Today marks a big change in our branding and marketing. We’ve considered this change four times in the last eight years, but always feared the negative outcomes and given up. Today, we bit the bullet.
TL;DR
- “Icegram” is the umbrella brand now. The original “Icegram” plugin is now “Icegram Engage”. Our most popular email marketing plugin – “Email Subscribers” is now “Icegram Express”. And “Rainmaker Forms” is now “Icegram Collect”.
- All products now have standard pricing plans – a free starter option, a “Pro” plan for $129/year and a “Max” plan with “up to 3 sites” license and even more features for $299/year.
- We’ve redesigned our website to reflect this change – as well as demonstrating our “easy yet powerful” philosophy.
- Existing customers are grandfathered into new plans. Product quality and customer support remains top-notch – as earlier.
- We’re jittery about the negative SEO impact of this change, but hopeful that our users (who are more important) will now find it easier to understand our product portfolio and navigate the site.
The Icegram story so far…
Icegram started as WordPress’s first all-in-one popup and call to actions plugin. It quickly became popular.
Our next plugin was “Email Subscribers & Newsletters” – an email marketing solution. Email Subscribers is now our most popular product, with over 100,000 users.
To make form integrations easier, we then launched “Rainmaker Forms”. That too was successful.
Today, more than 230,000 people use our products to capture leads, grow conversions, store form submissions and send email marketing campaigns. It’s a perfect portfolio for bloggers and businesses that want to grow their audience and increase sales.
Over the years, our team has consistently received 5-star ratings for code quality, support and commitment to customer success.
Why did we change product names?
Simple answer – to avoid confusion.
Our website is icegram.com – and we have three main products. One product too was called Icegram. So when someone refers to Icegram – do they mean the overall brand or the plugin?
When someone lands on the site, should we tell them about the Icegram plugin or all three products?
Clearly there was confusion we needed to address.
A rebranding U-turn
After long and tiring internal debates about pros and cons of different rebranding approaches, we decided to split three products into their own websites. We even brainstormed new product names and booked domains.
Then it came to design those websites – and transitioning existing customers to new product stores.
Migrating old orders to different sites would be hard. Because many people buy multiple products.
We thought of keeping the storefront on the Icegram site and only the landing pages on individual sites.
Eventually, this whole idea was scrapped.
We decided to risk the SEO benefits we had accumulated over the years and do something that would be easier for customers.
Why? “Email Subscribers” is a very popular keyword. If we change the product name, we may lose SEO advantages. WordPress is a market where SEO is one of the biggest factors in product success. And messing up with the main keyword can be dangerous.
We’re taking that risk… albeit with crossed fingers!
So, what is changing?
Three aspects mainly.
New plugin names and an Icegram prefix
- Icegram plugin → Icegram Engage – because it’s about “engaging” and converting website visitors. We’ve called it “Icegram Engage” for many years, but most people still refer to it as Icegram!
- Rainmaker forms plugin → Icegram Collect – because it lets you collect leads and form submissions easily.
- Email Subscribers & Newsletters plugin → Icegram Express – because it’s about the users’ “self expression” as well as about “express” sending speeds and ease of use.
Standardized pricing & a three site license for businesses and agencies
All products now get similar plan names and pricing. A free plan, a Pro plan ($129/year) and a Max plan ($299). Max plan now comes with a much-demanded multi site license for pro-bloggers, businesses and agencies.
- Icegram Engage pricing (formerly Icegram plugin) – revised pricing, Max gets 3 sites license.
- Icegram Collect pricing (formerly Rainmaker Forms plugin) – we’re removing Plus plan, Max gets 3 sites license.
- Icegram Express pricing (formerly Email Subscribers & Newsletters plugin) – new plan names, all annual pricing, and Max gets 3 sites license.
Website redesign
If you’re a product developer or agency owner, you know that you’re never happy with your own website.
We weren’t either. But we kept so busy working on our product we never paid enough attention to the website.
We’ve now updated product landing pages for clarity and simplicity. We’ve improved the blog earlier this year and will continue to remove the rest of the site.
How do these changes impact existing customers?
Nothing much changes for them actually.
You will see new product names when you upgrade our plugins to their latest versions. You will also see new names when you login to our “My Account” section. All our communications will now refer to new product names as well.
Existing subscriptions and added features
We’ve grandfathered all existing customers into new plans. So if you bought “Max” plan earlier, you can now use the plugin on up to three sites, instead of just one. Most other people will get better features as well.
Your renewal prices also do not change. You will continue paying what you paid earlier – even if the new price has gone up.
What’s next?
We will iron out some rough edges around the branding over the next few weeks. We also have a lot of product and website updates on the roadmap – so you will continue seeing solid progress.
We are ever thankful for your support and stay committed to your success. We will continue to bring you the best and most stable products.
Our focus will continue on solving your marketing problems – onsite and beyond.
Give us your feedback on the rebranding!
Do you like the new site and product names? Please comment on this post and give us your feedback. Notice a problem? Please share that too! Thank you!