A good email database has tons of uses from promotions to lead nurturing. Great email marketing tools and software solutions will make doing all of these things as simple as possible while producing excellent results.
With that in mind, we’ve put together a list of seven email marketing tools and software offerings to help you find the right one.
1. MailChimp
MailChimp is one of the big players in the email marketing game. They’ve been around since 2001 so they’ve got a lot of experience under their belt, along with 700+ employees to back them up.
MailChimp’s email marketing features are pretty extensive. There’s a lot of functionality around managing your email database, along with assigning people specific categories for segmentation. You can build your own newsletters and track the results and there are loads of e-commerce integrations so that you an hook your online store up with your emails.
They also have a decent app to run campaigns off, while they’re heavy on automation. This means emails can be sent out based on your customer’s actions quickly and easily.
Pricing
Free: Get campaigns up and running with a limit of 2,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails a month.
$10 – 25 a month: This gets you unlimited emails to send, but also opens up extra functionality such as demographics, timezone options, and advanced testing tools.
$199 a month: As the most advanced plan, this is aimed at companies sending a massive amount of emails. This comes with advanced segmentation, ‘pro’ mail merge features, and priority support over other users.
2. Constant Contact
Constant Contact has been around even longer than MailChimp, forming in 1995 as Roving Software (they’ve also got more employees too, with 1,235).
All of the main features that you’d expect are there, including tools for growing lists, email tracking and analysis, and segmentation. They also claim to have ‘the industry’s best email editor’. We won’t back a winner in this race, but we can confirm that theirs is a great and easy-to-use editor.
Just like MailChimp there are also plenty of integrations, including e-commerce and marketing ones such as Shopify and Salesforce.
Pricing
You can get a free month’s trial to begin with and then prices are:
$5+ a month: 10,000 emails a month, with number of contacts based on how much you pay.
$20+ a month: Unlimited emails,with number of contacts based on how much you pay.
$45+ a month: Same as before, but with extra features such as email automation, coupons, and subject line testing.
3. Drip
A newer kid on the block, Drip started in 2013. Since then they’ve brought in nearly 5k customers and hired 68 employees. Leaner and more modern than the previous two in our list, Drip have tried to differentiate themselves from the pack.
Drip works with your website and a number of integrations to build up profiles of your customers. This makes hitting them with the right message at the right time much easier. The usual features are there too, including email automation, personalised design and segmentation. They’ve also got analytics.
Drip has a different subscription model to MailChimp and Constant Contact. No matter the level, all the features are included and you just pay more as you get more subscribers.
Pricing
Free: 0-100 subscribers and unlimited email sends.
$41 a month: 101-2,500 subscribers and unlimited email sends.
$83 a month: 2,501-5,000 subscribers and unlimited email sends.
Variable: 5,000+ subscribers, unlimited email sends, and custom send rates.
4. SendinBlue
Just like Drip SendinBlue are one of the newer players, starting up in 2012 and now employing 80 people. In that time they’ve managed to rack up 50k+ clients, according to their website.
They certainly push their easy-to-design email campaigns. They use a drag and drop designer and template galleries, so you won’t need to use any code. From their onsite examples they do look good, with mobile optimization built in. Features-wise, they’ve got everything you’d expect from segmentation to integrations.
For their pricing model there’s a mix of the amount of emails that can be sent out and feature restrictions to set cost.
Pricing
Free: 300 emails a day and unlimited contacts.
$25 a month: No daily sending limit, up to 40,000 emails a month.
$39 a month: No daily sending limit, up to 60,000 emails a month. No SendinBlue logo and advanced statistics.
$66 – $603 a month: No daily sending limit, with a monthly limit set by price (ranges from 120k to 3m emails per month). Extra features include unlimited marketing automation and a dedicated IP for accounts sending over 350k emails a month.
Tailored: The enterprise option for larger companies adds in a dedicated account manager as well.
5. AWeber
Another company with its roots in the 90s, AWeber began in 1998 and now boasts over 100k clients. Front and center of their homepage they push their live support over phone, chat and email. They also talk about their experience and the education resources they offer.
Again, the features you’d expect are there, with automation, email editing, and integrations. They also have a range of mobile apps that offer analytics, newsletter curation, and email list sign ups.
On costs and features, every subscription package comes with every single feature, which is always a plus. You can also get a free 30 day trial to see how things go.
Pricing
$19 a month: Up to 500 subscribers, unlimited emails, and all features.
$29 a month: 501-2,500 subscribers, unlimited emails, and all features.
$49 a month: 2,501-5,000 subscribers, unlimited emails, and all features.
$69 a month: 5,001-10,000 subscribers, unlimited emails, and all features.
$149 a month: 10,000-25,000 subscribers, unlimited emails, and all features.
Variable: 25,001+ subscribers, unlimited emails, and all features.
6. ConvertKit
Off the bat, ConvertKit go for a unique approach to business. In their values section they specifically aim to have a 100% remote team with less than 50 employees. A very lean direction, they hope this will enable them to “focus on what matters most.”
Getting down to the features, ConvertKit position themselves as being the email marketing solution for creators, such as bloggers. Their email set up process looks fairly simple and they offer forms and reporting to help you grow your list. They also offer automation to help push customers down the pipeline.
Their pricing is similar to AWeber with all features available at all levels.
Pricing
$29 a month: Up to 1,000 subscribers, unlimited emails and all features.
$49 a month: Up to 3,000 subscribers, unlimited emails, and all features.
$79 a month: Up to 5,000 subscribers, unlimited emails, and all features.
Variable: Over 5,000 subscribers, unlimited emails, and all features. You’ll also get assistance for migrating from another email marketing platform.
7. iContact
iContact have been around since 2003 and they’re a part of Cision, which gives them some extra clout. They cover three main ‘solutions’, email marketing, marketing automation, and Salesforce mass emails.
Ultimately, iContact have got your usual feature bases covered. There’s customer segmentation, email creation tools, and email automation. They also have ‘Dedicated Strategic Advisors’, who can help with your email marketing approach and analysis.
In terms of pricing, iContact have a slightly more complicated structure.
Pricing
There are two packages, Essential and Professional, Professional offering the full amount of features. The extra features include extra analytics, landing pages, social monitoring, and triggered messages.
Then prices are based on the package plus the amount of subscribers you have. It’s far easier to head to their pricing page to work out what your costs may be.
