mail marketing is one of the most effective and cheapest ways to reach your target audience. It’s personal, it’s simple and it offers benefits that other digital marketing forms can’t provide. It is a proven way to build relationships with your customers and boost your sales. There are many email marketing services available for you to choose from, but not all are created equal. There are some that offer features and benefits that others don't, so it's wise to research what each service offers before deciding which one is right for you.
What to consider when choosing email marketing software?
- If the software enables you to create highly engaging email newsletters with a simple interface, usually a drag-and-drop editor.
- If it allows you to send personalized, targeted emails without putting a lot of effort into it.
- If it ensures good email deliverability so that your email campaigns do not end up in the spam folder.
- If the software integrates with other business tools you use.
So having that in mind, let’s have a look at 5 email marketing solutions that will help you create effective email campaigns to boost your profits.
The sequence I've listed these tools does not reflect their quality - they are all excellent email marketing tools and have different qualities. It's totally up to you which one you'll choose!
1. EmailOctopus
EmailOctopus is a fantastic affordable email marketing tool. What we love the most about this tool is its simplicity. The interface is minimal and clean. It's a great option for people who are just starting with their email campaigns as it's super easy to navigate and use the software. It offers all the essential features businesses and individual creators need to grow their mailing list and engage their audience.
Key features:
✦ Customized inline or pop-up forms for your website.
✦ Landing pages.
✦ Integration with most popular business and marketing tools such as WordPress, Shopify, Zapier, OptinMonster, SalesForce and more.
✦ Automated email campaigns.
✦ Audience segmentation.
✦ Real-time reporting.
✦ Pre-designed customizable email template library.
Pricing
EmailOctopus has very straightforward pricing - the more subscribers you have, the higher monthly price will be. It has 2 plans available:
1. Forever free plan: up to 2,500 subscribers, up to 10,000 emails/month.
2. Pro plan starting at $8/month for up to 500 subscribers, up to 10,000 emails/month.
On top of that, if you're an Amazon SES user, the forever free plan allows you to send unlimited emails to 2,500 subscribers and the Pro plan starts at $7/month, for up to 500 subscribers and also allows you to send unlimited emails.
If you're a charity or nonprofit, EmailOctopus provides you with a 20% lifetime discount!
Pros
✔︎ Simple and intuitive dashboard, easy to use drag & drop editor.
✔︎ Affordable, has a free plan.
✔︎ Fully automated setup.
✔︎ Many Integrations.
✔︎ Amazing support team.
Cons
✘ Limited form options.
✘ Segmentation feature has its limitations.
✘ Lacks some advanced features, e.g. cart abandonment.
2. Omnisend
Omnisend is one of the leading SMS and email marketing services for eCommerce businesses. Essentially, it is an omnichannel marketing automation platform built specifically with eCommerce in mind. It offers a variety of eCommerce integrations that will help you sell your products online without any effort. While email marketing is a main focus of Omnisend, this tool covers other features as well.
Key features:
✦ Email campaigns: templates, drag & drop editor, dynamic discount codes.
✦ Automation: pre-built eCommerce workflows, automation splits (A/B testing).
✦ Segmentation: customer lifecycle stages, shopping and on-site behavior, message engagements.
✦ Popups & Forms: landing pages, popups, wheel of fortune, signup boxes.
✦ Reporting: sales dashboard, campaign & automation reports, advanced reporting.
✦ Channels: email, SMS, web push notifications, Facebook retargeting sync, Google retargeting sync.
✦ 80+ integrations (API, native, other).
Pricing
Omnisend has 3 plans available:
1. Forever free plan: up to 250 subscribers, 500 emails/month, up to 60 SMS, and up to 500 web push.
2. Standard plan starting at $16/month for up to 500 subscribers, 6000 emails/month, up to 60 SMS, and unlimited web push.
3. Pro plan starting at $59/month for up to 500 subscribers, unlimited emails, up to 3,933 SMS/month, and unlimited web push.
Pros
✔︎ A wide range of features that helps you sell online effortlessly.
✔︎ Native integrations with plenty of popular eCommerce platforms such as Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce.
✔︎ A free plan is pretty generous on features.
✔︎ Sophisticated A/B testing & automation.
✔︎ Advanced audience segmentation and tagging.
Cons
✘ Limited email templates: lack of customization.
✘ Setting up Omnisend can be a little difficult, especially if it's your first time with email marketing.
3. Brevo (formerly sendinblue)
Brevo is an all-in-one marketing software focusing on small businesses. Similarly to Omnisend, it also offers SMS functionality. The service also offers transactional emails, which means you can have both your email campaigns and your admin emails in one place. It has a clean and intuitive dashboard which allows you to create beautiful emails without a hassle.
Key features:
✦ Communicate: email marketing, email API, SMS marketing, chat, inbox.
✦ Personalize: sales CRM, marketing automation, transactional emails, segmentation, A/B testing, send time optimization.
