A mass email is when you send an email message to a large number of email addresses in your contact list.

Adding an endless number of email addresses to the CC or BCC of your email draft is tedious, time-consuming, and risks exposing the personal contact information of your email recipients.

Use the mail merge feature in Outlook to send bulk email to your email contacts quickly. Mail merge also lets you send personalized messages to each email recipient.

How to Send Personalized Mass Email in Microsoft Outlook

We strongly recommend using a professional email marketing software to help you send personalized emails – so you can benefit from advanced marketing tools like email segmentation and email design templates. 

Using mail merge Outlook is still a good option if you’re only interested in sending a few bulk messages.

Here are 5 simple steps you can use to send personalized mass emails in Outlook:

Step 1: Draft your message in Microsoft Word

Open Word and write out the body of the email message.

If you’ve included images or GIFs and want to know what they’ll look like in an email, select the View tab in the menu ribbon and switch to Web Layout.

Step 2: Start Mail Merge

With your email draft ready you can move on to the next step.

Click on the Mailings tab in the menu ribbon and select the Start Mail Merge option.

In the drop-down menu, choose E-mail Messages.

NB: You’ll see a box that highlights the E-mail Messages menu icon the next time you select Start Mail Merge to indicate that you’ve already toggled that option.

Step 3: Select your email recipients

Under the Mailings tab, choose Select Recipients. 

You’ll see a drop-down list of three options that include:

• Type a New List
• Use an Existing List
• Choose from Outlook Contacts

Here’s how each option works:

Type a New List: Lets you manually key in the contact details of your new email list.

Use an Existing List: Import contacts from a separate file. For this option, you’ll have to organize your contact data in a spreadsheet (.cvs file) or a database with at least three columns (First Name, Last Name, Email Address). 

Choose from Outlook Contacts: Select your email recipients from MS Outlook contact lists (aka your address book). This includes email addresses you’ve previously contacted via Outlook.

Add an “E-mail Address” column if you don’t have one by selecting Customize Columns.

Clean up your contact list by editing entries (double click on any column). You can also manually add or delete entries.

Click OK to save your new address list as a file on your computer. Any new address list will be stored under ‘…\Documents\My Data Sources’ by default.

Step 4: Personalize your message

Now that you’ve added your subscribers to your recipient list you can customize your message on a personal level.

Greeting Line: lets you customize your email by changing the formal address and naming convention of the first line of your email.

Go to the Mailings tab and select Greeting Line.

Once you’ve made changes that you’re happy with, click on OK.

Insert Merge Field: lets you add any column entry in your recipient list as a dynamic field in your email.

Go to the Mailings tab and select Insert Merge Field.

For example, a ‘Company’ column could stand-in for the name of the business your email recipient represents.

Arrange the new insert fields “«»” that have double angle quotes in areas where you feel they fit comfortably.

Step 5: Finish & Merge

With the personalization baked in, you’re all set to send your first mass mailing.Click Finish & Merge in the ribbon menu and then Send Email Messages.

Add the subject line and click OK to send.

Easy, right? Now let’s talk about the disadvantages of sending mass email campaigns with Outlook.

Why You Shouldn’t Send Mass Email in Outlook

Unlike dedicated email marketing services, Outlook isn’t designed for sending mass emails. Use it for this purpose and you’ll be quickly frustrated by the following factors:

• Daily email limit: like most Email Service Providers (ESPs), Outlook limits the number of emails you can send per day to 300
• Lack of email design features: such as email templates and coding resources making it hard to create eye-catching branded emails
• No email preview: you can’t preview emails to see how it’s displayed on different devices and browsers prior to sending 
• No reporting or analytics: without detailed metrics, you won’t know how well your email campaigns are performing
• Flagged as spam: mass emails sent from Outlook, Gmail, and Yahoo are often flagged as spam by both other ESPs and email recipients
• Lower sender reputation: spam reports impact your sender reputation and you’ll be less likely to reach your recipients’ inboxes in the future as a form of protection for them
• Unprofessional sender address: (such as businessname@outlook.com) along with a high number of spam reports can get your mail server IP address blacklisted when sending through Outlook

Why You Should Use Email Marketing Software to Send Mass Emails

Email marketing remains the most profitable marketing channel with an ROI of $32 for every $1 spent. 

To leverage that kind of ROI, you need to invest in a dedicated email marketing service like Sendinblue. Outlook alone simply won’t cut it.

A specialized email marketing service:

• Makes adding contacts and selecting mailing lists easy
• Lets you create professional-looking emails with cool branding and design elements
• Allows you to insert products, various images, and personalized dynamic content like the contents of an individual abandoned cart
• Gives you email performance reports
• Offers ways to grow your lists
• Protects sender reputation
• Enables you to be GDPR compliant

To find the best service for you, check out this list of the best email marketing services.

If you insist on sending mass emails with Outlook, you’re going to face the following limitations:

Things Outlook Can’t Do

Create professional-looking emails that match your brand

It’s hard to design emails from scratch without any coding or graphic design skills.

One advantage of an email marketing service is that it gives you the tools to easily create emails that look good and display correctly on both desktop and mobile devices.

Sendinblue, for example, gives you access to a library of email templates as well as a drag and drop email design tool.

Clean, well-designed emails that reflect your brand will catch readers’ attention and increase conversions. 

Below is one such example from Daubner USA — a great-looking email complete with eye-catching visuals and call-to-action buttons, created with Sendinblue’s easy-to-use email builder.

Save time on list management

Sending a regular email newsletter can be a hassle with Outlook. Imagine adding your contacts manually every time you want to send a bulk email! 

Uploading a CSV file isn’t ideal either. You still lose time manually keeping your email list up to date with new subscribers and unsubscribers. 

Keeping track of email contacts is easy with Sendinblue. Unsubscribers are automatically removed from lists while opt-ins are added.

You also can set up marketing automation workflows that move contacts to certain lists once they fulfill specific conditions.

Avoid email blacklists

Sendinblue works to protect sender reputations so you don’t get blacklisted.

New accounts go through strict validation processes to guarantee security and deliverability for everyone using Sendinblue’s shared IP addresses.

A shared IP address is one that’s shared by several users. It’s a cheaper option for companies sending low volumes of email but the risk is that it only takes one user to compromise an IP’s sender reputation for everyone. 

Take the stress out of GDPR

Navigating the GDPR (an EU law dictating how personal data can be collected and used) for the first time can be confusing. 

But it’s important to protect people from getting spammed by unsolicited emails. If you want to reach EU citizens, make sure your email and list-building practices are lawful.

Sendinblue has built-in data security and privacy features to ensure your subscriber’s data is collected and used respectfully.

An unsubscribe option is automatically included in all emails and you can only send to opt-in contacts (those who consented to be contacted by email). 

You can gather this consent with Sendinblue’s customizable email signup forms. To acquire this consent, Sendinblue also lets you create customized email subscription forms.

Don’t Risk Sending Mass Emails in Outlook, Try Sendinblue Instead

Looking for an alternative to Outlook for sending mass emails? 

Signup, import your contacts, and send your first mass email campaign in just a few minutes.

The post How to Send Mass Email in Outlook appeared first on Sendinblue.

And with Mailchimp’s 11% price increase in February 2022, things have only gotten more expensive.

That’s why we’ve put together this post: to help you pay less for email.

And spoiler alert, it’s totally possible to find a cheaper alternative to Mailchimp with all the same functionality.

Taking the cheapest monthly plan available, we’ve compared 11 Mailchimp competitors on how much it costs to send email newsletters to a given number of contacts.

We’ll look at features in the second half of the post but this comparison is mainly focused on monthly email sending costs. 

So, want to know which Mailchimp alternatives will generate the most savings on email? Read on to find out!

Prices listed are for monthly plans only 

What are the Best Mailchimp Alternatives?

At a glance, the best Mailchimp alternatives are:

1. Sendinblue
2. Moosend
3. Convertkit
4. HubSpot
5. Mailerlite
6. Klaviyo
7. Aweber
8. ActiveCampaign
9. Constant Contact
10. Campaign Monitor
11. Omnisend

Why It’s Worth Considering Mailchimp Alternatives

Mailchimp is known for free and entry-level plans. But once your email list starts to grow,  Mailchimp’s cost actually goes up very fast.

On Mailchimp, every single contact counts as a billable contact, even those who unsubscribe. This means that to keep Mailchimp costs low, you need to stay on top of your email list cleaning. Plus, if a contact appears on two lists, it’s billed twice!

Also, as a Mailchimp user, you may have noticed that list segmentation can be tricky.

Instead of separating contacts into distinct lists, Mailchimp encourages you to have one single list (known as an ‘audience’) and to segment using tags. Tags can quickly become messy and confusing.

Another thing to keep in mind about Mailchimp is that while it has some great advanced features, these are mainly reserved for the higher pricing tiers. 

You’ve probably hit a wall with some of Malchimp’s biggest CONS already and that’s why you’re looking at Mailchimp competitors:

• Paying for contacts, even unsubscribed ones
• No integration with Shopify
• No integrated SMS, live chat, or push notifications
• All features billed by contacts, exponentially increasing the price

An Overview of the Best Mailchimp Alternatives

If you’re looking to move away from Mailchimp, surely your first concern is the features you’ll get elsewhere and the cost. Luckily, there are quite a few Mailchimp competitors with comparable features and often better prices.

Price Comparison to Find Cheaper Alternatives to Mailchimp

Here’s a price comparison of the top Mailchimp alternatives by contact list size. Note that Sendinblue is the only one to not charge per content but by number of emails sent. Everyone else, Mailchimp and competitors, charge for subscriber storage, which inflates the price as your list grows.

Here’s how pricing compares when sending one email per month to specific numbers of contacts.

Prices based on monthly plans (cheapest plan available)

Comparing ‘free forever’ plans: The best free alternatives to Mailchimp

Is Mailchimp free? It offers a free plan, true, but it’s quite limited and the price goes up steeply from there.

Naturally, if you’re an email marketing beginner, a small business owner, or just starting out in ecommerce, you might find that too expensive. Or maybe you’re looking for cheaper Mailchimp alternatives for nonprofits (check out our guide to email marketing for NGOs)?

Free plans are an ideal opportunity to test-drive an email marketing platform before committing to a paid plan. Free plans are essentially Mailchimp free alternatives.   The best paid email services usually offer them to get you started. 

Email marketing services that don’t have a free plan

• ActiveCampaign: 14-day free trial. Starting price of $15/month for 500 contacts.
• Constant Contact: 30-day free trial. Starting price of $9.99/month for 500 contacts.
• Moosend: 30-day free trial. Starting price of $9/month for 500 contacts.

The 11 Best Mailchimp Alternatives in 2022

This goal here is to give you an idea of the key features offered by different email providers. 

Some features are available on base plans, others are reserved for upper tier/premium plans. For exact pricing information per feature, you’ll need to visit each provider individually. 

Top of the list is Sendinblue. You’ve seen how Sendinblue offers great value for money when it comes to sending emails. Now let’s see what else you can do with the platform.

1. Sendinblue: The Best Mailchimp Alternative

Sendinblue is an affordable, user-friendly email marketing software. But that’s not all. It’s also an all-in-one sales and marketing toolbox. Alongside all the necessary email marketing tools, you’ll also get marketing automation, CRM, SMS, Chat, Shared Inbox and Facebook ad capabilities.

What makes Sendinblue the best Mailchimp alternative?

Main advantages over Mailchimp:

• A robust email deliverability infrastructure to help land your emails in the inbox
• Pricing based on the number of emails, not the number of contacts: Sendinblue lets you store unlimited contacts across all its plans. No matter how big your email list grows, its size won’t impact the pricing. Mailchimp, on the other hand, charges per contact stored. As one user describes Sendinblue: “No need to worry about growing your database and seeing your costs explode.”
• Transactional emails included in each plan: You can send transactional emails (like order confirmations, shipping notifications, password resets, etc.) over Sendinblue’s SMTP server as part of your monthly plan. With Mailchimp, transactional emails are a paid add-on to your monthly plan and incur pretty hefty transactional fees.

Check out our Sendinblue vs Mailchimp guide for a detailed comparison of pricing and features.

Or you can just try it out for yourself by signing up for a free plan. You’ll get 300 emails a day and unlimited subscribers.

Sendinblue’s email marketing features:

• Unlimited subscribers
• Drag-and-drop email builder & HTML email editor
• Customizable email templates
• Advanced list segmentation
• Dynamic personalization
• A/B testing (email content and subject lines)
• Advanced analytics
• Email subscription forms
• Easy to set up double opt-in
• Native integrations with WordPress and other CMS
• GDPR compliant

Automation tools:

• Autoresponders
• Email marketing automation
• Visual workflow builder
• If/then/else workflows
• On-page activity triggers

Ecommerce: 

• Transactional emails (included in monthly email plans)
• Abandoned cart emails
• SMTP server
• Email API
• SMS 
• Native plugins for Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, PrestaShop, BigCommerce

Multichannel: 

• Email
• SMS marketing
• Push notifications
• Shared Inbox
• Landing page builder
• Live chat

Also includes a built-in CRM for managing contacts and deals.

Sendinblue Pricing

Sendinblue offers a forever-free plan with 300 emails a day. Signup forms and email templates included!

Plans start at $25/month for 20,000 emails and grow with your business needs, not with your contact list.

Languages available:

The platform is available in 6 languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese (Mailchimp only supports English)

Best for: 

Both small and large businesses, ecommerce stores, publishers, startups.

2. Moosend

Moosend is another affordable email marketing solution and marketing automation platform. 

Compared to some other Mailchimp alternatives, it lacks certain native integrations and multichannel marketing features. That said, it has everything you need to create and send successful email campaigns. 

Why choose as Moosend as a Mailchimp alternative

Moosend’s main advantage over Mailchimp is that it’s a lot cheaper and offers a generous free plan. Overall it’s a good choice for small businesses and infrequent senders.

Moosend email marketing features:

• Unlimited emails
• List segmentation
• Newsletter templates
• Drag-and-drop editor
• Email subscription forms
• Real-time analytics

Automation possibilities:

• Automation workflow editor
• Automation templates
• Lead scoring
• Conditional triggers

Ecommerce: 

• Abandoned cart emails
• Transactional emails
• SMTP server
• Integrations via Zapier and Piesync 

Multichannel: 

• Landing pages

Unfortunately not as many multichannel features as Mailchimp and other providers.

Best for:

Publishers, agencies, small businesses

3. ConvertKit

ConvertKit promotes itself as the email marketing platform for creators. This includes bloggers, artists, musicians, Youtubers—basically anyone running a creative business.

ConvertKit’s email marketing tool is optimized with this audience in mind.

Advantages of ConvertKit vs Mailchimp

• ConvertKit doesn’t charge twice for same subscriber in different lists
• You can create multiple signup forms for different opt-in incentives and content assets. This makes it easy to grow a subscriber list with content upgrades.
• There’s a free concierge migration service if you have over 5000 subscribers

ConvertKit email marketing features:

• Email campaigns
• RSS to email
• Mobile responsive
• Form builder
• Analytics & engagement scoring
• A/B tests
• Option to run a paid newsletter (transaction fee applies)

Automation possibilities:

• Visual automation builder
• Autoresponders
• Email marketing automation
• Link triggers

Ecommerce: 

• Ecommerce integrations
• API

Multichannel: 

• Landing pages (+ templates)
• Possibility to sell digital products
• Newsletter referral system
• Facebook custom audiences

Best for:

Creators, artists, writers, musicians, bloggers.

4. HubSpot

If you’re looking for more than just an email marketing tool, HubSpot is a great Mailchimp alternative to consider. HubSpot’s email marketing service is backed with a full suite of marketing and automation tools, to help you create unique, personalized experiences for your audience.

