The Marketers Guide To Choosing The Best, Most Suited Email Marketing Automation Tools

If you own an online business such as an e-commerce webshop, chances are high that you would like to send emails to your existing or prospective customers regarding your latest product unveils, transactional updates, newsletters, etc.

However, if you spend your time curating and sending those emails on your own, you would probably be glued to your laptop 24*7, and that is truly not possible nor a healthy choice!

A way out of this is automating your email workflows, which can be accomplished seamlessly using email marketing automation tools. You can set triggers, rules, and emails that will be delivered to your subscribers based on their journey in the sales funnel without you having to physically hit the “send” button. This will not only save you time but also help nurture leads through sustained engagement and quality content delivered at the right time to the right eyeballs. 

Though there is a whole selection of marketing automation software waiting to help you ace your email marketing game, there is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to selecting a tool that will turn out the best fit for your business. In the blog that follows, we will lay out the pros, cons, and pricing of four leading email marketing automation tools for your perusal. 

1. Mailchimp

Think email marketing automation tools, and we bet a decent amount that one of the first images to pop up in the caverns of your mind would be of that affable chimp winking at you against a yellow background sporting that super cool baseball cap! It has evolved from being an unpretentious newsletter tool that anyone could use to being a full-fledged and one of the best email marketing automation platforms with its drool-worthy “free-forever” plan (up to 500 contacts).

Pros:

1. For those who like freebies (isn’t that all of us!), they have this super cool free-forever plan for up to 500 contacts and 250+ app integrations.

2. App integration isn’t a problem with the option to integrate with multiple software platforms.

3. Easy drag-and-drop builder to stylize your emails, build and customize your campaigns

4. Transparent reporting that allows you to analyze your hits & misses, something that will serve you well in crafting future campaigns.

5. It’s great for setting up triggers for several different customer touchpoints, such as sending welcome emails to new subscribers, reviving abandoned carts, re-engaging inactive customers with coupons, follow-up emails on recent purchases, birthday, store anniversary emails, etc.

Cons:
1. Some might believe that though it offers great value in automating your email workflows, it doesn’t allow you to deep dive into other aspects of your campaign, such as creating parallel sequences with “if/then” clauses. For instance, you might want to send one email to someone who engages with the CTA of your welcome email and another email to someone who doesn’t. 

2. If you have a large list (upwards of 150k subscribers), then it can get a little expensive.

3. Limited on-call support.

4. May not be suitable for those with advanced marketing goals. 

Pricing: Other than its well-loved free-forever plan, it also offers three paid plans based on the number of contacts you have. You can check them out here. 

2. HubSpot

One of the premium, feature-enriched marketing suites, its CRM packs quite a punch with a range of tools and reporting analytics. You can not only manage all your marketing campaigns (email, website, social media marketing, etc.) but also retain and attract audiences with live chat, lead forms, and online ads. 

Pros:

1.  A full-service marketing suite replete with dedicated CRM, content marketing, and email marketing capabilities.

2. You can keep tabs on the health of your email campaigns by tracking the deliverability rates.

3. Keep track of all your customers through their journey in the sales funnel.

4. A repertoire of online training resources.

5. You pay only for the contacts you market to! 

Cons:

1. If you are a business looking for a dedicated email marketing tool, this may not be the best bet for you.

2. No provision for a free-forever or low-cost plan.

3. Integrating a separate CRM like Pipedrive or Salesforce can be challenging.

4. There is a learning curve to it that one needs to maneuver to unlock the CRM’s full potential. 

Pricing: You can avail of a 14-day free trial period to test the waters before investing in a plan of your choice;

• Starter (up to 1,000 contacts): $45/month
• Professional (up to 2,000 contacts): $800/month
• Enterprise (up to 10,000 contacts): $3,600/month

3. ConvertKit

Initially conceptualized as a simple email marketing tool for bloggers and online course instructors, in its most recent form, it also works well for e-commerce and other business owners. Devoid of fancy frills, this one is a great find for those who enjoy simplicity in software. 

Pros:

1. If the focus is on creating and sending neat and plain emails, then this is the perfect tool for you.

2. The automation module has a simple interface yet does the job well.

3. One can add four kinds of triggers; adding a tag, subscribers joining a form, changing the custom field value, and a purchase happening. These triggers can be connected to multiple Events, Conditions & Actions. 

4. It also allows integrations with multiple applications such as WordPress, WooCommerce, Shopify, etc.

Cons:

1. It doesn’t offer ready-made templates for automation which might not be great for someone who has just begun automating their workflows.

2. Leads gathered through ConvertKit forms need to be added manually.

3. It has a very basic, no-frills attached email template editor.

4. It might come across as slightly heavy on the pocket for agencies juggling multiple clients.

Pricing: If you are looking for a monthly premium subscription, then you need to shell out USD 29/month. On the other hand, if your subscriber list comes under 1000 contacts, then you may choose to go with the free plan. 

4. ActiveCampaign

This one takes the cake when it comes to handling heavy-duty automation. Loaded with hundreds of pre-built automation templates, it sets you up to offer a personalized experience to each subscriber! Now that’s some serious value for money. 

Pros:

1. Advanced automation features that enhance the overall customer experience and interactions.

2. A solid customer support system that truly has your back!

3. Every plan comes with data migration & implementation services. 

4. Versatile and flexible tool that can be integrated with multiple commonly used applications. 

Cons:

1. There is a learning curve to the platform, which can be challenging.

2. The prices witness a hike with the increase in the number of contacts.

3.  The Lite plan is quite basic.

Pricing: Their Professional plan is the most popular one and comes for USD 149 per month. If you’d rather prefer a customized plan, then their Enterprise package should suit you best. Check out the deals here. 

Summary

In conclusion, it is safe to say that what works best for one enterprise may not suit your needs. So you need to weigh in several factors, such as your contact list, the depth of automation you are looking for, and of course, the scalability factor. On that note, Mavlers is your best companion when it comes to sorting out the A to Z of your email automation needs. We’d be looking forward to hearing from you!