What's Inside?
Best Email Marketing Services
- Mailchimp
- Zoho Campaigns
- Mailerlite
- Campaigner
- Moosend
- Constant Contact
- Campaign Monitor
- GetResponse
- ActiveCampaign
- Drip
- HubSpot
- Sendinblue
What is an email marketing service?
An email marketing service is a software platform that allows businesses to create, send, and manage email marketing campaigns. It typically provides features such as email design templates, list management, automation tools, and analytics to help businesses reach and engage with their subscribers. Email marketing services are often used to build relationships with customers, promote products or services, and increase sales. They also provide metrics and analytics to help businesses measure the success of their email campaigns and make data-driven decisions to improve their marketing strategies.
Why Does Email Marketing Matter?
Email marketing matters because it is one of the most effective and efficient ways to reach and engage with your target audience. Here are some reasons why email marketing is important:
- High ROI: Email marketing has one of the highest returns on investment (ROI) of any marketing channel. For every dollar spent on email marketing, you can expect an average return of $42.
- Targeted messaging: With email marketing, you can segment your audience and deliver targeted messages to different groups based on their interests, behavior, or demographics.
- Customer retention: Email marketing helps you stay in touch with your customers and keep them engaged with your brand. It can be used to build loyalty, upsell, and cross-sell.
- Measurable results: Email marketing provides detailed analytics that allows you to track open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and other key performance indicators.
- Cost-effective: Compared to other marketing channels, email marketing is relatively inexpensive. You can reach a large audience with a single email campaign, and there are many affordable email marketing platforms available.
Email marketing is a powerful tool that can help you grow your business, increase customer loyalty, and drive revenue.
What to Look for in a Good Email Marketing Tool?
When choosing an email marketing service, there are several important factors to consider. Here are some things to look for:
- Ease of use: Look for a platform that is user-friendly and intuitive, with drag-and-drop editors and customizable templates.
- Automation capabilities: A good email marketing service should allow you to automate your campaigns, such as sending welcome emails or abandoned cart reminders.
- List management: The ability to segment your email list based on subscriber behavior or other criteria can help you send more targeted and effective campaigns.
- Deliverability: The email marketing service should have a high deliverability rate to ensure your messages reach your subscribers’ inboxes.
- Analytics and reporting: The ability to track open rates, click-through rates, and other metrics can help you evaluate the success of your campaigns and make data-driven decisions.
- Integrations: Look for a platform that integrates with other marketing tools and software you may already be using, such as social media management tools or customer relationship management (CRM) software.
- Customer support: A good email marketing service should offer reliable customer support, including phone, email, or chat support, as well as helpful resources such as tutorials and webinars.
By considering these factors and choosing an email marketing service that meets your specific needs, you can create effective campaigns that engage your subscribers and drive results.
Why Choosing The Best Email Marketing Service is Important?
Small businesses can benefit from email marketing, which is a cost-effective marketing strategy. In the United States, email marketing generates an average return on investment (ROI) of 4300%, according to the Direct Marketing Association. One of the reasons for this high ROI is that email marketing is easy to manage, provides full control, and allows direct contact with customers.
Your success with email marketing largely depends on the email marketing software you choose. The software is responsible for ensuring that your emails are delivered effectively. If you choose the wrong software, you may end up paying more money for fewer marketing features and experience poor email deliverability rates, which can cause you to lose money. Therefore, it’s crucial to choose the right email marketing software for your business.
What Should Email Marketing Platforms Do?
Email marketing platforms should provide a comprehensive set of features to help businesses create, send, and track email campaigns. Here are some of the key functions that email marketing platforms should offer:
- Email campaign creation: The platform should offer an intuitive drag-and-drop editor that allows users to create professional-looking emails with ease. It should also support responsive design, so emails look great on any device.
- List management: The platform should provide tools to manage and segment email lists, as well as automate list cleaning to ensure that email addresses are valid and up-to-date.
- Automation: The platform should offer the ability to automate email campaigns, from welcome emails to post-purchase follow-ups. This helps businesses save time and effort while delivering targeted messages to customers.
- Personalization: The platform should enable businesses to personalize emails with dynamic content based on subscriber data, such as location, purchase history, and preferences.
- Reporting and analytics: The platform should provide detailed reports on email campaign performance, including open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates. This allows businesses to measure the success of their campaigns and make data-driven decisions.
