Stacked: Best email marketing software for startups
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Launching a startup? Business founders will know that it takes guts. But more than that, it requires the right set of skills and best-fit tools.
Email marketing is one of the most powerful tools a startup can have in its toolbox. Why? Well, email is by far the most popular form of marketing communication. It's low-cost, can be automated and personalized at scale, and it yields impressive ROI. According to a 2021 survey, for every $1 you spend on email marketing, you can expect an average return of $36.
An email marketing strategy is only as good as the platform you use. In this guide, we'll share some of the best platforms for startups.
Email marketing software enhances email marketing efforts to reach a higher quantity of quality leads. It allows users to easily create and send marketing emails and measure performance metrics such as open rates and click-through rates. It automates manual and laborious tasks like sending one-off emails, designing email templates, and separating marketing campaigns across multiple platforms.
The use of such marketing automation tools enables companies to integrate their email, digital advertising, social media, and lead generation campaigns, while also measuring the impact of the entire customer journey.
The numbers paint a clear picture: According to VentureBeat, companies using marketing automation software report an 80% increase in leads and a 77% increase in conversion.
So, you know the importance of communicating with customers and prospective customers over email, but why should you invest in email marketing software? Below are five reasons.
Business founders are notoriously time-poor, so implementing tools that can speed up productivity and efficiency is key.
For example, manually sending a one-off email every time somebody interacts with your website or purchases a product is impossible – especially since the aim is to scale your business. Email marketing software allows you to automate cumbersome tasks, freeing up your time to focus on more important things like your marketing strategy.
Almost three-quarters (72%) of consumers say they now only engage in marketing with messages that are personalized and tailored to their interests. Personalized emails have a 4.5% greater open rate than the average email open rate (26% and 21.5% respectively).
Email marketing platforms allow you to segment your audience to send the most relevant information to groups of people in your wider customer base, and personalize details like a customer's name, loyalty points balance, or product recommendations using merge tags and dynamic content fields.
According to Litmus, Apple iPhone is the world’s most popular email client, with more than one-third (34.2%) of emails being opened on the device. In second place is Gmail at 30.7%. Another study found that seven in 10 users delete emails that don’t display correctly on their phones, and 15% of users will unsubscribe because of this. Email marketing platforms automatically optimize your emails for mobile, and allow you to view emails on a mobile screen before you send.
Launching a startup requires cutting corners. Email marketing platforms generally come with pre-built templates with the right image/text ratio, optimized CTA buttons, clear messaging hierarchy, and more. They are easy to customize with your brand's styling, then it's just a matter of plugging your messaging in and checking your work.
Startups have specific needs — but they also need to invest in a platform that is going to grow with them. Here are a few questions to ask as you're exploring different platforms:
As a startup, you're probably looking to minimize how much you're spending on your martech stack. Sometimes, this results in investing in a platform that doesn't have the architecture or features required to scale with you. This might not be a problem for some time, but one clever growth campaign could send your startup into a new stratosphere suddenly, leaving you high and dry in a platform that can't scale. Before you sign on the dotted line, find how what will happen as your contacts grow — and prepare for the very best growth scenario.
You likely have a handful of must-have features, and another set of nice-to-haves in mind. Check that the platform you're looking at has everything you need, and either has or is planning to add those you want. It's also a good idea to ask about how product updates are prioritized — are they in an endless cycle of fixing bugs, or are new features being added based on customer feedback? You want to know that the platform is dedicated to continuous improvement, and open to feedback from their customers.
Here's a list of features most marketers say they can't live without:
Audience segmentation
A journey builder `
Personalization including merge tags or dynamic content fields
Email templates and the ability to create your own templates
Analytics and reports, including acquisition reporting
Multilingual marketing and timezone sends
Transactional email setting
Link tracking
Given how quickly artificial intelligence is infiltrating marketing, it's worth exploring which AI-powered features the platform has or is planning to add. For example, AI predictions on open rates or AI content recommendations are not only helpful for individual campaign creation, they also help marketers get more familiar with how AI works and what it can do.
Modern platforms include email marketing as part of a more robust omnichannel marketing solution. When exploring platforms, ask what they can do beyond email and consider how you can best consolidate platforms to save money, limit the number of new platforms team members need to get familiar with, and avoid creating data silos.
Even if the platform you're looking at has a wide range of other features available, you may need an integration temporarily or you may be too reliant on a specific platform, for example your CRM, to make the switch. In these cases, integrations will be essential.
Ask which integrations are available now and how you would connect a platform that is not currently offered — for example, through webhooks or APIs.
You can build the most effective email in the world, but it will not perform if it's sent to spam. Email deliverability is absolutely essential to email marketing success, especially for startups who may still be establishing their domain in the eyes of Gmail and other email service providers. Ask what is available when it comes to email deliverability support — and use the resources available to you so you can land the inbox, every time.