✦ Convert: signup forms, landing pages, Facebook ads.
✦ Reporting: email heat map, open and click-through reports, real-time results.
✦ Integrations: via API and plenty of plugins.
✦ Template library.
Pricing
Brevo has quite a few plans available, but let's explore the main 4 Marketing Platform plans available:
1. Free plan: unlimited contacts, up to 300 emails/day.
2. Starter plan starting at $25/month for up to 20k emails/month, unlimited contacts, no daily sending limit.
3. Business plan starting at $65/month includes everything in Started plan plus marketing automation, multi-use access and more.
4. Brevo Plus plan - customized quote depending on your needs.
Pros
✔︎ Affordable pricing.
✔︎ Advanced email automation.
✔︎ Transactional email and SMS marketing.
✔︎ Free CRM software.
✔︎ WordPress plugin, API available.
Cons
✘ Free plan limitations: daily sending limit, no A/B testing.
✘ Lack of transactional metrics
✘ Only 1 login unless you have a Premium or Enterprise plans, meaning if you want to have different logins for your team members, you need a Premium plan.
4. Constant Contact
Constant Contact is one of the most popular advanced all-in-one marketing automation tools out there. It has been on the market for over 20 years. It includes email and social marketing tools, event management tools, and other resources that are necessary for a successful business. Modern, mobile-optimized templates and a drag-and-drop editor make it easy to create and send professional emails. On top of that, it has a 97% email deliverability rate which is quite impressive in the email marketing industry.
Key features:
✦ Do more business: reporting, templates, marketing automation, customer list management.
✦ Reach more people: Facebooks, Instagram and Google ads, website signup forms, lead generation landing pages.
✦ Engage more customers: social media marketing, integrations, surveys, pools, event RSVP, SMS marketing, mobile apps.
Pricing
Constant Contact has 2 plans available. They offer a 60-day free trial with no commitment and no credit card required!
1. Core plan: starting at $9.99/month for up to 500 contacts. This plan gives you access to list growth tools, email and social marketing, and connects to the tools you use every day.
2. Plus plan starting at $45/month for up to 500 contacts. This plan gives you access to more list growth tools, automated emails, and additional insights to know what's working best.
Constant Contact also offers discounts for their annual plans: save up to 15% when you prepay for 12 months, and if you're a nonprofit - save up to 30%. There is no discount for a monthly term.
Pros
✔︎ This tool can be integrated with almost anything.
✔︎ Facebook, Instagram, Google ads.
✔︎ Exceptional email deliverability rates.
✔︎ 240+ templates.
✔︎ A very wide range of features
✔︎ 24/7 support.
Cons
✘ No free plan, can get a bit pricey if you have more subscribers. Although, it offers a free 60-day trial which is plenty of time to learn if this tool is right for you.
✘ Automation can be a bit difficult for beginners in email marketing.
✘ It lacks design functionality, e.g. customize email width.
✘ Not as intuitive as other tools mentioned in this article.
5. AWeber
AWeber is a marketing automation tool focusing on helping small businesses and entrepreneurs to simplify email marketing campaigns. It allows you to fully customize your email campaigns without any coding experience. It has an intuitive clean dashboard, and it might not feel like a very powerful tool but it has all the essential advanced features you may need: push notifications, signup-forms, funnels, landing pages and more.
Key features:
✦ Do more business: reporting, templates, marketing automation, customer list management.
✦ Reach more people: Facebooks, Instagram and Google ads, website signup forms, lead generation landing pages.
✦ Engage more customers: social media marketing, integrations, surveys, pools, event RSVP, SMS marketing, mobile apps.
Pricing
AWeber's plans are very straightforward, depending on how many subscribers you have. It has 2 plans available:
1. Forever free plan for up to 500 subscribers, 3,000 emails/month.
2. Lite plan at $14.99/month, unlimited subscribers, advanced reporting.
3. Plus plan at $29.99/month, unlimited subscribers, unlimited email lists, advanced reporting, advanced landing page features, you can remove Aweber's branding from your emails.
4. Unlimited plan at $899 - basically everything is unlimited.
Pros
✔︎ Excellent email deliverability.
✔︎ Very easy to use, intuitive dashboard.
✔︎ 24/7 phone & chat support.
✔︎ List management automation.
✔︎ Hundreds of free email templates.
✔︎ Email API and 750+ integrations.
Cons
✘ It might get pricey if you have more subscribers.
✘ Some of email templates look a bit outdated.
✘ The list import functionality can be a bit tricky, e.g. from Gmail.
Conclusion
Ultimately, all these tools are excellent for email marketing. You need to decide which one is best for you based on your needs. EmailOctopus is our recommendation if you're just beginning your email marketing journey. If you're a bit more experienced or a mid-size business, AWeber and Brevo are both excellent options. Advanced users who need more sophisticated automation features, integrations, and reporting should consider Omnisend and GetResponse.
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