the program feeling confident and knowledgeable.
Read full review
  • ReferralCandy has an easy set up that is easy to use.
  • The automation of referral candy saves me a lot of time.
  • ReferralCandy has great communication when I need assistance.
Read full review
Cons
  • Logging into Outbound Engine on my phone is difficult because I can't save the login name and password. Being able to save it would be very helpful.
  • Posting my new listings on social media would help if that's possible.
  • Being informed of what you're posting on social media and when would also be helpful.
Read full review
  • I think they could offer more granular control when it comes to how and when customers are emailed. For instance, one option just says "Don’t worry! We automatically stop sending reminders if your customers don’t read them". I want to worry, advertising is a delicate balance of trust with your customers and I don't want to turn them off by hitting them up too much.
  • I have no idea if this is theoretically possible, but how they track referrals (through an external site) can be blocked by adblockers. Wish there was a more local (to our website) way to track referrals.
  • It would be nice if ReferralCandy allowed basic dictionary word selection or a "bank" of messages that are the defaults for sharing on social media so that every shared message (because what customer actually changes the default message?) isn't the same.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
AS my business is beginning to change and with volatility in the market, I have to rely seriously on a budget. That and nearing retirement consideration has me more likely to opt out in the near future.
Read full review
No answers on this topic
Usability
Overall, OutboundEngine is very user friendly. It is simple to set up and explore, and if there are any issues or questions, the customer service team and account managers are always available to help. They are very knowledgeable and were able to explain everything in detail to me. The program is easy to navigate and helps me stay organized, and an uncomplicated and straightforward solution was exactly what I was looking for
Read full review
No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
I don't recall having any issues needing to contact OutboundEngine. I believe maybe I once emailed about an issue and got a quick response. I also believe I may have messaged through the app and gotten a response. To my knowledge, there has been nothing like app errors or outages.
Read full review
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
The customer service was excellent! Everyone I spoke to was kind and knowledgeable. My account manager was easily reachable. Setup of the OutboundEngine program was explained really thoroughly, and we knew how we could best use the product to meet the needs of our clients and get our online and social media presence off the ground.
Read full review
ReferralCandy went above and beyond when it came to the initial integration of their app with our e-commerce store. They walked us through, step by step, how to install it, and then spent time helping track down a display bug that had popped up, giving us a couple free months for our trouble even!
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
I selected it for the ability to have an automated system do 3 things all at once, social media posts, emails and the instant communication with the chat box. I have never seen a chat come through that lead to a helpful client touchpoint. I have never used another product but have since begun to weigh some of the less expensive options.
Read full review
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
  • Outbound Engine keeps me top of mind by automatically sending articles to my database and posting to my facebook.
  • I spend zero time researching and writing articles.
  • I spend zero time taking great pictures.
  • I spend zero time dealing with mailing lists.
Read full review
  • There's been no negative impact
  • We have increased word of mouth advertising by incentivizing customers who would otherwise not post about our products
  • We have raised brand awareness by having more links pointed back to our ecommerce store on social media
Read full review
ScreenShots

OutboundEngine Screenshots

Screenshot of Automated Social Media MarketingScreenshot of A personalized snapshot of your account activity and warmest leads.Screenshot of Personally designed, tested, and automated emails

ReferralCandy Screenshots

Screenshot of ReferralCandy dashboard -- see referral sales and revenueScreenshot of Widgets to promote the referral program among a customer baseScreenshot of Connect ReferralCandy with a Klaviyo accountScreenshot of Set up referral program rewards: Coupons, cash and custom