Main advantages of HubSpot vs. Mailchimp

Here’s why HubSpot is one of the best alternatives to Mailchimp:

• Marketing automation: HubSpot’s automation features go well beyond simple autoresponders. While Mailchimp offers automated kickback emails and drip campaigns, HubSpot lets you create automation workflows to manage your contact database, pass off leads to other teams, and even automatically create support tickets. You can also add delays and conditional logic.
• Growth platform: With forms and popups, live chat and bots, ad management, landing pages, and more, HubSpot has everything you need to kick off your marketing strategy, as well as more advanced features that you can grow into. The HubSpot CRM also supports your sales and customer service teams for a seamless cross-functional customer experience.

HubSpot email marketing features: 

• Forms
• Popups
• Segmentation
• Email analytics and health insights
• Mobile optimization

Automation possibilities:

• Autoresponders
• Automate drip campaigns
• Advanced sequences (conditional logic)
• Lead scoring

Multichannel: 

• CRM
• Live chat and conversational bots
• Plans to support sales and customer support teams
• Landing pages
• Ad retargeting & management

Best for:

The free plan has a generous feature set but HubSpot becomes expensive if you have more than 1000 subscribers. For this reason it’s probably best suited to mid/large enterprises rather than small businesses on a budget. As well, the wealth of advanced functionalities makes Hubspot a better option for experienced pro marketers.

5. Mailerlite

Mailerlite is another cheaper alternative to Mailchimp and a solid choice if you’re just looking for a simple, intuitive email tool.

What makes Mailerlite better than Mailchimp:

There are only two pricing plans, free and paid. This means you can access all features on the paid plan (unlike Mailchimp which has different pricing tiers).

Mailerlite email marketing features:

• Drag-and-drop editor
• Popup signup forms
• Simple reporting dashboard
• Segmentation
• Email templates
• Time zone scheduling
• Auto resend
• A/B testing
• Rich text & HTML editor

Automation possibilities:

• Autoresponder
• Simple automation sequences

Multichannel: 

• Landing pages (+ custom domains for landing pages)
• Free website with up to 5 landing pages

Best for:

Perfect for small businesses. Mailerlite is a lightweight solution that offers great value for money given its ease of use.

However, it’s probably not the tool for you if you’re looking for more advanced features (automation, etc.) 

Another point to note is that Mailerlite doesn’t offer any phone support, even on their paid plan.

6. Klaviyo

Klaviyo’s email marketing service is built for ecommerce and integrates easily with Shopify. 

Klaviyo particularly excels when it comes to advanced analytics and insights. If you want to dig deep into customer data, Klaviyo is one of the best Mailchimp alternatives for this.

Find other Klaviyo alternatives here

What makes Klaviyo better than Mailchimp

Main advantages over Mailchimp:

• Granular segmentation: Klaviyo provides a ton of behavioral and transactional data with which you can segment contacts. It also has predictive analytics to determine Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) and the risk of churn. 
• Pre-built templates for automation workflows: Save time setting up automated workflows thanks to Klaviyo’s library of ready-made templates for your abandoned cart, welcome, and win-back flows.
• Measure email marketing ROI: Easily track all the sales coming directly from your email marketing efforts.

Klaviyo email marketing features:

• Segmentation and personalization
• A/B testing
• 1-click integrations with many apps and services
• ROI-based reporting
• Signup forms and popups

Automation possibilities:

• Workflow builder
• Automated workflow templates
• Pre-built autoresponders

Ecommerce: 

• Abandoned cart reminders
• Native integrations for Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce and more
• API
• Product recommendations
• Dynamic data block

Multichannel: 

• SMS
• Facebook & Instagram advertising

Best for:

Ecommerce businesses

7. AWeber

AWeber has been around since 1998 and is still a popular email marketing tool for small businesses, bloggers, and entrepreneurs. It offers a huge gallery of ready-made email templates and gives lots of options for email automation and personalization.

Here’s why AWeber is one of the best Mailchimp alternatives:

• An all-inclusive pricing model: With AWeber you get access to all features, no matter what plan you’re on.  With Mailchimp, a limited number of features are available on the cheaper plans. For example, A/B testing and advanced segmentation are only available as you move up the different pricing tiers.
• Customer support via phone, chat and email: AWeber customers have a number of options to contact its award-winning customer support 24/7. Mailchimp, on the other hand, has no direct contact support options for its free users, and phone support is a luxury that’s only available on the premium plan (starting at $299).

AWeber email marketing features: 

• Newsletters
• RSS to email
• Email templates
• Drag and drop email editor
• Signup forms
• WordPress plugin
• Basic segmentation
• Analytics

Automation possibilities:

• Autoresponder
• Behavioral automation

Ecommerce: 

• No transactional emails
• Sales tracking
• Purchase tagging

Multichannel: 

• Web push notifications
• Stock photos
• Landing pages 

Best for:

Email marketing beginners who want a user-friendly newsletter and list management tool without all the bells and whistles. 

Advanced segmentation and A/B split testing will be missed but you do get 24/7 support (phone/email/chat) on all plans.

8. ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign’s email marketing tool is just one feature of its many marketing software capabilities.

ActiveCampaign makes it easy to personalize your emails using contact data. You can also split test up to five different email versions to work out which content performs best. 

Plus, there’s also a built-in spam tester to check if emails are likely to go to junk. 

Why choose ActiveCampaign as a Mailchimp alternative

Main advantages vs Mailchimp:

• Automation and workflow recipes to get you started
• Suits the more advanced marketer
• Unfortunately doesn’t offer a free plan but you can do a 14-day free trial

ActiveCampaign email marketing features: 

• Newsletter
• Drag-and-drop editor
• Email templates
• Analytics

Automation possibilities:

• Autoresponders
• Marketing automation
• Automation map
• Contact & lead scoring

Ecommerce: 

• Product blocks for email
• Ecommerce integrations
• Conversion tracking

Multichannel: 

• CRM
• Landing pages
• Site messages
• SMS marketing
• Social media tool integrations

Best for:

Pro marketers who are already familiar with advanced automation

9. Constant Contact

Constant Contact helps small businesses create websites, online stores, branded email marketing campaigns, and more.

Why choose Constant Contact as a Mailchimp alternative

Main advantages vs Mailchimp:

• Ease of use and intuitiveness, especially for organizing lists
• Accessible customer support on low priced plans
• Donations tool to support email marketing for nonprofits

No free plan but paid plans come with unlimited emails.

Constant Contact email marketing tools: 

• Email campaigns
• Email templates
• Resends to non-openers
• A/B split testing for subject lines

Automation possibilities:

• Automated email series/nurturing workflows

Ecommerce: 

• Abandoned cart email reminds for Shopify
• Integrations with Shopify, Eventbrite and Mindbody

Multichannel: 

• Survey tool
• Donation collection
• Social media scheduling and ads
• Landing page builder

Best for:

Small businesses and nonprofits looking for a simple multichannel solution

10. Campaign Monitor

Campaign monitor is another cost-effective Mailchimp alternative to consider, particularly for lower volume senders. Their platform offers countless beautiful email newsletter templates for everything from announcements to holiday campaigns to reengagement messages.

What makes Campaign Monitor better than Mailchimp

Campaign Monitor is a good Mailchimp alternative for a few reasons. First off, for most email sending volumes, they’re less expensive than the industry leader. Second, they’re visual journey builder is great for beginners looking to get started with more advanced automations. 

Overall, Campaign Monitor users find that their platform is far easier to use than Mailchimp’s. If you’re looking for an intuitive email marketing tool, this is one to consider. 

Campaign Monitor email marketing features:

• Email campaigns
• Drag and drop email builder
• Over 100 customizable templates
• Free image gallery
• A/B testing
• Popups and forms
• Real time reporting analytics
• RSS-to-email

Automation possibilities:

• Automation visualization
• Advanced link tracking

Ecommerce: 

• Transactional emails 
• Various plug-ins / integrations

Multichannel: 

• CRM plug-in
• CMS plug-in
• Landing pages
• Social media marketing alignment

Best for:

Small businesses looking for an email marketing tool. (While Campaign Monitor supports other channels, you’ll have to go through integrations to use them).

11. Omnisend

Last but not least on our list of Mailchimp alternatives is Omnisend. They offer an easy-to-use platform for ecommerce email marketing, SMS, and automation. If you’re looking for an exhaustive ecommerce option, Omnisend is a decent pick.

Omnisend positions itself for ecommerce businesses and boasts a variety of helpful tools for running an online shop. In addition to email marketing, they support SMS marketing, another perk for ecommerce retailers. While Omnisend’s functionality is top-notch, the pricing is steep, even more than Mailchimp for certain volumes.

Omnisend email marketing features:

• Email campaigns
• Drag-and-drop editor
• List segmentation
• Sign-up forms
• A/B testing
• Campaign reports and click maps
• Email templates
• Analytics

Automation possibilities:

• Pre-built workflows
• Ecommerce-focused personalization

Ecommerce: 

• Ecommerce integrations
• Cart abandonment
• Order/shipping confirmation
• Product recommendations

Multichannel: 

• Landing pages
• Web-push notifications
• SMS
• Social media integrations

Best for:

Established ecommerce businesses looking to make use of a variety of features. 

The Must-ask Questions when Choosing an Alternative to Mailchimp

When comparing email marketing services, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the different tools, especially if you’re an email marketing beginner. But here are some questions you can ask yourself to narrow down the selection:

1. What key features does my business need?

Do I need a simple email tool or could I also benefit from an ‘all-in-one’ pro tool with other marketing capabilities? 

All-in-one platforms are a great way to centralize your marketing operations, reduce the size of your martech stack, and cut down on your marketing expenses. You’re also set to save a lot of time switching between tools.

As lots of email providers branch into multichannel offerings, it’s definitely worth taking a look at what you can do beyond email. 

2. What kind of emails will I send and how often?

Will I be sending promotional email campaigns, transactional emails, or both?

As we’ve seen, Mailchimp competitors differ in how they cater to (and charge for) transactional emails. 

Sendinblue, for example, lets you manage promotional and transactional emails on the same plan. Others bill transactional emails as an add-on while some (like Constant Contact) don’t offer any transactional email service.

Are transactional emails vital to the success of your business? If so, you need to check how a potential email provider manages such emails and figure out how much it’ll cost you.

3. How many email subscribers do I have? 

And how fast do I predict my email list to grow?

As we’ve seen, most email services base their pricing on the number of subscribers stored. It’s easy to get lured in by super cheap base plans and then see a considerable hike in prices once you hit the 1000 subscriber mark. 

This is where you need to look ahead. Don’t just ignore the higher pricing tiers. Will the shift in prices still suit your budget as your list grows? Or would you prefer a more flexible, scalable option that isn’t based on the number of contacts but on the volume of emails?

If it’s a case of the latter, Sendinblue offers unlimited contacts on all plans. This way you don’t have to worry about increasing prices as your list grows. 

4. What’s my skill level as an email marketer?

Do I need a basic ‘get the job done’ tool or something more sophisticated?

This is where you should assess your email marketing goals and skills as a marketer. A lot of small businesses are just looking for simplicity, efficiency, and affordability. If you fall into this category, it’s likely the most basic email package will suit.

But if you’re a seasoned marketer or perhaps more into the tech/dev side, you’ll probably want a sophisticated pro tool. Services with advanced automation, segmentation, and analytics possibilities will speak to you more.

Time to Try Out Some Mailchimp Alternatives

Test, test, test. It’s the best way to find the ideal email service provider for your business.

Take advantage of free plans and free trials to get a feel for the software. You’ll quickly start to notice the differences and learn your own preferences.  

We hope this guide has helped you see where you can save the most money with Mailchimp alternatives.

The post 11 Best Mailchimp Alternatives Compared (2022): Make the Switch appeared first on Sendinblue.

Equipped with advanced features like newsletter design tools, automation capabilities, and ways to personalize content, email marketing services have everything you need to grow your business. They can help you build your mailing list, engage with subscribers, and strengthen customer relationships.

The difficulty lies in choosing the best email marketing software for your business. There are tons of options out there and it can get overwhelming trying to sift through everything they offer.

To help you out, we’ve compiled a list of top email marketing services and their main features.

At a Glance: What Are The Best Email Marketing Services

1. Sendinblue
2. Mailchimp
3. ConvertKit
4. Hubspot
5. MailerLite
6. Klaviyo
7. AWeber
8. ActiveCampaign
9. GetResponse
10. Constant Contact
11. Campaign Monitor

Comparing Prices for Email Marketing Services

This is a simple price comparison of the top email marketing services reviewed in this article to give you an overview of what to expect from each one. Free email services like Outlook and Gmail aren’t suitable for mass email campaigns so you need a dedicated email marketing platform.

A Closer Look at the Best Email Marketing Services in 2022

Sendinblue: The #1 Email Marketing Service

Sendinblue is much more than an email marketing software. It provides users with a complete sales and marketing toolkit. Each feature slots together to build your email marketing strategy from start to finish.

As an email marketing service, Sendinblue offers powerful features like laser-focused segmentation, personalized content, A/B testing, and send time optimization. On top of the intuitive drag and drop email editor you get access to a selection of fully responsive templates so you can easily create great emails.

You can use Sendinblue’s marketing automation tools to scale your email marketing:

• Autoresponders like welcome emails 
• Complex workflows based on user behavior
• If/then scenarios
• Lead scoring
• Automated contact management

Thanks to the Sendinblue Tracker, you can even trigger emails based on how users interact with your website. There are also ready plugins for integrations with ecommerce platforms like Shopify and Woocommerce.

If you need to send transactional emails like account confirmations or order updates, with Sendinblue you can manage these alongside your marketing campaigns. Also, the SMTP relay available means it can work as a bulk email marketing service, depending on your goals and needs. 

Sendinblue not only measures core email KPIs like open rates and click rates, but also gives you detailed heat maps of where people clicked in an email, when they engaged with the campaign and from what geography. This allows you to fine-tune campaigns for optimal results.

Aside from emailing, the service offers SMS marketing features, live chat to connect with customers in real time, and signup forms for lead generation to support all your marketing efforts. Push notifications are also coming soon!

Pricing for Sendinblue’s email marketing service

Sendinblue’s free forever plan lets you send up to 300 emails a day. That’s 9,000 emails a month and we never charge for contact list size. Our paid plans start at $25 for 20,000 emails per month.

When picking a paid plan, pricing will depend on the number of emails you want to send each month. However, all plans — including Free — allow you to store unlimited contacts at no cost. Packages include email support, while chat and phone support are available with the Premium plan.

For inspiration, look at this beautiful email by The Wally Shop, created and sent with Sendinblue.

2. Mailchimp

Mailchimp is probably the most popular email marketing service. It’s equipped with all the features you need to run slick email marketing campaigns. The platform’s simple user interface makes it easy for email marketing newbies to get their head around complicated features. 

The drag and drop email builder and professional templates help you create beautiful campaigns in minutes. And you can grow your audience by adding popup signup forms to your website or creating unlimited landing pages using premade templates. 

Digging deeper, Mailchimp offers advanced email marketing tools like A/B testing, prebuilt and custom list segmentation options, and send time optimization. You can also personalize email content, including product recommendations using one of the ecommerce plugins.

For email automation, choose from pre-built workflows such as re-engagement emails or craft your own customer journeys. 

If you want to take your marketing strategy multichannel, the platform also offers social media scheduling and ads. 

For paid plans, the price increases based on the number of subscribers in your contact lists. The free plan doesn’t include customer support but there is an extensive knowledge base to help you out. 

Price: there is a free plan for up to 2,000 subscribers and 10,000 emails. After that, prices start at $11 for 500 contacts.

3. ConvertKit

ConvertKit is an emailing service targeting online creatives like bloggers and YouTubers. Email marketing features include the ability to segment your list and personalize campaigns using tags, as well as A/B testing for subject lines. 

You can grow your audience with customizable landing page templates and signup forms designed to increase conversions. And if you’re using downloadable content as an incentive, it’s easy to automatically send materials after someone fills out your form. 

