According to recent studies, the average American checks their email as much as 20 times every day. Close to 60% of people check their email before they do anything else online, and even teens who are ardent fans of social media platforms still spend the lion’s share of their time on email. To top it all off, statistics show that people prefer email for communicating with their favorite brands more than any other method of contact.
Bottom line, email marketing is (always was, and always will be) king. Now, you just have to know how to maximize on this gold mine of an opportunity. Not sure you’re getting the most out of your email marketing campaigns? Here are 10 of the best email marketing platforms that will help propel your business forward in 2023 as the world continues to deal with COVID-19.
| Compare Top10 services | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  | 10  |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reviews | 113 reviews | Write Review | 30 reviews | 30 reviews | 65 reviews | 30 reviews | 9 reviews | 62 reviews | 13 reviews | 34 reviews |
Price | Starting at $20 per month | Starting at $11.89 per month | Starting at $9 per month | Contact vendor for customized pricing | Starting at $19 per month | Starting at $11 per month | Starting at $7 per month | Starting at $10.50 per month | Starting at $9.99 per month | Starting at $25 per month |
Free trial | First month free | Free plan | 14 day | None | 30 days | 60 days | 30 days | 30 days | Free account | Free account |
Number of email sends | Unlimited emails | 14,000 per month with free plan, unlimited with Pro Plan | Unlimited emails | Customizable plans | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Varies | Starts at 10,000 for free account, 500,000 for basic account | Starting at 40,000 per month, 300 per day for freemium |
Contact management | Upload from Excel, Outlook, Salesforce, etc. | Contact list integrations | Free migration | Migration tool integrates with ecommerce platforms | Merge lists or add lists for free | Full contact list management tools | Fast importing of existing lists | Helps determine best send time per contact | Audience dashboard, tags, segmentation | Email and SMS personalization |
Tracking and reporting features | Tracks opening, click-thru, sharing | Opens by hour, click heatmap reports,etc. | GEO tracking, site and event tracking | Revenue per email, performance by device | Deliverability rate, open rates | Delivery rate review, tailored reports | SPAM reports, Google analytics, more | Real-time tracking of open rate, CTR | Comparative reporting | Page tracking, real-time reporting |
Email automation | Plan marketing calendar | Behavior-based email follow-up | Automation maps, split automation | Dynamic workflows, behavioral automation | Tagging, automated email sequences | Social posts, several automated email series | Triggers, behavioral response series | Welcome emails, thank you emails | Single-step automation for welcome emails | Marketing automation workflows |
A Closer Look at the Top 10 Email Marketing Services
- Starting at $20per month
- First month free
- Plan marketing calendar
Constant Contact is one of the 3 biggest email marketing services in the industry. It has affordable plans starting at just $20 a month. With this reasonable pricing comes a whole slew of useful features, including customizable and branded templates, Ecommerce options, automated abandoned cart email for Shopify, and WooCommerce integration.
Constant Contact will let you import your contact list for fast and easy email campaigns, and it’s even got list building tools and list segmentation to help you get started. This service incorporates Facebook, Instagram, and Google ads into its mix, and Constant Contact has a useful marketing calendar for keeping it all straight. And these are just the standard features. If you want to upgrade, you’ll get a wide variety of even more advanced features like surveys, dynamic content, RSVP, and automated email behavioral series. Check out what Constant Contact can do for your email marketing campaign today.
Pros- Extremely affordable pricing plans
- Easy drag-and-drop editing
- Email templates and automation even with basic plan
Cons- Editing user records is cumbersome
- Premium plan could use more advanced automation tools
- Starting at $11.89per month
- Free plan
- Behavior-based email follow-up
Benchmark is another email marketing platform that offers both free and paid plans. The free plan has hundreds of responsive email templates, customizable signup forms, and list-based automation. If you're looking for even more features, upgrade to a paid account. The nice thing is that Benchmark has more flexible pricing, allowing you to choose the number of subscribers and pay for only what you need.
