5 Email Marketing tools for Entrepreneurs
Email marketing has become one of the most effective tools in supporting both small and big businesses in connecting and building brand awareness with their target audience. With over 3.7 billion email users worldwide and an expected growth of up to 4.3 billion users by 2022, email continues being a medium that allows constant communication. According to eMarketer, 81% and 80% of retail professional respondents stated that email marketing drives customer acquisition and retention. Entrepreneurs who aim at adopting promotional strategies to raise their brand awareness require email marketing tools to do so.
For email marketing to be successful, it must include a mixture of eye-catching visuals, great copywriting, an email list of your consumers and most importantly the right email marketing tool to help carry it out. With several email marketing services in the market; differing in price, features and complexities, this article will breakdown 5 of the top email marketing services in the market that aim to support the success of businesses.
MailChimp
Mailchimp can be categorized as one of the more popular email marketing platforms when looking for email marketing services. With its sleek design and variety of features, it offers a unique user experience for entrepreneurs.
Features & Complexity
The platform adopts a simple and minimalist interface that allows an ease of navigation through the features of the site. The platform offers easily understandable features to help carry out successful email marketing such as email automation, customizable template, reports and analysis, andcontact management. Mailchimp also offers other unique features that lets its platform standout; it includes a landing page editor that allows businesses sign-up new subscribers. It allows you import contact information for potential subscribers and target audience through your existing business website.
The platform is quite friendly when it comes to integration with social media platforms, e-commerce platforms and can also integrate with other important tools for entrepreneurs and businesses such as Zapier. Once email templates and contacts have been solidified, Mailchimp offers users the option of creating ads through the platform for sites such as Facebook and Instagram. Additionally, it offers users the opportunity of sending printed postcards that support campaigns made on the website.
When it comes to user support, Mailchimp only offers articles with extensive information and a 30 day trial online support to help users who may face difficulty while using the free plan. The email support feature is provided to those who upgrade their plan. This may be a weaker component of MailChimp in comparison to other email marketing software such as Constant Contact, who offer over-the-phone support and more.
Price:
As opposed to offering free trials for their service, MailChimp adopts a freemium business model in which it provides users with the option of a the Forever Free plan. The plan allows users access an array of features for free with a limitation of having up to 2,000 subscribers and sending 12,000 emails per month. On the other hand, if users choose to upgrade their plan, you can select between a once-per-month payment charge which is determined based on the number of subscribers you have e.g. 0–500 subscribers equals $10/month while 501- 1000 subscribers equals $15/month. MailChimp also offers a Pay As You Go feature that allows users buy credits for infrequent sending of emails as opposed to recurring monthly charges that may not be fully used. Credit types range between 5,000 for $150 to 25,000,000 credits for $10,000. Lastly, MailChimp offers the option of to upgrade to a Pro plan which offers more features for $199/month and above.
Constant Contact
Recognized for providing email marketing services since 1995, Constant Contact has focused on modifying the features of its services over the years. While it has done a great job of increasing its features over the years, it does not stand too different from other services in the market.
Features & Complexity:
The overall navigation of the platform is straightforward and allows ease for users to complete their tasks comfortably. Like any other email marketing service, Constant Contact offers customizable templates, contact list management, reporting features and all other essentials needed for email marketing. The features that stand out most when using the platform is its ability to mimic your business’ website design to support template creations. The service also provides great customer support. It provides a knowledge base for users to search through articles, tutorials and guides to get answers to their questions, and a community space where users can interact with other users to get support. The service also offers a marketing consultant who is able to help users with their experience using the service. The platform offers integration options with other apps such as Facebook, Google and e-commerce software such as Shopify but does not have a wider variety of apps in comparison to MailChimp.
Prices
Constant Contact offers users a trial period of 2 months. If users choose to stick to the service, they may choose from the varying packages offered. The price is determined based on the number of subscribers businesses using the service aim at maintaining. Constant Contact’s email plan may be viewed as a regular plan while email plus may be viewed as a pro plan.
Mailerlite
With it’s clean and straightforward interface, Mailerlite offers great options for growing brand awareness.
Features & Complexity:
Mailerlite has an interface that takes users through a step by step process when it comes to creating email campaigns. This process guides users through the platform in an easy and memorable manner. When it comes to features, Mailerlite does not differ too much from the other services discussed in this article. Its features include a landing page editor, email automation, integration options with social media platforms, e-commerce platforms and other third-party software applications such as Zapier. The platform is quite similar in features to MailChimp and can be viewed as an alternative.
Price:
Like MailChimp, Mailerlite adopts a freemium business model. It’s Forever Free plan allows users up to 1000 subscribers and 12,000 emails a month. If businesses or users choose to upgrade their plan, they have the option of paying monthly or yearly based on the number of their subscribers. Prices may vary from 1-1000 subscribers with unlimited emails for $10 per month to 45,001–50,000 subscribers with unlimited emails for $210 per month.
SendInBlue
Features & Complexity:
Like the previous softwares discussed, SendInblue does a great deal when it comes to giving users the essentials such as customizable template and contact management. What makes this platform standout is its ability to create a space for combined workflow in areas such as email marketing, transactional emails, SMS marketing, transactional SMS and marketing automation. The transactional features are useful for helping businesses with order confirmation, payment receipts and other transactional needs. An added bonus is its SMS feature which allows businesses build brand awareness through text messaging. The platform is also friendly with social media platforms and allows users create and manage ads that can be sent directly to Facebook.
Price:
SendInBlue offers a free plan that gives users 300 emails per day for an unlimted amount of subscribers. It also offers users the opportunity to upgrade their plan as their business grows. The plans are charged based on the amount of emails sent by the user and offers more extensive features in areas of advanced statistics, landing page builder and more.
Active Campaign
This platform has a highly interactive interface and can be helpful for business aiming to boost their automation and connection with their target audience.
Features & Complexity:
At first glance, users may find the Active Campaign platform a bit overbearing. However, once users become comfortable going through the platform and its corners, it becomes easier to navigate. Active Campaign does not just function as an email marketing tool but also has other unique features. When it comes to email marketing it provides contact management, template customization, analytics and template design. Unfortunately the Active Campaign platform does not provide landing page editor, pop-up editors, social media ads like Mailchimp and SendInBlue does, but is highly recognized for its outstanding automation feature. The platform allows easier automation practices for businesses through its drag-and-drop automation builder. This feature allows a faster and seemless email automation for businesses. The platform also improves automation by allowing users view it in one snapshot. Another great feature is its ability to integrate other software especially email marketing tools such as MailChimp. This shows the extent of automation practices that can be carried out on the platform.
Price:
Unfortunately Active Campaign does not offer a free plan, it does offer a 16 day trial allowing users gain an understanding of whether the platform works for them or not. The trial comes with a consultant who helps users navigate the platform. The packages vary in accordance to the number of subscribers the user or business may need.
Email marketing tools are an essential part of building brand awareness and connecting with a target market. With several email marketing services in the market, businesses have the opportunity to choose from an array of services and platforms that support the growth of their businesses. Email marketing is a cost effective and measurable way of staying in contact with your consumers.
Below is a table that summarizes all tools and the features they offer
