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The rise in internet use has now opened the gate for connecting with the audience personally. However, where there are possibilities, there is competition. With the massive popularity of the internet, thousands of products are too. Moreover, eventually, there are promotions and marketing strategies. Email marketing is a productive way to promote brands and engage prospects and customers.

Gary Thuerk of Digital Equipment Corporation sent out the first mass email to 400 clients in 1978. He claimed to have generated $13 million in sales. As a result, he demonstrated email’s high potential as an effective marketing tool. Email Marketing campaigns have evolved over the years from mass email blasts to strategic, highly targeted messages since Thuerk’s first email.

In this article, we will discuss anything and everything you want to know about email marketing and introduce you to tried and tested best email marketing software 2023, so you do not have to worry about how they work.

What is Email Marketing

Email marketing is an ancient but powerful form of marketing that entails sending emails to prospects and customers. This effective strategy can be used for various purposes, such as increasing conversions, promoting products, or generating interest and loyalty to your brand. Email is a critical strategic channel for nearly every industry and one of the most effective ways to convert people into customers. 

According to research, organizations receive an average ROI of $36 for every dollar spent.

Source: Litmus
Mobile screen showing email notifications
Mobile screen showing email notifications

Email marketing is a type of marketing in which you can inform customers on your email list about new products that you have added to your business, discounts, and other services. It can also be a softer sell to enlighten your audience on your brand’s worth or keep them engaged in the interim. It also plays an essential role in your marketing strategy regarding lead generation, brand awareness, and relationship building.

Is Email Marketing Effective

Emails are a required part of the growth and management of your business, from order

confirmations to newsletters. Email marketing can help you achieve significant goals.

  • It Helps You In Conversions

Are you launching a sale or promotion? To increase sales, you can send an email marketing campaign to your subscribers. Additionally, try the following email marketing techniques to increase conversions.

Use coupons or special offers for subscribers birthdays or anniversaries and use them as a way to retain your audience.

Similarly, when a visitor adds an item to their cart but does not check out, abandoned cart emails are sent, which can be annoying. So plan it in a catchy mail or strategically so the user can revisit their cart.

  • It Helps You To Promote Your Brand

One of the significant advantages of email is that it allows you to communicate with someone directly. It is excellent one-on-one communication. And these days, people do not just let anyone into their inbox. It is a carefully curated space for your favorite brands and publications.

Appearing in someone’s email inbox will keep your brand fresh in the minds of your subscribers. A personalized marketing email has a more significant impact than a social media post because you never know who saw your message.

A laptop screen showing statistics
A laptop screen showing statistics

Scalability is a part of email marketing. This means that large numbers of emails can be sent to a small number of recipients while remaining cost-effective.

  • It Helps You To Get Loyal Buyers

The email encourages customer loyalty at all stages of the buyer journey. Lead nurturing, conversion, onboarding, and retention. Email marketing is also essential in conjunction with sales CRM systems to streamline communication.

  • ROI

Email marketing continues to provide any online channel’s highest return on investment. If you run your performance and measure your email marketing activities correctly, they will become a reliable source of revenue for your company. One of the crucial benefits of email marketing is tracking performance and presenting data to demonstrate ROI. This is especially important if your marketing budget is limited and every decision must be data-driven.

But your ROI depends on the fundamentals mentioned below.

  1. Size and quality of your email list
  2. Content relevance
  3. Design and copy
  4. Persuasiveness 

How To Calculate ROI on Email Marketing

Calculating the return on investment in your email marketing activities is simple. All you have to do is keep track of total revenue and divide it by total spending.

For example, suppose you made $200 in sales and spent $30 on an email marketing campaign. You will calculate the ROI of your campaign as follows.

TypeCalculation
Total Revenue$200 – $30 = $170
Spent$30
Return on Investment (ROI)($170 / $30) * 100 = 566.66%

The Downside of Email Marketing

  • Spam Mails

Commercial emails, also known as spam, irritate customers. If your messages are not being delivered to the right people, the recipient may delete or unsubscribe. You must ensure that your email marketing complies with privacy and data protection regulations and is appropriately targeted to people who want to receive it. Untargeted emails are likely to have very low click-through rates.