- Integration: The platform should integrate with other marketing tools, such as CRM software and social media platforms, to streamline workflows and create a cohesive marketing strategy.
Which Platform Should You Choose?
Choosing an email marketing platform depends on your specific needs and goals. Some popular email marketing platforms include Mailchimp, Constant Contact, Campaign Monitor, and Sendinblue, among others.
To determine which platform is the best fit for you, consider factors such as pricing, ease of use, automation capabilities, integrations with other tools, reporting and analytics, deliverability rates, customer support, and any unique features that are important to your business.
It’s also a good idea to test out a few platforms by signing up for free trials and seeing how they work for you before committing to a subscription. Ultimately, the best platform is one that meets your needs, helps you achieve your marketing goals, and fits within your budget.
Best Email Marketing Platforms FAQs
The choice of an email marketing platform that best fits your business largely depends on your objectives and requirements. Typically, email marketing platforms provide fundamental features such as newsletters, landing pages, automation, audience segmentation, and reporting. To identify a platform that suits your unique needs, explore distinctions in pricing, integrations, and supplementary functionalities, like website builders and social media advertising capabilities.
Email marketing software is a tool that allows businesses to create, send, and track email campaigns to a list of subscribers. It typically includes features such as email templates, list management, automation, segmentation, and analytics. The software is designed to help businesses reach their target audience effectively and efficiently, and ultimately drive conversions and sales. Email marketing software can be used for a variety of purposes, including newsletters, promotional offers, event invitations, and customer retention campaigns.
Email marketing is a powerful tool that can benefit both retail and non-retail businesses. It provides a cost-effective way to quickly and easily reach a large audience, generate leads, and promote products or services. Email marketing software makes this process even simpler and more efficient. By using such software, businesses can connect with their clients and build long-lasting customer relationships, ultimately resulting in increased customer loyalty and retention.
There are several different types of email marketing campaigns that businesses can use to engage with their subscribers and customers. Here are a few examples:
- Newsletter: This is a regular email that is sent on a recurring basis to subscribers who have opted in to receive updates from the business. Newsletters usually contain a mix of informational and promotional content.
- Promotional emails: These are emails that promote a specific product, service, or sale. They can be sent to the entire subscriber list or to a targeted segment of subscribers who are most likely to be interested in the promotion.
- Welcome email: This is the first email that new subscriber receives when they sign up for a business's email list. It typically includes a welcome message, information about the business, and an invitation to engage with the brand on social media or visit the website.
- Abandoned cart email: These emails are sent to customers who have added items to their online shopping cart but haven't completed the purchase. The email can include a reminder about the items in the cart and an incentive to complete the purchase.
- Re-engagement email: This is an email that is sent to subscribers who haven't engaged with the brand's emails in a while. The email can include a special offer or incentive to encourage the subscriber to start engaging with the brand again.
- Triggered emails: These are automated emails that are triggered by specific actions or events, such as a customer making a purchase or a subscriber's birthday. These emails can be highly personalized and targeted to the individual recipient.
Email marketing can make money in several ways:
- Direct sales: Email marketing can be used to directly promote and sell products or services to customers. By sending targeted and personalized emails with enticing offers, businesses can increase the chances of customers making a purchase.
- Repeat business: Email marketing can help businesses stay top of mind with their existing customers, encouraging them to make repeat purchases. By sending relevant and engaging content, businesses can create loyal customers who come back again and again.
- Upselling and cross-selling: Email marketing can be used to upsell or cross-sell products or services to customers who have already made a purchase. By sending targeted and personalized emails with relevant suggestions, businesses can increase the value of each sale.
- Lead generation: Email marketing can be used to generate leads by offering valuable content and incentives in exchange for contact information. By building an email list of potential customers, businesses can nurture these leads and eventually convert them into paying customers.
Yes, it is possible to run email marketing campaigns for free, but there are some limitations to be aware of. Some email marketing service providers offer a free plan, but these plans typically have restrictions on the number of subscribers, emails sent per month, and features available.
There are also ways to do email marketing for free without using a dedicated email marketing service. For example, you can use a personal email account to send emails to a small list of subscribers, but this method is not recommended as it lacks the tracking and automation features of a professional email marketing service.
Another option is to use free email marketing software like Mailchimp's free plan or Sendinblue's free plan, which allows you to send a limited number of emails per month and have a limited number of subscribers. However, as your email list grows and your needs become more complex, you may need to upgrade to a paid plan.