Once you get started with Benchmark, you’ll never go back. The editor is a dream, just drag and drop. You can customize every element of your emails or use pre-fab templates for every occasion. Benchmark also has fabulous marketing automation for things like welcome emails, abandoned cart emails, and a follow up series. Track user activity to help customers move down the sales funnel or encourage them along the way. Plus, Benchmark integrates with 300+ services from Facebook and Google to Shopify, Zapier, Zendesk, and more. So, you’ve got all your usual tools to help keep business running smoothly. See more awesome Benchmark features right here.
Pros- Simple, intuitive, powerful tools
- Easy drag-and-drop live editor for email and photos
- Strong analytics and reporting
Cons- Gets a little bothersome to manage multiple lists
- Some emails get sent to spam
- Starting at $9per month
- 14 day
- Automation maps, split automation
ActiveCampaign is not as widely known as some other email marketing platforms, but it’s offerings are no less impressive. Like Benchmark, ActiveCampaign has an impressive drag-and-drop editor that lets you edit every aspect of your emails for design perfection. This service also has convenient email segmentation, subscription forms, and dynamic content for your emailing pleasure.
What’s more, ActiveCampaign has some great features like broadcast emails, triggered emails, and targeted emails. Email funnels automate the process, turning leads into actual customers. And an email autoresponder ensures that you are always in touch with your customers right away. ActiveCampaign also has an excellent email scheduler that lets you set dates and times for email campaign launches. This way, you never miss a beat even on holidays, weekends, or vacation days. Get ready to make your email campaigns more powerful than ever with ActiveCampaign today.
Pros- Superior marketing automation tools
- Geo tracking, click maps, page visits, and other reporting
- Highest delivery results
Cons- Lots of features take time to learn
- No free plan
- Contact vendor for customized pricing
- None
- Dynamic workflows, behavioral automation
Oracle is no stranger to quality software, and its email marketing automation software fits right into the mix. Bronto is the cloud-based software that will help increase customer engagement, conversion, and revenue. The platform is a professional, sleek, and smooth experience, as you would expect from any Oracle product. What’s more, Bronto offers a slew of features to make email marketing faster, better, and more effective than ever.
Bronto integrates with any Ecommerce system, so you’re not limited at all. Plus, you’ll get the simple drag-and-drop editor to create a customized look and feel for your lists, messages, and email templates. Bronto has a few unique features in addition to the standard ones. Things like product recommendations, cart recovery emails, browse recovery, and mobile-friendly pop-ups are easily implemented without any coding required. From broadcast email marketing to strong campaign reporting and analytics, see how Bronto can increase your bottom line this year.
Pros- Deep insights with tons of reporting and analytics
- Good list and task management
- Excellent automation features
Cons- Pricing information is vague
- No event management tools
- Starting at $19per month
- 30 days
- Tagging, automated email sequences
AWeber is another one of the top email marketing services of 2019. It has a rich set of features, including autoresponders, responsive email designs, and split testing. AWeber also has more than 700 beautiful email templates to choose from. Or you can customize your design with the simple drag-and-drop editor built-in. AWeber has a great set of reporting features to help you leverage your marketing campaigns best, an RSS blog feed to automatically send out new posts, and list segmentation for more accurate mailings.
AWeber has excellent customer support. There’s 24/7 live chat—a huge plus—and a tremendous knowledge base for DIY answers. And something else you’re going to love about AWeber is its pricing structure. Not only is there a 30-day free trial and an affordable option for every business budget, but AWeber offers you all the features available with all packages. No holding back unless you pay more, AWeber is there to help. Give it a test drive, and see how AWeber feels on your marketing campaigns.
Pros- User-friendly, flexible, and easy to learn software
- Feature-rich with responsive templates, automation, and reporting
- 24/7 live chat customer support
Cons- Feature set not as extensive as some competitors
- Some templates are outdated
![VerticalResponse Best Email Marketing Services]( "VerticalResponse Best Email Marketing Services")
Serious automation and customization for lessRead VerticalResponse Review- Starting at $11per month
- 60 days
- Social posts, several automated email series
VerticalResponse has been helping businesses manage and maximize their email marketing campaigns and customers for almost 20 years. From social posts to landing pages, surveys, and of course, email campaigns, VerticalResponse is a powerful tool that lets you create, manage, and optimize your marketing efforts. From autoresponders and automated email series, to customizable email templates and advanced reporting, VerticalResponse puts the tools for success in your hands.
