What is the best email marketing software? I get this question a lot, especially since my previous branded name was “emailmarketing.guru”. I’ve spent the last dozen years or so in the email marketing arena. There are now literally hundreds of email service providers (ESP) out there. Today, I’m going to look at three of the top contenders.
What Should You look for in an Email Service Provider?
- “Try it for free” – all three of the programs here allow you to try them for free without a credit card.
- List management – list management should be easy, not hard.
- Email automation – if you will be using email marketing for affiliate or network marketing you will need an easy-to-use automation system.
- Offering layouts or templates to make it easy to prepare emails
AWeber
I love AWeber. They offer the most comprehensive product for the best price.
Do you love free? Guess what…if you are just getting started, you can use AWeber for up to 500 subscribers for free. That includes some extremely useful features:
- Up to 500 subscribers, 3,000 email sends per month
- Use the drag-and-drop email builder
- Email Automation (Campaigns)
- Sign-up forms
- Landing pages
- Integrations
The free program includes AWeber branding in the footer of emails. Once you are on your way, paid plans start at just $19/month and AWeber branding is removed.
Pros:
- Can call them on the phone and get a real person (who is likely located near Philadelphia, PA)
- Reliable and designed for affiliate and network marketers
- Excellent tagging system
- Setting up campaigns is easy
- Interfaces well with other online programs either directly or via Zapier.
- If a contact clicks “unsubscribe” they can opt which list they would like to unsubscribe from (if they are on more than one)
Cons:
- Lists are determined by campaigns, so you might have someone in two campaigns and, therefore on two lists.
- You pay “per subscriber”. Each name in a campaign would be a subscriber – therefore the same person would count as two subscribers.
- If you send a new offer to both lists (mentioned above) you will possibly email the person twice.
- Your company’s branding is not a priority.
Constant Contact
I’ve been a partner with Constant Contact for over ten years. There have been a lot of changes lately. They now offer DIY website and logo design programs as well as email. PS the event and survey programs offered by Constant Contact are far surpassed by others in those market arenas.
Pros:
- Can call them on the phone and get a real person located in the US who can really help
- Excellent, reliable service
- Single List – that means you are drawing names from a single list that can be segmented
- Best for regular business marketers sending out “keep in touch” emails.
- They offer lots of premade templates, including holiday-centered options
- Your company’s branding is important to them and templates can be easily changed to match your branding
- Some integration with other services such as Shopify
Cons:
- More expensive for automated marketing services (i.e. autoresponder series)
- You can add contacts to “lists” or tag them, but you can not “untag” them
- If someone unsubscribes, thy are totally unsubscribed from your email marketing system; that is, if they click “unsubscribe” they are gone from everywhere.
- Kind of a “con” – Constant Contact branding in is the footer of all emails, BUT, you can have a custom footer designed for a fee OR have it removed if you call them, they just don’t tell you that up front.
MailChimp
Right off the bat I want to say that MailChimp does not allow affiliate or network marketers as is stated in their Acceptable Use Policy. They see them as having too many SPAM complaints and unsubscribes, which reflect negatively on them as an email service provider.
Likewise, they do not offer an actual affiliate program. They have a program that allows you to earn MailChimp credits. The program is aptly named “Monkey Rewards”. LOL
MailChimp has long been a choice for marketers who want to get started “on the cheap”. They offer a free program for up to 2,000 subscribers. With the free plan, you have a single list, but you can create as many tags as you like.
Be aware of the fact that they do not offer any phone help, and email help is only available for paid accounts, so you are on your own if you have a question or concern.
The Bottom Line
Here’s the best part of all three programs – you can sign up and try them for free without entering a credit card number.
My final recommendations:
- If you are an affiliate or network marketer, use AWeber – their platform is designed especially for you
- If you are a regular business sending weekly or monthly emails to keep in touch with customers, use Constant Contact
- Even free, MailChimp is not worth it. It’s difficult to get used to and you have to think too hard to segment your subscribers
Questions about email marketing? Feel free to reach out to me. This is my area of special expertise and I’m happy to help out.
This is a really useful page for anybody looking for an email marketing software which can be a very effective way to market a website. You clearly like AWeber which makes a lot of sense. I can see that mailchimp has downsides, particularly if you are an affiliate marketer. Do you currently use AWeber yourself?
I use both AWeber and Constant Contact, but primarily AWeber. I have worked with clients over the years that wanted to save a few pennies and tried MailChimp. They were miserable because they needed help. Hmmm… pay $20 for an email service provider, or pay me as a coach? What’s a better way to spend your money, right? Thanks so much for your response.
For quite sometime now , I have been searching for the best email marketing software and I am happy to come across this . I think I’ll give aweber a try because I love the fact I that it offers the most comprehensive product for the best price , and it has many great features like the landing pages , sign-up forms and the rest , thank you for sharing this highly informative article.