  • Design Problems

Your email must be designed so that it appears as it should across multiple devices and email providers. You may encounter a trade-off between design and functionality. Some people opt to receive text-only emails; consider how your message will look if this is the case.

  • Size Concerns

The file size must be small enough to download quickly. Emails with a large number of images may take too long to load, which results in frustrating your recipients and losing their interest.

Marketing Email Types

Different messages achieve your brand’s goals, from automated emails to

weekly newsletters. You can combine them to create an all-encompassing email marketing strategy. Email campaigns serve a specific purpose, such as promoting a special offer, encouraging users to download a whitepaper or e-book, or signing up for a free trial.

Email newsletters are sent regularly to subscribers to provide regular updates.

A newsletter may include new blog posts or case studies, a product update or 

recent milestones discussion, or a listing of upcoming events.

Marketing emails are scheduled to be sent automatically based on predefined triggers. You could, for example,

send a welcome email to new subscribers, and a celebratory email to subscribers celebrating their

birthdays, and a reminder email to customers who have abandoned their shopping carts.

Alternatively, you could send a drip campaign that nurtures leads and persuades them to buy. It depends on whichever email automation system you select for your business.

How to Market via Email

Now that you have learned the basics of email marketing, it is time to learn how to create effective marketing emails in five easy steps.

Market via Email
  • Set A Realistic Goal

Firstly, you need to understand that any promotional or marketing strategy can not give you overnight success. Everything takes time and for good usually. You must ensure you use the right approach and let your hard work speak for you. For starters, try focusing on the emails with the highest open rate so your business can be noticed. 

To understand the nature of marketing, assume you want to create a welcome email that greets new subscribers when they signup and offers them a discount code for their first purchase in your online store.

According to Email Marketing Benchmarks, welcome emails have the maximum engagement, open rate, and click-through rate. To avoid setting the bar too high, let’s say your goal is to launch a welcome email campaign with an open rate of more than 60% and a CTR of more than 15%.

  • Analyze Your Audience

You must now decide to whom you will send your email campaign. In this case, the target audience is simple, every new person who joins your email list. It could be anyone else, such as people who have visited your store in the last 30 days but have not placed an order or who have recently purchased from you but have not left a review. Before writing copy and designing email templates, consider who your target audience is.

  • Draft a Template

Now is the time to put your creative hat on and craft that email. Don’t worry; you do not have to be a designer or a copywriter to create effective email campaigns. The most important aspect is to always consider your target audience and the goals you have set for your campaign. Using premade templates will save you a lot of time while ensuring that your emails look great on all devices and email clients.

  • Schedule Your Emails

After creating the emails you want to send, it is time to schedule them so that the emails reach the appropriate audience at the appropriate time.

If you wanted to send a one-time email blast, you could do so right away or schedule it for later. You could also change the send time to match your subscriber’s time zone.

  • Analyze and Improvise

Give yourself at least 24 hours after sending a one-time marketing offer before analyzing your open rates, click-through rates, and conversions. This allows your recipients to respond to your message and place their order.

A girl working on a laptop in the living room
A girl working on a laptop in the living room

Remember all the significant factors that could have influenced your results when analyzing your email. These factors are the subject line, your offer, your target audience, the email template you used, the time you sent out the campaign, and any external factors that could have also been important. With this information, you can begin brainstorming new ideas and planning future campaigns that will yield even better results.

What is Email Marketing Software

Email marketing tools allow users to create, send, and monitor emails to their mailing lists. Using software makes it easier to create well-designed emails and gives you access to key metrics like open rates and click-through rates. 

Email marketing software usually offers different plans based on the number of contacts you have. The cheapest plan typically costs between free and $50 per month. The most expensive plan can cost thousands of dollars per month. Most plans include a two-week free trial and discounts for users who pay annually. The price plans determine the number of features you require and how actively you engage in email marketing.