ConvertKit’s automation software provides a visual way to set up email drip campaigns powered by subscriber behavior. The workflow editor shows you what your sequences look like in action and makes it easy to alter the route subscribers take. And if you need help getting started, there are automation templates for use cases like webinars and product launches.

All plans let you send unlimited emails and come with live chat and email support. For paid plans, pricing is based on how many subscribers you have. 

Price: the free plan lets you have up to 300 subscribers. After that, prices start at $15 per month for 300 contacts and more advanced features.

4. Hubspot

Hubspot’s email marketing features are spread between their Marketing Hub and Sales Hub (CRM). The Marketing Hub focuses on tools for growing traffic and leads such as emails, landing pages, social media ads, live chat, video, SEO, and content.

The Sales Hub adds email tracking and scheduling, meeting scheduling, CRM, predictive lead scoring, sales automation, email sequences, and reporting. Their Service Hub offers ticketing and support features. 

Overall, Hubspot covers all digital marketing areas and caters to sales-oriented businesses like SaaS. 

Price: The free plan allows you to send up to 2,000 emails per month and store up to 1,000,000 contacts. The Starter Marketing plan begins at $50 per month for 1,000 contacts.

5. MailerLite

MailerLite is an email marketing service covering all beginner needs. You can create any kind of email campaign with their drag-and-drop editor. You can also grow your email list with signup forms, create dedicated landing pages, and even a whole website with their website builder. Transactional emails can be sent through a third-party, MailerSend.

MailerLite also offers email automation and personalization based on user behavior. Abandoned cart emails are available for Shopify and WooCommerce stores. Contact management and segmentation are also covered. 

A/B testing and smart delivery by time zone features let you optimize campaign results. On top, MailerLite has reports and analytics for you to track your performance. 

MailerLite has a free plan for up to 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails a month.

Price: The free plan allows you to send 12,000 emails per month to 1,000 contacts. Paid plans start at $10 per month for 1,000 subscribers.

6.  Klaviyo

Klaviyo caters to online shops mainly. It provides SMS and advanced email functionality to marketers looking to increase revenue. Their editor is easy to use and there are ready responsive templates available. You can personalize emails with product recommendations and dynamic blocks.

Klaviyo tracks website interactions and events that you can use for emails, automations and segmentation. All customer data goes into individual profiles, a CRM, where to dive deeper into understanding your buyers.

Klaviyo also offers advanced reporting capabilities. In addition to metrics dashboards, it provides customized benchmarks for your business.

Klaviyo’s free plan includes up to 250 email contacts and 50 SMS contacts, 500 emails sent, and 150 SMS sent.

Price: The free plan includes 500 emails per month for 250 contacts. Paid plan prices start at $20 per month for 500 contacts.

7. AWeber

AWeber’s email marketing service has some handy tools for beginners. On top of a drag and drop editor and extensive library of email templates, the platform offers an AI-powered design assistant. This tool uses your website and social media accounts to automatically build on-brand templates for your business’ email newsletters.

AWeber makes it simple to connect with individual customers at scale using tags that you can add manually or automatically. For example, you can tag subscribers based on signup information or when they open an email or click a link.

Email automation features let you run your campaigns on autopilot, including drip campaigns for welcoming subscribers or launching a new product. To save you time the campaign marketplace offers pre-made workflows with email templates for each campaign stage.

All you have to do is customize them to your brand and target audience.

Elsewhere, there’s a drag and drop landing page builder that comes with ready-to-use templates and a gallery of stock images to quickly create attractive pages. All templates include signup forms and you can automatically tag subscribers from each form to better manage your lists.

AWeber’s pricing is based on your subscriber count and all plans include chat, email, and phone support.

Price: The free plan includes 3,000 emails for up to 500 subscribers. After that, prices start at $19.99 per month for the pro version.

8. ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign’s email marketing service is just one feature of its overall marketing capabilities. 

The software makes it easy to personalize your emails using contact data. You can also split test up to five different email versions to work out what content performs best. Plus, there’s also a built-in spam tester to check if emails are likely to go to junk. 

For more targeted messages, segment your audience using insights like contacts’ email activity. There’s even website tracking features for collecting data on contacts’ page visits and other onsite actions.

To get you started, there is an extensive selection of premade automation workflows. You can also create custom automations from scratch using a range of triggers, including website activity thanks to the tracking features. 

Upgrading from the Lite to Plus plan gets you more advanced automation features. For example, you can score contacts based on their engagement, split test different workflows, and get a visual overview of all your automations and how they link together.

With the Plus package you’ll also get features for different marketing channels, including SMS and landing pages. 

The 14-day free trial option lets you test the platform with a limited number of contacts and email sends. All plans include live chat and email support. 

Price: Prices start at $15 per month for up to 500 subscribers

9. GetResponse

GetResponse provides small businesses with a suite of marketing tools, including a fully-equipped email marketing service.

The platform has a library of professionally designed email templates with a drag and drop editor that makes it easy to transform your emails into beautifully branded messages. 

Collect data on customer behavior and interests, then use powerful segmentation tools to personalize your email campaigns. Or automatically tag and score contacts with marketing automation to trigger targeted emails. 

Other automation capabilities include time-based drip campaigns, with the option to view your email sequence on a calendar to see exactly when subscribers will receive messages. 

The software also allows you to send transactional emails alongside your marketing campaigns, while ecommerce plugins let you promote products in emails and landing pages. 

Aside from email marketing, you can create and manage Facebook ads using the built-in tool and free templates. The platform even offers tools for running your own webinars. The conversion tunnel feature helps you bring everything together with pre-made automated sales funnels designed for different industries and purposes. 

GetResponse offers a free plan for sending 1 email to 300 contacts per month. All plans come with live chat and email support.

Price: The free plan includes unlimited email sends to 500 contacts. Paid plan pricing starts at $15 per month for 500 subscribers.

10. Constant Contact

Constant Contact is a fully-equipped marketing toolbox that offers much more than just email. Its emailing service comes with a wide choice of free email templates. Or there is a tool to automatically build your own branded templates based on your website or Facebook page. 

Other email marketing features include A/B testing for subject lines and automated resends to subscribers who don’t open a campaign. The Email Plus package gets you additional functionality like multi-step automated email series and tools for surveys and online donations. 

Advanced segmentation lets you automatically manage contacts based on email link clicks. Or you can create custom segments using criteria like subscriber engagement or purchase activity via the Shopify or WooCommerce plugins. 

On top of email marketing tools, with Constant Contact you can create landing pages or even build an entire website or online store from scratch. You can also manage social media activity from the platform, including post scheduling, responding to messages and comments, and running ads.

While there is no free plan, paid plans include unlimited emails and email and chat support. Prices increase the more contacts you have.

Price: Prices start at $9.99 per month for up to 500 subscribers.

11. Campaign Monitor

Campaign Monitor email marketing service offers a range of easy-to-use features to help beginners build an engaged audience. 

The platform has a large choice of responsive email templates that you can customize using the drag and drop builder. Plus, it’s easy to add personalizations using your contact data. And with send time optimization you can deliver emails at the best time for each contact. The segmentation tool lets you go even further, creating custom segments of subscribers using multiple filters.

Within the same platform you can create and send branded transactional emails with content that is just as personalized. 

For email automation, use the simple visual journey editor to drag and drop each email into a sequence, with conditions based on subscriber behavior and past interactions. 

You can try out the platform free for an unlimited time, though you’ll only be able to send campaigns to up to five contacts. The Basic plan is limited to 2,500 emails a month, while Unlimited — as the name suggests — has no sending limit. Pricing increases as your contact lists grow. Both plans offer email support but you’ll get priority with an Unlimited plan. 

Price: Prices start at $9 per month for up to 500 subscribers.

Why Your Business Needs an Email Marketing Service

Unsure about investing time and energy into finding an email marketing solution? Here are some reasons you can’t ignore:

Email is still one of the most effective marketing channels

In recent years, marketers have voted email marketing as the most effective digital channel. And here’s why:

• It’s affordable. With email marketing you can reach a large audience at a low cost, leading to an average return on investment of $38 for every $1 spent. 
• It’s personal. Email campaigns let you reach contacts directly. Plus they’ve actively chosen to hear from you and so are more likely to engage. 
• It’s accessible. With around 4 billion email users worldwide, email has a greater reach than other digital channels. 

Email marketing services are essential for mass campaigns

Internet service providers (ISPs) like Gmail and Outlook aren’t made for sending newsletter and campaigns. A professional email marketing service is your best option because it enables you to:

• Achieve better deliverability rates. Sending mass campaigns with a dedicated email marketing service helps you avoid the spam folder. 
• Get performance analytics. Email marketing platforms track metrics like open and click-through rates to measure your campaigns’ success. 
• Manage unsubscribes more easily. Your email marketing service will automatically update contact records when they unsubscribe so you don’t keep sending them campaigns.
• Send more emails. ISPs have daily sending limits, while email marketing platforms let you choose a plan that meets your needs. 
• Design attractive emails. Email marketing services come with design tools for creating professional and responsive HTML emails that match your brand. 

All the platforms on this list offer these essential functionalities for your email marketing campaigns. Below you’ll find details on other key features of each service along with their pricing.

Find the Best Email Marketing Service for Your Business

When comparing email marketing service providers, it’s important to bear in mind your specific needs. This might be advanced automation and segmentation capabilities, a rich choice of email templates you can easily edit to fit your brand, or additional tools for multichannel campaigns. 

Each solution will offer different plans and pricing structures. So it’s worth doing some digging to work out how much each platform costs for the features you need and the number of contacts you plan to send campaigns to. The best email marketing service for your business will not only help you grow in the short term but it should also remain a viable solution as your needs develop.

The post The Best Email Marketing Services Compared [May 2022] appeared first on Sendinblue.

April is when spring is in full bloom. Your audience will naturally feel more upbeat as the weather improves. 

As a result, the newsletter themes that will get the most subscriber interest during this time of year are cheerful and uplifting in nature.

This comprehensive list of April newsletter ideas includes themes that work well for one off, weekly and monthly newsletters.

April Newsletter Themes: Holidays & Special Occasions

April has a lot of days dedicated to a particular cause or idea. Some days are meant to raise awareness on an important issue. Whilst some days are more about having fun or promoting certain kinds of activities.

Use these occasions to grab more attention by making your email newsletter content relevant.

April Fool’s Day (April 1st)

April Fool’s Day is the perfect time for practical jokes. Be sure to keep the humor in your newsletter on the lighter side and let your audience know (at some point) that your silly gag is meant to get a few laughs, not lawsuits.

Source

Alternatives to April Fool’s Day

• International Fun at Work Day
• Walk to Work Day 
• Edible Book Day
• Fossil Fool’s Day

World Autism Awareness Day (April 2nd)

World Autism Awareness Day is a United Nations led initiative that brings more attention to people with autism spectrum disorder. Most conversations will center around children and their daily struggles with autism. Show your support with your own charity drive or by rallying behind a local Autism awareness campaign.

Source

Alternatives to World Autism Awareness Day

• Love Our Children Day
• Children’s Picture Book Day
• Handmade Day
• International Fact-Checking Day

World Party Day (April 3rd)

It’s all in the title. World Party Day is a rather good excuse to organize your own after-hours office party. Invite your subscribers to join you in your fun night out.

Alternatives to World Party Day

• Independent Artist Day
• Film Score Day
• Chocolate Mousse Day
• Tweed Day
• Find a Rainbow Day

Tell a Lie Day (April 4th)

Tell a Lie Day is yet another jokester occasion that would make a great follow up (or revenge) for an April Fool’s Day prank.

Alternatives to Tell a Lie Day

• Vitamin C Day
• Walk Around Things Day
• Hug a Newsperson Day

First Contact Day (April 5th)

Star Trek fans will not miss this for the world. First Contact Day is a fictional holiday derived from the film Star Trek: First Contact. The occasion celebrates humanity’s (fictional) first contact with intelligent alien species. 

Source

Alternatives to First Contact Day

• Deep Dish Pizza Day
• Flash Drive Day
• Caramel Day

Day of Hope (April 6th)

Day of Hope came to be known through an awareness campaign spearheaded by the nonprofit ChildHelp. Day of Hope was originally about fighting child abuse and has since expanded to advocating for child welfare in general.

Alternatives to Day of Hope

• Walking Day
• Student-Athlete Day
• Plan Your Epitaph Day
• New Beer’s Eve
• Sorry Charlie Day

Beer Day (April 7th)

National Beer Day will be celebrated with plenty of alcohol. It’s also a great time to let your audience know you’re available for a chat. Fireside chats and informal talks are interesting tie-ins you can use to mark the occasion.

Source

Alternatives to National Beer Day

• World Health Day
• Alcohol Screening Day
• No Housework Day

Zoo Lovers Day (April 8th)

Zoos help preserve endangered species. They also educate and raise awareness on animal rights and conservation efforts. Zookeepers will jump at every opportunity to bring awareness  to environmental issues, which makes brand partnerships easy.

Alternatives to National Zoo Lovers Day

• Flower Festival (aka Buddha’s Birthday)
• All is Ours Day

International ASMR Day (April 9th)

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is a type of sensory experience that comes from certain types of relaxing sounds. ASMR is often associated with meditation and sleep aids.

Source

Alternatives to International ASMR Day

• Name Yourself Day
• Unicorn Day
• Cherish an Antique Day

Siblings Day (April 10th)

Celebrating siblings – especially twins, is a hallmark of National Siblings Day. Create special offers that come in pairs to fit the occasion.

Alternatives to National Siblings Day

• Golfer’s Day
• Farm Animals Day
• Encourage a Young Writer Day

Pet Day (April 11th)

Spend your day cuddling up with a furry friend. Giving your pet and yourself a treat is what National Pet Day is all about.

Source

Alternatives to National Pet Day

• Education and Sharing Day
• World Parkinson’s Day

International Be Kind to Lawyers Day (April 12th)

Everyone deserves to be treated with kindness and respect. Even lawyers.

Alternatives to International Be Kind to Lawyers Day

• National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day
• National Licorice Day

National Scrabble Day (April 13th)

Word games are more popular than ever. It’s no wonder Wordle enthusiasts love National Scrabble Day. Include fun word games in your newsletter to mark this occasion.

Alternatives to National Scrabble Day 

• International Day of Pink

International Moment of Laughter Day (April 14th)

Give your newsletter an extra dose of humor to celebrate this occasion. A funny story will surprise your subscribers and give them another reason to look forward to your email updates.

Alternatives to International Moment of Laughter Day

• Gardening Day
• Look Up at the Sky Day

Good Friday (April 15th)

Good Friday is observed two days before Easter and is the beginning of a long weekend. While not a bank holiday, it’s normal to see a lot of folks taking the day off work. 

Plan your marketing around get-togethers with friends and family to ensure your newsletter is as inclusive as possible.

Source

Alternatives to Good Friday

• Anime Day
• Take a Wild Guess Day
• Passover

Husband Appreciation Day (April 16th)

Also known as World Husband Day, this occasion celebrates husbands by giving them special attention and praise for their role in the family.

Alternatives to Husband Appreciation Day

• Librarian Day
• Bean Counter Day
• Auctioneers Day
• Record Store Day

Easter (April 17th)

Easter is a religious holiday that 8 in 10 Americans celebrate. While half of those who don’t, still plan to buy gifts or travel to commemorate the occasion.

Source

Alternatives to Easter

• Blah Blah Blah Day
• World Hemophilia Day

Tax Day (April 18th)

Tax day is the last day most Americans are required to file their federal tax returns. 

Be especially proactive with email reminders aimed at customers in the early half of April if you provide accounting or bookkeeping services.

Source

Alternatives to Tax Day

• Easter Monday
• World Heritage Day

Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day (April 19th)

Set right after Tax Day, the completely appropriate Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day is meant to relax the mind after a weary day of last-minute tax filing.

