One of the first questions for those who want to do email marketing is: “how to choose an email marketing tool for my business? Which is the best one?” This is a question that can be quite complicated and challenging for some people.
That’s why we at SafetyMails, the most trusted email validation platform on the market, are going to tell you how to properly choose your email marketing tool!
In this article, you’ll see:
- Scale the platform to your needs
- Set your priorities when searching for an email marketing tool
- Wrong reasons for choosign
- Get to know some platforms
- Extra tools (for email layout, deliverability and email validation)
Introduction
There are many email marketing tools available on the market. Lots of them! Some are exclusive platforms for email marketing, while others are more complex omnichannel systems that involve automations, flows and integrations. So, you might ask yourself: “what is the best email marketing tool? And which is the cheapest?” Well, those aren’t the best questions and criteria for choosing your ideal platform.
In fact, there are some more important and strategic criteria you should list before going around randomly looking for tools on Google.
Scale the platform to your needs
It’s no use buying a Volkswagen Beetle for the Indy 500, right? Or a Ferrari to carry building materials.
This applies to email marketing as well: it’s no use choosing a tool just because it’s free. This criterion is harmful to your business, because if, despite being free, this tool does not meet your real needs, it will only bring more difficulties and frustration. It is also no use opting for a very expensive platform, if its use will be simple. This is basically throwing money away.
In the end, your platform may end up being too expensive and sophisticated for simple use, or too simple and basic compared to what you need at the moment. Therefore, the balance between cost and benefit is critical in this analysis.
Set your priorities when searching for an email marketing tool
The beginning of the process of choosing an ideal email marketing platform for you and your business starts with a practice as simple as going to the supermarket: make a checklist!
That’s right. Define in a list what is most important. What features do you really need to run your email marketing activities?
To start a list, first describe your current email marketing activities, then where you intend to go and what you hope to achieve by selecting a new platform.
From there, define which features would be essential for you to make this transition process. For example: drag and drop editor, landing page creator, flow automator, among other features.
In your priority list, consider:
- 󠄀Automate routines: why have repetitive work if the email platform can do it for you, automatically? Avoid this type of work and gain time to focus on what really matters, such as content funnel strategies, sales funnels, activation triggers, transactional emails, and more.
- 󠄀Simplify processes: if the platform has an editor for creating emails, don’t you agree that it is easier to use this feature than learning HTML to edit these materials yourself? Also look for smart filters for segmentation, tag insertion and removal, and grouping of sets, as these are features that also help a lot.
- 󠄀Optimize the relationship: A platform that knows your leads’ behavior and makes automatic decisions based on settings and guidelines you configure helps keep your base informed and engaged.
- 󠄀Improve cost-effectiveness: if all you need is to reduce costs (or maintain current costs, but with new features), then we have a good business decision. A platform that offers everything you need for the same or less than what you invest today should be considered.
Beware of the wrong reasons for choosing
Usually the wrong reasons are the ones that lead you to the wrong choice. Be careful not to be swayed by sales force arguments. Be objective in your analysis.
This is what not to do when looking for a new email marketing tool:
- don’t go in unprepared to search for platforms on Google: before searching for platforms on Google, remember to make your checklist. Remember that you will be impacted by your marketing actions and, therefore, you may end up making a purchase for convenience. Be analytical, always.
- never choose a platform just for the price: reducing costs can be important, but this choice can affect your results if price is your only criterion, neglecting qualitative aspects such as performance and features. Make smart savings decisions.
- don’t look for a tool just “to avoid spam”: whether or not you avoid spam depends mainly on you. Your behavior is what tells the provider’s algorithm how it should behave. Your email marketing platform infrastructure is just the tip of the iceberg. Changing tools with the false hope of having a better inbox placement while following the same behaviors as always is a serious error in understanding the mechanisms that govern the email marketing market.
- don’t change your current tool because “it brings you few email opens”: no email marketing tool will ever get you more email opens. Your strategy will do this for you, because the recipients are the ones who open your emails. The responsibility for open and click-through rates always lies with you, never with the email marketing platform.
