Email marketing has been an integral part of any integrated marketing communications or demand strategy. It is the most cost-effective and targeted way to reach out to potential customers.
For small businesses, email marketing can be a powerful tool to generate new leads, promote products/services and build lasting customer (B2B or B2C) relationships. But email marketing isn’t an easy task – it requires careful planning, strategy formulation, and selecting the right email marketing service provider to get the most out of email campaigns.
Why your business needs an email marketing service
Email marketing services offer powerful email marketing tools, automation capabilities and email tracking metrics. They can help businesses create high-quality email campaigns to engage their target audience in a more personalized way.
An email marketing service will provide you with email templates, copywriting assistance, list segmentation, contact management, email scheduling, analytics, A/B testing and more. With email marketing services, businesses can easily craft email campaigns that are tailored to the individual recipient’s interests and needs.
The email marketing service you choose will depend on your budget, email list size and desired features. To help you make an informed decision, I compared 7 of the best email marketing services for small businesses in 2021.
Why choosing the right email marketing service is important?
Choosing the right email marketing service is important for several reasons. First, email marketing services provide faster delivery and higher email open rates compared to sending emails directly from your email client. Second, email marketing services have sophisticated features like automated email campaigns, segmentation and contact management that will help you reach out to more recipients in a more personalized way. Third, email marketing services offer analytics to track email performance and optimize email campaigns for better results.
A closer look at the best email marketing services in 2023
To help you make an informed decision, I’ve created a comparison between seven email marketing services for small businesses in 2023. Each one offers different features and functionality, so you can find the right email solution that best fits your business needs.
Constant Contact
Constant Contact is an email marketing service provider with a wide range of features. It helps businesses create email campaigns quickly, automate email sends to segmented contacts, and track the performance of email campaigns. Constant Contact also provides powerful tools for email list management and automation that allow you to grow your email list organically.
With its easy-to-use email builder, Constant Contact provides a platform to create beautiful email campaigns without any design or coding knowledge. It also offers custom email templates, email A/B testing, and detailed reports that help you measure the performance of email campaigns.
SendinBlue
SendinBlue is a powerful email marketing service provider that offers email marketing, SMS marketing, and chat automation features. It helps businesses create email campaigns quickly, automate email sends to segmented contacts, and track the performance of email campaigns. With SendinBlue, you can customize email templates for each contact group with content blocks based on their preferences.
SendinBlue also offers powerful email automation tools that allow you to automate email campaigns based on contact behavior. It also provides email A/B testing and detailed reports to help you measure the performance of email campaigns. Additionally, SendinBlue’s advanced transactional email features enable businesses to send personalized messages to customers with purchase reminders or thank-you messages.
MailChimp
MailChimp is one of the most popular email marketing service providers in 2023. It helps businesses create email campaigns quickly, automate email sends to segmented contacts, and track the performance of email campaigns. With its simple email builder, you can design beautiful email campaigns without any coding knowledge.
MailChimp also provides powerful features for email list management and automation, allowing you to grow your email list organically. Additionally, MailChimp offers email A/B testing and detailed reports that help you measure the performance of email campaigns.
Overall, MailChimp is a great email marketing service for small businesses looking for an easy-to-use platform to design beautiful email campaigns. It offers powerful email automation features that help businesses acquire and retain customers. With its simple email builder, you can design email campaigns quickly and launch them in no time.
AWeber
AWeber is an email marketing service provider that helps businesses create email campaigns quickly, automate email sends to segmented contacts, and track the performance of email campaigns. It also provides powerful email list management and automation features for email list building.
With its easy-to-use email builder, AWeber allows you to design email campaigns without any coding knowledge. Additionally, its email automation features enable businesses to automate email campaigns based on customer behavior.
AWeber also offers email A/B testing and detailed reports that help you measure the performance of email campaigns. It has powerful segmentation tools that allow you to target contacts with specific messages, as well as integration with popular email marketing tools such as Zapier and WordPress.
GetResponse
GetResponse is one of the most popular email marketing services in 2023. It offers a wide range of features for email marketing, email automation, and list building. With GetResponse’s email builder, you can quickly create beautiful email campaigns without any design or coding knowledge.
GetResponse also provides powerful email automation tools that allow you to automate email campaigns based on contact behavior. Additionally, it offers email A/B testing and detailed reports to help you measure the performance of email campaigns.
GetResponse is an excellent email marketing service for businesses looking for an easy-to-use platform to build email campaigns quickly. With its advanced email automation features, you can create automated email campaigns to acquire and retain customers. GetResponse also offers powerful segmentation tools that allow you to target contacts with specific messages, as well as integration with popular email marketing tools such as Zapier and WordPress.