VerticalResponse offers easy integration and customer management, list segmentation, and unlimited email sending with even its most basic account. You can publish stand-alone landing pages, share on social platforms like Facebook and Twitter, and use the HTML editor to create impressive, personalized emails. With 1.4 million customers, it’s safe to say that VerticalResponse is a serious platform. Discover what this email marketing service can do for your business today.
Pros- Tremendous 60-day free trial
- Excellent reporting and testing features
- Advanced automation tools
Cons- A/B testing options are limited
- Some issues with uploading contacts
- Starting at $7per month
- 30 days
- Triggers, behavioral response series
ActiveTrail is another cloud-based email marketing software with branches all over the world. With billions of emails sent out to date, ActiveTrail claims to be a one-stop-shop with advanced marketing solutions, customizable designs, and superior deliverability rates across the board. And it’s really got everything you could hope for from an email marketing platform. From A/B testing for higher success rates to ready to use lead forms and signup builders, from email personalization to image editor, birthday campaigns, and more ActiveTrail has covered all the bases.
ActiveTrail also lets you set up triggers to get the most out of your marketing campaign and convert more missed opportunities. Meanwhile, the advanced reports and analytics will help you tweak your campaigns for greater conversion all around. ActiveTrail is one of the most affordable email marketing platforms on the market today with tons of features and relevant integrations. So, what are you waiting for? Check out more ActiveTrail features now.
Pros- High deliverability rates
- Big Data time tables for best send times
- Great workflow automation
Cons- Not as many templates as other competitors
- No 24/7 live chat support
- Starting at $10.50per month
- 30 days
- Welcome emails, thank you emails
GetResponse is a lot more than your average email marketing service. In fact, it offers a tremendous variety of features and services that will only bolster your team's productivity and profit. GetResponse takes things to the next level with features like webinar hosting, full customer retention management software, and dedicated IP addresses. As you climb the ladder of pricing tiers, GetResponse offers more and more impressive services. Get deliverability consulting, transactional emails, and a dedicated account manager to help with troubleshooting and campaign consulting.
Of course, GetResponse has the usual features you'd like to see with an email marketing platform, as well. Features like autoresponders, landing page designer, automation templates, Facebook Ads, and contact scoring and tagging will help your company maximize those leads and convert them into paying customers. Find out more about what GetResponse has in store for your business today.
Pros- Premium features and services outside the standard suite
- Autoresponders, RSS to email, and other campaign tools
- Web forms, list builders, surveys
Cons- Gets expensive quickly if you want more advanced features
- A/B testing could be stronger
- Starting at $9.99per month
- Free account
- Single-step automation for welcome emails
MailChimp is the uncontested king of email marketing. It’s truly your all-in-one marketing campaign software, making it easier, faster, and more efficient to set up, send, track, and maximize your email campaigns. With a comprehensive CRM, you can easily keep tabs on all your leads and customers, collecting data as they go through the sales funnel, and giving you valuable insights into email marketing next steps.
Quickly and painlessly build campaigns in just minutes using pre-fab templates and segments. Then set up your automation, so you don't have to do the work again. MailChimp also has robust analytics and reporting features. You can quickly see what's working and what's not with real-time analytics, or personalize your recommendations based on data-driven insights. MailChimp offers several pricing plans, so there’s something for everyone, and all plans come loaded with great features. Even the free account allows up to 2,000 contacts, 7 marketing channels, 1-click automation, and a marketing CRM. Don’t spend another minute without the powerful tools MailChimp delivers every day.
Pros- Hundreds of integrations
- Predicted demographics, lifetime value, and purchase likelihood
- Loads of features packed into all plans, even freemium
Cons- Vague pricing structure can be confusing
- Higher tiers are expensive
- Starting at $25per month
- Free account
- Marketing automation workflows
Sendinblue is an excellent choice if you like personalization, efficiency, and smart automation for your email marketing campaigns. This service provides you with the tools to maximize your campaigns from start to finish. Start with professional email templates or build your own from scratch. Use the drag-and-drop editor to tweak the design to perfection. Next, personalize your content with advanced customization features.
