Drip Marketing & Email Marketing Software
Email marketing is an essential part of client relations and acquisition. With so many email marketing options out there, you may be wondering how to select the marketing software that is best for your small business, whether you want to use it for drip marketing campaigns, event marketing, or as-needed email blasts. Lucky for you, we’ve compiled a short guide of the top email marketing software so that you can easily decide which service is right for you.
1. Constant Contact– Great for event planning, ideal for beginners, but lacking in terms of advanced automation. Adding contacts is easy, as is list management. They offer a variety of professional templates- over 400. You can also add action blocks with eCommerce features. Split testing must be done manually. Support is offered 24 hours a day by chat, email, and phone. They have one of the highest delivery rates and offer a 60 day free trial.
2. SendinBlue– Their free plan includes up to 300 emails a day and unlimited contacts. Their paid plans are competitively priced and offer A/B split testing as well as no daily sending limit. Since they charge based on the number of emails sent rather than the amount of contacts, this may be the right platform for businesses with a large number of contacts. This email marketing platform offers the best value for your money if you need automation, segmentation, and in-depth eCommerce functionality.
3. Mailchimp– The best thing about Mailchimp is that they offer a free plan with up to 2,000 contacts and 10,000 emails per month. Email marketing campaigns are created using simple drag-and-drop features. Scheduling and basic tracking, such as opens and clicks are included. Their logo is automatically displayed in your marketing emails with the free version. Customer support is only offered to paid users. They offer A/B testing to paid users, as well as other advanced automation features. For more information on automating marketing functions, read our blog, “Top Business Automation Tools.”
4. Get Response– They offer affordable marketing plans with unlimited templates, A/B testing, and eCommerce integrations. 24/7 live chat and other support options are available. Get Response is unique in that it features email marketing, as well as landing pages, e-commerce, sales funnels, and webinars (included in Plus and higher). Pricing starts at $15 a month with a 30 day free trial, making it quite competitive. You are only charged for active subscribers, unlike email marketing software such as Mailchimp, which counts unsubscribed contacts in your total. Their autoresponder functionality includes time-based and action-based messages. For businesses with complex drip campaign goals, this is the software to use. They offer all the basic analytics, as well as others such as “email ROI” and “metrics over time.”
5. HubSpot– Their free email marketing software includes drag-and-drop email templates, scheduling, and unlimited contacts. They also offer in-depth reports regarding traffic and conversions and a 99% delivery rate. Live chat support is available for free users. Most small businesses find their paid plans to be too expensive even though they have a great sales funnel, but the free plan allows up to 2,000 emails per month.
Email Marketing Services Offering a Free Plan: SendinBlue, Mailchimp, HubSpot
Free Plan Winner: Mailchimp
Most Affordable: Mailchimp and Get Response
Most Features and Functionality: Get Response
Best for eCommerce: Get Response
Best for High Number of Contacts: SendinBlue
Best Sales Funnel: HubSpot
For Beginners: Constant Contact
While these are not the only email marketing software on the market, they are some of the most inexpensive, with a healthy amount of features and ease of use for small businesses. If your budget is tight, try one of the free email marketing plans offered by SendinBlue, Mailchimp, or HubSpot. To learn more about the marketing resources you need to leverage, read our blog, “A Step by Step Guide to Digital Marketing.”
About the author: Sheri Holshouser is a marketing manager based in Dallas, Texas. In her free time, she likes to read science fiction novels and play with her pug Chloe. Learn more about her professional qualifications on LinkedIn.