Give your subscribers something to take their mind off of serious topics like taxes – besides pictures of your favorite jammies.

Alternatives to Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day

• Hanging Out Day
• Poetry And The Creative Mind Day

420 (April 20th)

The unofficial Weed Day is still a taboo talking point in corporate culture despite recreational marijuana having been legalized in 18 states – and medical marijuana legalized in 38 states.

Segment your email list to keep all your email subscribers happy.

Alternatives to 420

• National Stationery Week
• National Look-Alike Day
• Volunteer Recognition Day

World Creativity and Innovation Day (April 21st)

Think of ways to inspire creativity and innovation in your audience. Add open-ended questions and out-of-the-box solutions to your regular newsletter.

Alternatives to World Creativity and Innovation Day

• Kindergarten Day
• High Five Day
• Tea Day

Earth Day (April 22nd)

The official theme for Earth Day is “invest in our planet”.

Promote sustainable development by advocating for your role in the fight against climate change. Areas you should focus on include recycling, renewable energy, and reforestation.

Consider putting together your own carbon calculator to help you set targets and strategies for your company to reduce your carbon footprint. Aim for carbon positive outcomes.

Communicate your goals and progress publicly to keep your audience informed and motivate others to do the same.

Have an open dialogue with your audience to help you explore the best opportunities for local community partnerships.

Source

Alternatives to Earth Day

• Day of Silence
• Teach Your Children to Save Day

World Book Day (April 23rd)

Also known as International Day of the Book – World Book Day is a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) event meant to promote reading, publishing, and the use of copyright to protect written works.

Promote a book tie-in or an upcoming publication if you plan on introducing your subscribers to World Book Day.

Alternatives to World Book Day

• Shakespeare Day
• National Take a Chance Day
• National Lover’s Day

Scream Day (April 24th)

Despite its scary name, it has nothing to do with horror movies. Scream Day uses screams as a form of stress relief. Its themes include self-care and mental wellness.

Rather than encourage your audience to let out disturbing screams, share personal stories and talk about ways to improve mental health.

Source

Alternatives to World Book Day

• Shakespeare Day

DNA Day (April 25th)

The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) began to promote DNA day to get students and teachers more interested in genetic research.

Talk about human ancestry and the development of an interconnected world in your newsletter if you plan on sticking to the DNA theme.

Alternatives to DNA Day

• National Telephone Day
• National Lingerie Day
• Hairstylist Appreciation Day
• Hug a Plumber Day

Get Organized Day (April 26th)

Detailed planning and decluttering your workspace are the core ideas behind Get Organized Day. 

Make time savers a key part of your message if you plan on referencing this occasion in your next newsletter.

Source

Alternatives to Get Organized Day

• National Dissertation Day
• World Burlesque Day

Tell a Story Day (April 27th)

Storytelling can involve sharing personal stories or reading a book aloud. Tell a Story Day tends to focus on lived experiences.

Share a personal experience with your audience. If you’re promoting an in-person meetup, use storytelling as a way to break the ice. 

Alternatives to Tell a Story Day

• Administrative Professionals Day
• Stop Food Waste Day

National Superhero Day (April 28th)

Everyday superheroes are everywhere. National Superhero Day celebrates local do-gooders whose jobs or volunteer work have had a positive impact in their communities.

Bring attention to the good work of your team members or partners in your newsletter update. Highlight acts of kindness that’ll inspire your audience to carry out their own good deeds.

Source

Alternatives to National Superhero Day

• Workers’ Memorial Day
• Take Our Kids To Work Day
• Clean Comedy Day
• Cubicle Day

Arbor Day (April 29th)

Usually observed on the last day of April through tree planting and reforestation initiatives. Arbor Day has caught on all over the world with the actual date varying according to local springtime weather.

Source

Alternatives to Arbor Day

• International Dance Day
• World Wish Day

Honesty Day (April 30th)

Is the practical opposite of Tell a Lie Day. Speaking truthfully and candidly is the easiest way to celebrate Honest Day.

Gently remind your audience about the power of having honest conversations with others, including their customers.

Alternatives to Honesty Day

• International Jazz Day
• World Veterinary Day

Weekly April Newsletter Themes

National Robotics Week (April 2-9)

Also known as RoboWeek, is geared towards exciting students in STEM fields. National Robotics Week has a big focus on scientific breakthroughs in robotic technology.

Tie in your product or manufacturing process to advancements in robotic technology. Your newsletter should include photos that visualize the work of robots.

Source

Library Week (April 3-9)

Is meant to cultivate a habit of reading. Library Week also extends to the work of librarians and lesser-known authors that have contributed to local libraries.

Reference your favorite books or any kind of published work that has influenced you in your newsletter. Your audience should feel inspired to create their own reading lists.

Public Health Week (April 4-10)

Was first organized by the American Public Health Association (APHA). Public health week is about living healthier lives and creating healthier community spaces.

Show your support for public health by leading a health awareness campaign or contributing to local community spaces. Your subscribers will happily support public health initiatives.

Wildlife Week (April 5-9)

Is about conserving animal habitats and protecting animal diversity. Originally called Wildlife Restoration Week, the new Wildlife Week now embraces the theme of communing with nature.

Promote conservation efforts or highlight the diversity of wildlife in your area if your brand doesn’t directly benefit the natural environment.

Passover (April 15-22)

Is an important Jewish holiday that has a lot of festivities and family engagements. Ensure your email content is kosher and family-focused. 

Keep in mind that the first and last days of Passover are usually taken as legal holidays. 

Start sending out your Passover newsletter at least a month in advance to accommodate any travel arrangements your customers may need to make to take advantage of your offers.

Monthly April Newsletter Themes

Keep America Beautiful Month

Is a nonprofit and a movement dedicated to beautifying public spaces. Recycling and cleanups are its main activities.

Organize a local cleanup and involve your local community. Spread the word in your newsletter to get positive publicity for your organization.

Source

Alternatives to Keep America Beautiful Month

• National Decorating Month
• National Garden Month

Couple Appreciation Month

Romance is at the heart of Couple Appreciation Month. Think of it as a month-long version of Valentine’s Day.

Romantic overtones and gifts aimed at couples are the surest way to spice up your newsletter.

Month of Hope

Broadly covers the subject of hope and survival. Recovery and rehabilitation are the main themes of the Month of Hope.

Share powerful personal stories where victims recovered from trauma or overcame a debilitating setback.

Alternatives to National Month of Hope

• Sexual Assault Awareness Month
• National Alcohol Awareness Month

Move More Month

Backed by the American Heart Association (AHA), the Move More Month is part awareness campaign and part fitness program. The AHA recommends every person take at least 10,000 steps a day, or the equivalent of 20 minutes of aerobic exercise to enjoy better overall health.

Toss in a fun fitness routine or a few exercise hacks that you know your subscribers will love into your next newsletter.

Jazz Appreciation Month

Is as the name suggests, all about the love of Jazz music. 

Share your favorite jams with your email list and wait for the positive feedback to chime in.

Financial Literacy Month

Knowing how to budget, save and invest are the basics of financial literacy.

If you’re qualified to give financial advice or have an expert on hand that you can consult, feel free to share saving and investing tips with your audience.

Source

Poetry Month

Is as much about appreciating poetry, as it is exposing a new generation to the art form.

Share a short haiku or a few lines from your favorite song to stir up more interest in your audience.

Humor Month

Is not just about fun and games. Humor is a great way to encourage and uplift people in difficult times.

Use humorous anecdotes to add more flair to your newsletter. If there’s room to spare, add a section where your audience can contribute their own jokes.

Source

Volunteer Month

Brings to mind good deeds. Nonprofits and volunteer groups are keen to highlight the work of their volunteers – to inspire others and to appreciate the hard work they’ve put in.

Organize volunteer opportunities for your team and customers and use your newsletter to guide to share volunteer opportunities in the communities where your brand has the most influence.

Source

Ramadan

Is mainly centered around religious observances in a family setting. Food and good company are a big part of the celebrations.

Include a Ramadan greeting in your next newsletter to make your brand more friendly and inclusive.

Source

Free April Newsletter Templates

Newsletters are one of the best ways to start building relationships with your customers — so don’t wait to start sending!

The post 130 April Newsletter Ideas & Themes That’ll Delight Your Subscribers appeared first on Sendinblue.

Easter Email Subject Lines for the Long Weekend

Plenty of folks will take Monday off to extend their Easter weekend plans. Use these Easter weekend email subject lines for your holiday email marketing strategy.

• Ready for the Easter Weekend?
• Everyday Deals Over the Long Weekend!
• Good Deals on Good Friday 
• Give the Family a Treat with our Easter Sunday Special
• Spring Festivities Near You
• Easter Shopping for Homemakers
• Spring Decor for the DIYer
• Last Chance to Grab our Easter Weekend Deal
• Eggs-tatic Easter Weekend Offers
• Don’t get your ears twisted – we’ve got your Easter weekend plans covered!
• Easter Sunday Cookout
• Shell out your pantry for these Easter weekend goodies
• Easter Weekend Shopathon – 10% Off Sitewide
• Celebrate Easter in Style – Dinner for 3 at the cost of 1 
• Free Easter Gift Cards – HURRY! – *Expires on Easter Sunday*
• Easter Monday Extended Offer – 24 Hour Sale!
• Free Shipping on Every Easter Weekend Purchase
• Join us for an Easter Weekend treat!
• Sweet Easter Deals → Ends Midnight on Easter Sunday
• Long Weekend Special → 30% off our Easter Collection

Easter Email Subject Lines with a Spring Theme

Easter is the best time to promote your spring collection. Give your subscribers a sense of wonder and adventure with these spring email subject lines.

• Spring Fever Is Here – Join the Party!
• Don’t Let Spring Pass You By
• Are You Ready for Spring Cleaning?
• DIY Spring Starter Kit
• Throw Off that Blanket → Your Spring Wardrobe is Ready
• Get Warm & Cozy with our Spring Special
• Great Springtime Reads
• Early Spring Clearance Sale
• Happy Spring Giveaways
• Spruce up Your Home with Spring Decor
• New Spring Arrivals – 30% Off
• The Comfiest Spring Wearables
• New Arrivals – New Savings!
• Shake Off the Winter Chill with a Cool 15% Off
• Cuddle Up with our Early Spring Lineup – 10% Off
• Rise & Shine – Spring is Here!
• Early Spring Pre-order Discounts (up to 40% Off) 
• Newest Spring Flavors with Delicious Discounts 
• Our Spring Collection
• Early Spring Flash Sale! Happy Discounts!
• Winter is out – Spring is in full swing!
• Spring bites that will make you smile
• The Coolest Spring Collectibles
• Gift a Smile this Spring
• Spring Makeover Tips – with Delightful Discounts!

Easter Email Subject Lines for Family Gatherings

Easter is one of the few holidays long enough for families to organize get-togethers. Use these family centric Easter subject lines to promote group activities.

• Easter Decor Done Right
• Easter Treats the Kids Will Love
• Easter Delights for You & Fam
• Easters Gifts for Him & Her
• Let’s Hatch a Plan for Mom & Pop
• The Soup Thickens – Easter Cookout Ideas
• Easter Holiday Getaways – Our Hoppy List
• No Fowl Language → Easter Standup Night
• The Easter Bunny Tour
• Hold on to Your Carrots – We’ve Got Rides for Adults & Kids
• Easter Trails → Hiking Trips for Everybunny
• Family Meals Delivered Free – Easter Special
• Spring eats that will leave the whole family hungry for more!
• Our Top Easter Gift Picks – 30% Off
• Kids Dine Free – Easter Weekend Special

Easter Email Subject Lines for Easter Egg Hunts

Give your audience an Easter treat they’ll always remember. Start your Easter egg hunt with creative Easter egg subject lines that are sure to catch their attention.

• Sitewide Sale – The Hunt is On! 
• Easter Deal Hunters Wanted
• Hide & Peek! Grab Your Easter Coupon Early!
• Fill your Easter basket with these hidden offers
• No Eggs-perts Allowed! Easter Quiz Games (with Prizes!)
• Does no Bunny know where we put our Easter Deals?
• Eggs-ceptional Deals → If you can find Them!
• Don’t Count Your Eggs Before You Find Them
• Great Mysteries with Great Prizes! Get Cracking!
• Eggstra Savings In-Store & Online! Go Catch ’em all!
• Can you crack the case? (70% Off if you can!)
• Hunt down the best deals → And we’ll match’em!
• Easter Egg Surprises, Sneak Peaks & More!
• We’ve snuck in a few coupons here – Can you find them?
• Deals That Only a Rabbit Could Love? Find Them All

Easter Email Subject Lines for Easter Deals

Include an Easter offer in your email marketing to boost your ecommerce conversions. Link your CTAs to a custom landing page so your customers can browse your Easter collection comfortably.

• Get Your Yummy Easter Treats Here
• Free Shipping on Easter Gifts
• All Your Favorite Deals in One Basket
• Here’s a Deal That’ll Egg-cite You
• Easter Delights
• We’ve Got Something Special Just for You – Let’s hop to it
• Hop on over to our new easter store!
• Deals You Can’t Egg-nore
• Eggs-tremely tough nails – great for DIY projects
• 50% Off Easter Deals
• Easter Sale Egg-stravangaza 
• Free Delivery on All Easter Gifts
• Eggs-citing Deals Ahead!
• Big Basket Deals! Get $30 Back on Orders Over $125
• Everybunny loves a Good Deal!
• Looking for the right Easter Deal? Hop on over for a chat!
• Easter Treats You Don’t Wanna Miss!
• Easter Deals Galore! 
• Get the Best Rates – Book your Easter Trip Early!
• Splurge this Easter with Half Off on Everything! 

Easter Email Subject Lines with Puns

Puns are an Easter tradition. This list of Easter email subject lines are filled with cheeky wordplay that will leave your audience giggling in delight.

• Everybunny is looking forward to this
• Here’s an Eggstraordinary Deal
• Eggstra Special – We Ain’t Yolking!
• An Egg-cellent Offer Just for You
• An Egg for You, and You Too and You Over There!
• Eggs-ercise Away That Extra Fluff
• Look at the Sunny-side Up
• Have a Hoppy Easter!
• No Bunny Can Turn Down This Deal
• 24 Carrot Gold? 
• Take a seat and grab some carrots
• Make Some-bunny Feel Special
• A carrot for your thoughts?
• Bad Hare Day? We’ve Got Your Carrots
• Eggs-hausted? Drink This
• No Fowl – No Harm → Easter Dishes for Vegans
• Easter Workout Tips – No Eggs-cuses!
• Have an Egg-cellent Easter Holiday!
• We Worked Round the Cluck on This
• Eggs-perimental Ideas for your Easter Get Together 
• Fresh Outta Cluck? We Make Easter Deliveries Easy
• Our Most Eggs-plosive Discounts!
• Whisk it all with these amazing Easter family dishes
• Everybunny has their own style – 30% off this Easter 
• Win Over Anybunny with these Charming Easter Gifts

Easter Email Subject Lines with Emojis

Emojis are fun visual cues that everyone understands. Toss in a few emojis into your next batch of emails to give your Easter email marketing campaign extra flavor. 

• Easter Special  
• Happy Easter  
• Spring Greetings
• Tasty Easter Treats
• This Easter Will be Lit
• and for the whole
• Grab our Spring Special
• Say Hello to Spring
• New Beginnings
• It’s Spring – Let’s Chill
• Grab our Spring Offer before it’s Gone
• Goodbye Winter Chill Hello Spring Vibes
• Late Riser? Here’s an Extra Hour for Ya!
• Free on Easter
• Easter Delights
• Cool Gear for Cool Chicks
• Here’s Some Chocolatey Goodness
• No Bunny Can Top This
• March into Spring with the Best Gear
• Spring Potluck Ideas
• Join our Easter Breakfast Club
• The Sweetest Easter Deals
• Easter Treats for the Little One
• New Offers for Newborns
• Easter Delectables You Should Try
• Get Cool in Spring
• More Goodies for Your Easter Basket!
• Mouthwatering Easter Treats
• Easter Deals You’ll Love!
• Spring to action with these amazing DIY ideas

Get Your Free Easter Email Template by Sendinblue

Sendinblue has an amazing selection of free email designs, including this free Easter email template:

This Easter template is just waiting to be customized with our intuitive, drag-and-drop email designer. Create your free account to access the template.

