DirectIQ Review: Features, Pricing, & Alternatives

DirectIQ is a top choice for email marketing, excelling in ease of use and automation features. However, it falls short in advanced analytics.

Read on to discover how DirectIQ can elevate your email campaigns and where it might need improvement.

SMB Guide’s Verdict for DirectIQ

Overall, these factors combined to give DirectIQ an average rating of 7.4 out of 10.

My ratings for DirectIQ are based on its strengths in affordability, ease of use, and robust automation capabilities, which led to high scores in those areas.

However, I found it lacking in advanced analytics, customization options, and integrations, resulting in lower scores for those categories.

Factor	Rating (out of 10)
Pricing & Plans	8
Marketing Automation Capabilities	8
Email Builder	8
Personalization and Customization	6
Campaign Performance Tracking	5
User Interface and User Experience	9
Integrations and Compatibility	6
Customer Support	8
SMB Guide Rating	7.4

In this review of DirectIQ, I’ve followed SMB Guide’s detailed criteria for evaluating the marketing automation software.

Pricing & Plans

DirectIQ offers three plans: Free, Essential, and Unlimited. The pricing is based on the number of contacts and scales up for each set of 500 contacts.

You cannot pay for less than 2,500 contacts, and you cannot pay for more than 1 million contacts.

If you choose the annual billing, you’ll receive a 20% discount off the monthly pricing, but it is billed all at once.

Free

This is a free forever plan, and you can use it as long as you want, provided you stay within the limits.

Price

• $0 per month
• $0 per year

Features

• 250 contacts
• 1,000 email send limit
• Regular email campaigns
• A/B split campaigns
• Automation campaigns
• Inbox Preview (1 per month)
• Spam Doctor (1 per month)
• 1 Landing Page

Who it’s for: Businesses that just getting started with email marketing

Essential

The first level paid plan offers additional monthly email sends and spam checks.

Price

• Starts at $15/month for 2,500 contacts
• Starts at $12/month with annual billing

Features

• Contacts scale
• 15,000 email send limit
• Regular email campaigns
• A/B split campaigns
• Automation campaigns
• Inbox Preview (5 per month)
• Spam Doctor (5 per month)
• Landing Pages

Who it’s for: Businesses that want to bypass the limits of the free plan

Unlimited

This plan is for unlimited sends but the price scales up based on your contacts.

Price

• Starts at $25/month for 2,500 contacts
• Starts at $20/month with annual billing

Features

• Contacts scale
• No email send limit
• Regular email campaigns
• A/B split campaigns
• Automation campaigns
• Inbox Preview 
• Spam Doctor 
• Landing Pages

Who it’s for: Businesses who want unlimited use of the software

Marketing Automation Capabilities

In DirectIQ, marketing automations are called Flows. There are three pre-built ones to start with: Welcome, Order Confirmation, and Abandoned Cart.

If you need something other than those, you can build it yourself with the “Start from Scratch” option.

I couldn’t start any of the automations without first integrating a store. When I tried to start from scratch, there were no triggers in the list, which I guess is from the lack of integrations.

Since I didn’t have a Shopify or WooCommerce store to connect to, I wasn’t able to really test the trigger options. But, actions include: Delay (wait for some time) and Email (to send an email.) There’s also If/Else conditional logic.

So, it seems to offer pretty standard email automation options compared to other platforms available on the market today.

Email Builder

The email builder is really easy to use, and there are plenty of templates available to choose from.

You can customize them as needed, and preview what it looks like on desktop and mobile devices. There’s an HTML content block you can add to the template.

If you want to use your own design, you can select “Create from Scratch” and then choose either the Rich Text Edtior or the Plain Text Editor if you want to code it in HTML yourself.

There’s also the option to import your design. You can either upload an HTML template or paste the HTML code.

Personalization & Customization

Personalization and customization are fairly limited, with just a few merge tags and special links.

Merge tags include: First Name, Last Name, Order ID, Order Date, Billing Address information (broken down into specific fields for address, state, etc.) and Shipping Address information (also broken down into fields.)

The special links include:

• View on web
• Unsubscribe
• Report unsolicited
• Forward to a friend
• Update info
• Campaign ID
• Order Link
• Checkout Link
• Cart Link
• Shop Link

Campaign Performance Tracking

Without being able to send email and see what the data reveals for itself, I wasn’t able to test this first hand. But from what I was able to learn from company information, you get insights into open rates, click through rates, and subscriber engagement. 

You can also use split testing, if you set up an A/B test campaign. You choose who gets what from the contact list, the segments, and tags. You must have at least 100 contacts to send a split test campaign to.

After the results come in, you can see which campaign was more successful and make adjustments from there.