Campaign Monitor
Campaign Monitor is a powerful email marketing service provider that helps businesses create email campaigns quickly, automate email sends to segmented contacts, and track the performance of email campaigns. It also provides a comprehensive suite of email list management and automation features for email list building.
With its easy-to-use email builder, Campaign Monitor allows you to design email campaigns without any coding knowledge. Additionally, its email automation features enable businesses to automate email campaigns based on customer behavior.
Campaign Monitor also offers email A/B testing and detailed reports that help you measure the performance of email campaigns. It has powerful segmentation tools that allow you to target contacts with specific messages, as well as integration with popular email marketing tools such as Zapier and WordPress.
ConvertKit
ConvertKit is an email marketing service provider that provides an easy-to-use platform to design email campaigns quickly, automate email sends to segmented contacts, and track the performance of email campaigns. It also provides powerful email list management and automation features for email list building. With ConvertKit’s simple email builder, you can design email campaigns without any coding knowledge.
ConvertKit also provides powerful email automation tools that allow you to automate email campaigns based on contact behavior. Additionally, it offers email A/B testing and detailed reports to help you measure the performance of email campaigns.
Build your email list proactively
These email marketing services offer powerful segmentation tools that allow you to target contacts with specific messages, as well as integration with popular email marketing tools such as Zapier and WordPress. Some ways to build your list include:
- Use social media to share email signup forms and encourage followers to join your email list.
- Run email marketing campaigns with incentives for customers to subscribe.
- Utilize customer referral programs – offer rewards for referrals.
- Provide exclusive offers or discounts to email subscribers.
- Publish content regularly and include email signup forms in the content.
By following these best practices, you can build an email list that will help you reach more customers, increase engagement, and boost sales. With the right email marketing service, you can create custom email campaigns that drive conversions and grow your business.
Improving your email deliverability
To help improve deliverability of your email campaigns, you should use email marketing services that offer email authentication, email reputation management, and email deliverability monitoring.
Email authentication helps to ensure that email messages are sent from your domain and not a spoofed address. Email reputation management is used to increase the trustworthiness of your sending IP address. And, email deliverability monitoring measures how effectively emails are delivered to customers’ inboxes.
Plenty of email templates
All of these above services offer a variety of templates to use or start from in building something that supports your brand and image.
The email templates are pre-designed, and you can customize them with your own content. Depending on the email marketing service provider, some may offer responsive email design templates that look great on any device.
Using email templates can help save time as well as give you inspiration for creating visually appealing emails.
Using email responders to automate campaigns
Marketing automation, specifically around email marketing is a great way to continually nurture your subscribers and to stay in touch with them.
Using email responders, you can set up email campaigns that automatically send email messages to customers based on their behavior or certain triggers. For example, when a customer makes a purchase, they could be sent an email thanking them for the purchase and offering a discount on their next order.
Email responders are also useful for sending out automated email campaigns like onboarding emails, email courses, or even email newsletters.
By automating email campaigns with email responders, you can save time and resources while enhancing customer relationships.
What costs should you expect to pay for an email marketing tool
The cost of email marketing services varies depending on the service provider. Typically, email marketing services offer a range of plans with different features and price points.
In general, email marketing tools charge a monthly fee based on the number of contacts you have in your email database or email list. Some providers also offer discounts for paying annually or for larger email lists.
Aside from the monthly fee, some email marketing tools may also charge additional fees for email deliverability services, email authentication, or other features. It’s important to read through the pricing page of an email marketing service before signing up so that you know what costs to expect.
Why I picked it
Ok, in addition to reviewing the above I have used MailChimp, Constant Contact, and Send in Blue for most of my professional career. My vote would have to go to Send in Blue, however. This is something I have been leaning towards (and use with John R Kowalski | Integrative Marketing Fusion). After being a solid Constant Contact loyalist, I like the expanded marketing automation features that come with Send in Blue. The SMS text automation with it is also intriguing but I have yet to test it out as I’m unsure of it’s B2B applications.
I suggest you review each of the above and determine what is right for you and your business.
Summary
In conclusion, email marketing is an important part of any integrated marketing communications strategy. Choosing the right email marketing service provider is essential to get the most out of email campaigns and reach potential customers in a cost-effective way. They offer businesses powerful email list management and automation features to create email campaigns quickly, automate email sends to segmented contacts, and track the performance of email campaigns. They also offer email authentication features, email reputation management tools, and email deliverability monitoring to ensure high deliverability rates. Additionally, they offer a variety of customizable email templates to make email campaigns visually appealing. Ultimately, email marketing services can help businesses grow their email list, improve email deliverability, and increase engagement with customers.
Overall, email marketing is a great way to grow your business and reach your target audience. With the right email marketing service provider and effective strategies in place, you can create successful email campaigns that will help you drive conversions and increase revenue.
