So maybe you’re looking to start your own online business and you want to get off to a good start with it using an email marketing service.
Or you might already have an online business but it’s not really doing much for you, so now you want to take advantage of the power of email to help your business to take off.
Either way, email marketing is a powerful tool for your online business. I covered on the basics of email marketing and the power of email marketing in the last article.
If you haven’t seen it yet, you can check our my email marketing guide for beginners right here.
At this point, you should have a clear idea of how much email marketing can do for you and your online business. So, in this article, we’ll go over nine good services where you can get started with email marketing.
I’m going to recommend three of them, but I will provide an additional six that you can check out if none of these three seem right for you.
With that said, let’s get going with the list, starting with the top three email marketing services.
1. GetResponse
There are several reasons why I think GetResponse is so amazing that I just had to put it at the top of this list.
First off, GetResponse is very user-friendly and navigable. The simple buttons and drag-and-drop editor make it easy to create and customize your signup form, manage your email list, and set up your automation.
For the basic full-fledged email marketing plan with an email list of 1,000 subscribers, GetResponse will only charge you $15 a month.
That is a bargain compared to other sites that could charge $30 a month or more for all the features you need to get going.
And if you want to add premium features to your account, it will cost you $50 a month. But, given the simplicity and user-friendliness of GetResponse, I think it’s totally worth the money.
And, if you wanna know the best part, you can see all these features for yourself right now, risk-free! Yes, you can get started with GetResponse for absolutely free for 30 days. That’s a 1-month free trial for you to experience the power of GetResponse before you actually start paying.
If you’re ready, you can get started with GetResponse here!
So, if you’re looking for the best beginner-friendly email marketing service out there, GetResponse should definitely be your first option to consider.
2. AWeber
AWeber is actually a good alternative to GetResponse in its own right. Allow me to explain.
First of all, it is very simple and straightforward with setting up the automation. It lacks some of the detailed features of automation that other email marketing services might have, which makes it ideal for the novice email marketer.
AWeber also offers a 30-day free trial, so there’s no risk if you do decide to set up an account with AWeber and try them out for a month before you make your monthly payment.
Speaking of which, their rate is not as reasonable as GetResponse, as they offer an email list of only 500 subscribers for $20 a month. So, if the simple features of AWeber are really useful to you as an email marketer, I do think it’s worth the extra money.
You can get started with your free trial on AWeber here!
I must note, though, that AWeber will ask for your payment information in order to start the free trial. However, they will not charge you for using them until your free trial has ended. Keep in mind you have the option to avoid being charged and cancel your free trial before it ends.
3. Mailjet
Now Mailjet here is really underrated. The professionalism that MailJet offers is extraordinary, which is why it made the top three on this list.
Not only will you have the ability to take your email marketing to a more professional level, but you’ll be able to receive an unlimited number of subscribers to your list!
I must mention that the automation part of Mailjet is only found in its premium plan and not its basic plan, so I’d highly recommend the premium plan which will only cost you $20 a month.
Now, again, because Mailjet tends to be advanced in its features, it may not be ideal for simple beginners, which is why I would rather go for either GetResponse or Aweber as I mentioned earlier.
Anyway, Mailjet offers a forever free plan to allow you to get the feel of Mailjet. With a free list, you can send up to 200 emails to your followers a day. This is a great way to try them out before you make that purchase decision.
Keep in mind you will have free limitations, so once you’re absolutely ready, make that investment and go all in with Mailjet!
You can start using Mailjet right here!
I’ll admit that, if there’s one amazing email marketing service that should get more attention for the level of awesomeness it provides in its features, it would definitely be Mailjet!
The Other Six Services
As we go down the list, there are the other six email marketing services I can say are decent, but are not necessarily ideal. If you’re considering using any of these, keep in mind about the drawbacks and hindrances that might come with any of these services.
As you can probably tell, we’re going from best to worst, just as we did earlier.
4. ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is another good email marketing service to consider. However, its basic plan comes with its limitations and you’re going to have to pay at least $50 a month to get the most out of it.
Its basic plan costs around $18 a month, but it will show its branding at the bottom of your emails and elsewhere and you won’t have much freedom as far as customizing your emails go.
ActiveCampaign does offer a 14-day free trial and, yes, you won’t need to enter payment information, so that’s a plus.
I must say that ActiveCampaign seems to be user-friendly and they seem to make it navigable to get to all the features you need to get to. Therefore, ActiveCampaign seems to be ideal for the amateur email marketer.
Again, there is no risk involved. You’re free to cancel their service during the free trial if ActiveCampaign doesn’t meet your expectations.
5. MailerLite
If you’re looking for a good forever free email marketing service to use, then I would go with MailerLite. They do offer everything that you really need to get started with no investment.
However, there are limitations you’ll need to be okay with, such as a MailerLite logo at the bottom of your email, a MailerLite subdomain for your optin forms, and non-customizable pre-made templates to choose from.
