Many studies have been done, all with the same results. The average email marketing campaign yields low conversion rates. Marketing Insider reports that only 1 in 5 of your email recipients are going to open your email, and even worse, for every 100 marketing emails you send, 3 will convert to a subscription, purchase, or just a click on a link. That’s only 3%.
As dismal as that sounds, mass email marketing campaigns cost less than other digital marketing methods, so the cost per conversion is less. To reach a profitable goal, it takes a lot of emails and work to pull off a successful email campaign. The good news is, you don’t have to do all the work. There are plenty of products and services to choose from to manage every step of a mass email marketing strategy.
After examining many of the options available, this article presents the 10 best mass emailing tools, their pricing, pros, and cons.
1. Sendinblue
Sendinblue is an all-in-one tool for a small business. Its features include those you would expect to find in any email marketing tool, including A/B testing, analytics, reports, email editor, templates, segmentation, and bulk and transactional email delivery.
Sendinblue offers a free version that gives you 9,000 emails each month, but you can only send 300 per day. Their Lite version is $25/mo. The limit per month is increased to 10,000, and the daily limit is removed.
The Lite version includes A/B testing and advanced analytics. An important difference between the free and the Lite version is the option to remove the Sendinblue logo.
Pros:
- Easy to use plugins for WordPress, Magneto, and other platforms
- Simple, easy to use message creation tools
- Simple and intuitive methods to select your recipients
- Uses a machine learning-powered send time optimizer
Cons:
- Creation tools lack features provided by their competitors
There are no hidden fees for longer contact lists. Their pricing structure allows you to send up to 20,000 emails per month for just $65, if 10,000 isn’t enough for you. With pricing by the number of emails sent, you can work with an extensive list, sending smaller monthly bursts to control your budget.
2. Elastic Email
Elastic Email enables you to create multiple campaigns with different send times, scheduling, and more. In addition to great analytics, Elastic Email has a drag & drop editor, making it simple and easy to use their templates to create great-looking emails.
Elastic Email offers two plans, Unlimited and Unlimited Pro. The Unlimited Pro plan provides extra features not available in the Unlimited plan (i.e., extended logs, faster delivery, and webhooks.)
With the Unlimited plan, you can send unlimited emails to a list of up to 5,000 contacts for $15/mo. Between 5,001 – 10,000, the cost is $25/mo.
Pros:
- High delivery rates
- Simple and easy to use
- Low price point for small and big companies
Cons:
- The user interface is outdated
- Some customers report high delivery rates while others report emails going to spam
- Customer support needs improvement
3. Moosend
Moosend has an award-winning user interface accessing a powerful email marketing platform. It manages multiple email campaigns, as well as multiple mailing lists. Moosend includes a built-in, intuitive editor to create your emails and newsletters.
Moosend offers a free option for up to 1,000 subscribers. With lists longer than 1,000, the price increases with the size of your list. For example, $10/mo supports 2,000, $30/mo for 5,000, and $125/mo for 20,000 subscribers. There is no limit on the number of emails you can send each month.
Pros:
- Pricing is easy to calculate and competitive
- Excellent customer support
- Technical support is very responsive
Cons:
- Not as many integrations as its competitors
For a small business just starting to build its customer base, the free plan provides all you need. As your business grows past the limitations of the free plan, pricing is easily calculated and competitive. When starting something new, you never want to leave money on the table. With Moosend, there is no investment required as you learn about digital marketing.
4. EmailOctopus
EmailOctopus is a low-cost email marketing tool. It is rated high for deliverability, which means more emails get through to your recipients. If someone doesn’t receive the email you sent during a campaign, it is an opportunity lost.
EmailOctopus includes great segmentation features, which helps you create segments within your list based on customer data. EmailOctopus provides segmentation at a price most new businesses can afford.
Pros:
- High delivery rates
- Spam complaints are rare
- Integrated with Amazon’s SES web service
Cons:
- Not competitive when it comes to automation features
5. Campaign Monitor
https://www.campaignmonitor.com/
The quality of the messages you can create with Campaign Monitor’s drag-and-drop builder will improve subscribers’ engagement and promote loyal readership, leading to more conversions.
Campaign Monitor does not have a free plan or a free trial. Their Basic plan is only $9/mo and allows up to 2,500 emails, but with limited features. Automated time zone sending, a countdown timer, and unlimited spam testing are available in the $29/mo plan, which is worth considering as it includes unlimited emails.
Pros:
- The email builder creates memorable emails, increasing loyalty and conversion rates
- Schedules timed email sends, increasing open rates
Cons:
- No free trial or free plan
- Templates for the editor are not free
6. GetResponse
GetResponse includes automation tools for small and big businesses and makes use of customer behavior data to improve conversion rates with personalized email messages.