But Sendinblue doesn’t stop there. Since you have unlimited lists and contacts with this service, you can tailor your campaigns down to the most minute detail for each and every customer segment you have. Group contacts, according to demographics, buying patterns, or other behaviors. Finally, let Sendinblue help you find the best times, wording, and design with powerful analytics and testing features. Finish it off with time-efficient automation.
Pros- Design, personalize your emails and messages
- Testing for best send times and follow-ups
- Unlimited lists, contacts, and campaigns
Cons- Sendinblue logo on lowest tier pricing plan
- Setup takes some time to implement
FAQs
What Is an Email Marketing Service?
An email marketing service helps businesses manage and use email effectively as a marketing tool. Basic features include the ability to create and send email messages to large contact lists, to design attractive emails using email templates, to create and format newsletters, and to gather the contact information of people interested in your offers.
Is MailChimp Really Free?
MailChimp is a good email marketing service that offers Ecommerce integration, marketing automation, landing pages, social media advertising, and much more. While there are paid-for plans, MailChimp's free plan is feature-rich and will do the job for most SMBs. It includes 2,000 subscribers and 10,000 emails per month. You also get premium features like automation, A/B testing, and reporting, things you usually have to pay for with other services. If you need more than this, though, you’ll need to pay for an upgraded account with MailChimp.
Is Email Marketing in Danger of Being Replaced by Social Media?
This has been the battle cry of doomsayers for decades, but email is still here, and it’s not going anywhere. According to all the data, people actually prefer email to interact with brands they love working with. The average US citizen checks their email 20 times each day. That's more than once an hour. And email marketing campaign click-through and conversion rates are significantly higher, even when compared to social media marketing. Yes, email is here to stay. So, start beefing up your email marketing strategy with the right software today.
Key Facts About Choosing an Email Marketing Service
The Benefits of Email Marketing
Email marketing is one of the best investments a business owner can make. Perhaps the most important benefit is the sheer value. Basic email marketing services are almost always free. Of course, it will cost money to build your list of customers and prospects, but sending an email costs nothing, but can earn you a substantial consumer following. It's an online advertising channel that's almost free, so for most businesses, it's a no-brainer.
Another excellent benefit is the ability to track almost everything. This includes being able to see who opens your email, which links are being clicked, who has forwarded your email, how many have bounced (not delivered), and how many unsubscribed.
You can also automate your marketing, to comfortably schedule emails at your convenience. Email marketing is an easy and fast way to connect directly with customers and prospects. It is far more personal than any other kind of online advertisement, arriving directly to a customer’s inbox, and is therefore beneficial for any type of business. Let’s face it. If you're still sending your newsletter via snail mail, you’re simply behind the times!
Choosing the Best Email Marketing Service
All of the email marketing services listed above have been rated and evaluated on a number of important factors. The first criteria we evaluate is value. Obviously, all businesses want to keep costs low and profits high. This is why we work hard to break down the value of each service by comparing what you pay against what you get. We also consider the feature set. What exactly does the specific software offer? The best email marketing services should all include industry standards such as email templates, subscription forms to put on your site in order to add people to your list, tracking tools, tools to manage your various lists, and HTML coding features.
Our evaluation continues with other factors. We look at how user-friendly the interface is and what type of support is included. Finally, we evaluate the marketing analysis tools included (reports, graphs, other tools). To provide you with as much information about email marketing and email marketing services as possible, we invite you to take advantage of all of the following resources on our site:
- Email Marketing Reviews Through and methodical reviews by our own editorial staff of the most popular and highly rated email marketing services. Each review is based entirely on the personal experiences of the author and outlines the various features and tools that contribute to its effectiveness.
- Customer Reviews Genuine customer reviews submitted by visitors like you. These are given by ordinary people, just like you, who are currently, or have previously used these services. Who should know better what exactly is offered and how good it is?
- Informational Articles For anyone new to email marketing and email marketing campaigns, these articles are designed to help you get started. You’ll find a plethora of helpful advice written by marketing professionals in the industry. This will give you plenty of ideas and ways to integrate and implement email marketing into your particular business marketing plan.
- Feature Comparison A side-by-side comparison of the essential features offered by each company. This is a handy way to compare and contrast the top services on our site.
