The Best Email Marketing Platforms To Use For Small Businesses

Email marketing is an essential part of doing business today. Once your customer leaves your website or storefront, there is no guarantee they will ever think about you again. By getting them to subscribe to your email list, you are sure you will stay in their view for the foreseeable future.

But not all email platforms are the same. Some are easier to use than others and may fit your budget better. So let’s run through some of our favorites and see if there’s one that catches your eye.

HubSpot

HubSpot provides an excellent way to stay in touch with your customers. They offer online tools to help you create stunning emails from scratch or with their award-winning templates. 

Their drag-and-drop editor makes it easy to create the designs you want, and A/B testing lets you track which fantastic designs you create get the most engagement. Then you can take it a step further and segment your customers by lifecycle stage to get a better understanding.

But HubSpot doesn’t stop there. Not only do they have email, but they also have a complete CRM, including all features from their Marketing and Sales Hubs. You’ll get tools for growing traffic like emails, landing pages, video, SEO, and content from their Marketing Hub. At the same time, you’ll also get tools like email tracking, email scheduling, email sequences, reporting, and more from the Sales Hub. Of course, this comes at a higher price, but it’s worth it if you can.

Pricing

Both the Marketing and Sale Hub has a starter, professional, and enterprise plan you can choose from. Both hubs start at $50/per user per month, increasing from there.

They also offer CRM plans that start at $50 a month. However, these plans increase monthly pretty quickly, so be careful when checking them out. They include access to tools from the marketing, sales, service, CMS, and operations hubs.

Honeybook

Honeybook is an all-in-one platform that keeps track of all of your projects. It allows you to manage your projects from start to finish. And with the client portal, customers can sign in and view the documents and communications you have added to their profile. From invoices to contracts and anything between, you can create the files and attach them to any emails you need.

You’re even able to manage booking and payments from the platform as well. You and the clients can review agreements, sign documents, and pay in real time.

Honeybook also includes automations for messages, files, or tasks. You can trigger actions based on client behaviors, dates, or other criteria. And with the option to approve before sending, you never have to worry about something not going through correctly. Setting up an email campaign is simple and takes no time.

You can also create and attach questionnaires, marketing materials, and surveys to send to your clients. Add these in with your marketing emails to get an excellent experience for your customers.

Create templates branded to your business and add personalizations to make a connection with customers. Everything you create is organized within the platform so finding what you need is a breeze. 

Pricing

Honeybook pricing is pretty simple compared to some of the others. They have two plans to choose from, unlimited monthly and unlimited annual. Both include access to all features, no limits on transactions, unlimited concierge support, and unlimited team members.

There is also a free version, but you receive much less. Honeybook is what we use at Small Hits for our marketing campaigns, so we’ve tried out both the free and paid versions. Having everything you need in one place makes doing the job much easier. Creating any forms, questionnaires, or other marketing materials I may need all in the same place keeps me on task and getting things done.

MailChimp

MailChimp is one of the most popular email marketing platforms out there. But that also means it’s one of the most expensive. However, the simple interface makes it effortless to send emails, which is why it’s very popular with newbies.

There are tons of templates to choose from, and the drag-and-drop builder makes it easy to create exactly what you want. 

With segmentation, you’re able to target your customers directly, and then from there, you can use A/B testing to see what is and isn’t working.

They even have send time optimization so you can send them messages based on how they interact with your business. And with the ability to create unlimited landing pages and pop-up forms on your site, you can keep the conversations flowing. 

MailChimp has one of the industry's highest delivery rates for email marketing campaigns, and it’s no wonder why. Their subject line helper and content optimizer help you get the best results with all of your emails. In addition, sales tracking, reports, and Click Maps help you get a better feel of your customers and what they want to see. 

Pricing

MailChimp does have a free version, but it will include MailChimp branding and doesn’t come with as many features as the paid. Paid plans start at $11/month for 500 contacts and increase from there. You can also select the number of contacts you have from 500 to 250,000+, so you can find a plan that works for business size. 

AWeber

AWeber is another great platform for beginners. Like some of the others, the drag-and-drop editor, email templates, and stock images make it easy to create stunning emails that catch your customer's eye. Segment your contacts into autoresponders and track to see what campaigns are working. And with tags, you can keep your contacts better organized. Choose from automatic or manual, depending on what your business needs.

AWeber has a unique tool up their sleeve, however. Their AI-powered design assistant uses your website and social media accounts to build newsletter tempates based on your brand. Once created, it’s so simple to add them to your automation. Plus all templates created include a sign-up form for your customers.

They also have a landing page builder to help tie your marketing campaigns together. And with the ability for so many integrations, you can create exactly what you need. I even read that you can create images on Canva all from your AWeber account.

Pricing

AWeber does have a free plan, but it will have their branding on the emails. The free version does not include split testing, behavioral automation, and a couple of other things, so check it out before you jump in. Paid plans start at $19.99/month and increase from there, depending on how many subscribers you have.

Constant Contact

Constant Contact is an excellent choice for email marketing with its smart email editor and templates perfect for you and your business. Or maybe you’d rather build your own branded templates based on your website or Facebook page. There’s an option for that too. Set up automations, send welcome and triggered emails, segment your contacts, and use tools to build your email list.

Test your subject lines with A/B testing, and use Constant Contacts tools for surveys and online donations to increase engagement. You can even resend emails to people who haven’t opened the emails.

Choose between advanced segmentation or custom-built segments. Advanced segmentation automatically manages contacts based on email link clicks, a fantastic tool to have and something you want to check out.

While Constant Contact is a great email marketing platform, it’s much more than that. You can build landing pages, use eCommerce tools to optimize the experience, and even manage social media ads, content, and performance. 

Pricing

Constant Contact does not have a free plan, but the plans are still pretty affordable. The Core plan starts at $9.99/month for up to 500 contacts and includes mostly everything mentioned above. If you wanted to go a bit deeper, you could purchase the Plus package for $45/month, giving you extra growth tools, automated emails, auto-generated segments, and more.

Active Campaign

With Active Campaign, you can get everything you need to create a great email marketing campaign. With marketing automation, you’re able to set up great emails to send at the perfect time. And with an unlimited number of email sends, you can reach all your customers. In addition, the drag-and-drop email builder and the 125+ email templates make creating on brand and eye-catching emails. 

Much like the other platforms mentioned, they offer SMS marketing, landing pages, predictive sending and content, split automation, and much more in their multiple plans.

Pricing

Pricing for Active Campaign starts at $15/month for 500 contacts and increases from there. The Lite Plan includes basic marketing automation, email marketing, segmentation, and site/event tracking. To get more features like split automation and SMS marketing, you’ll have to check out the Plus plan ($70/month) or the Professional ($187/month).

Wow! Those are some excellent choices

You’ve read about some great platforms to choose from for your email marketing campaigns, but now comes the tricky part. Deciding which one is right for you. Each business is different and will have different needs, so take your time and think about your business's goals. And if you aren’t sure, don’t be afraid to ask for help. That’s what marketing agencies, like Small Hits, are here for.