Best Email Marketing Software 2023

Now that you have looked into all the basics of email marketing, it is time for some action. Companies and businesses use email marketing software because it is easier to use and can provide more functionality on one platform. Here we will deep dive into the 10 best email marketing software to use in 2023 and compare them to one another, so you can decide which is best suited for your needs.

SendinBlue 🔵

Sendinblue offers a free plan with many features, including email templates, automation workflows, phone support for starters, and up to 300 emails per day. Web tracking and lead scoring are among the advanced automation included. Unlike other email marketing tools, they charge based on the number of email marketing campaigns you send instead of based on the number of contacts. Paid plans begin at $25 per month for up to 20,000 emails.

Website interface of Sendinblue
Website interface of Sendinblue
  • SignUp on SendinBlue

The signup process on the website is effortless. It asks for your email address and password. Once you click on signup, it will send you a verification email to your mentioned address. When you confirm your email, the website will ask you for your personal details and verify your mobile phone number by sending a verification code. After successfully entering the details, you will land on a page that looks like this.

Pricing table SendinBlue
Pricing table SendinBlue

As you can see, there are three steps, and the first is to choose a plan. Here, all the prices are mentioned, and you can choose according to your requirement. But the plan starts from free, so if you are just starting, go with the free plan and test the platform.

SendinBlue Dashboard
SendinBlue Dashboard

After you select the suitable plan, it will redirect you to the dashboard, where you can import all your contacts and prepare an email campaign. The website provides a detailed analysis once you have set up your email campaign, like how many emails are viewed, how many are clicked, and from where you are now blocked.

Pros
  • The distinguishing feature of the platform is its excellent pricing range, where the paid plan starts from only $25 per month.
  • It boasts excellent workflow-based automation. You can trigger campaign actions by analyzing user behavior by their website engagement and lead scores and sending transactional emails.
  • SendinBlue free plan comes with a sales CRM.
Cons
  • The only drawback for Sendinblue is that their free plan comes with only 300 emails per day.

MailerLite 🟢

MailerLite is a low-cost email marketing program. It was established in 2005 and has multiplied. Every month, over 800,000 businesses use MailerLite. MailerLite allows you to send your subscribers emails, promotions, and newsletters. However, it can host web pages, send emails, and do other things. The majority of time spent in email marketing software is spent on email creation, so it must be good. MailerLite doesn’t let you down.

  • A robust email marketing platform with numerous features
  • A powerful email editor with over 60 modern email templates
  • Simple to use with several advanced features
MailerLite landing page
MailerLite landing page
  • SignUp on MailerLite

The signup process on the website is quite simple. It asks for your name, organization name, email address, and password. Once you fill that in, it will redirect you to complete the email verification process and ask for your personal details. One of the great things about the website is that it asks for your interests so that you can check all that is relevant.

Interest selection on the website
Interest selection on the website

Once you are done with all the questions they initially asked to personalize your experience, you will land on the dashboard screen.

Email marketing software dashboard
Email marketing software dashboard

There are different sections on the dashboard where you can analyze your performance and check the campaigns you have created. It helps with all the calculations and percentages for you.

The pricing on MailerLite is self-explanatory. It asks for the number of subscribers you have and calculates the cost accordingly. Their plans are curated so that you can choose a free plan if you have a limited number of subscribers.

Pricing
Pricing
Pros of MailerLite
  • The prominent feature of the platform is that you can send 12,000 monthly emails if you have 1000 subscribers, and even their paid plan starts from only $9 per month, which is as affordable as it can get.
  • The platform has advanced automation tools.
Cons of MailerLite
  • The issue is that ActiveCampaign and other email marketing platforms have automation triggered directly from website visits.

HubSpot 🟠

HubSpot’s Marketing Hub includes many features and tools to help you attract, engage, and delight your target audience. However, the in-depth data analytics and engagement reports distinguish HubSpot from other CRM databases, allowing your marketing, sales, and service teams to work collaboratively and efficiently. Every tool and feature in HubSpot complements and enhances the use of another, and the platform’s all-in-one design combines functionality and simplicity for the entire business.

