With the number of email users rapidly rising, email marketing is no longer an option – it’s a must. Whether you are a small business or a big corporation, email has become the go-to marketing channel to use. That’s because of its unbeatable 4400% ROI.
But for you to get that mouth watering ROI, you will need to have a robust email marketing strategy in place. And one critical element of that strategy is email marketing software.
You need to invest in the best email marketing platform.
Sure, you will have to fork out a princely sum for one, but it will definitely pay for itself soon enough.
The Best Email Marketing Service – Paid vs. Free
When it comes to email marketing software, you will be faced with the option of getting a free version or a paid one. While the free versions can manage to handle basic email marketing tasks, they can only go so far. Two critical elements that you will find lacking in free email marketing software are:
Advanced analytics
These give you insight into how readers engage with your emails. You can use the data to build more effective email marketing campaigns. With analytics and data, you are able to study user behavior. This, in turn, will show you what they need. You can then adapt your marketing according to those needs.
Advanced segmentation
In order for your email marketing to be more effective, you need a platform that allows you to segment your subscriber list to the smallest of groups. This is targeted email marketing at its best – whereby you can highly personalize the emails you send to your subscriber list.
Apart from these 2, you will find that free bulk email marketing services are very restricted in terms of features. This means you will be forced to adapt your campaigns to suit your email marketing. With a paid email marketing platform, on the other hand, the platform can be easily be manipulated to suit your email marketing needs. This allows you to easily implement email marketing best practices so as to achieve the best results.
The bottom line is that you will achieve better results with a paid email marketing platform and thus drive more revenue.
How to Choose the Best Email Marketing Platform for Your Business Goals
Choosing the right email marketing platform is crucial for the success of your marketing and ultimately your business.
With the many different bulk email services around, it can be overwhelming to pick one. And if you pick the wrong one, you will pay a bigger price than just money.
That is why we’ll give you a few tips on how to pick the best one for you. In order to narrow down your search when looking for the best email platform, here are a few things to look for:
Ease of use
One of the biggest factors to consider when looking for email marketing software is ease of use. Not only must it be easy to learn to use, but it must also integrate easily with your existing systems.
Automation
While all email marketing platforms allow for the automation of your campaigns, they all do it in their own different ways. Investigate how each does it and see if it suits your marketing needs.
Response handling
Because you will want your subscribers to interact with you in a meaningful way, you will have to look at how your email marketing platform of choice handles responses. The bigger your list, the more sophisticated the response handling functionality must be.
Industry
One thing that differentiates some email marketing platforms is the fact that others were designed specifically for certain industries. Make sure that your final choice aligns with your industry. Otherwise, popular as it may be, it may not work so well for you.
Pricing
Price is another factor you will have to work into your marketing automation plans. Fortunately, with the myriad of email marketing platforms on the market, you can easily find one that suits your budget.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s quickly find you the best email marketing platform for your business.
The Best Email Marketing Platform – Battle of the 6
Ready to grow your business through the power of email marketing?
Let’s take a look at some of the best email marketing platforms that will help you reach your marketing goals.
1. Drip
Drip may be a newcomer to the world of email marketing, but it definitely is defining the future of email marketing.
Some of the biggest features it brings to the table include:
- Ease of use
- Advanced automation
- Ultra-specific list segmentation
- An easy to use workflow builder
One of Drip’s strongest points is it that it has a vast array of integrations. These turn it into more than just an email marketing software. Beyond email, Drip also lets you send text messages and display Facebook ads among a whole host of other marketing tactics.
Drip is certainly a feature-rich email marketing platform that stands out from the crowd. Is it the best email marketing platform? If you are a marketer that wants ultimate flexibility in the way you run your campaigns it definitely could be. However, if you are a small business or have a small list, the plethora of features might just be overkill.
Drip has a free plan that allows you to have a maximum of 100 subscribers. If you want to scale, their pricing starts at $49/month for 2500 subscribers.
2. Mailchimp
While Mailchimp is usually dubbed the best email marketing platform for beginners, it is certainly a marketing powerhouse that can suit businesses of any size. Besides having one of the best forever free plans on the market, here are some other features that have made Mailchimp so popular:
- A visual drag and drop email editor
- Easy contact management
- Easy integration with other apps and tools
- API functionality
- Landing pages and email templates
While Mailchimp’s email marketing automation can help you get most of your marketing done, it is pretty basic when compared to other services on the market. But for those who love simplicity, this is not a bad thing at all. That and the fact that the user interface is very easy to understand and use.