Now, yes, go do your research
Search for email marketing tools and visit their websites. Then, schedule conversations and talk to sales teams, ask for sales materials and trial accounts.
One way to evaluate platforms is to get feedback from their users. Access comparison websites such as Capterra, Software Advice, Getapp, G2, Trust Radius, Software Suggest, among others.
See if these tools meet all the requirements on your checklist. Ask for trial accounts and put these systems to the test.
The tools that address the most criteria (or all of them) should be among the finalists in your choice.
For the tiebreaker, choose:
- The platform with more functionality beyond what you initially needed, as you will be able to learn and take advantage of these extra features
- And, of course, the platform with the lowest costs.
Email Marketing tools:
Here we will mention some email marketing platforms that you can start your search. Remember that we are not listing the platforms from best to worst, etc. It is just a list. But it is not a definitive list. It is just a few platforms among so many others. Decide the best one for you according to your business criteria.
Mailchimp
It’s no news that Mailchimp is the most famous email marketing platform on the market. Among the factors that made it so popular are the free accounts (freemium model, where you won’t get all the features and will send a low volume of emails), in addition to the drag and drop editor (the kind where you simply drag and drop the elements you want to use) and a number of new features released recently.
The tool is charged in dollars and its price varies according to the number of contacts in your email base and the features available, such as automation, product recommendation, etc.
In addition, the tool has one of the most comprehensive lists of integrations, making Mailchimp an important email marketing hub.
Campaign Monitor
Campaign Monitor is another marketing automation platform that allows you to create email marketing and lead nurturing campaigns.
Like the other tools on the market, in addition to integrations (such as Google Analytics, which helps track your email marketing performance), it has a drag and drop editor.
ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is a platform focused on automation flows, with a very complete CRM.
The platform’s contact management is in the form of cards, which can be selected for detail viewing (in fact, if you use or have used Trello, you will feel a great familiarity).
It has integrations with Unbounce, Paypal, SurveyMonkey and many others.
Plans are priced in dollars and start from 500 contacts.
Hubspot
Hubspot is also one of the most famous marketing automation platforms.
The platform has integrations for marketing, sales, content management, customer service, and operations, through the Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, Service Hub, and other services.
The tool, like the others, has a good drag-and-drop editor, and several ready-made templates.
SendinBlue
SendinBlue works on several marketing automation fronts, with email, chat, sms, and others.
It has more than seventy email templates, all responsive and with the possibility of performing a preview rendering to ensure that the design will always be the same on any screen format.
It also has features such as A/B testing.
Benchmark Email
Benchmark Email is also a great option to consider for creating responsive emails that work well on any device. In addition to the drag-and-drop editor, it even allows you to do image editing on the platform itself.
Extra email marketing tools!
We are also going to present some tools that help you in the day-to-day management of your email marketing:
SafetyMails
SafetyMails is one of the leading email validation and verification platforms on the market. With clients in more than 15 countries, including Brazil, Mexico, the United States, Bolivia, Argentina, Portugal, Spain and Italy.
With it, you can verify your email lists and also check the validity of emails on your registration forms in real time through an API. This avoids reputation problems, email filters and considerably improves your deliverability.
SafetyMails also has several integrations with email marketing and automation platforms, such as WordPress form plugins.
Despite its high quality, prices start at just over eight dollars. It also offers the possibility of creating a trial account to check up to 100 emails and perform 1000 more form queries in real time.
If you would like more information, please contact the SafetyMails team through the website.
Litmus & EmailOnAcid
The two main testing platforms for email marketing.
With Litmus and EmailOnAcid, you can perform rendering tests for dozens of devices and webmails, so you can avoid problems with the way your emails are seen and read.
The platforms offer trial accounts but the price may not be affordable for those who are subject to dollar exchange rates.
See how easy it is to choose a good email marketing tool? Now, it’s up to you. Which email marketing tool do you use?