Hubspot website
Hubspot website

With a drag-and-drop editor and simple personalization, you can create, edit, and send bulk emails, such as newsletters, directly from within HubSpot. The free tool allows you to send up to 2,000 emails monthly with Hubspot email marketing.

  • SignUp on HubSpot

The signup process is as simple as creating an account on Facebook. It asks for your organization name and a few other questions to personalize your experience. Once you have completed your account setup, you can land on the email marketing section of a website that looks like this.

Marketing emails
Marketing emails

There are layouts on the website, so you can just add the relevant content and start sending emails. But you can create an email for yourself as well.

Marketing Hub Starter is by far the most affordable. You can get all its features with 1,000 marketing contacts for just €46 per month. You can upgrade without going to Professional or Enterprise if you want more marketing contacts. You are charged per 1,000 additional marketing contacts. You pay €92 per month if you have 2,000 marketing contacts in your CRM. So you pay €46 for every 1,000 additional marketing contacts.

Pros of Hubspot
  • HubSpot’s most potent tool is arguably marketing automation. With HubSpot’s automation, a team of three can have the power of a team of fifteen. The core of HubSpot’s practice is creating a more efficient marketing machine with less effort.
  • Using HubSpot to set up marketing automation is an investment. A simple newsletter signup auto-responder can be set up in 20 minutes, but a proper marketing strategy for nurturing leads requires more time and effort.
  • The cost of your CRM tools may be the most influential factor in your decision. HubSpot offers a variety of pricing options based on the tier you select.
Cons of Hubspot
  • Hubspot’s advanced tools are pricey and they can be available on any other platform for much cheaper.
  • The split testing requires an extra amount of money though it is the most fundamental feature to measure the performance of online campaigns.

Moosend 🔵

Moosend is an email marketing platform that assists small businesses in running successful marketing campaigns. Moosend’s automation workflows outperform many of its similarly priced competitors. On the other hand, customer support in their free plan is only available five days a week and does not include phone or priority support. It also has a limited number of third-party integrations and pre-designed templates. Easy-to-use email marketing platform ideal for small businesses looking for industry-leading features without the high cost.

Moosend website interface
Moosend website interface
  • SignUp on Moosend

The signup process requires your business email address and answers a few relevant questions to help a personalized navigating experience. After you have signed up, you will land on the following page. 

Welcome screen on moosend
Welcome screen on moosend
Pros of Moosend
  • Moosend is an intriguing email marketing service with unlimited emails, pro features, and branding-free emails.
  • The reports provide a wealth of information, including click maps, geolocation, revenue generated by campaigns, and email clients.
Cons of Moosend
  • The pricing plan of the platform is not as suitable as its competitors. It offers a free trial for 30 days, and then the paid plans start from $9 per month for 500 subscribers.
  • There is no CRM, and there are few direct integrations with third parties compared to other email services.

ActiveCampaign 🔵

ActiveCampaign provides nearly everything you need in a newsletter marketing tool, and their advanced automation is difficult to beat. The entry-level plan starts at $9 per month for up to 500 subscribers, paid monthly, while the Plus plan starts at $49 per month and includes pro features such as an in-built CRM, lead scoring, landing pages, and SMS sending. Marketing automation is one of their key features. Aside from autoresponders, which can be triggered by various conditions, you can also use their CRM software to automate lists, contact management, and deals.

ActiveCampaign website
ActiveCampaign website
  • SignUp on ActiveCampaign

The signup on this platform is more straightforward than others. It requires no verification email or code on a mobile number. Once you provide the initial details, it will redirect to the page where you can customize your campaign.

Dashboard
Dashboard

With all of your information and activity in one place, you can quickly get a comprehensive picture of how your sales and marketing initiatives are performing. Not having to use multiple providers for your various digital marketing efforts may also save you money.