Technically, you can send bulk emails from your Gmail or Outlook account, but it's not recommended. Email providers like Gmail and Outlook have specific limits on the number of emails you can send per day, and sending too many emails at once can trigger spam filters, resulting in your emails being marked as spam or blocked altogether.
Additionally, sending bulk emails from a personal email account can damage your reputation as a sender, as it can be seen as unprofessional and untrustworthy. It's always better to use a dedicated email marketing platform or software that is designed to handle bulk email sending and ensures that your emails are delivered successfully to your subscribers' inboxes.
The cost of email marketing varies depending on several factors, including the size of your email list, the frequency of your campaigns, and the email marketing service or software you choose. Some email marketing services offer free plans for small businesses with a limited number of subscribers and basic features, while others charge a monthly fee based on the number of subscribers or the number of emails sent.
For example, Mailchimp offers a free plan for up to 2,000 subscribers and 10,000 emails per month, and their paid plans start at $9.99/month. Constant Contact's plans start at $20/month for up to 500 subscribers, while AWeber's plans start at $19/month for up to 500 subscribers.
In general, the cost of email marketing can range from a few dollars per month for a small email list to several hundred or even thousands of dollars per month for larger lists and more advanced features. It's important to consider your budget and your specific email marketing needs when choosing a service or software.
While email marketing doesn't directly impact SEO (search engine optimization), it can indirectly help improve your website's search engine rankings. Here are a few ways email marketing can benefit your SEO efforts:
- Drive traffic to your website: If you include links to your website in your email campaigns, you can drive more traffic to your site. The more traffic your site receives, the higher your search engine rankings may climb.
- Increase social shares: Including social sharing buttons in your emails can encourage your subscribers to share your content on their social media accounts. This can help increase your social media presence, which can indirectly benefit your search engine rankings.
- Boost engagement metrics: When subscribers engage with your emails (such as opening, clicking, or forwarding), it can signal to search engines that your content is relevant and valuable. This can potentially lead to higher search engine rankings.
Among the email marketing services mentioned, both Omnisend and Drip offer a user-friendly Shopify app and are ideal choices for eCommerce marketing automation. They can seamlessly integrate with both Shopify and WooCommerce. However, Klaviyo is a popular choice for Shopify email marketing among eCommerce power users, but it may not be suitable for small businesses due to its expensive platform.
Most email marketing services integrate deeply with WordPress, which powers over 43% of all websites. Among the best email marketing platforms for WordPress are Constant Contact, Sendinblue, and HubSpot.
In recent years, many business owners have opted for native WordPress email marketing solutions like FunnelKit Automation, which helps them save on costs while offering powerful features such as broadcast emails, automated drip emails, CRM, and more from inside WordPress.
With FunnelKit, website owners can create emails and then use the WP Mail SMTP plugin along with an SMTP service like SendLayer, Amazon SES, SendGrid, or others to ensure that all emails reliably reach customers' inboxes.
Ensure that the email marketing tool you select allows you to send both promotional and transactional emails. This will simplify your workflow and cut costs. Look for additional functionalities such as marketing automation, integrated CRM, and multichannel capabilities such as SMS, WhatsApp, live chat, and push notifications.
All the email marketing platforms listed can cater to entrepreneurs and SaaS businesses. ConvertKit is tailored for content creators, while HubSpot provides enterprise-level features for larger companies at a higher cost. The majority of these platforms have easy integrations with various e-commerce platforms.
Sendinblue is the ideal choice for small businesses due to its reasonable price which enables you to expand your subscriber list and utilize advanced features. It allows you to use the tools of bigger players without incurring their high costs.
While some CRM software allows you to email contacts in your database, it lacks the comprehensive set of features found in dedicated email marketing software. The email marketing tool in a CRM is primarily for individuals who only need to send occasional emails without the need for design or automated campaigns.
However, if you want to enhance engagement with your subscribers using automation or obtain more advanced reporting, it is advisable to obtain separate email marketing software outside of your CRM.
Most email marketing software offers basic features such as email design, contact uploading, campaign scheduling, and performance tracking. However, advanced software provides additional features such as A/B testing, contact segmentation based on interests, and automated emails triggered by customer behavior. In addition, these platforms also offer lead generation capabilities such as lead forms and landing pages to help businesses grow their subscriber base.