Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to meaningfully connect with customers and drive sales. But with so many platforms available, how do you decide which one is best for your business? This guide will help you understand what you should look for in an email platform and offer suggestions for which one is best based on several business categories.
What Are Email Marketing Platforms?
Email marketing platforms are software tools that help businesses create, send, and analyze email campaigns. They let you design eye-catching emails, target specific segments of subscribers, automate workflows, and track performance metrics.
Features to Consider when Choosing an Email Marketing Platform
Consider these features when choosing an email marketing platform:
- Efficiency: Can the platform help you write and design emails? Is there a customizable template library you can use? What are the platform’s automation capabilities? Is the interface easy and intuitive to use?
- Scalability: Can the platform grow with your business? How will it help you expand your email list? Can it handle an increase in volume without compromising on email or service quality? How do the plan prices change as you need to upgrade?
- Effectiveness: What data does the platform gather about subscribers? Does it allow for targeted campaigns or personalized emails? What performance metrics does it track? Can it be integrated with other software tools?
The Best Email Marketing Platforms
One size does not fit all when it comes to the platforms. For example, the needs of a small business vary greatly from the needs of a large enterprise. To help make your choice a bit easier, we’ve identified the best email marketing platforms for several different categories.
Best Email Marketing Platform for Small Businesses—Mailchimp
Mailchimp is a popular platform for small businesses thanks to its affordability and ease of use. Its free plan offers basics such as customizable templates, audience segmentation, and analytics, giving small businesses everything they need to get started. It also integrates well with online stores like Shopify, making it even more valuable to small e-commerce operations. Mailchimp is scalable as your small business grows, but the more advanced plans can be quite expensive if you have a large email list.
Best Email Marketing Platform for Large Businesses—HubSpot
HubSpot is an email marketing platform designed specifically for large businesses that require more advanced features. In addition, it provides tools for customer relationship management (CRM), sales, and customer service so everything can be managed in one centralized hub. HubSpot offers advanced automation, in-depth analytics, and can easily handle the complexity of large marketing campaigns. However, the advanced platform comes with an advanced price tag and a steeper learning curve for new users.
Best Email Marketing Platform for Businesses on a Budget—Moosend
Moosend is one of the most affordable email marketing platforms available, yet still manages to offer an array of great features. Its automation is unmatched for the price point and the platform seamlessly integrates with Google Analytics to track campaigns. Perhaps best of all, Moosend offers a free trial so businesses can test the platform before making the budgetary commitment. You can ensure Moosend is the right platform for your business, risk-free.
Best Email Marketing Platform for Automation—ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is the king of automation for email marketing platforms. It boasts a massive library of pre-built email sequences that are easy to customize, allowing businesses to efficiently automate a wide range of customer journeys. ActiveCampaign’s sophisticated automation capabilities save time while still allowing for personalized, relevant, and effective campaigns.
P6M—An Email Marketing Agency
While choosing the right platform for your business is important, so is choosing the team that manages your strategy. Perfect Six Marketing (P6M) offers world-class email marketing services with results that consistently exceed industry standards. Schedule a consultation today to learn how our experts can build a strategy tailored specifically to your business needs. Let’s work together!