Email Marketing Solutions – Automate Your Email
Effective communication channels are vital to the success of modern businesses. Email marketing is a powerful tool most businesses need to implement and master to get information and news to customers and followers.
There are numerous apps and services available to help you manage email subcriber databases, with all the tools you need to create and send interesting, engaging emails, but…
Which email marketing solution is best for you?
Choosing an effective email marketing solution for your business will probably be based on the following requirements — the size of your business, the number of contacts in your database and the number of emails you plan to send out each month.
The best Email marketing platforms are being constantly updated and improved. Many platforms now also provide SMS marketing and Whatsapp messaging solutions, expanding the number of direct communications channels you have with your contacts.
Best email marketing solutions for SME’s & startups
- Email Octopus – Great for startups with a FREE solution for up to 2,500 contacts/subscribers. Affordable ‘paid’ plans for over 2,500 contacts.
- Brevo – Priced by emails sent (not contacts), making it cost-effective for large lists with infrequent sends. FREE plan for up to 2,500 contacts. Affordable ‘paid’ plans for over 2,500. Good SMS + email combo.
- Mailchimp – The most popular entry point. Great free tier, easy drag-and-drop builder, decent automation. Can get pricey as your list grows.
Best email marketing solutions for established & growing businesses
- Constant Contact – Powerful email and messanging tools for small and larger businesses. Constant Contact can grow you grow. Great integration options for e-commerce businesses
- Klaviyo – Very popular solution for e-commerce based businesses (especially Shopify). Deep segmentation, powerful integration & automation, built-in revenue tracking.
- ActiveCampaign – Best-in-class automation and CRM integration. Great for complex nurture sequences and lead scoring.
- Kit (was ConvertKit) – Popular with creators and bloggers. Simple, clean, and built around audience tagging and sequences.
Essential features to look for in an email marketing platform
Drag and drop design quickly create e-newsletters
Most email marketing solutions come with powerful design tools to help you create beautiful emails, whether using predesigned templates, or by creating your own designs from scratch.
Drag and drop editing tools make adding images and content simple. And integration of new Ai features is making e-newsletter and email design even easier.
GDPR Compliance
GDPR complaince is built in to most platforms, providing peace of mind for subscribers, and helping you by ensuring contacts are correctly onboarded and private data is held and used compliantly. Unsubscribe links and features can be built in so subscribers can easily unsubscribe, or request for personal data to be removed.
Integration with other business Apps
Ability to integrate with e-commerce, accounting and billing Apps e.g. Shopify, Woo Commerce, Magento, Xero, QuickBooks and other services.
Analytics to monitor email engagement
Most email marketing platforms provide useful analytics so you can monitor delivery success, engagement, link clicks & tracking, email bounces, mail blocking and more.
What do email marketing solutions cost?
Email marketing apps often base pricing levels on the number of emails you send each month and the number of subscribers you have. For startups and small businesses with a few thousand subscribers, FREE plans can provide everything you need to get started.
For large organisations sending 1000’s of monthly emails to many thousands of subscribers, you will need to consider monthly paid subscriptions, these can range in cost depending on the service and the exact number of subscribers you are sending to. As a guide prices can range from £10 to over £350 per month.
Why is email marketing important?
Whether a business is just starting, long established, big or small, email marketing provides a direct communications channel with your customers & followers. If your business is not using email marketing you are probably missing out on sales from both your existing customers and new customers.
Great Return on Investment (ROI)
Unlike social media ads that require you to pay every time someone clicks, email costs very little to send. On average, effective email marketing can return around 30 times spend, making it one of the most cost-effective channels available.
You Own Your Audience
Your followers on Instagram, TikTok, or LinkedIn are rented. If the platform changes its algorithm, locks your account, or loses popularity, you can lose touch with these followers overnight. Your email list belongs to you. No third-party algorithm can get between you and your subscribers.
Highly Targeted and Personalized
With email, you don’t have to shout the same message to everyone. You can organise your subscribers into groups (by segmentation) based on specific interests & behaviour e.g. what they’ve bought in the past.
- Example: A furniture store can send a discount code for bedding to people who bought a bed in the last month, rather than blasting it to their entire list.
It provides a ‘nudge effect’
People go to social media to be entertained or connect with friends. They check email with a different mindset – looking for updates, news, and money off deals. Because of this, consumers are much more receptive to promotional offers in their inbox than in their social feeds. Email marketing can provide a nudge effect, prompting consumers to go and make that purchase they have been considering.
Automation helps you do more business: Once you set up an automated email sequences -like a “Welcome Email” when someone signs up, or an “Abandoned Cart” reminder – these features can run in the background… you can literally make sales while you sleep.
CATEGORIES
GALLERY
