Which email marketing service is the best?
By: Lisa Pierce
Tags: Email, Email Productivity, Email Marketing, Email Marketing Tips

Many online business owners are embracing the need to grow their own mailing list. But one thing that is often hotly debated is which email marketing service is the best? There are some great companies out there providing email marketing platforms, so, understandably, it’s often the topic of conversation.

However, if you’re new to the online marketing scene, you may be wondering the same thing — so here’s my rundown of some of the most popular options.

Mailerlite email marketing service

Mailerlite is perfect if you’re just starting out. It’s free for the first 1,000 subscribers and is easy to set up. It also has a drop and drag editor and enables you to tag subscribers and use advanced segmentation. Unlike some other email marketing providers, you can also schedule emails on Mailerlite — an important (and necessary) element of any email marketing service. If you’d like to check out the features of Mailerlite, you can sign up for their free account here.

Mailchimp

I used to recommend Mailchimp to all new business owners, but that’s no longer the case. If you’re a legacy user on a free account, you’ll be able to access all the features you know and love, so it’s still a good option for you. But if you’re looking to sign up as a new user on Mailchimp, you’ll find some essential features missing from the free account. Most notably, the ability to schedule emails and being able to set up multi-step automations. (Check out this blog post where I compare Mailerlite and Mailchimp). If you want to check out Mailchimp, head over to their website here.

ConvertKit

ConvertKit is an email marketing service that’s really starting to grow on me. I’ve used it with a few clients now, and I’ll be honest — I’m starting to love it! You can create great-looking emails inside ConvertKit, and their visual automation workflows are great. You can set up a free account and manage up to 1,000 subscribers on it. But like Mailchimp, you need to pay, if you want access to integrations and want to create automated funnels and email sequences. You can check out ConvertKit, here.

ActiveCampaign — the email marketing service for scaling businesses

As your business grows, so will your mailing list. You’ll want an email marketing service that can grow with your business — and that’s where ActiveCampaign comes in. It not only gives you email marketing capabilities but also marketing automation and CRM tools to create an entire customer experience. You can do everything from split testing to lead scoring and event tracking inside ActiveCampaign, making it an essential tool for scaling and more established businesses. You can find out more about ActiveCampaign here.

Klaviyo — the best marketing service for eCommerce/product-based businesses

If you’re an eCommerce or product-based business, you’ll need some functionality that the other email marketing services mentioned above just don’t provide. That’s why Klaviyo is my top recommendation for this type of business. It integrates with payment processors and marketing tools, enables you to measure performance on recently ordered items and monitor revenue generated by email and advertising campaigns. You can find out more about Klaviyo here.

The decision has to be yours

There are a lot of options out there when it comes to choosing an email marketing service. However, like a lot of other tech and tools solutions out there, there is no one size fits all option. Ultimately your decision must come down to your own personal preference and budget.

I’ve listed the most popular options above, along with my personal recommendations on the type of business they best suit, but my advice would be to try a few on for size. Opt-in for their free trials, get behind the dashboard and see how good a fit they are for you before you make your final decision.

If you’re ready to build your list and have opted to use Mailerlite (and why wouldn’t you; it’s so simple to use!) I’ve got something for you that will really help save you time. Check out my free Mailerlite training — it gives you a walkthrough of the platform and the steps you need to take, to get your account set up! You can opt-in for this free training here.