The digital marketer’s modern-day mantra is– The money is in the email list. Without an email list, your business is likely to fail.
To capture leads and convert visitors, you need the right tools; the tools that have the capability and features to help you capture more and more leads and acquire more customers in turn.
So, here’s an unbiased comparison of two such WordPress plugins- Icegram Engage and MailMunch, whose core structure is different, but both of the tools share the same goal – collecting more leads through innovative appeal.
Message Types
MailMunch
It provides five types of messages types:
- Popover
- Embedded
- Topbar
- Scrollbox
- Sidebar
These message types are common to almost every other lead-capturing tool out there in the market.
Icegram Engage
It provides 12 different message types (4 free and 8 paid add-ons)
Free Message Types
- Action Bars: Header/Footer Bars (Topbar in MailMunch)
- Popups (Popover in MailMunch)
- Toast Notifications
- Messenger (Scrollbox in MailMunch)
Paid Message Types
- Overlays
- Sidebar
- Inline Messages (Embedded in MailMunch)
- Badges
- Ribbons
- Stickies
- Interstitials
- Tabs
Each one of them is completely different and each one of them serves different purposes.
For example, you can use stickies for reminders, tabs for feedback/survey, badges to display winners and so on.
Check out the demos here.
Themes
Themes are the design of an opt-in form. It’s one of the important elements of a perfect form. They should grab the immediate attention of visitors and make them sign up for your list.
Mailmunch
It has 10 free themes in total. The rest are in the premium version.
Most of the themes appear the same and are designed for bloggers and marketers and might not work for every niche.
Icegram Engage
It has 20 free themes and a total of 74 Well-designed high high-converting themes (paid + free) that are tried and tested to increase conversions!
Having more themes obviously gives you a more controlled way to show the opt-in form of your visitors’ taste, making sure that it converts well!
Message customization
Both Icegram Engage and Mailmunch provide robust Customization options. All the text is completely customizable with complete HTML support with it.
Inserting Images and Videos is possible with both as well. Customizing elements of the form, background colors, CTA Buttons, Animation, and Custom CSS options, all these factors are present.
Addition of Custom HTML forms is also possible with both, Icegram Engage and MailMunch.
Behaviour triggers and exit intent
Behaviour Triggers are essential factors to show a form when a behaviour (visitor action) takes place. Showing the form and hiding it based on the user’s behaviour can result in an increased conversion rate.
The following is a comparison of Show and Hide Form Behavioral Triggers in Icegram Engage and MailMunch.
| Show Trigger | Icegram Engage | Mailmunch |
|---|---|---|
| Exit Intent | Yes | Yes |
| After % Scroll | Yes | No |
| After Timed Delay | Yes | Yes |
| Frequency | Yes | Yes |
| After User Inactivity | Yes | No |
| Link Click | Yes | Yes |
In the Show Triggers comparison, Icegram Engage’s got an edge over MailMunch as it provides two additional triggers to show your form – After % page scroll and after the user’s inactivity for ‘x’ seconds.
| Hide Trigger | Icegram Engage | MailMunch |
|---|---|---|
| CTA button click | Yes | Yes |
| Timed delay | Yes | No |
| Show another message | Yes | No |
| Content gate | No | Yes |
With Icegram Engage, it’s also possible to show another opt-in form on the closing of one opt-in form (two-step opt-ins). This is immensely effective as, if the visitor discards a form, the next form is shown with a different objective, which may convert.
The Exit Intent feature is available as a premium feature in both Icegram Engage and MailMunch, but with Icegram Engage, you get it along with behaviour triggers, which have more features than MailMunch.
Targeting options
Targeting is also an important aspect of a perfect opt-in form that can convert more visitors based on different devices, geographic location, visitor’s action, etc.
Comparison of targeting options:
| Targeting Option | Icegram Engage | MailMunch |
|---|---|---|
| Geo-Targeting (based on location) | Yes | No |
| Visitor’s actions | Yes | Yes |
| Devices | Yes | Yes |
| IP address | Yes | No |
| WordPress post-pages | Yes | Yes |
From the comparison chart above, MailMunch doesn’t provide geo-targeting, which is one of the powerful features to set different types of forms based on the geographic location of visitors.
Note: Geo-targeting is available as a premium add-on in Icegram Engage.
Check out Icegram Engage’s Geo-targeting
Branding
MailMunch messages come with their branding by default in the free version. Paid plans of MailMunch don’t include branding.
Let your visitors give full attention to your own message and get converted to add to your list.
Email provider integration
Having your favorite email provider’s integration is a must, without which the whole tool might be a fail for you if you can’t forward the captured email address to your email provider.
Both Icegram Engage and MailMunch take email provider integration seriously and provide integration with all the email providers like MailChimp, AWeber, MailPoet, etc.
Also, if you’ve your own email system, you can connect that as well to both Icegram Engage and MailMunch.
Pricing
Pricing is also an important element of a tool that affects purchases, especially if you’re a small business or an individual blogger.
Icegram Engage, by default, comes as a free WordPress plugin, whose functionalities can be extended with different premium add-ons.
The add-ons need to be renewed yearly to continue receiving new features and updates (not a compulsion, add-ons will still work even without renewals).
MailMunch pricing plan is priced at $13.99 per annually, and $19.99 per month. The free version is available on WordPress, too.
Icegram Engage vs. Mailmunch
Here’s the table comparing opt-in types:
| Optin Display Type | Icegram Engage | MailMunch |
|---|---|---|
| Action Bar (Topbar) | Yes | Yes |
| Popups (Popover) | Yes | Yes |
| Inline (Embedded) | Yes | Yes |
| Messenger (Slidebox) | Yes | Yes |
| Toast Notifications | Yes | No |
| Messenger | Yes | No |
| Overlays | Yes | No |
| Sidebar | Yes | No |
| Badges | Yes | No |
| Ribbons | Yes | No |
| Stickies | Yes | No |
| Interstitials | Yes | No |
| Tabs | Yes | No |
Conclusion
Both plugins are designed and structured well to give you more conversions.
If you wish to stand out from the crowd with innovative opt-in display types and more themes, Icegram Engage should be your choice.
If your aim is better tracking and simplicity, MailMunch should be your choice.
Either way, both plugins are excellent and do exactly what they claim.
Which one would you prefer?
We would be glad to hear from you in the comments.
FAQ
Can I use either tool to target specific user behavior or pages?
Yes. Icegram Engage uses display targeting rules for user behavior, devices, pages, and geolocation. Mailmunch also offers behavior-based triggers but some are only available in paid tiers.
Is there any learning curve when using these tools for the first time?
Icegram Engage is more intuitive for WordPress users and integrates into the WP dashboard. Mailmunch has a visual interface but may take longer to navigate due to its SaaS-based model.
Are there limitations on the number of leads or forms I can create?
Icegram Engage does not typically have lead collection on its free plan. Mailmunch may limit leads, templates, or display options on free or lower-tier plans.
Hi, can I integrate Getresponse with your services?
Hi Jeff,
Yes you can use GetResponse along with Icegram.
Can I integrate ActiveCampaign with your services?
Yes, you can integrate Icegram with ActiveCampaign.