6 Best Email Marketing Platforms for Small Businesses

Currently, there are over 670 email marketing software options on the market, making it quite challenging for beginners to choose the right bulk email software. To address this need, the Gpwebmedia team has tested, compiled results, and provided recommendations for email marketing tools suitable for specific fields.

But before we dive in, I want you to understand the importance and impact of email marketing on campaigns through the following content!

Why is choosing the right email marketing software important?

Email marketing is one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies for small businesses. According to the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing yields an average 4300 percent return on investment (ROI) for businesses in the United States. Email marketing is easy to manage, allowing you to set up and have full control over direct communication with your customers.

In reality, much of the success of email marketing depends entirely on the email marketing software you use. A reputable email system will reduce the chances of your emails ending up in spam folders, ensuring your emails appear in primary inboxes with higher open and click rates.

If you are not careful in selecting the software, you might end up paying more for fewer features, and the effectiveness will not be as expected.

A good email marketing software should meet the following features:

• Allow creating attractive emails with pre-designed, appealing templates.
• Send bulk emails while ensuring personalization – marketing automation.
• Centrally manage contact lists, segment customers into groups.
• Monitor detailed campaign performance: open rates, click rates, leads from emails, etc.
• Ensure marketing emails are not placed in spam folders.

6 Best Email Marketing Platforms for Small Businesses

1. Constant Contact

Constant Contact is regarded as one of the largest and fastest-growing email marketing software in the world. With its user-friendly interface, Constant Contact attracts many beginners.

You can manage detailed email lists, contacts, email templates, and marketing schedules for a campaign. Each account provides you with unlimited emails, easy tracking of campaign performance reports, integration with Facebook Ads, e-commerce for Shopify stores, and social media sharing tools.

The Email Plus account of Constant Contact upgrades email automation features, segmented campaigns, surveys and polls, online donations, A/B testing for subject lines to optimize open rates with quality content. Constant Contact also offers customer support with live chat and numerous other utilities.

In addition to online training, Constant Contact hosts online seminars to provide leaders with the most detailed insights into email marketing tools and how to effectively implement them. Constant Contact offers a 60-day free trial (no credit card required). After that, the lowest plan costs around $20/month.

2. SendinBlue

SendinBlue is the fastest-growing SMS and email marketing platform in Europe. Its simple drag-and-drop editor on pre-designed templates helps beginners easily design attractive emails to suit their marketing needs and purposes.

SendinBlue supports detailed contact management, builds automated email sending processes, and schedules email sending at the best times to ensure the best campaign quality. SendinBlue offers a completely free email marketing plan allowing you to send up to 300 emails per day, but all emails must display their branding.

The paid plan of SendinBlue starts at around $25/month, with higher prices for SMS marketing features. Recently, they have developed premium features at the same price, including a landing page builder, live chat, sales CRM, and Facebook Ads integration.

3. Drip

Drip is primarily used by bloggers, digital marketers, and e-commerce. Drip’s email marketing software provides a range of tools to automate marketing, sales funnels, and easy personalization. They integrate seamlessly with popular websites like WordPress and WooCommerce, allowing you to easily add registration forms and pop-ups to attract more potential customers.

Drip’s e-commerce revenue attribution feature helps businesses accurately capture revenue for each email marketing campaign. Drip’s support services include live chat, webinars, courses, free training sessions, and related materials for effective email marketing.

Drip offers a free trial, with the lowest full-featured plan costing around $49/month. Drip also includes SMS marketing functionality to help businesses reach customers through multiple channels.

4. AWeber

AWeber is an email platform designed specifically for small and medium-sized businesses to manage email marketing. It seamlessly connects with most platforms, including WordPress, allowing you to use flexible HTML templates, manage customer data lists, set up auto-responders, A/B testing, and track detailed campaign information.

AWeber supports auto-responders for bloggers and segments subscribers based on tags. AWeber offers a limited free plan for up to 500 subscribers, with a monthly cost of $19. You can consider purchasing quarterly/yearly plans to save costs.

5. GetResponse

GetResponse is also highly regarded as a popular email marketing software for small businesses. With a customizable drag-and-drop builder, you can easily create campaigns, segment contacts, and send bulk emails designed for specific groups.

GetResponse features a variety of templates, a landing page builder, A/B testing, unsubscribe tracking, and auto-responders. It also integrates with third-party lead generation software like OptinMonster, SalesForce, Google Docs, and ZenDesk.

GetResponse offers a 30-day free trial, with a monthly cost of $15.

6. Mailchimp

Mailchimp’s standout feature is its permanently free email marketing plan. Mailchimp provides a variety of templates that are easy to edit, supports auto-responders, segments contacts into groups, and tracks detailed campaign statistics. It also allows you to schedule emails by time zone and set up location-based segments.

Mailchimp integrates with WordPress, Magento, Shopify, and many other platforms. However, its marketing automation features are somewhat limited compared to other providers on this list like Drip. Mailchimp’s customer service is also rated lower due to its slow and non-instantaneous email support.

Mailchimp offers a permanently free plan allowing you to send 12,000 emails to up to 2,000 subscribers with limited features. Their paid plans start at $10/month for up to 500 subscribers, with prices increasing for larger lists. You can also consider their $299/month plan for the full feature set on Mailchimp.