The post 150 Easter Email Subject Lines to Spruce up Your Spring Email Campaign appeared first on Sendinblue.

Why You Should Do Easter Email Marketing

From a business standpoint, Easter can be a very lucrative holiday for most companies. 

Last year, nearly 8 out of 10 Americans celebrated Easter while over half of those who didn’t mark the occasion by taking advantage of Easter promotions.

Source

While not as widely celebrated as Christmas and Mother’s Day, in terms of sales, Easter ranks ahead of Valentine’s Day, Father’s Day, and even Halloween.

Easter sales in 2021 rose to $21.6 billion. The average shopper spent $179 on Easter gifts and celebrations with their friends and family.

The National Retail Federation had surveyed US adult consumers on what they planned to purchase to celebrate Easter. Food, candy, and gifts were the most popular picks. 

And unsurprisingly, more customers will shop for Easter deals online rather than cruise through malls. 

Religious undertones aside, Easter is a festive holiday centered around gift giving and family gatherings.

With the right holiday email marketing strategy you can expect to enjoy a leap in ecommerce sales. 

In this article, we’ll help you choose the right theme and content to get the most value out of your easter email marketing campaign.

What Do You Put in an Easter Email Campaign?

Customers expect an Easter sale.

Wishing your customers a happy Easter would be a nice gesture, sure. But why not surprise them with an Easter treat?

An Easter email blast with a unique Easter offer can add a fun twist to your everyday marketing strategy.

You’ll need to first think about whether to include an Easter egg and what that will be. We’ll dig into the details later.

Then you’ll need to figure out whether you want your Easter email to just have content with an Easter theme in your regular newsletter or be its own separate Easter email promotion.

Do you already have a growing subscriber list and want some fun ways to capitalize on the holiday fervor? We’ve got a handy list of Easter newsletter ideas that are sure to inspire you. 

When Should You Send Easter Emails?

You’d be surprised how early folks start planning their Easter Holidays – 38% of Easter celebrations are planned in late January.

Source

Part of the planning is centered around vacation and travel arrangements that fit the holiday calendar. 2 out of 5 Americans will attend family get-togethers or meet up with close friends. 

Promote your Easter weekend special as early as January if it it involves extended travel or an out-of-the-way trip. 

Make the upfront costs clear so that your customers can budget accordingly. Early bird discounts will work in your favor.

Want to promote an Easter weekend shopping spree or an Easter Sunday discount bonanza? Then consider putting together a teaser series for your Easter email campaign.

Sticking to the best time to send an email will ensure your Easter email campaign has a higher open rate.

To Whom Should You Send an Easter Email Blast?

Engage your audience fully to get the best conversion rates in your promotional email campaigns.

To avoid having your beautifully designed Easter emails falling into spam inboxes, focus on building your subscriber list early.

Don’t buy email lists. Instead, let your audience know about holiday offers on social media. Ask your followers to subscribe to your newsletter to get the best deals, including your upcoming Easter special.

Segment your email subscribers. Ensure that each offer meets customer needs on a personal level.

Here’s how to create a newsletter that your audience will love.

6 Easter Email Marketing Ideas for Campaign Success

1. Make an Easter offer

Source: Freepik

Holiday email marketing is no different from your typical seasonal sales campaign.

Again, customers will expect an Easter exclusive. Even if your Easter offer doesn’t tie into an Easter theme, it’s still an eggcellent time to experiment with price cuts and free giveaways.

An Easter email CTA will nudge your customers to make a quick purchase so they don’t miss out on a big discount or a limited-time offer.

Link your CTA to an Easter landing page that showcases your best offers. Use persuasive copy and Easter visuals to clinch more sales.

2. Target the long weekend

Easter is the only holiday that always includes a long weekend.

Spread your Easter sales efforts over the Easter weekend so your customers have every opportunity to get the offers they want.

Include special offers for Good Friday and Easter Sunday when shopper turnout peaks.

While Easter Monday isn’t a public holiday in the US, it is an official holiday in Canada, Australia, most of the UK, and many parts of Europe including France and Germany. 

Lots of people take leave on Easter Monday, so treat it as part of your long weekend campaign.

Extend your Easter emails beyond the Easter Weekend with a last chance email campaign.

3. Include an Easter theme in your email design

Source: Freepik

Decorate the content of your email with pastel colors, chocolate bunnies and blooming sprigs. 

The more inventive your thematic tie-in, the greater the interest in your Easter offer.

However, if visuals of candies and flowers don’t jive with your brand, ditch them. 

You can still tap into the holiday mood by associating with warm feelings of friendship, family and new relationships. 

Spring is also closely associated with Easter. So, you can safely use visuals around the idea of new beginnings and fresh opportunities. 

4. Use puns and fun wordplay

Distinguish your brand from the hundreds of other businesses running Easter promotions with humor and creativity.

Catch the attention of your audience with an eggcentric Easter email subject line. Add in emojis to give your Easter email a more playful tone.

Create a short promo video or mini commercial. You can get eggstraordinary results if it goes viral. Attract more attention by including simple animated GIFs in your email.

5. Send plenty of reminders

Holidays are a time when most consumers will go shopping for gifts. 32% of Easter shoppers will buy gifts.

Source

This brief window of inflated Easter sales is just as important to strip malls as it is for online outlets. 

Send regular email reminders to your customers to let them know your Easter offer is either on its way or already available. 

Include a countdown timer when it’s time for a huge sale to go live on your website or in certain stores.

If your business is extending its operating hours to meet increased demand, let your customers know. If stock that had previously run out has been refilled, make an announcement.

6. Hide an Easter egg in your email

You might be wondering, what is an easter egg in an email?

An Easter egg is a clue that is meant to be hard (but not impossible) to find. 

Here are four ways to include an Easter egg in your email:

• Hide teasers of new or upcoming products 
• Include throwbacks to fan favorites
• Let your customers search for hidden coupons
• Create riddles that come with fun prizes

Build the suspense around your Easter egg email on social media before the campaign goes live. Use it as a way to get more subscribers onto your email list.

Add an eggstra limited offer into the mix and you’ll have the right ingredients for a successful Easter email campaign. 

Don’t worry about being too sales-y. A third of Americans will plan their own Easter egg hunts. So, think of your own brand’s Easter egg hunt as a time-honored tradition.

Just make sure there’s something for everybunny there.

Easter Email Design Inspiration: Our Favorite Easter Campaign Examples

Here’s our list of most eggciting Easter email examples. Our choices are based on how interesting each take on an Easter email theme is, in no particular order.

1. Shrimps

Subject Line: Easter in Gingham

Source

The London-based fashion brand Shrimps went all in on their Easter theme, complete with an Easter bunny, a giant chocolate egg, and pastel paintings.

Their Easter theme tie-in is fun and energetic. Despite the effort and care they’ve put in, there is no special discount in their Easter email.

2. Boden

Subject Line: Go straight to size (and basket): Up to 40% OFF sale

Source

Boden brings a massive 40% discount to shoppers interested in their British apparel brand. 

Their Easter email offer is an enticing site-wide sale. The background photo of intricately painted Easter eggs is friendly and inviting. It makes this rather sales-y email more colorful and interesting.

3. PSD2HTML

Subject Line: Join the special Easter discount hunt at PSD2HTML.com!

Source

PSD2HTML invites its customers to go on an Easter egg hunt for the best discounts. In return for browsing through their site their customers stand to win a hefty discount coupon.

Their CTA inspires its customers to start their own deal hunt with the words, “Go Hunting!”

4. Tattly

Subject Line: DIY Tattly Eggs

Source

Tattly took a unique approach with their Easter email. Instead of applying the temporary tattoos they sell to your body, they’ve encouraged their customers to tattoo their own Easter eggs.

5. Fancy Sprinkles

Subject Line: Easter Sale Ends Tonight!

Source

Fancy Sprinkles created their own Easter collection of sprinkles that wonderfully conveys the bright colors and light-hearted nature of an Easter holiday party.

6. Wightlink

Subject Line: Say bye to boredom this Easter

Source

Wightlink arranged their own Easter themed family travel guide. There are no eggs, chocolate bunnies or pastel colors in this email. They’ve focused entirely on adventure and fun with the whole family.

7. Jackpot Candles

Subject Line: Easter Basket stuffers? We gotchu!

Source

Jackpot Candles provides an adorable selection of Easter and spring-themed candles in their Easter email. 

Their Easter subject line appeals to shoppers that want to fill their Easter baskets with new goodies.

Their discount coupon “Bunny25” is a cute and memorable play on words.

Get Your Free Easter Email Template by Sendinblue

Sendinblue has an awesome selection of free email inspiration, including this free Easter email template:

This Easter template is just waiting to be customized with our intuitive, drag-and-drop email designer. Create your free account to get started!

The post Easter Email Marketing: Tips, Ideas & Examples appeared first on Sendinblue.

The market is full of transactional email software for every taste and budget. In this article, we’re going to look at the pros and cons of each Mandrill alternative.

What Mandrill offers

Mailchimp Transactional Email, formerly Mandrill, is a paid Mailchimp add-on designed specifically to deliver transactional emails.

Mandrill enables you to send event-driven messages via the API or SMTP relay, track email activity, and respond to it. Mandrill’s email API connects your site to the functionality of a transactional email service allowing you to send out automated emails when a predefined event occurs. 

Its Rules Engine offers to define actions that should be taken after an email was sent. You can specify criteria that should be met for an application to send the event to webhook and take additional action, like setting click tracking, adding tags, rejecting messages, etc.

Mind that Mailchimp Transactional Email doesn’t store contacts, and it makes requests to your external database every time an email is triggered. This is a serious drawback for those who want to collect and re-use recipients’ contacts in future email marketing campaigns.

Which is better, Mandrill or Mailchimp? You can’t really compare these two – they’re apples and oranges. Mailchimp is an all-in-one platform for email marketers, and Mandrill is a dedicated transactional email service for tech enthusiasts.

Although the company has already changed the Mandrill name to Mailchimp Transactional Email, the platform is still to be transferred to the Mailchimp interface. Currently, these tools are accessible through different interfaces.

When should you choose Mandrill? Since you can’t purchase Mandrill as a separate tool, it only makes sense to use it for those who need the Mailchimp email marketing platform.

Pros

• Robust transactional API designed for developers
• High delivery speed
• White-labeled click tracking
• Email deliverability
• Ready-to-use email templates
• Dynamic personalization functionality
• Insightful email performance reports
• Automatic Rules Engine for changing sending behavior

Cons

• Coding skills are required
• No contact storage available in Mandrill
• You need a Mailchimp account to use Mandrill
• 30-day log retention isn’t sufficient

Mandrill pricing

Mailchimp Transactional Email is free for new users for up to 500 emails – before you exceed the limit, the demo period will not expire. Paid plans start at $20 per 25,000 emails/month. But to access the add-on, you also need to be a user of Mailchimp’s Standard ($17/month) or Premium plan ($299/month).

As we’ve already stressed, the pricing plans make Mandrill a viable option only for Mailchimp users.

Mandrill Alternatives Compared

Let’s see how Madrill’s features and pricing compare to alternative transactional email providers…

1. Sendinblue

Sendinblue Email API is the best Mandrill alternative for multiple reasons.

Unparalleled deliverability

No need to worry about emails reaching the spam folder. Sendinblue ensures high deliverability and open rates. With a dedicated IP address, you can be sure your emails will reach recipients’ inboxes without any delays. You can monitor the reputation of your IP from your dashboard.

For shared IP addresses, Sendinblue maintains a high sender reputation by detecting and removing fraudulent accounts timely. 

We also offer an extensive library of the best practices for improving the deliverability of your emails.

Trustworthy SMTP tools

You can access SMTP tools to send transactional emails fast and effortlessly. 

No need to run your own mail server. Our user-friendly SMTP relay service is all you need to have great control over your dedicated IP address or a pool of IPs.

The SMTP platform is accessible in all plans – you can start sending large volumes of emails with optimal delivery from $22.50/month. 

Easy WordPress integration

Our SMTP integrates with WordPress allowing you to enjoy the high deliverability of transactional emails from your WordPress website.

Sendinblue’s WordPress email plugin is built for marketers and business owners willing to configure WordPress SMTP settings without coding skills. 

Furthermore, our drag-and-drop editor enables users to build forms for WordPress websites, integrate them effortlessly, and deliver the best UX for site visitors.

Apart from WordPress, the platform integrates with a range of ecommerce platforms, like WooCommerce, Shopify, Magento, and others.

Unlimited log retention

Limited log retention is a common problem users of transactional email services face. That’s not the case for Sendinblue users.

Whenever you want to review the performance data for a specific SMTP email, you can visit your account Log and view all the necessary information about its status. Your message data is stored for the life of your account, without any limits.

For storing the records outside the Sendinblue interface, log export is available.

Real-time data

Our performance dashboard displays real-time statistics informing you of the status of the emails and how recipients interact with them.

Delivery status, open and click-through reports, click maps  – you’ll access the critical data in real-time. Due to unlimited log retention, you can also follow performance trends over time and identify opportunities for improving transactional sending.

For a top-level overview, the dashboards create graphs visualizing transactional statistics. You can dive as deep into your email performance as you want.

All-in-one tool for business growth

Sendinblue as a Mandrill alternative doesn’t limit its features to transactional email. It’s a comprehensive sales and marketing solution that includes tools for marketing automation, pipeline management, customer relationship management, advertising, SMS marketing, and many more. 

Mailchimp integrates with a tool called SimpleTexting to enable SMS marketing through the platform, which means you need to sign up for three tools to use the integration (first, Mailchimp, then Mandrill, and lastly, SimpleTexting). In contrast, Sendinblue allows you to send targeted SMS notifications through the platform – you can purchase credits alongside your selected Sendinblue plan.

Transactional SMS messages are set up through the platform’s interface, API, or one of the available plugins. 

One interface = many features

At the moment, Mandrill is a separate tool. Although you do have to buy Mailchimp’s plan to have a chance to use Mandrill, the add-on has a separate interface.

Inside Sendinblue, you access all its features from one interface. You don’t need to switch between the tools to launch a newsletter campaign and set up transactional emails.

Sendinblue pricing

One more reason Sendinblue is a better alternative to Mandrill is pricing. 

First of all, Sendinblue has a forever-free plan, and Mandrill doesn’t. In the free plan, users can send up to 300 emails/day and use SMTP service as well as core API features.

Paid plans begin at $25/20,000 emails per month. They include marketing tools, no daily sending limit, and A/B testing functionality atop features available on a free plan. 

Sendinblue’s pricing model is built in a way to allow you to only pay for the features that you need. For instance, you won’t need to buy the most expensive plan to get a dedicated IP address – you can add it to your selected plan.

Sendinblue vs Mandrill

• Lower expenses
• No coding skills required
• All the features accessible from one interface
• SMS marketing features 
• Unlimited log retention
• You pay for the number of emails sent, not for the number of contacts
• Sendinblue is up to 6x cheaper for sending bulk emails 
• Reactive customer support team
• Forever-free plan available
• Live chat 
• Advanced segmentation in cheaper plans

If you want to access advanced transactional email features and avoid overpaying, Sendinblue is the best alternative to Mandrill.

2. Mailgun

Mailgun is a dedicated transactional email automation service. It’s the best Mandrill alternative for users that don’t need email marketing services. 