Pros of ActiveCampaign
  • The platform is known for its powerful automation tool. Integrated engagement allows you to combine all channels used within automation.
  • If you want to migrate the data from different email marketing platforms, it will allow you to migrate it for free.
  • The platform’s report is on point in all areas, including on-click maps, geo-tracking, and page visits.
Cons of ActiveCampaign
  • The biggest downfall to the platform is that no free plans are available, while the competitors offer multiple free plans.
  • You can preview how your newsletter will look on different client sites, but it will cost you some money.

OmniSend

Omnisend is a marketing automation platform designed specifically for eCommerce. With email marketing at its core, creating beautiful email campaigns is easier than ever. Omnisend has extensive integration with popular eCommerce platforms such as Shopify, Shopify Plus, BigCommerce, Woocommerce, and others, making it ready to use immediately.

Omnisend Website
Omnisend Website

Unlike other platforms on the market, Omnisend enables you to reach out to your customers by incorporating multiple channels into the same automation workflow, including email, SMS, push notifications, and many more. To provide an immersive customer experience, you can also sync your segments to Google and Facebook retargeting ads.

  • SignUp on Omnisend

The sleek and minimal aesthetic of the website makes it easier to navigate. The signup requires your name, email address, business details, and address. Once you are set up, you can go for email marketing campaigns.

Campaign setting on the website
Campaign setting on the website

To start your email marketing campaign, you need to define the details of your email. One unique feature is that you can connect your social media account to automatically publish your email campaign to your social media.

The platform provides free email services that include 500 emails per month. But the paid plans details are as follows.

Pricing plan
Pricing plan
Pros of Omnisend
  • As the website suggests, it is an eCommerce-centered platform that integrates seamlessly with your eCommerce website. Product and category recommendations will help you target the most suitable audience for your business.
  • Though its free plan is minimal compared to other email marketing platforms, it also has all the advanced features included in the free plan.
  • Automation is by far the easiest and saves a lot of time. The triggers, filters, and conditions make it easier to roll out emails.
Cons of Omnisend
  • Omnisend provides support to only one language, which is English, so it will be difficult if you want any other language support.

Keap 🟢

Keap is a customer relationship management (CRM) platform ideal for small business owners and those new to this software category. The platform includes sales and marketing automation, making it particularly useful for new e-commerce businesses looking for a one-stop shop.

Keap website
Keap website

The platform offers checkout cart features to increase conversion rates and average cart values, built-in invoicing, and numerous payment processing integrations. The platform’s simple automation saves customers an estimated 10 hours per week by eliminating manual tasks like texting and emailing follow-ups and recording new leads immediately after they fill out a form on your website or social media account.

  • SignUp on Keap

You can set up the system in as little as 20 minutes, and each plan includes a dedicated customer success manager to ensure everything runs smoothly. When you first access a new feature via the CRM dashboard, you will find helpful video tours that walk you through the capabilities. Aside from adding a new pipeline or using other CRM features, you can choose from simple premade templates to customize to your needs. Keap simplifies automation while maintaining a personal touch by assisting you in sending the right messages to leads and clients who engage with your content via emails, forms, and social media.

Pros of Keap
  • You get both sales and marketing automation in one simple platform.
  • All Keep plans include a customer success manager, phone support in the United States, and 24/7 chat support via the Keep app.
  • You can automatically collect and score leads for a more efficient sales process.
Cons of Keap
  • The free data migration process is limited to 10 items and one landing page.
  • Contact-based pricing increases your monthly base price as your contact list expands.

Mailjet 🟡

Mailjet is yet another best email marketing service of 2023. It includes several fully-designed email templates, a drag-and-drop editor, and transactional email support. The free account is a place to begin your email marketing strategy.

Mailjet website
Mailjet website

However, Mailjet provides a choice between its Marketer and Developer interfaces during setup. You can hand-code emails, customize premade designs in Developer mode, and create separate versions for the A/B test. You can integrate Mailjet into your app or eCommerce store and configure transactional emails.