User Interface and User Experience

I find DirectIQ’s user interface to be incredibly intuitive and user-friendly, which makes it easy for me to navigate, even as a beginner.

The drag-and-drop editor simplifies the process of creating email templates, allowing me to set up campaigns quickly. Importing contact lists is straightforward, and I appreciate having access to a variety of modern email templates.

The real-time analytics and A/B testing features help me efficiently manage and optimize my email marketing efforts.

There’s built-in help in the dashboard, including access to an email marketing course to help you learn best practices in your email marketing campaigns – not just how to use DirectIQ to execute.

Integrations and Compatibility

If you want to use integrations, you must install DirectIQ plugins and apps. Your options are Shopify Plugin, WordPress, WooCommerce, and Zapier.

Zapier may require a premium subscription depending on the integrations you want to use and the frequency of those automations running.

Customer Support

DirectIQ offers a range of customer support options designed to ensure you receive the help you need when you need it. You can easily create support tickets through their Help Center, which allows you to start a support dialogue and get your issues addressed promptly. 

DirectIQ provides live chat support from email marketing experts who are online and ready to answer your questions. This real-time assistance ensures that you can resolve any concerns quickly and continue with your email marketing campaigns without interruptions.

DirectIQ — Unique Features

DirectIQ offers two powerful features to enhance your email marketing campaigns: Spam Doctor and Inbox Preview.

Spam Doctor: This feature helps ensure that your emails don’t end up in the spam folder. It verifies which email clients might interpret your emails as spam, allowing you to make necessary adjustments before sending.

Inbox Preview: This feature allows you to see how your emails will look across various email clients and devices. It ensures that your emails appear correctly and consistently, providing a better experience for your recipients.

Both features are available in different quantities depending on your subscription plan, with higher plans offering more frequent usage. On the free plan, you can only use these features on one email a month.

On the Essentials plan, you get five. But, true to the name, on the unlimited plan, you could use it on all your emails.

What the Experts Say About DirectIQ

DirectIQ had the following ratings:

• G2 rating: 4.4/5 (36 reviews)
• GetApp rating: 4.9/5 (24 reviews)
• Capterra rating:  4.9/5 (24 reviews)

It is easy to use and understand how panel functions. Importing lists, using features like spam doctor and mailbox preview is really helpful. Also they have live support that you can always reach them and ask your questions and get help!

Mujde O., Account Coordinator – Verified Capterra review

The template selection isn’t overwhelming, which I think is a huge positive. They offer a good selection, and they are all really easy to customize to my needs. I love the help center “how to videos.” They don’t go on forever, but rather, are pretty succinct and to the point. I’m thinking about starting a newsletter, so it’s nice knowing that the DirectIQ support staff is available 24/7 to help me whenever I need. A really pleasant customer support experience overall. Their ‘Email Marketing News’ blog is really helpful.

Alexandru I., Information Technology – Verified Capterra review

DirectIQ Alternatives

Not entirely convinced DirectIQ is the answer for your email marketing needs? Take a look at these alternatives:

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign offers a more in-depth platform with a robust set of features, including advanced automation, detailed customer journey mapping, and comprehensive reporting and analytics.

ActiveCampaign’s plans start at $15 per month, but it offers more extensive capabilities that cater to larger marketing teams. This platform is better suited for advanced users and larger businesses that require more sophisticated marketing automation and integrations.

Sign up for your free trial of ActiveCampaign

Mailchimp

Mailchimp provides a more comprehensive suite of tools, including advanced automation, detailed analytics, and extensive integrations with other platforms.

After a free trial, its pricing starts at $20/month, putting it in line with the Unlimited plan at DirectIQ. Mailchimp is best for businesses of all sizes that need a more versatile and feature-rich email marketing solution to manage and grow their digital marketing efforts.

Start your free trial of Mailchimp today

Klaviyo

Klaviyo provides a more comprehensive suite of tools tailored specifically for eCommerce businesses. It includes advanced automation, customer segmentation, and detailed analytics. Like DirectIQ, it offers a free plan for up to 250 active profiles.

Paid plans start at $20/month for email only, but you can add SMS marketing for another $15/month. Klaviyo is better suited for eCommerce businesses looking for a powerful, feature-rich email marketing solution to optimize their marketing efforts and boost sales.

Sign up for Klaviyo for free today!

Getting Started with DirectIQ

Getting started with DirectIQ is an excellent choice for businesses seeking an easy-to-use, cost-effective email marketing solution. With its user-friendly interface, flexible pricing plans, and powerful features like Spam Doctor and Inbox Preview, DirectIQ helps you create impactful email campaigns without the hassle.

Get started with DirectIQ today for free

FAQs