Mailgun’s robust set of APIs allows developers and tech-savvy marketers to build scalable delivery infrastructure. Alongside SMTP relay service, Mailgun includes functionality for setting up webhooks, inbound email routing, email tracking and analytics, etc. 

Mind that the tool is built for developers and its learning curve is high for non-tech people. The lack of functionality for exporting logs or at least retaining them for more than 30 days also should be taken into account. If you want to keep track of your transactional email performance, Mailgun isn’t the best option. 

Mailgun Pricing

Mailgun offers a 3-month long free trial with access to 5,000 emails per month. Paid plans start at $35/month.

3. Mailjet

Mailjet is an email marketing platform that has been acquired by Mailgun. The product isn’t included in any of Mailgun’s plans, but it combines transactional email and marketing automation features. 

The platform has plugins and integrations with major CRM tools and ecommerce platforms. It also supports different programming frameworks and languages, including PHP, Ruby, Java, and others.

As a full-stack marketing automation platform, Mailjet offers a variety of features for effortless campaign management:

• Transactional email sending
• Drag-and-drop builder
• List segmentation
• Dynamic personalization
• A/B testing
• SMS marketing 

Mailjet Pricing

You can send up to 6,000 emails per month and use APIs, SMTP relay, and webhooks for free. Paid plans start at $15/month. Higher pricing tiers grant access to segmentation, sub-accounts, advanced statistics, and more exclusive features.

4. Pepipost (Netcore Email API)

Netcore Email API, formerly Pepipost, is another suitable alternative to Mandrill.

Its APIs and webhooks allow users to send high volumes of emails, set up real-time email delivery and click tracking, and run spam compliance checks.

Pepipost guarantees lightning-fast email delivery and decent delivery rates. Yet users tend to complain about the platform’s interface and the lack of visual representation of email performance.

Pepipost Pricing

Pepipost is probably the most affordable Mandrill alternative. You can send up to 150,000 emails per month for only $17.5. The first 30,000/month are included in a 30-day free trial.

5. SendGrid

Like Sendinblue, SendGrid is an all-in-one email marketing platform. Transactional email service is only a part of the functionality you’ll access inside the tool.

However, to use both email API and marketing automation features, you need to purchase two separate plans. Sending other types of emails apart from transactional will double the cost of the solution.

Nonetheless, SendGrid is considered the world’s leading transactional and marketing email platform for its robust REST API and SMTP.

Email API package offers insightful analytics, 30 days of email activity history, dedicated IP addresses, delivery optimization tools, and more.

SendGrid pricing

Both Email API and Marketing Campaign Plans are available for free. The paid plans start at $14.95/month. In the Email API plan, you’re granted API access, SMTP relay, webhooks, and top-notch analytics functionality.

6. Amazon SES

Amazon SES stands for Simple Email Service and is considered the simplest solution for sending transactional emails to Amazon customers.

It supports transactional and bulk email sending without the fluff. The tool is designed for developers, and you should know that it doesn’t offer an intuitive interface. Other than SMTP, Amazon offers two more sending options: the Amazon SES console and the Amazon SES API.

Implementing the Amazon SES solution might take time, but the effort is justified by low costs and high deliverability.

Amazon SES Pricing

The prices depend on different factors, like user location and hosting. The pay-as-you-go model means that you don’t have to pay set fees. It’s best to use AWS Pricing Calculator to estimate the cost of Amazon SES for your specific case.

7. SocketLabs

Last but not least, meet SocketLabs – an SMTP service and marketing automation platform for tech-savvy specialists. Inside the platform, you’ll find an SMTP relay service as well as a transactional email API.

Quick-start code libraries for a variety of frameworks and languages allow developers to integrate SocketLabs with stand-alone applications in no time. 

Top-notch support, unlimited contact storage, high delivery rates, and decent sender reputation – it’s all about SocketLabs. Users say there’s room for improving logging and monitoring functionality though.

SocketLabs pricing

SocketLabs offers a 30-day free trial with up to 40,000 email credits per month. When the trial period expires, you can choose between the Core ($39.95/month), Pro ($79.95/month), and Concierge (starting at $889/month) plans. This isn’t the cheapest Mandrill alternative, but it’s definitely one of the most reliable transactional email services.

Looking for the best Mandrill alternative?

When searching for a transactional email service provider, you’ll find solutions for every taste and wallet. Your choice totally depends on your skills, needs, and business size. If you aren’t willing to invest time or resources in implementing an overcomplicated solution, Sendinblue will be a sufficient option for you and your team.

The post 7 Best Mandrill Alternatives For Transactional Emails in 2022 appeared first on Sendinblue.

In this article, we’ll dive into why B2B email marketing is becoming more popular (and more lucrative), and show you what tools and techniques you can use to craft successful B2B email marketing campaigns.

Are you already an email marketing veteran? Feel free to jump over to our B2B Email Marketing Best Practices. (Updated for 2022 marketing trends).

What is B2B Email Marketing?

B2B email marketing is a type of digital marketing strategy aimed at businesses that sell their own product or service. Effective B2B email marketing targets decision-makers. You’ll want to convince decision-makers that if they close a deal with you, their business will be better off in some way.

Usually, the foretold benefits include savings, efficiency, and increased growth. Since you’re emailing an actual person, you’ll want to talk to them directly and use wording they find familiar.

In a B2B context, that means putting together an email list of potential customers. You can build an email list by gathering subscribers to your blog or using a lead magnet (like a free ebook, webinar or course). If you want to reach out to businesses that don’t know your brand, then try a separate cold outreach campaign.

Use a business-friendly subject line. Address each recipient by their name and role. Echo their pain points. Then pitch a solution that will genuinely interest them.

To get the most out of your marketing efforts you’ll need to know the key differences between B2B and B2C marketing.

B2B vs B2C Email Marketing: What Makes Them Different?

Business-to-Consumer (B2C) email marketing will appeal to a personal frame of mind. As consumers, we want to be part of the latest trend, feel like we’re special, or get the red-carpet treatment. Whether the product helps us save money or time might just be an afterthought.

Business-to-Business (B2B) email marketing will appeal to a business frame of mind. As business owners, we want to cut costs, increase sales and do whatever we believe will positively impact our bottom line.

In short: B2C email campaigns try to convert leads by targeting their personal interests. B2B email campaigns try to convert leads by targeting their business interests.

B2B Email Marketing Statistics

72% of all businesses actively use email marketing to nurture, acquire and retain customers. In contrast, uptake for social media at 66% and online ads at 59% is significantly lower.

This number is actually on the lower side when compared to the amazing ROI. You can expect an average return of 3840% on your email marketing efforts — $38.42 for every dollar spent in 2021.

31% of B2B marketers acknowledge that email newsletters are the best way to nurture leads.

38% of B2B marketers believe that over half of the emails they send are read and opened.

Less than 30% of B2B decision-makers are willing to meet a sales rep in-person in post-Covid times. Because email communication is so widespread, email marketing is often the only marketing channel for small and medium-sized businesses.

Source

With a low barrier to entry, high engagement, and a staggering rate of return, it’s no wonder that B2B marketers prefer email over other marketing channels.

Now let’s dive into common best practices that consistently produce the best results.

9 B2B Email Marketing Best Practices

1. Define your goals
2. Segment your audience
3. Have a clear message
4. Personalize your automated emails
5. Make your call-to-action obvious
6. Send your emails at the right time
7. Ensure your emails are delivered
8. Organize your follow-ups
9. Analyze your campaign performance

1. Define your goals

Your desired outcomes will determine your marketing communication strategy. 

KPIs should include understandable success metrics and reflect your goals. If your goal is to assist your sales team, then your emails will prioritize lead generation. You’ll use a Call-to-Action (CTA) that increases the number of sales calls and product demos that convert B2B leads into B2B buyers.

If you’re trying to build awareness for a new brand or product line, then your attention will shift to growing your list of email subscribers. Email content will be your focus.

If your aim is to create more partnership opportunities your strategy will change. Getting responses from high-quality leads will matter more than your list size and email volume.

2. Segment your audience

Segmenting a B2C audience involves dividing up your potential market into smaller groups. Each division has its own demographics. Such as where they live, their age range, ethnicity, gender identity, income, and education level.

B2B audience segmentation has a similar approach. Gauge the business size based on the number of employees. Look at where most of their customers are. Estimate their budget if their sales or revenue figures are available to the public. Or you can base your estimate on the market average for their business size and industry.

Your email content should match the specific pain points and business niche of your intended audience. Break your message down into digestible pieces of content. Then create email sequences that facilitate conversations around audience interests.

When building your B2B email list from scratch make sure your subscribers will be open to your offer (i.e. they’ve either opted in or there’s a clear case for legitimate interest).

Never buy an email list. This is particularly important in cold email outreach. Emailing the wrong audience could leave the bulk of your emails unread and marked as spam.

Keep in mind that key decision-makers are already bombarded by emails on a daily basis. You’ll need to give them a compelling reason to read and respond to your email.

3. Have a clear message

Your brand is more than just a consistent set of colors and visuals. Your value statement makes up the core of your message and is essentially what you have to offer your potential buyers. The extra fluff, like your slogans and fun catchphrases, will change depending on the context.

Seasonality, marketing trends, evolving buyer behavior, and marketing gimmicks (that you might want to try) could influence your brand messaging. 

So, here is what you need to consider to make your brand messaging clear and impactful:

Seasonality affects every kind of business. Your Christmas email special will be totally different from your Saint Patrick email offer. That makes staying on-brand surprisingly difficult. Stick to what makes your brand stand out to your customers and avoid getting swept up in the holiday cheer.

Marketing trends — when utilized correctly — can also have an outsized impact. Even though market trends are hard to predict they often bring a lot of added value to your offering. Supporting climate action is one example of a safe and universally positive market trend that can uplift your brand’s value.

Changes to buyer behavior among B2B companies are easy to anticipate. Most businesses will adopt the latest innovations in their industry when the cost-benefit analysis makes sense. Letting your customers know they can chat about your product through WhatsApp for example, adds convenience and accessibility to your value proposition.

Marketing gimmicks could be anything that doesn’t directly add value to your offering. Giveaways, competitions, and unusual partnerships can be a fun way to engage your audience without seeming too pushy.

A/B email testing should be an integral part of your marketing efforts. A/B email testing is the practice of sending variations of the same email to subsets of your audience and measuring their effectiveness. A/B testing helps you figure out what message best resonates with your target audience.

Remember, buyer personas are constantly changing. Market forces can also move in unexpected directions. That’s why B2B email marketing requires a lot of fine-tuning. Refine your message continuously to keep up with market trends and match new buyer expectations.

4. Personalize your automated emails

What makes a professional B2B email marketing campaign different from unwanted spam is the degree of personalization.

As an example, an HR company has a popular blog about how to improve workplace environments. A potential customer signs up for their newsletter through a link they found in a free ebook about workplace ergonomics. 

An automated email will welcome the new subscriber with their first name. A few links to articles about ergonomics will be included in the body of the newsletter. The CTA will be a discount code for a workplace ergonomic assessment.

Your message should automatically tailor itself to your customer’s motivations. That’s what we call buyer intent.

Understanding buyer intent will make it easier to personalize your automated emails. You can grasp their intentions by looking at their initial point of contact. Every subsequent touchpoint will be connected to their areas of interest.

Here are some quick-fire tips for personalizing your B2B emails once you’ve captured buyer intent:

• Address your lead by their first name
• Identify the role your lead has in their organization
• Use terms unique to your lead’s industry or business niche
• Nurture your lead with segmented email sequences
• Share email content that matches the interests of your leads
• Track open rates and resend content you believe they missed
• Mention their last interaction with your brand
• Include personal addresses they can reply to

Sending out a large number of personalized emails would waste a lot of time if done manually. Your regular company email isn’t designed for complex email automation.

To get the functionality you need to scale your email marketing efforts, you’ll need a professional Email Service Provider (ESP) like Sendinblue. An ESP is a marketing tool that you can use to automate your emails.

The following features are included with Sendinblue:

• Dynamic content in email campaigns
• Integrated client relations management (CRM)
• A/B testing of email subject lines and email content
• A/B testing of segmented email campaigns
• List segmentation based on email subscriber interests
• Landing pages
• Lead capture forms
• Website tracking

5. Make your call-to-action obvious

A call-to-action should be designed with a specific outcome in mind. The CTA should also be the answer to lead intent. That translates to buttons or banners that give your potential buyer what they want and accomplish the goal of your email marketing campaign at the same time.

A “buy now” button is the simplest example for an ecommerce context. SaaS providers want users to either start using their software right away or book a personalized demo with a member of their sales team. “Sign up now” and “Start your free trial” are fairly common CTAs for B2B companies that have SaaS offerings.

Having multiple CTAs in a single email can confuse leads by showing them mixed intent. This happens when different wording is used to describe the same course of action. Such as “get this deal” and “subscribe now” with both buttons leading to the same landing page.

Clustering the same CTA in several locations can be equally problematic. Wherever a CTA is placed will become the point where the lead stops reading and takes action.

If the lead hasn’t been properly informed or fully persuaded, the motivation to complete the action will be undermined. The right email has only one or a few CTAs in easy-to-find sections where just the right dose of value has been transmitted.

6. Send your emails at the right time

The level of customer engagement for your industry will determine the number of follow-ups in your B2B email marketing strategy.

Look into the right time to send your emails. The frequency of your emails should generally be limited to once or twice a week. 

Newsletters are best sent weekly, usually mid-week on a Wednesday or a Thursday. Round-ups are bigger monthly campaigns. Product updates and announcements can be occasional. 

Seasonal and holidays deals can be positioned a week or two before and after the actual day-of. 

Email newsletters that have double opt-in can endlessly promote the same service. With double opt-in, each subscriber has reaffirmed their interest. They can also unsubscribe at any time. 

However, too many emails can still lower your subscriber count.

7. Ensure your emails are delivered

Despite what some advertisers would have you believe, the best products simply won’t sell themselves. You need to get your offer in front of your audience to trigger sales activity.

Ensuring email delivery is therefore your biggest concern.

On the more technical side, you’ll want to buy a domain name that you can use as the email sender. Your domain should match your branding and lead to the actual website you use to display your offers.

If you don’t have a website or have a new product you want to take to market as a standalone brand, you can register a new domain and create a corresponding landing page.

On the practical side, you have a variety of steps you can take to avoid getting blacklisted.

• Make sure that your subscriber list is opt-in only
• Include a sender name your subscribers will recognize
• Deliver email content your subscribers expect
• Optimize your emails with smaller images and mobile-friendly content
• Avoid click-bait subject lines
• Send fewer, higher-quality emails
• Filter out unengaged subscribers as often as you can

There are best practices you can follow to consistently achieve high deliverability.

8. Organize your follow-ups

Your email follow-ups guide your prospect along their customer journey. That includes new customers and existing customers you want to upsell or turn into repeat buyers.

The B2B customer journey will show you the general steps a buyer will take as they interact with your brand, including the steps before and after making a purchasing decision.

Map out your customer journey. Outline the lead nurturing and customer retention processes. This will give you a fuller picture of how your customers interact with your brand.

Source

A typical B2B customer will become aware of your business while doing their own research.

Then they’ll pitch the idea to their team. The key decision-makers will consider your offer before making a purchasing decision. Your follow-ups play a critical role as they’re actively considering your offer.

Here is where a sales funnel comes in handy. A good sales funnel can streamline the decision-making process by providing different types of content that the buyer can consume. White papers, help articles, and case studies are especially persuasive.

A sales funnel zooms into customer interactions that are closest to a purchasing decision and brings them closer to striking a deal with you. It’s made up of the different stages a buyer moves through before making a purchasing decision.

Source

Think of a sales funnel as a micro view of your customer behavior that highlights the buying process. Whereas the customer journey considers every stage, including the pre-purchase, buying, and after-sales interactions.