  • SignUp on Mailjet

The signup on Mailjet is tricky, but it keeps the platform’s integrity intact. While signing up, you must provide detailed information for your website besides your personal information. After providing details, your request will remain pending in the reviewing state.

Pros of Mailjet
  • If you don’t need advanced features, Mailjet’s pricing is very reasonable.
  • If you want to create good-looking, personalized emails from scratch but lack technical skills, Mailjet allows you to collaborate in real-time with other team members, such as a developer, to get the job done.
Cons of Mailjet
  • Mailjet allows you to send various emails, but its marketing services do not include a landing page builder, CRM, or sales funnel software.
  • The free plan is very limited and does not include advanced features.

Benchmark Email

Benchmark Email takes pride in providing international service with a presence in fifteen countries worldwide. Benchmark Email has done an excellent job in terms of user experience and features offered by providing a powerful, simple tool. This is especially true when considering that many of their features are free. Although the number of emails you can send per month is limited to 250, you can store an unlimited number of contacts, so it is not a bad deal.

Benchmark website landing page
Benchmark website landing page
  • SignUp on Benchmark

The website’s signup started by providing a name, email address, and password and verifying that you are not a bot. Afterward, they ask questions about your organization to personalize your user experience. This is where they have a unique style because asking questions through an input box is too mainstream. They have created a chat box in which they ask for your organization details, and you answer them accordingly. This is a simple yet attractive touch to the overall user experience.

Benchmark dashboard
Benchmark dashboard

After that, you land on the dashboard screen, where you can complete your account setup and start creating your emails.

Pros of Benchmark
  • Benchmark is a pleasantly simple tool with a clean design, logical navigation, and a user-friendly email editor. Excellent for beginners or those who prefer simplicity in their email tools.
  • Although Benchmark does offer a free plan with a decent set of features, its small image storage limit means you will most likely have to pay an extra $5 per month to increase it to unlimited. Furthermore, the free plan only allows you to send up to 250 emails per month, which is extremely limited.
Cons of Benchmark
  • There are no free trials that means you can not test the features before handing them your money.
  • The free version has a limit of 10 mb for image storage.

Mailchimp 🟡

Mailchimp is a full-scale marketing platform that allows you to communicate with your clients and customers and manage them accordingly. Mailchimp is a well-known and extensively used email marketing software in the world. Mailchimp, founded in 2001 by Ben Chestnut and Dan Kurzius, now has over 20 million users and is valued at $4.2 billion.

Mailchimp website
Mailchimp website
  • SignUp on Mailchimp

The signup process starts simply by entering your email address and password. After that, Mailchimp sends a verification code to your email, and then you will land on a page to select your plan.

Mailchimp pricing plan
Mailchimp pricing plan

Luckily, they offer a free plan, but the drawback is that it is limited to 2000 contact maximum. Once you have selected the free plan, it will ask for your personal details to give you a personalized experience.

Pros of Mailchimp
  • Mailchimp is certainly not new to email marketing platforms, and that’s why they have well-maintained and polished software. As we all know, software is always a work in progress. They have worked out their way to an easy-to-use user interface.
  • The email marketing campaign plans start free for a certain number of subscribers, which is the best if you have just started your business.
Cons of Mailchimp
  • The target audience for Mailchimp appears to be anyone who wants to build an email list. And they’re doing a fantastic job of casting a wide net. Mailchimp has you covered whether you are a hobbyist, an online creator, or an eCommerce entrepreneur. However, because it serves a broad target audience, it is not always the best solution for your niche.

Conclusion

Now that you have learned the fundamentals of email marketing strategy, it is time to take action. Design high-converting email templates if you believe you are ready to run effective email programs to build and segment high-quality lists. And test and optimize your campaigns regularly, choose a suitable tool for your business and start emailing.

Most of these free email marketing tools include robust features even if you do not upgrade to a paid plan. Small businesses and marketers should be able to maximize their use while saving time and money. Even if you need to upgrade to meet your company’s requirements, you will find many of the paid plans which are reasonably priced and flexible enough to fit your needs.

Last Updated: Nov 24 2022

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