And you can now try it for free … a bonus!
I am glad I have found your article about the best email autoresponders.
It has been for more than a month that I can’t decide which service to choose.
I mean I always wanted to go for the Aweber, but they did not offer the free service.
Now with Up to 500 subscribers, I can start using this service and I am so glad for it.
thanks a lot
Michal, give it a shot and let me know if you need my help. We can even set a time to go through it together, if you sign up with my link in the article.
I really like Aweber, it is simple to use and beginner-friendly too.
I like the option of starting at a free cost than upgrading. For beginners, it is a great opportunity that you can use to get accustomed to the tool and even make some sales.
I am currently using it on my website and it was pretty easy to set up and start collecting emails.
thanks
I used Aweber a while back when they had the free month only, and then I found as it was taking so long to build my list I was paying more than I was making so I quit. They have got clever now offering free membership until you hit 500 subscribers so I am sure that in this way they will retain more of their clients for a longer time.
However, in the meantime I have found an even easier to use platform that I am so enjoying that I don’t want to go back to AWeber, even though they will be free for now, but because my list is almost on 500 I think I will stay where I am.
Thanks for the post, it came right on time. I’ve been hearing a lot about the great benefits that Aweber has to offer. I think it is time I take advantage of Aweber’s free sign up options and see what the platform is all about. I am thankful that I have come across your site being that this is your area expertise. I will take you up on your offer and reach out to you if I have any questions.
Please call me if I can help.
AWeber has email campaigns in automation format. You can send email with the right message, to the right individuals or business, might be at the right moment in a win win email marketing
It’s a robust system, and its bigger than Mail Chimp, it is worth the money. Give it a trial for the first 30 days on a free trial basis. When you’re ready to continue, you pay just $19 a month for 500 subscribers, and along the line AWeber will uphold the best email marketing practices. This is your time to be successful. Get with it. Get with AWeber.
Hello there! Thank you very much for sharing this article on what is the best email software. I’ve gone through it and it’s a very detailed article and highly informative. I’ve been hearing a lot about the great benefits that Aweber has to offer. I think it is time I take advantage of Aweber’s free sign up options and see what the platform is all about. Thank you.
Having products like Aweber that’ll help you with some things that you want to do online, email marketing software like Aweber is always good for autoresponder and they always make your work very easy. I’ve read a lot of reviews about it and I like the fact that it is very easy to use and it is affordable.
As an affiliate marketer, email marketing is everything so finding the right email marketing software is vital. I heard so many good things on AWeber and they finally have the free trail. I also heard many good things about Mailchimp as well but since you spoke highly of AWeber, I am going to give it a chance. Thanks for the review.
Wow, Aweber really seems nice, I have heard about Aweber before though but not in this much detail, it’s amazing that they have lots of interesting features and there is also a free package. It was also nice you outlined the pros and cons as well. I must say that the pros really outweighed the cons. I’m definitely registering on this.
I have read a lot of reviews from AWeber but none of them have stated that the platform offers a free option in their plan. I have been wanting to try this company for some months now but wasn’t sure if I would like it and having to pay beforehand was just not on my radar. I have tried MailChimp before and although it is a popular platform and easy to use, it does lack some important elements.
You can not use MailChimp for affiliate marketing. Give AWeber a try. If you are just starting out, you can have up to 500 contacts. Here’s the link again: https://marketyoursocksoff.com…
Hello,
Creating an email list for your business is very good because you’ll grow when you make such moves and you have them working. However having the right software is own thing we have to deal with and this is the right place to be for anyone who is willing to give it a trial. I really like the information I’ve got here. Thanks to you.
If I can help, Reece, just reach out to me. My coaching is free.
Thank you so much for sharing this here. It is almost the best way and evergreen way to always get email marketing work. Email marketing is the best way to go about things and I really appreciate all the things you shared here especially about using aweber. Aweber is actually one of the very best out here right now. Thanks
Thank you for the info you provided. It has been a tiring process to compare, trying to get the best email marketing. I have used MailChimp before, and I am currently exploring Aweber. I am still not sure but hoping to get the best and settle soon . I have not heard of constant contact but i think its worth checking out.
Try A Weber’s new free start. It’s great for affiliate marketers and designed with them in mind. Here’s the link again: https://marketyoursocksoff.com… Here’s to your success!
I was actually looking for this comparison between Aweber and Mailchimp. So, great to have come across this article.
I was using mailchimp only because of the 2000 subscribers. But to be honest, there’s nothing more interesting about it. Now I have no other choice than joining Aweber. I mean, 500 subscribers and 3000 emails sent per month. That’s awesome! Who wouldn’t want to take advantage of that? This is perfect for beginners just like me lol.
Cheers
Give A Weber a try and let me know how it goes. Warren. For a long time my website was emailmarketing.guru, and I still own the domain. I can help with anything email related. Just reach out anytime.