Mailchimp’s pricing starts with their renowned forever free plan – 2000 subscribers and 12000 emails per month. After that, pricing starts at $10/month for the next 500 subscribers and the $5/month for every 500 additional subscribers.
Mailchimp is best suited for e-commerce stores, publishers, and those that don’t need an elaborate email marketing strategy.
3. Hubspot Email Marketing
When searching for the best CRM, one name that will always pop up is Hubspot. That’s because they have created an easy to use yet highly efficient customer relationship management system. That’s why you should also trust Hubspot Email Marketing with your email marketing campaigns.
Because Hubspot, as in the entire company, is focused on providing businesses with effective inbound marketing and sales tools, it’s no surprise that Hubspot Email Marketing offers features in line with that.
If your primary purposes for email automation include lead capture and lead nurturing, then Hubspot Email Marketing is the platform for you. Other features you can expect to get are:
- Easy to use workflows
- Mobile responsive templates
- Advanced segmentation and personalization
- In-depth analytics and data management
- Landing pages, pop-ups, and forms
- Lead scoring
One great feature you will definitely fall in love with is the unsubscribe feature. When a person decides they want to unsubscribe, the system gives them the option to opt-out of certain topics or simply take a temporary break.
When it comes to pricing, Hubspot Email Marketing has a more elaborate pricing structure than other providers as you can see below:
- Starter $50/month
- Basic $200/month
- Pro $800/month
- Enterprise $2,400/month
Hubspot Email Marketing is definitely the best email marketing platform if lead generation, lead management, and sales are a priority. SaaS and other B2B businesses will particularly find this email marketing software useful.
4. Aweber
Aweber has carved a name for itself as the go-to email marketing platform for serious marketers. That’s because of it being feature-rich, flexible, and robust in terms of reliability.
Aweber’s feature set includes among others:
- A drag and drop email builder
- Easy to configure email automation
- Mobile responsive email templates and forms
- Analytics dashboard
- Easy integration
Aweber is also well-known for its excellent customer support in the form of phone, live chat, and ticketed email support. But because of its easy to use interface and robust build, the times you need support will be far and in-between.
You can take this email marketing software for a 30-day spin if interested, thereafter pricing starts at $19/month for up to 500 subscribers.
5. Constant Contact
Another great email marketing platform for you to consider is Constant Contact. Because of it being easy to use, it is a beginner friendly email marketing software, yet capable of pulling off some amazing campaigns. And because of this, it is fast gaining popularity.
Some of the features that make this rising star desirable include:
- A/B testing
- High deliverability (97%)
- Automation
- Drag and drop email editor
- Beautifully designed templates
Although its feature set and functionality seem basic when compared to other advanced software like Drip, Constant Contact still comes with many features that will help you drive your marketing goals forward.
As far as striking a balance between price and functionality goes, Constant Contact is probably the best email marketing platform in its league.
Constant Contact’s pricing starts at a low $20/month with unlimited emails. If you’re not sure whether to commit to that or not you can get a free 60-day trial to help see if it’s the right software for you.
6. Marketo
Another great email marketing platform for B2B businesses comes in the form of Marketo. Marketo Email is a part of the Adobe company, making it a very reliable piece of software.
Marketo simplifies the marketing process so well that it makes it easy for you to run your campaigns efficiently, thus helping drive revenue. And being a sophisticated and flexible platform, you can manipulate it to do basically anything you may want to do.
Features-wise, here are a few you can expect to enjoy from Marketo:
- Real-time personalization
- Visual drag and drop interface
- Lead scoring and management
- Advanced analytics
- Easy integration with CRMs, including Salesforce
If you are a B2B marketer, Marketo offers you all the tools you need to generate and nurture leads, increase conversions, and also build relationships with your customers.
As for pricing, you have to ask for a quote as Marketo makes tailor-made email marketing solutions for their customers.
The Best Email Marketing Platform – Pick the Best Fit
When it comes to getting the best email marketing platform for your business, you need to make sure you invest time and resources to find a solution that will be a perfect fit for your business. In the digital age we live in, getting an email marketing software is no longer an option. If you are to thrive in the present and survive into the future, you need a robust email marketing strategy supported by a reliable platform.
So go ahead and pick the best email marketing platform for your business, it will be a great investment no matter what you pay for it.
Had any experience with any of these services from our best email marketing platform list?
Share with us in the comments below!
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