When they accept your offer and have been successfully converted into an active customer, you’ll want to keep them happy. Meaningful engagements, such as helpful onboarding emails and email support will boost customer loyalty.

B2B customers generally have a longer conversion path. They also expect a healthy combination of marketing, sales, and support emails at every stage of their customer journey.

You’ll also need a way to keep track of your conversations when your B2B email campaign starts getting responses. A good CRM is essential in the follow-up stage. Anything that helps you keep track of your customer relationships can technically be a CRM. But that doesn’t mean something as simple as pen-and-paper will be good for your business.

Go for a dedicated CRM that will help you update your contact list, and track your emails as well as replies. Integrating your CRM with your email service provider will give you deeper analytics. You’ll be able to measure open rates and click-through rates, and attach contextual notes.

Sendinblue is a marketing email platform that has its own in-built CRM and has a generous free tier. You won’t have to break open your bank safe to fund your first email marketing campaign.

9. Analyze your campaign performance

Knowledge is power.

The more knowledge you have on the performance of your B2B email campaigns the more powerful your marketing strategies will become.

Analyzing your email campaign metrics will help you accurately target audience groups that are more receptive to your brand.

The most important metrics include:

• Open rate – the percentage of leads that actually opened your email
• Click-through rate (CTR) – the percentage of leads that clicked on a link or a CTA
• Conversion rate – the percentage of leads that clicked on a CTA and completed the desired action
• Bounce rate – the percentage of email addresses whose inboxes rejected the email you sent
• List size – the number of subscribers on a specific email list
• List growth rate – how much larger a subscriber list has grown over a period of time
• Forwarding rate – what percentage of leads reshare your email

B2B Email Marketing Examples

A B2B marketing example shows you how a business communicates the value of their offering to other businesses. 

We’ve taken a look at some of the most successful B2B emails from our own users at Sendinblue and highlighted the B2B marketing campaigns that we believe are easiest to replicate.

Copyleaks

Copyleaks sent out a brief update when they announced their new API dashboard. This product update email is concise, easy to understand, and has a clear CTA. The core message here is summarized in bullet points.

Excel Exposure

Excel Exposure uses storytelling in their course announcement to make their message more persuasive. Their conversational tone is direct and punchy. Bolded words catch the customer’s attention. The CTA gives the customer the opportunity to learn more about their new course.

Pixlee

The Pixlee newsletter showcases content that educates and informs its customers on the subject of influencer marketing. Each CTA links to an article that is part of a larger content funnel. Actionable advice is the best way to convert skeptics into brand advocates.

Workona

Workona uses onboarding emails to improve customer retention. They pique customer interest while teaching them how to use their product in a new way. Their decision to highlight their Slack integration was likely based on how popular work chat is among their customer base.

Getting Started

Start sending out B2B emails today with Sendinblue. You can send up to 300 emails per day to as many contacts as you like, for free.

The post How to Make B2B Email Marketing Work for You appeared first on Sendinblue.

You can’t afford interruptions in transactional email workflows. Issues with deliverability and data safety can cost you customer relationships as well as revenue. Choosing the right transactional email service provider is critical for a thriving business.

Here’s what Mailgun has to offer and how it compares to other email delivery services.

What Mailgun Offers

Mailgun is a transactional email automation service built for developers. 

How does Mailgun work? As an API-first solution, the platform has a simple infrastructure allowing users to advance its functionalities based on their specific needs. 

Aside from email API, Mailgun offers a bunch of products for marketing automation, maximizing deliverability, email parsing, and more. 

What is the difference between Mailgun and Mailjet? Mailjet, email marketing software, isn’t included in any of the Mailgun plans. The product was acquired by Mailgun in 2021 and is now available on separate plans. Without Mailjet, Mailgun alone doesn’t offer email marketing functionality.

Pros

• A robust set of APIs allows users to build a custom delivery strategy
• A scalable delivery infrastructure
• Integrations with a wide range of CMS solutions and frameworks
• Solutions for improving email deliverability rates
• Consistent sender reputation
• Inbound email processing made easier
• A ‘pay-as-you-grow’ option

Cons

• A high learning curve for non-tech professionals
• Logs are retained for a very limited amount of time on any plan
• No functionality for exporting logs
• Slow user interface
• No way to address IP pool blacklisting
• Issues with email delivery to Outlook and Hotmail accounts – email campaigns tend to be marked as spam
• Poor customer support

Mailgun pricing

Mailgun pricing starts at $35/month. The lightest plan includes 50,000 emails, with $0.80 per extra 1000 emails and $1.20 per 100 validations. Dedicated IP pools and SAML authentication are available only in the top-tier plan, starting at $90/month. 

Mailgun isn’t cheap. While there’s a free 3-month trial that users can enjoy before switching to a paid basic plan, the functionalities available on lower pricing tiers are incompatible with midsize companies.

Mailgun Alternatives Compared

Below is an overview of the plan pricing as well as the key features of Mailgun and its best alternatives.

1. Sendinblue

One of the top Mailgun alternatives is Sendinblue. Here’s why.

A range of transactional sending options

SMTP relay, API, webhooks, eCommerce plugins, or simple marketing automation – with Sendinblue, you’re free to choose any sending option for your transactional emails. 

While developers will enjoy fast and scalable email delivery with Sendinblue’s free SMTP server and a powerful email API, marketers will be able to achieve the same results with custom-built integrations.

We integrate with WordPress and a variety of eCommerce platforms, including Shopify, WooCommerce, Shopware, and Magento.

Email API

Unlimited log retention, 120k emails per minute, and advanced tracking – it’s what Sendinblue’s email API is all about Built for developers, it combines the power of an advanced tech solution and the simplicity of a well-designed API.

If you need to send emails or SMS messages at large volumes, you’ll hardly find a better solution than our email API.

SMS sending

Transactional emails go hand in hand with SMS messages. Sendinblue combines these two.

There are tons of cases where you can’t rely solely on email. SMS messaging allows brands to manage payment data safely with 2-factor authentication, send instant alerts, or just have an additional marketing channel.

Similar to emails, transactional SMS can be set up through API, marketing automation, or one of the available plugins. SMS credits can be purchased separately alongside your selected plan.

Reputation

Users often complain that Mailgun is widely used by spammers. Sendinblue’s rigorous user validation process helps keep spammers out.

To protect all senders on our servers, we’ve introduced a set of criteria Sendinblue users should comply with to have their emails approved.

Anti-spam policies and restrictions protect users of shared IP addresses from reputation damage caused by deceptive practices of accounts in the shared infrastructure. Due to a strict vetting process, we manage to maintain a solid sender reputation for all of our Sendinblue sender IPs.

Complete marketing automation solution

Sendinblue is more than a Mailgun alternative. It’s an all-in-one sales and marketing platform offering a complete toolkit for growing your business in one interface. 

Besides transactional email, Sendinblue offers solutions for marketing automation, customer relationship management (CRM), SMS marketing, Facebook advertising, live chat, lead generation, and more.

Intuitive interface

As a Mailgun alternative, Sendinblue allows users to configure transactional emails through APIs or SMTP endpoints. 

However, we also offer simple no-code solutions for those who aren’t tech-savvy. Our drag-and-drop email builder allows you to create professional-looking transactional messages.

To set up automated messages, you can use our visual workflow builder. Both transactional email and SMS can be managed through a user-friendly interface. 

Sendinblue pricing

Surprisingly, Sendinblue not only offers more features for streamlining business processes but also has a lower entry threshold. Sendinblue’s free account includes 300 emails/day and gives access to transactional email and SMS, core API features, SMTP service, and templates. 

Paid plans start at $25/20,000 emails/month. They include marketing tools, no daily sending limit, and A/B testing functionality atop features available on a free plan.

Sendinblue vs Mailgun

• Operations that can be run through SMTP relay and email API are also available through the user interface
• No coding skills required
• Transactional email and SMS combined
• No limit to the number of contacts per plan
• Dynamic personalization functionality
• An all-in-one marketing automation solution
• Unlimited log retention with Sendinblue’s email API
• Strict policies maintaining positive IP reputation
• A range of integrations and ecommerce plugins

If you’re looking for a more cost-effective Mailgun alternative, Sendinblue is the right choice.

2. MailerSend

The next best alternative to Mailgun is MailerSend.

It’s a dedicated transactional email service by MailerLite. You can create campaigns by using RESTful API, configuring SMTP settings, or creating integrations inside Zapier or Integromat.

MailerSend’s features include a drag-and-drop email builder, dynamic personalization, bulk email sending, and real-time email status updates.

Similar to Sendinblue, MailerSend uses SPF, DKIM, and DMARC security protocols to protect an email sender’s reputation. Deliverability is one of its key competitive advantages over Mailgun. 

MailerSend pricing

The tool offers a forever free plan with up to 12,000 emails/month. A paid plan starts at $25/month, with 14 days of data retention, unlimited API tokens, and a dedicated IP.

3. SendGrid

SendGrid is an all-in-one email marketing solution. Aside from the typical email marketing suite, the tool provides advanced setup methods, like web API and SMTP relay.

Transactional email delivery is only one part of SendGrid’s offerings. The company also sells packages for email marketing and automation. The drawback is – if you want to use SendGrid’s Marketing Campaigns and the Email API products, you’ll need to purchase the plans separately. 

So, if you want to have access to SMTP relay and email API as well as a drag-and-drop editor, you’ll be paying twice.

With that in mind, what’s better, SendGrid or Mailgun?

When you need a flexible solution for developers, Mailgun is a good option. But for a combination of API/SMTP and great email marketing features, you’d better go for SendGrid.

SendGrid pricing

Email API plans start at $14.95/month, and the lightest pricing package for Marketing Campaigns plans begins at $15/month. However, you can access both email API and email marketing features on a forever-free plan.

See also: Best SendGrid alternatives

4. Postmark

For a decade, Postmark had been focusing solely on transactional emails. Since 2020, the company has started to offer functionality for email marketing and bulk email. A new product is called Message Streams.

To use Postmark, you need to be a tech person willing to work with code. If you’re tech-savvy, you’ll enjoy an easy-to-use API and developer-friendly SMTP documentation.

In Postmark, you won’t find SMS support, list segmentation, and marketing automation features. The platform is known for lightning-fast delivery, a bounce rate report, 45-day data retention, and a proactive support team.

Postmark pricing

Postmark starts at $10 per 10,000 emails/month. There’s a free plan allowing you to run 100 test emails per month, but it’s not sufficient.

5. SMTP2GO

SMTP2GO is an email delivery service, having rock-solid reliability as its main advantage.

The tool is good for sending transactional and marketing emails without a very low risk of reaching the spam folder. It provides insightful visual reports so that users are always aware of how exactly recipients interact with their emails.

SMTP2GO pricing

Its Starter plan begins at $15/month, with an opportunity to add extra 1,000 emails for $1. All plans include no more than 30 days of email reporting.

6. SparkPost

Another Mailgun alternative is SparkPost, an email sending and deliverability platform.

Similar to Postmark, SparkPost requires an understanding of coding basics to set up transactional or other mail streams. 

SparkPost is also one of the most affordable transactional email services for developers.

SparkPost pricing

SparkPost starts at $20/month. In the Starter plan, you can send 12,500 emails daily, use API and SMTP relay, access 2 custom webhooks, and receive data on various aspects of your email performance.

7. SocketLabs

SocketLabs is an SMTP service and marketing automation platform for pros. It offers an SMTP relay service as well as a transactional email API.

Even though SocketLabs can’t brag about the most intuitive UI, it’s a robust solution for high-volume senders. Contrary to Mailgun, the tool offers unlimited contact storage and industry-leading deliverability.

With SocketLabs, you can send all kinds of transactional emails, including receipts, confirmations, event-driven notifications, and behavior-triggered messages.

SocketLabs pricing

In the first month, SocketLabs users can use the tool for free and send up to 40,000 emails/month. From the second month, pricing starts at $39.95/month. 

SMTP relay and API are available in all plans.

Mind that low-tier plans don’t include reporting functionality.

What is the Best Mailgun Alternative?

What features are you looking for in your email service provider? If you need a lightning-fast solution for large-scale emails, dedicated tools, like SMTP2GO or SparkPost will work for you. But if your small business needs a platform combining transactional email and email marketing functionality in one interface, an all-in-one tool like Sendinblue is a go-to option.

The post 7 Best Mailgun Alternatives For Transactional Emails appeared first on Sendinblue.

Digital marketing agencies love Campaign Monitor for a range of unique features, like private labeling, granular user permissions, and others. For a small business, these advantages don’t add any value – so why pay for them? 

Nevertheless, there are reasons why email marketers choose Campaign Monitor. Let’s start with taking a look at the best features of the product and then see how it compares to competitors’ offerings.

Why email marketers choose Campaign Monitor 

Campaign Monitor is a straightforward email marketing solution with a user-friendly interface and simple features. Users always highlight the following pros of the tool:

• A rich collection of mobile-responsive email templates.
• A range of features for agencies: a client dashboard, multi-user access, private labeling, granular user permissions, special agency discounts etc.
• An easy-to-use drag and drop builder for emails.
• Countdown Timer (available for the Premier and Unlimited plans).
• Granular view of audience segments and individual contacts.
• Automated journeys are available inside all plans.
• Robust API for custom integrations.
• Good email deliverability.
• Real-time campaign insights.
• Transactional emails.

Drawbacks of using Campaign Monitor 

And why is it worth considering Campaign Monitor alternatives?

• It’s difficult to customize templates – you can’t access the HTML email editor if you choose pre-built templates;
• There’s no free plan inside Campaign Monitor;
• It lacks multichannel marketing functionality, like SMS marketing, Facebook advertising, etc.;
• The toolkit doesn’t include a landing page builder;
• Users need to pay more as their contact list grows;
• No automation workflow templates;
• No lead scoring functionality.

Campaign Monitor pricing

How much does Campaign Monitor cost?

Campaign Monitor starts at $9/month. The package includes 500 contacts and 2,500 emails/month. For additional 2,000 contacts and 10,000 emails within the same plan, you’ll pay $29/month in total.

Interestingly, there’s no significant gap in the functionality of the Basic, Unlimited, and Premier plans. Users can set up automated workflows, run A/B tests, segment contacts, and send transactional emails in all plans.

New users can try Campaign Monitor for free for as long as they want until they add more than 5 contacts to their email list.

7 Top Alternatives to Campaign Monitor

Looking for a cheaper alternative to Campaign Monitor? These are the best ones to choose from.

1. Sendinblue

Need a tool with multichannel marketing functionality? Meet Sendinblue, a marketing automation platform for email marketing service, transactional email sending, CRM, SMS marketing, and Facebook advertising. 

Sendinblue or Campaign Monitor?

Here’s why Sendinblue is one of the best alternatives to Campaign Monitor.

Free plans

Not sure you’re ready to invest in a paid plan? You can use Sendinblue for free forever. 

While Campaign Monitor doesn’t offer any free plan, Sendinblue lets you store as many contacts as you want and send up to 300 emails/day without paying a cent.

Pricing packages

Sendinblue’s paid plans start at $25/month. In the Lite plan, you have unlimited contact credits and can send up to 20,000 emails per month. To send that many emails inside Campaign Monitor, you’ll need to pay $49/month as the Basic plan user.

Lead scoring

Campaign Monitor doesn’t have functionality for lead scoring while Sendinblue does. The platform lets you set up a lead scoring model that automatically assigns scores to contacts based on predefined criteria.

Landing pages

Mind that you can’t create landing pages with Campaign Monitor. If you need a solution for lead generation, you’ll also need to invest in a landing page builder and integrate it with Campaign Monitor… or use Sendinblue.

Multichannel marketing

Campaign Monitor doesn’t offer any functionality for multichannel marketing. Meanwhile, Sendinblue lets you combine email and SMS communication effortlessly. 

And what if you want to reinforce your email marketing campaigns with Facebook retargeting ads? You can do it without leaving the Sendinblue interface.