As long as you can tolerate those limitations, MailerLite can be a good pick for you to get going with as an email marketer.
But, if you’re willing to pay, their prices are so affordable! It only costs $10 a month to start an email list for up to 1,000 subscribers.
Anyway, if MailerLite sounds like the right email marketing service for you, feel free to start using MailerLite right here!
I do have one thing to add about MailerLite: they do have an account approval process where your website needs to match up with their terms of service. Unfortunately, they denied my account for whatever reason, so I do think they are pretty strict. So be warned before you go get started with them!
6. MooSend
Don’t let the silly name of this email marketing service hold you back. This is another pretty cool free email marketing service. That’s right, it’s another forever free one!
What’s cool about MooSend? Well, even in their free plan, they don’t have that pesky branding at the bottom of your email. On top of that, MooSend is really simplistic and is built with beginner friendliness in mind.
Their free plan does not include landing pages, but it’s very cheap to pay monthly to get their premium plan to get those landing pages.
On the other hand, though, there is one major drawback to MooSend, and that is: it is not user-friendly! It may be very simple but it probably takes at least ten clicks to create a new automation, for example.
Honestly, they also don’t make all the options you have very clear. For example, there is no direct way to create an optin form as there is on other email marketing services.
But, if you’re willing to get acquainted with MooSend, by all means do so! It’s especially worth it if you really don’t have money to invest. With that said, you can get going with MooSend here!
However, if you do have money to spare and you enjoy a nice user experience, then you might want to consider investing into one of the other email marketing services I’m mentioning. All in all, MooSend is not a bad choice but it’s certainly not the best choice out there.
7. Constant Contact
As we come down toward the bottom of the list, we have Constant Contact, which, in my opinion, is a bit of a ripoff. They do offer good and user-friendly features, but their prices are really on the higher end.
Its basic plan starts at $20 a month, but the downside to that is you’re missing out on some amazing features to help boost your email marketing. In order to really take advantage of all its email automation features, you would have to upgrade to its premium plan which starts at $45 a month.
While Constant Contact is very reputable and has a ton of good features, it’s really not worth it when there are other email marketing services (like the ones mentioned earlier) that offer pretty much the same features at more reasonable prices (such as around $20 a month).
But, if you’d like to dive in and see Constant Contact for yourself, you can get started with a free trial (no payment required) and decide whether or not it works for you and whether you’re gonna get a good bang for your buck.
8. SendinBlue
Next, we have SendinBlue, which isn’t exactly affordable either.
They do have user-friendly and drag-and-drop features like many other email marketing services do, and they offer everything you need to get going like making landing pages and implementing automation.
But what’s really horrible about SendinBlue is their pricing plans which are kinda worse than Constant Contact’s. So let’s look through each one closely.
First, they have the forever free plan with your basic email list and nothing else. Then they have their basic plan at $25 a month which, surprise surprise, still has the SendinBlue branding on it. Not much change there at that price point, so that’s a big negative.
Then they have the Essential plan for $40 a month, but even at that plan, you still don’t have an autoresponder! It’s only when you get to their Premium plan at $66 a month when you finally have the ability to automate.
In the end, if you’re looking for affordable email marketing services, SendinBlue is absolutely not for you. But, as I said with Constant Contact, if their features seem appealing to you, give them a go and see if it works for you.
9. MailChimp
MailChimp made it to the very bottom of this list for one reason: they are not ideal for affiliate marketers.
Yes, for whatever dumb reason, MailChimp doesn’t want to support entrepreneurs doing affiliate marketing and saying it goes against their terms of service. I don’t know why the heck that is because that’s one of the reasons email marketing even exists!
I tried putting together an email list with my own affiliate products for free on MailChimp and, weeks later, they disabled my emails. At that point, I just threw in the towel and left MailChimp.
But, while it may be bad for affiliate marketers, it might serve well for other entrepreneurs, such as those selling their own products, as well as small businesses and nonprofit organizations.
However, affiliate marketing is something I think every beginner online entrepreneur should look into, so that’s why MailChimp made it down here.
On the other hand, it really never hurts to try, so if you do want to try them out, they have a forever free plan and their premium plan, which includes automation, will cost you $15 a month.
Conclusion
And that’ll do it for my list of the best email marketing services. I hope that gave you ideas of places where you can get started with email marketing. Again, if you need a quick review on the basics of how email marketing works, check out my email marketing for beginners article here.
Remember that, whatever email marketing service you choose, always make sure that it has these fundamental features:
- The option to create and manage signup forms
- Control over your email list and good customization options
- The ability to write and automate email sequences
If your email marketing lacks any of these features, your online business is going to miss out on so much potential! So always do your research and make a wise buying decision.
Then, once you’re ready, go out there and take action and make your online business thrive!