How to choose the best email marketing software for your business

Want to know how to choose the best email marketing software for your business?

Well firstly please don’t ask a Facebook Group!

Every time I’m in a Facebook Group and I see a post saying “What is the best email marketing tool to use?” or “I know I need to start an email list. What is the best email service provider?” my heart dies.

I know that everyone is going to respond with their favourite and very little factual information will be provided to help the person who wrote the message actually get the information they need to make an informed decision about which email marketing software to use.

Now the truth is now there are a lot of options when it comes to email marketing software. Email marketing is a great tool for businesses small and large, so lots of companies have created software to support that demand.

What constitutes as the best email marketing software is subjective and also dependent on your circumstances and preferences.

With that in mind, here are some questions to ask yourself before you go reviewing the websites of email marketing software so you can be comparing the things that matter to you.

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DESIGN

This is no means the most important, BUT if you have worked out what type of emails you’d like to design it will help you quickly choose some email marketing tools over others.

Ask yourself – “Is the look of my emails important? Do I want to create beautiful emails that are considered well-designed?

Knowing the answer to this question will automatically help narrow your options. For example, if you answered yes then an email marketing tool you should definitely consider is Flodesk. With the strapline “Design emails people love to get” it is very clear that design is at the heart of the company. Whereas, if you answered no then an email marketing platform you could consider is Convertkit. Convertkit is very open about the fact they don’t believe fancy email templates are good for business. Instead, their focus is on text-based emails that have high deliverability. So if you aren’t bothered about lovely looking emails, but emails that will get into your potential customers’ inbox and make sales then Convertkit may be an option for you.

BUDGET

Another thing to consider when trying to decide which is the best email marketing software for you is your budget. For many business owners, especially small business owners who are starting out, price is a key decision factor.

Now there are a few email service providers that do enable you to start building a mailing list and send emails for free.

Free Email Service Providers

Mailchimp – For years Mailchimp was the go-to email service provider for new business owners. It allows you to have a free account for up to 2,000. Check out Mailchimp here.

Mailerlite – You can have a free account for up to 1,000 subscribers. Check out Mailerlite here.

Convertkit – For years Convertkit didn’t have a free account, but now they enable you to have a free account for up to 500 subscribers. Check out Convertkit here.

Now whilst it can be easy when you are starting out to be drawn to the free accounts I always recommend you think about the pricing in the future. All email service providers are a business and therefore if they offer free accounts to some people, other people are having to pay to support that and as your business grows you’ll be one of those people. You want to ensure over the lifetime of your business you are happy with the pricing.

AUTOMATION

I’m a big fan of email automation. Automation helps you to serve your mailing list and your customers instantly without you having to work 24/7. Doesn’t that sound like the dream?

Right now you might think that automation isn’t important in your business, but here are a few ways you might be able to use automation

Welcome email or sequence – When people join your email list automation will enable you to send a welcome email or, if you want to be even more pro, a welcome sequence
Delivering lead-magnets and freebies – Are you planning on building a list by offering lead magnets? If so, automation will ensure that the lead-magnets are delivered timely.
Email Challenges or courses – Do you plan on running challenges in the future? Automation means that once you’ve set up the sequence of emails all you have to do is add a person to that list and they’ll automatically be delivered the emails based on the sequence and timing you’ve set up.
Follow-up surveys – Getting feedback is important and something many business owners struggle to do consistently. Automation means you could automatically send a follow-up survey to customers x days after they’ve purchased.

As you can see there are many ways to use automation and the beauty of automation is once you’ve done the initial work of setting it up it will continue to work over and over again.

Automation is becoming increasingly important for most businesses and as a result, most providers do offer automation, but depending on the level of automation you need in your business you’ll need to ensure your service provider will meet those needs.

If you aren’t already using automation in your business then you should read 3 automated email campaign every small business owner should consider.

INTEGRATION

It is unlikely that your email marketing provider will be the only online tool you are using, which is why it is important to make a list of other online tools you use and will need your email marketing tool to talk to. Some tools to consider are: payment merchant, website, Google Analytics, CRM, shops

If you find an email service provider that answers all of your needs, but not integration check out Zapier. Zapier is an online automation tool that connects lots of online tools, so it may be able to make your email service provider “talk” to another tool that doesn’t currently have an official integration set up.

SEGMENTATION

Whilst many people think about growing a mailing list the fact is your mailing list will be filled with lots of different people and in order to really use the full power of email marketing, you’ll need to be able to segment your email list.

For example, if you are doing a launch for a new course you won’t want to email people who are already members of your course. Therefore, it is important in your mailing list that you can easily identify previous customers.

Depending on the provider you might be able to segment your mailing list based on how the signed up for your mailing list, how they’ve interacted with your emails, purchase history, interests and more.

Your segmentation needs will depend on your business type, how you are building your email list, the types of emails you plan on sending, the breadth of service or products you offer and how sophisticated you want to get.

There you have it. I’ve not outlined 5 things to consider before you start trying to decide which email marketing software is best for you.

ONE WORD OF WARNING – ALWAYS CONSIDER THE FUTURE OF YOUR BUSINESS

What are your hopes for your business? Whilst you can change provider along the way in an ideal world it is great to choose a provider that can grow with your business.

Do you have a business model that means you are going to have a huge list? If so, then it is best to check what the pricing will be when you hit that point. Whilst some providers specifically price themselves to get people on board at the beginning with a free or low entry price that can mean you end up paying over the odds at a later point.

Are you planning on building an empire with multiple services or products? Will this mean that you need sophisticated segmentation tools to ensure you are able to keep track of your customers’ purchases and ensure that future emails are tailored to them.

Do you envision needing great levels of automation in the future? Maybe you are planning on creating passive income courses or hundreds of lead-magnets and therefore it is important to be able to set and forget things.

If you take the time to think about the future of your business, as well as the 5 things mentioned above I’m sure you’ll be able to choose the right email marketing tool for your business at the moment, and hopefully in the future too.

LET’S TALK EMAIL MARKETING

Have you read this whole blog post and thought “OMG I need to sort my email marketing out”. If so, I’m here to help.

In just one hour I’ll help you make a decision about a provider (if you don’t already have one) as well as identify the automation and segments that need to be set up in your business.