So you’ve got your shiny new email account, your social profiles, and maybe even a website to start bringing in your new clients.
Do you really need an Email Marketing Tool?
The answer is an emphatic ABSOLUTELY
Now before I get into my favorite email marketing platforms for small businesses, let’s quickly go over why you want to have an email marketing tool.
First of all, over 2.5 billion people worldwide use email. That’s huge, right?!? Just imagine being able to reach even a fraction of that number!
Email also happens to be one of the most cost-effective marketing tools. Yes, even more effective than Social media! Now, don’t get me wrong, Social Media is still incredibly important to your overall digital marketing strategy, it lets you start to build those connections with potential customers. Building authority and trust with them But when it comes to converting the members of your social media audiences to paying customers… Email is King!
Plus Email is so incredibly customizable! When you are posting on your social media accounts or blogging, you are speaking to your audience as a whole. But with an email marketing tool you can further customize your message for specific groups of people within your audience!
This is especially helpful when your business markets to people across multiple demographics. For example, if you are a motivational life coach, you may have clients that range from 21-65+, using an email marketing system, you can create tailored messages for each section within that group. So if you know your audience that is in the under 35 crowd responds well to one way of presenting information and the 55+ responds well to a different set of messaging, you can create lists or tag your audience inside your marketing tool so that you can create tailored messaging that best fits how they like to be communicated with.
You are probably already aware that there are a plethora of email marketing tools out on the market to choose from. Choosing the best one largely will depend on your business needs, how advanced or simple you want your tool to be, what kind of integrations you want, the type of reporting you want available, and what your budget it.
These are my top 3 email marketing tools for small businesses, whether you are just starting out, or you are well on your way to making your first million.
Mailerlite
Mailerlite is a fantastic option for anyone just starting out in the world of email marketing. It has some really nice features that add up to an overall pleasant user experience. The biggest downside to mailerlite is that it does not offer the ore advanced tagging to easy organization and targeting of your mailing list. But here’s why it makes this list:
- Easy to use drag and drop email editor
- Free to start and the free plan is fully featured
- Has countdown timers! Great for time-sensitive calls to action!
- Budget-Friendly
ConvertKit
ConvertKit is what I use for my own business. I recommend ConvertKit to all my clients who are just starting out, or who don’t need the more advanced automation that Active Campaign Provides. Overall ConvertKit is by far my overall favorite Email Marketing Platform. Here’s Why:
- Free to get started, and depending on the size of your list and needs, free forever. (however, some features are only available with a paid account)
- The visual Automations are extremely helpful in mapping out your customer journey
- No-fuss email editing which is great for those who don’t need media-heavy email or that knows their way around HTML & CSS.
- Fantastic Form and Landing page templates with the ability to add in custom CSS if needed
- Easy to Navigate and user friendly.
- Great user dashboard with all your metrics when you log in.
- Integrates with many e-commerce platforms and other tools
- Makes it easy to organize your email list with categories and tags.
Active Campaign
Active Campaign is an amazing platform with advanced features that blow basically every other email marketing tool out of the water. It does come at a premium and while it has a free trial it is a limited trial vs. the free forever starter accounts of the other two platforms here. Active Campaign is best for small businesses that already have a large email list, or those that expect high growth and would prefer to grow into their tool rather than grow out of as their business builds and gets more complex. Here’s a quick rundown on how it makes my list.
- Amazing Customer Support
- Advanced Automations with granular details
- Huge selections of automation triggers including date based for events.
- Drag and drop email builder with a wide variety of email templates available
- You can easily enable split testing from within your email campaigns which will allow you to really perfect your campaigns and maximize your conversion rates!
- You can even personalize your content and interact with subscribers based on their contact details and history. And let me tell you, that’s a HUGE deal when it comes to retention!
So there you have it. My top three recommendations for Email Marketing Platforms for Small businesses. Each of these tools I have worked with extensively and utilize on a regular basis in my own business and my clients’ businesses.
Let me know in the comments: What Email Marketing Platform do you use? What if your favorite thing about it? Or even, what questions do you have?
If you’re ready to delve into the world of email marketing or need someone to handle the tech side of your email marketing, be sure to reach out for a free fitting call.
Disclaimer: I only recommend products that I know and love! Some links in this blog post and elsewhere on the site may contain affiliate links at no additional cost to you.