GetResponse offers a free 30-day trial of any of their plans. Their Basic plan supports an email list of up to 1,000 for $15/mo. $45/mo supports up to 5,000. You only need their Basic package unless you are building a larger, integrated marketing team. The number of emails you can send is unlimited.
Pros:
- Most features are available in the Basic plan, including automation
- Easy setup
- Works well with affiliate marketers, allowing cold lead emails
- Offers an affiliate program
Cons:
- Does not offer a free plan
- Needs better analytic data
- Limited automation capabilities
7. Constant Contact
https://www.constantcontact.com/
Constant Contact is a great solution for smaller businesses with simple email marketing needs. Real-time tracking tools report who’s opening, clicking, and sharing your emails. Constant Contact includes customizable, responsive templates.
Constant Contact does not offer a free plan or trial period. Their starting plan, called the Email plan, is priced at $20/mo for a list of 500 subscribers. If you need email automation, the Email Plus plan is $45/mo, also for a list of 500. Their pricing is based on the number of contacts on your list. The Email plan for 2,501-5,000 subscribers is $65/mo.
Pros:
- There are a large number of templates available
- Clean and easy to use interface
- A dashboard providing key metrics to plan your next campaign
Cons:
- They do not offer a free plan
- The UI is outdated
- Difficult to access old campaigns
8. AWeber
AWeber is best suited for individuals or small businesses growing their subscriber lists. AWeber provides analytic tools to track everything. They have an award-winning support team providing assistance via phone, email, or chat.
AWeber offers monthly, annual, and quarterly plans. They all provide the same features, the only difference being the number of subscribers. They offer a free plan for up to 500 subscribers. AWeber has a Pro plan starting at $16.15 billed yearly, $16.33 billed quarterly, and $19 monthly for up to 500 subscribers. The Pro plan costs $49/mo for a list between 2,501 – 5,000.
AWeber allows unlimited emails with no hidden caps. You can try any plan for free or 30-days, but you have to provide payment information before your trial period begins.
Pros:
- Free plan for up to 500 subscribers
- Includes an email auto-responder
- No caps on “unlimited” number of emails each month
- No hidden costs, or as they say, “no funny business”
Cons:
- In many cases, template designs are outdated
- Support for A/B testing needs improvement
- Cannot include or exclude multiple segments in a campaign
9. SendGrid
SendGrid is a Twilio company. SendGrid benefits from the extensive support organization Twilio has created. SendGrid offers many product and service integrations, an award-winning API, and actionable analytics.
SendGrid offers a free version supporting 100 emails per day. Their plans are all email-based. They have an Essentials plan for $15/mo for 50,000 emails and $30/mo for 100,000 emails per month.
Pros:
- Manages unsubscribe emails
- Displays an email reputation indicator
- High delivery rates
Cons:
- No customer surveys
- Limited automation functions
- Free tier uses shared IPs – one bad actor can result in your emails being blocked
- Only keeps 3 days of email history by default, extra charges for more extended history data
SendGrid’s free plan will cover the needs of most individuals or small businesses. Because the free plan uses a shared IP with others on the free plan, you are at risk due to a complete stranger’s poor email practices or a company sending 50,000 spam emails each month.
10. iContact
iContact closely follows anti-spam and opt-in requirements. This is helpful for a business or individual just starting their email marketing plans, saving them from making costly mistakes.
iContact offers a 30-day free trial. No credit card is required. Plans start at $15/mo for a subscriber list of up to 1,500. The prices increase based on the number of subscribers in your list. With iContact, you can send unlimited emails to the subscribers.
Pros:
- Support for drip campaigns and segmentation
- Provides an email auto-responder
- A low-cost solution for basic email marketing
Cons:
- There are hidden charges based on add-on features
- No “ala carte” pricing – you have to subscribe to a plan just to get one feature
- Templates are designed mainly for sales teams
- Needs more integrations
Summary
The factor that will drive most decisions when considering a mass email marketing tool is the cost. If you have an email list of 5,000 or less, paying based on the size of your list works well. You can send unlimited emails to any or everyone on your list any number of times each month. If this model fits your needs, Moosend would be a good selection.
If you plan a one-time email blast using an extensive list, such as every email in the Yellow Pages, paying by the number of emails is the better option. For these types of mass email events, Elastic Email or Sendinblue would be excellent choices.
Any of the email marketing tools we looked at will work for your business. From practically any list, you can tailor precise delivery dates and times to send personalized messages targeting specific segments. You can track your emails, measure performance, and make immediate adjustments to improve your success rates.
The real value from these products is the time you will save and the frustration you won’t experience. Executing a mass email marketing campaign requires a lot of planning and many steps in the preparation, delivery, and tracking stages. Focus on your business and leave the email marketing to the experts.
Great article.