Wallace D. Wattles once said, “It is essential to have good tools, but it is also essential that the tools should be used in the right way”, and it applies pretty well on email marketing.
Email marketing is a popular way for businesses to reach their goals, but not choosing the right tool can cause a ton of issues. Hence, here’s a blog to help you take the right decision in choosing your next email marketing service.
What makes a good email marketing service
There are several pointers to keep in mind when choosing the right email marketing service for your business. While the perfect solution for everyone varies, but there are certain characteristics that everyone should keep in mind while choosing an email marketing service.
Ease of use
One of the key characteristics to focus on while choosing an email marketing service is its ease of use because you or someone from your team would be using it daily. The best way to test this would be signup for a couple of email marketing tools and test yourself whether you find the tool easy to use or not.
Affordability
It’s also important to choose an email marketing service that fits in your budget. Many get intrigued by fancy features and end choosing a tool that hard for them to afford.
Therefore, you should keep the tool’s current pricing as well as the pricing once you grow in mind while considering. Remember that tools like Mailchimp may seem cheap at first, but they start to cost a lot as your list grows.
Proper integrations
Having proper integrations is essential when it comes to email marketing campaigns. Your chosen email marketing service should integrate with your customer relationship management (CRM) systems, ecommerce platforms, and other marketing tools.
Without proper integration, you’ll waste a ton of time doing things manually like moving contacts from your CRM to your email list. Look out for tools that either ingrate with your existing tools or have an integration with Zapier.
Helpful customer support
No matter what service you choose, having a reliable and helpful customer support is a must. You should look for email marketing services that provide good customer support by trying them yourself. A responsive and knowledgeable customer support will ensure that you get a quick resolution without too much to and fro conversion.
GDPR compliance
GDPR compliance is another key consideration point that many ignore, but it is crucial, especially if your business has customers or is registered in the European Union. The implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has made it is vital for businesses to choose email marketing services that comply with data protection regulations. The service you choose should provide features like double opt-in, data encryption, and easy management of subscriber consent.
Best email marketing services
Now that we understand the factors that make a good email marketing service, let’s explore some of the best services available in the market:
EmailOctopus
EmailOctopus is a simple and easy to use email marketing tool that been used by various authors, businesses and individuals for their email marketing needs. When you choose EmailOctopus, you get an easy-to-use interface, powerful automation features, and integration with various third-party tools.
Features:
- Drag and drop email editor
- Email automation
- Landing page builder
- Subscription forms
- Integrations with multiple apps
- Generous free tier
- Helpful customer support
Pricing: EmailOctopus comes with a free plan, allowing you to send 10,000 emails to 2,500 subscribers at no cost. If you need more advanced features, the Pro plan is available for just $16 per month for 2,500 subscribers.
Klaviyo
Klaviyo is a popular marketing automation service that’s primarily used by e-commerce companies due to its deep integration with platforms like Shopify. It allows you to send marketing emails, as well as push notifications and SMS.
Although Klaviyo is an excellent tool, its price tag can be a deal breaker for many, as it starts at $20/month, which allows you to have up to 500 contacts and send up to 5,000 messages.
Features:
- Drag and drop email editor
- Email, SMS and push notification automation
- Automated review collection
- Subscription forms
- Good integration with e-commerce platforms
- Helpful customer support
Pricing: Klaviyo comes with a free plan, allowing you to send 500 emails to 250 subscribers at no cost. If you need more advanced features or higher contact limits, the paid plan is available for just $20 per month for up to 500 subscribers.
MailerLite
Another popular email marketing tool has been gained traction due to its ease of use is MailerLite. It is a user-friendly email marketing service suitable for both beginners and experienced marketers which offers a drag-and-drop email editor, automation workflows, and advanced targeting.
It also had a great pricing until 2023 but with the latest pricing update, it has become a bit pricey.
Features:
- Drag and drop email editor
- Website builder
- Email automation
- Multiple integrations
- E-commerce features for website builder
- Helpful customer support
Pricing: MailerLite comes with a free plan which allows you to send 12,000 emails to 1,000 subscribers for free. The paid plan for 2500 subscribers will cost you $25 per month, which doesn’t come with all the additional features. To unlock all features like HTML emails and promotional pop-ups, you’ll have to pay $40 per month for the same number of subscribers.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is one of the most well-known email marketing services, offering a range of features for businesses of all sizes. It provides customizable templates, advanced analytics, and integrations with popular platforms.
Though Mailchimp is a great platform for email marketing, there are a few major issues. The first issue is that their prices go up once or twice a year. The second issue is that their interface is too complicated because they have added multiple features without redesigning the dashboard.
Features:
- Drag and drop email editor
- Website builder
- Transactional emails
- Multiple integrations
Pricing: Mailchimp comes with a free plan which allows you to send 1,000 emails to 500 subscribers for free. The paid plan for 500 subscribers starts at $13 per month and goes up to $299 per month.
Sendy
Sendy is a self-hosted email marketing service that allows businesses to send emails using their own server and Amazon SES. It offers cost-effective pricing and provides features like list management, autoresponders, and campaign reports.
Though Sendy is the most affordable way to send marketing emails, but it requires technical knowledge that many don’t have. Also, getting approval from Amazon (AWS) to use SES is also tricky.
Features:
- Drag and drop email editor
- Email automations
- Third-party integrations using Zapier
Pricing: Sendy comes with a simple one-time fees of $69 however you will have to pay AWS for your emails.
Brevo
Brevo (formerly known as Sendinblue) is a CRM Suite that started off as an email marketing service and later added features like CRM, transactional emails and an Intercom like live chat solution.
It comes with an easy-to-use interface with all the features that you’d need, like email builder, list segmentation and others. The only downside of Brevo is that it’s expensive compared to other options like EmailOctopus.
Features:
- Drag and drop email editor
- Email automations
- Unlimited contacts
- Transactional emails
- Inbuilt CRM
- Live chat tool
- Third-party integrations
Pricing: Brevo only charges for email sends and has no contact limits. Their free plan allows you to send up to 300 emails/day while the paid plan has no such limits and starts at $25 per month for 20,000 emails sends but comes with certain limitations like Brevo branding which costs an additional $12 per month to remove it.
Conclusion
When choosing an email marketing service, it is essential to consider your specific requirements, budget, and long-term business goals. By evaluating the factors that make a good email marketing service and exploring the options mentioned above, you can make an informed decision and select the best service for your business.
In conclusion, email marketing is a powerful tool for businesses to connect with their audience and drive growth. The best email marketing services combine ease of use, affordability, proper integrations, helpful customer support, and GDPR compliance.
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