To keep your customer's data secure, you need to trust that the email marketing platform you're using has world-class security and privacy policies. Ask whether they are compliant with modern standards including GDPR, HIPAA, and SOC2, and look into features like two-factor authentication and user roles before you sign.
Known for: unifying all your customer data to enhance personalization in email communications and give you a single view of your customer, and robust reporting and analytics.
Ortto’s email marketing software allows users to build beautiful branded emails, personalize messages, A/B test, harness AI, and track and analyze results It is connected to a customer data platform and has integrations with products like Salesforce, Recurly and Pipedrive to ensure your data is connected for personalization efforts and reporting. If you are looking to consolidate your martech stack, Ortto also offers features like AI-powered live chat, pop-ups, and lead scoring.
Main features:
Team collaboration and sharing
SMS marketing
In-app messaging
Drag-and-drop editor
Brand book
Visual journey builder
Mobile insights reporting
Marketing automation
Lead management
Lead scoring
A/B split testing
Smart segmentation
AI tools including subject line recommendations
Facebook and Google ads
Marketing automation templates
Known and anonymous visitor tracking
Email deliverability support
Build a better journey.
Known for: batch and blast email marketing.
Mailchimp’s simple, entry-level email marketing software is known around the world, with 13 million businesses across 175 countries using its services. With Mailchimp, marketers can put the audience at the center of their marketing strategy, making it easy to send emails that convert.
Its main features include:
Drag-and-drop editor
Mobile insights reporting
Marketing automation available on every plan
Lead management
High-volume sending
A/B split testing
Facebook and Google ads
Marketing automation templates
Basic reporting
Known for: highly personalized emails.
Campaign Monitor is a straightforward email marketing tool that allows marketers to build highly personalized, well-designed emails. Its drag-and-drop email builder is easy to use and engagement-based segmentation functionality means that targeting subscribers is simple.
Main features:
Build and personalize emails
Drag-and-drop builder
Email and mobile preview
Manage email lists
High-volume sending
Manage email deliverability
Automated email responses
A/B testing
Basic reporting
Known for: interactive, multimedia emails.
Moosend is a marketing automation and email marketing platform that allows users to easily create email newsletter campaigns, subscription forms, and landing pages.
Main features:
Email and mobile preview
Build and personalize emails
Automated email responses
Manage email lists
High-volume sending
Management email deliverability
Known for: omnichannel marketing.
With Omnisend, marketers can build automated custom workflows for all stages of the customer journey. The omnichannel functionality provides greater control over customer interactions across multiple channels in addition to email – SMS, social media, website, etc.
Main features:
Build and personalize emails
Automated email responses
Dynamic content
Mobile optimized
Segmentation
Online behavior tracking
Basic reporting
ROI analytics
Known for: automated emails and texts.
SendinBlue is an all-in-one platform for marketers to engage with their contacts and build better customer relationships. With SendinBlue, growing businesses can send thousands of emails per month for free, and even more with an upgraded plan.
Main features:
Pre-built templates
Tracking (e.g. open rate, time to open, etc.)
Campaign performance reporting
Domain reputation reporting
Known for: its ecommerce focus.
Privy is a marketing platform specializing in growing ecommerce businesses. Users can build email lists, save abandoned carts, send automated emails and texts, and more.
Main features:
Email and mobile preview
Build and personalize emails
Manage email list
Manage deliverability
High-volume sending
Pre-designed templates
Mobile optimized
Basic reporting
Known for: entry-level, user-friendly email marketing.
AWeber is an email platform purpose-built for small businesses and entrepreneurs. It allows users to easily segment their email lists, build well-designed emails, and nurture leads.
Main features:
Data import & export
Email and mobile preview
Build and personalize emails
Automated email responses
Manage email lists
High-volume sending
Manage email deliverability
A/B testing
Basic reporting
Known for: global email marketing.
GetResponse is a marketing software with over 30 tools in an easy-to-use platform, available in over 20 languages. GetResponse also offers landing pages, a CRM, and a webinar solution.
Main features:
Build and personalize emails
Manage email deliverability
Automated email responses
Landing pages and forms
Dynamic testing
A/B testing
Mobile optimized
Marketing lead database
Segmentation
Lead scoring and grading
Basic reporting
With the right email marketing software, you can automate time-consuming manual tasks to ensure email marketing best practices and in turn, regain valuable time better spent on analyzing performance and improving strategy.
Product-led growth
Lead nurturing: Best practices and examples
Marketing automation
Deliverability toolbox: How to use Google’s Postmaster Tool
Build a better journey.
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Product
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Templates
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