Despite being one of the oldest forms of internet communication out there E-mail stills ranks as top dog among all other forms of communication on the internet.
In 2020 there were almost 4 billion email users worldwide.
That is roughly half of the population of the globe using Email!?
A truly astonishing figure.
And one that will only continue to rise in the future
When it comes to digital marketing, Email continues to deliver the best Return on Investment.
For every $1 spent on Email marketing you can expect an average return of $42.
This figure says it all really.
Such a cost effective way to reach your customers and generate revenue deserves your attention if you hope to succeed with your blogging or business ventures.
So lets have a look at what is Email marketing.
What is Email Marketing Software?
At its most basic level Email marketing software allows you to build a list of contacts whom you wish to send emails to, helps you to design engaging emails to send and then tracks their progress after they have been sent .i.e. whether they were delivered successfully, how many were opened and how many were read etc.
Email marketing platforms can also offer you many other useful features such as email automation, webinars, landing page builders and building of complex sequences based on how your contacts respond to your emails like welcome series emails for new subscribers or abandoned cart flows.
Things to Consider When Choosing Your Email Marketing Software.
When choosing the email software that is going to suit your needs best, it is important to take into account certain factors.
Price
While not true with every single email marketing platfom, most email services calculate their price based on the number of contacts that you have in your email list.
Email marketing providers will calulate this based on a subscriptions or a list system.
A subscriber system basically means if one individual signs up multiple times for different offers or promos they will count as 1 subscriber.
In a list based system if one person signs up 10 times they would count as 10 subscribers!
This could quickly raise your number of subscribers requiring you to pay higher fees so ideally a subscriber based platform is prefered.
What Email Marketing Tools You Will Actually Need?
The decision as to which email marketing service that you decide to use will usually come down to which email service has the most features that you will actually need to achieve your desired results.
There is no point signing up to the very best email platform out there and paying a high monthly subscription for all the latest bells and whistles like landing page builders, webinar hosting, complex email automation sequences and customer journey planners if all you really want is to create is a simple email newsletter to keep in touch with the followers of your blog or send a ‘Thank You’ email to your customers.
Integrations
Another important thing to consider when choosing your email marketing service is whether or not it its compatible with other software that you use in your business.
If you have a eCommerce store for example, and you use Shopify, Woocomerce or Big Commerce make sure that they are compatible with your chosen email marketing platform.
Deliver-ability
Deliver-ability refers to the percentage of your sent emails that arrive in your subscribers inbox as opposed to the promotions or spam folder.
People are less likely to engage with emails that do not land in their inbox so ensuring that your email marketing software has high deliver-ability is a must.
Customer Support
Even with the most easy to use software, problems can and do arise from time to time.
Choose a marketing platform that has highly rated customer support that can be communicated easily and offer fast and effective solutions to problems.
Some providers have 24/7 access with live chats which gives fast reliable help at any given moment.
Best Email Marketing Software 2021
1 - Active Campaign
When it comes to email marketing software Active Campaign is the automation heavyweight which also boasts a bulit in CRM and a dazzling array of customization options.
Active Campaign Features
Active Campaign is and All-in-one marketing solution.
It gives you lots of different options for designing e-mails from simple newsletter style campaigns to more complex sequences like
- Welcome series emails –
- Abandoned cart flows – which help recover sales that could have been lost.
- A/B split testing testing allowing you to test different sales copy, images and CTA’s.
- SMS.
- List segmentation
- Powerful built-in CRM.
Active Campaign Deliver-ability
Active Campaign ranks consistently high when is comes to getting your e-mail campaigns landing in your subscribers inbox.
Active Campaign Customer Suppport
Active Campaign offer a fast and friendly customer support service their knowledge base is particularly useful and easily searchable. They also have video tutorials available, webinars (live and archived) and one-on-one training on the ‘Plus’ plan.
Active Campaign Pricing
While certainly not the cheapest email marketing solution out there, Active Campaign does deliver great value for money provided that you you can make use of the wide array of features at your disposal.
Also there is no limit to the amount of mails that you can send and you get access to unlimited automation tools.
Based on a contact list of 2,500 the basic service starts at $45 per month up to $229 for the premium package.
While there is no completely free version to get you started they do offer a 14 day free trial.
ConvertKit
ConvertKit was designed with bloggers and online creators in mind.
Their focus is helping creators to earn a living online by building an audience and connecting with them in a meaningful way to sell digital products and services.
ConvertKit Features
Convertkit combines powerful automations with an easy to use interface to really simplify your email marketing campaigns including.
- Form creation.
- Landing Page Builder
- A/B Split Testing
ConvertKit Deliver-ability
According to the most recent report from emailtooltester.com ConvertKit boasts a a whopping 96% deliver-ability score.
ConvertKit Pricing
ConvertKit provides a free basic service to get you started up to 1000 contacts.
If you want to avail of the email automation and sequencing you will need the Creator package which will set you back $49 per month based on 3000 contacts.
ConvertKit also offer a premium package with more advanced reporting and subscriber scoring should you require more in depth analysis of your list for $79 per month for 3,000 contacts.
It is also worth noting that when you pay your subscription annually Converkit will give you a reduced price resulting in two months for free!
ConvertKit Customer Support
ConvertKit provide a series of useful tutorials to get you started and should you need any further assistance you can contact their support team via email.
Response time generally depends on the how busy they are but user feedback has generally been that they are fast and helpful.
Aweber
Aweber is one of the longest established email marketing software out there.
They offer a drag and drop builder for quick and easy creation of landing pages, web push notifications, forms and funnels, all from one place.
Aweber Features
- Great list management tools – customized by you.
- Built in email analytics – great for tracking sales
- Customer phone support – for those who want to be able to actually speak to someone if they need assistance.
Aweber Pricing
Aweber offers a free plan for up to 500 contacts and then the price increases from there depending on how many contacts you add.
Based on a subscription of 2,500 contacts you will pay $29 per month.
Up to $149 per month for 10,000+ contacts.
One difference with Aweber pricing is that you get full access to all their features straight away on any paid plan.
The price only changes when you increase the amount of contacts.
Aweber Customer Support
Customer support comes very highly rated and is available via Live-chat or by phone.
Aweber also provides a full educational suite to provide new users with as much info as possible including podcasts, video tutorials and articles and blogs about how to get the most from the software.
So What Is The Best Email Marketing Software?
As with all sofware queries the answer is usually subjective.
Its fair to say that some email marketing platforms come with a wider range of features and capabilities than others.
But really the best one for you will depend on how you hope to use email marketing within your business strategy and the results you hope to achieve from it.