CRM

You can use Sendinblue as the CRM platform. We’ve added advanced list management features, notes, and to-do lists to help you organize your team and track customer interactions in one place.

Automation workflows

Similar to Campaign Monitor, Sendinblue offers automation workflows in all plans. To save your time, we’ve also created ready-to-use workflow templates that you can apply for common scenarios.

Transactional emails

Finally, both platforms allow you to send transactional emails with high deliverability rates. While many email marketing platforms include transactional email sending in more expensive plans, Sendinblue SMTP and Email API are available for both free and paid users.

2. ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign is probably the closest Campaign Monitor competitor. If you look at the pricing models, the platforms are almost identical but for a few critical features.

ActiveCampaign or Campaign Monitor?

• Pricing packages: Both ActiveCampaign and Campaign Monitor start at $9/month for up to 500 contacts.
• Free access: Neither platform offers a free plan.
• Lead scoring: As with the Sendinblue software, ActiveCampaign allows for automated lead scoring. You won’t find this feature inside Campaign Monitor. 
• Site tracking: If you want to connect your email marketing software to your website activity, you’d better choose ActiveCampaign.
• A/B testing: For users willing to test their email newsletters, ActiveCampaign might be too pricey – A/B testing isn’t included in lower tiers. Campaign Monitor, however, offers A/B testing as a part of all plans.
• Mobile app: ActiveCampaign is one of the few brands offering a mobile app for managing email campaigns and contacts on the fly.
• SMS marketing: ActiveCampaign is good for email marketers looking for SMS marketing and other multichannel marketing features.
• CRM: ActiveCampaign offers tools for CRM and sales automation, and Campaign Monitor doesn’t.

3. Moosend

Moosend is an email marketing platform with a couple of exclusive features. It’s particularly good for ecommerce brands. 

Moosend or Campaign Monitor?

• Pricing packages: For $9/month, you can add up to 500 contacts to your Moosend account. In contrast to Campaign Monitor, the cheapest Moosend plan goes with unlimited email sending.
• Free access: Moosend doesn’t have a free plan but provides a 30-day free trial.
• Landing pages: With Moosend, you can create responsive landing pages starting at $9/month.
• Shoppable emails: Moosend displays buyable products within emails and helps to craft catchy email annotations for Gmail Promotions Tab.
• Ecommerce product recommendations: Moosend offers personalized product recommendations as a part of their ecommerce toolkit. The product lets you set triggers for cross-selling emails and refill notifications.
• Subject line tester: The tool can estimate your email open rates based on your subject lines.
• Countdown timers: While Campaign Monitor includes Countdown Timers only in top-tier plans, Moosend makes the feature available for all users.

4. HubSpot

HubSpot is a great alternative to Campaign Monitor if you use its free tools. Advanced tools start at $49/month, which hardly makes sense for a small business. 

HubSpot or Campaign Monitor?

• Free access: HubSpot offers a nice collection of free tools, including a drag and drop email builder, basic CRM functionality, list segmentation, landing pages, and live chat.
• Pricing packages: We’ve already mentioned HubSpot’s paid plans start at $49/month for only 1,000 contacts, which is way more expensive than Campaign Monitor’s pricing.
• Marketing automation tools: HubSpot users don’t have access to automation features inside free plans. To use automated workflows, it’s better to choose Campaign Monitor.
• Mobile app: All HubSpot users can access a mobile app and accomplish all the tasks they would typically do with the desktop version.
• A/B testing: Advanced features, like A/B testing, are only available starting from HubSpot’s Professional plan ($800/month). 
• Customer support: HubSpot is famous for its world-class customer support team.

5. Omnisend

Omnisend is an email and SMS marketing platform focusing on ecommerce automation.

Omnisend or Campaign Monitor?

• Free access: Omnisend includes up to 250 contacts and 500 emails/month in a forever-free plan.
• Pricing packages: The cheapest paid plan costs $16/month and includes up to 500 contacts, 6,000 emails, and max. 60 SMS notifications per month. You can also add extra credits to the most basic plan or upgrade to the higher tier package ($59/month) for additional features.
• Email automation software: Omnisend users can create both pre-built and custom automated email workflows.
• Ecommerce: Ecommerce-specific features, like personalized recommendations, pre-built ecommerce workflows, dynamic content, and auto-generated discount codes are available inside Omnisend.
• Exclusive features: Omnisend offers a range of exclusive features to increase conversions of your signup forms, pop-ups, and email content. Users can add Wheel of Fortune, scratch cards, interactive Gift Box, and other elements to gamify their campaigns.
• Landing pages: There’s a built-in landing page building tool for your lead generation campaigns.
• SMS marketing: SMS sending is also a part of Omnisend’s features in all plans.

6. AWeber

Aweber is an email marketing tool for small ecommerce brands. It’s good for setting up simple and inexpensive campaigns.

Aweber or Campaign Monitor?

• Free access: If you don’t exceed the limit of 500 contacts, you can use Aweber for free.
• Pricing packages: Aweber starts at $16.15/month – almost twice as much as the cost of Campaign Monitor’s cheapest plan. However, when your mailing list grows, Aweber becomes a more affordable option. 
• Transaction fee: Mind that Aweber charges a 2.9%+$0.3 fee (+1,0% or 0.6% depending on the plan) per transaction if you run sales campaigns. 
• Multi-user access: Both Aweber and Campaign Monitor offer access for an unlimited number of users in all plans.
• Ecommerce: Aweber users can set up recurring payments, send autoresponders, and track sales.
• Landing pages: A drag and drop editor for landing pages is included in free and paid Aweber plans.
• Integrations: Aweber and Campaign Monitor integrate with a range of ecommerce platforms, like Shopify and WooCommerce, but only Aweber has direct integration with PayPal. 

7. Constant Contact

Finally, meet Constant Contact. The platform provides all the necessary tools for generating leads, nurturing them, and collecting their feedback.

Constant Contact or Campaign Monitor?

• Free access: Neither Constant Contact nor Campaign Monitor has a free plan. 
• Pricing packages: Constant Contact’s Core plan begins at $9.99/month. For mid-sized businesses and enterprises, Constant Contact offers an all-in-one CRM platform starting at $399/month. Overall, Constant Contact is more expensive than Campaign Monitor.
• Landing pages: It only makes sense to switch from Campaign Monitor to Constant Contact if you need to create lead generation landing pages. The feature is included in all plans.
• Mobile app: It’s possible to manage campaigns through Constant Contact’s mobile app. 
• Collect feedback: Constant Contact allows users to collect feedback through embedded polls and surveys.
• Multichannel marketing: Users can post to social media platforms and design Facebook and Instagram ads directly inside the Constant Contact interface.

Which Campaign Monitor alternative is right for you?

These are the closest Campaign Monitor competitors. To choose the right tool, spend some time taking advantage of free plans and free trials. 

A lot of options get more expensive as you grow. Think of how your email marketing strategy will look in 6 months or a year and pick a tool that supports your business growth.

The post 7 Best Campaign Monitor Alternatives for 2022 appeared first on Sendinblue.

Free email templates are THE go-to resource when…

You have limited coding skills

Using an HTML email template allows you to create beautiful responsive design emails without the frustration of writing all the code yourself. That means you won’t have to ragequit at 3AM after failing for the 30th time to get your email HTML to render correctly.

You want to save time

So you want to get your email campaign out quickly. Why re-invent the wheel? Using a ready-made email template is a whole lot faster than designing and building an email from scratch.

All you have to do with a template is change the content and branding elements to match your brand. What’s more, with a responsive email template you’ll have peace of mind knowing the email will render correctly on different screen sizes.

You need to save money

Hiring an email developer to create custom templates is a great investment but comes with a price tag. If you want to keep costs to a bare minimum, then free email templates will be your best friend.

Customizable email templates give a professional look-and-feel to your emails without having to splash out on a designer or developer.

So now you’re probably wondering where to find the free email templates that are going to save you all this time and money.

Without further ado, here’s our list of the top resources for free responsive email templates.

Where to find the best free email templates

1. Sendinblue (40+ responsive email templates)

When you create a free account with Sendinblue you get full access to our template gallery and email editing tools. Choose from 40+ beautifully designed and fully responsive email templates.

You’ll also get access to a range of features on our email marketing platform including email signup forms, advanced reporting, and unlimited contact storage. Test-drive Sendinblue’s free plan and send up to 300 emails/day at zero cost.

So, how do these free templates work?

With Sendinblue, you have two options when it comes to creating email campaigns using ready-made templates:

Responsive Design Email Builder

Sendinblue users have access to our library of email templates through our drag and drop responsive design tool. This makes it super easy to create well-designed emails without any technical or design experience.

All you have to do is choose a template from our library of over 40 free email newsletter templates. Simply drag the elements to rearrange them or add new elements. Then, you can edit them directly in the tool without any HTML or CSS knowledge required.

WYSIWYG HTML Email Editor

The WYSIWYG HTML editor is for the more advanced users looking to write their own HTML, or use a downloaded template.

If you plan on using an HTML email template, then you just need to follow a few quick steps:

• Find the template you want to use
• Download the template to your computer
• Open the template in a text editor (make sure that you set the preferences to view plain text)
• Copy and paste the HTML from the text editor to the WYSIWYG editor
• Make any necessary changes to the template (swap images, change colors, etc.)

When using templates, it is very important to send a test email to make sure that the template renders correctly for both desktop and mobile. That way, you can be sure that your subscribers are not having a bad experience if they’re using a certain type of device.

2. Stripo (300+ HTML email templates)

Stripo gives access to a huge collection of awesome free HTML email templates. No coding skills are necessary for its drag and drop template builder. You can also play around with features like CSS-animated buttons, image rollover effects, and other interactive elements. 

Once you create your email with Stripo, you’ll need to export it to your ESP (Email Service Provider) for sending. If you’re a Sendinblue customer this is super easy thanks to Stripo’s Sendinblue integration. The Stripo free plan allows 4 exports per month to ESPs.

3. Klenty (120+ email templates)

Klenty is a sales engagement platform that lets you personalize your sales outreach and follow up with prospects, at scale. It has native integrations with the most popularly used CRMs like Pipedrive, Zoho, Hubspot, and Salesforce. They host an array of resources like comprehensive blogs that can be bookmarked, email templates that can be easily copied and pasted to your email inbox, and downloadable e-books that you can read at your own pace. 

In their free resources here, you can choose from over 120 unique cold email templates. The cold email templates have been written for the multiple scenarios reps often find themselves in.

They also provide over 40 email templates for those who are relentlessly following up and have run out of creative juices to fill up their follow-up emails. The follow-up email templates can be used for different situations like when you want to send a follow-up email after a networking event, or after a trigger event, or even when you want to break up with prospects.

4. Email on Acid (6 free email templates)

Email on Acid is an online email testing platform that allows users to test emails and make sure that they render correctly across all email providers and devices. The platform also includes many other resources such as an email editor, spam testing, enhanced email analytics, and more.

In addition to the tools mentioned above, email on acid has several free responsive email templates that are available to users at no cost.

5. Litmus (36 free email templates)

Litmus is another company that offers software to test emails across all different type of devices and email providers. They also offer several additional free resources to help with your email marketing.

One of the resources offered is a community gallery of HTML email templates that you can download for free and use in your campaigns.

The community templates cover email templates for 4 main areas:

• Product launch update email templates (7 total)
• Ecommerce email templates (10 total)
• Account management email templates (6 total)
• General marketing email templates (8 total)

You can also download the “slate” email template package. This includes 5 additional templates ranging from newsletter to ecommerce receipt.

6. Dyspatch (free open source email templates)

Dyspatch is a visual email editor that lets you create mobile-friendly interactive emails. Any email created there can be downloaded and used with your current ESP.

As a resource, they offer a free email template gallery that consists of 12 different themes, with each them having between 1 and 9 email templates choose from.

7. BEE (200+ email templates)

BEEFree is an email editor with over 200 professionally designed email templates. Choose your template and customize it to match your brand. Then simply download a ZIP file containing the email HTML to be sent from your ESP later.

If you’re a Sendinblue user, you can export templates directly to Sendinblue once you upgrade to BEEPro.

8. 99Designs (45 free responsive email templates)

99designs is an online graphic design marketplace that works to connect businesses with freelance designers.

As part of their resources, the site offers a gallery of free email templates that you can download from their blog.

The gallery consists of 3 different themes with 3 types of email templates for each theme. Each type of template also comes in 5 different color options.

9. Antwort (3 free email templates)

Antwort is a series of 3 email templates that were created by freelance designer Julie Ng.

The theory behind the design of these templates is that you shouldn’t sacrifice the look of your emails just to optimize for mobile. Most responsive designs just focus on adjusting the width of the message to fit the device, but Antwort adjusts the entire layout.

These emails will render as either multiple columns, or a single column with rows depending on whether the reader is using a desktop or mobile device (respectively). This eliminates the need for design compromise.

10. Pixelbuddha (15 free email templates)

PixelBuddha is an online community dedicated to providing free and premium design resources all in one place.

In addition to the website templates and other graphic design assets available, the site also has 15 email templates in their ‘freebies’ section that you can download.

Over to you: Use email templates for your next campaign

Now that you have all the resources you need, there are no more excuses to send boring emails. Whether you’re using downloaded email templates or a drag-and-drop design tool, you’re ready to start sending beautifully-designed emails that convert!

After creating the design that you want to use — whether using a template or creating your own email — don’t forget to use email list segmentation and personalization tactics in your message content to achieve the maximum amount of engagement.

And, if you’re creating a newsletter, be sure to think of the user’s needs first.

For more content like this, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter and Pinterest!

The post The 9 Best Sites for Free Email Templates appeared first on Sendinblue.

Constant Contact is one of the biggest and best known email marketing services. Small businesses love it for its simplicity and ease-of-use.

But, when compared to other ESPs offering the same service, it has one major downfall: cost.

Get this: Constant Contact doesn’t just charge for email services. It takes a 1.5% cut of your total online sales! 

As a small business, why overpay for your email marketing tool when so many cheaper options exist?

Keep reading to discover the best Constant Contact competitors. We’ll highlight the key differences in features and compare the prices of monthly base plans.

Comparing Prices of Constant Contact Alternatives

Here are the email marketing solutions we’ll compare to Constant Contact:

1. Sendinblue
2. ActiveCampaign
3. HubSpot Email Marketing
4. GetResponse
5. MailerLite
6. ConvertKit
7. Moosend
8. Mailchimp
9. EmailOctopus
10. Campaign Monitor

1. Sending a monthly newsletter to a small email list (5,000 – 30,000 subscribers)

2. Sending a newsletter twice a month to a small email list (5,000 – 30,000 subscribers)

3. Sending a weekly newsletter to a small email list (5,000 – 30,000 subscribers)

4. Sending a monthly newsletter to a large email list (50,000+ subscribers)

5. Sending a newsletter twice a month to a large email list (50,000+ subscribers)

6. Sending a weekly newsletter to a large email list (50,000+ subscribers)

What Constant Contact Has to Offer

If you’re hesitating about making the switch to another service, pricing isn’t the only factor to take into account. Constant Contact has pros and cons when it comes to features.

Pros:

• High deliverability rates
• Intuitive interface with drag and drop email builder and large email template library
• Unique features (manage events on Eventbrite, set up surveys, polls, and accept donations)
• A website builder to create a simple but attractive site
• Post directly to social media channels
• Embed products directly into emails with the ‘Action Blocks’ feature, great for ecommerce businesses
• Discounted pricing for nonprofits. 

Cons:

• High prices based on the number of contacts stored
• No free plan, only a 2-month free trial of their email features
• Automations are basic trigger/autoresponder campaigns. Impossible to set up complex workflows using ‘if/then/else’ logic. Simple automation sequences like welcome emails are only available on the more expensive ‘Email Plus’ tier
• No image display option for email signup forms, only contact fields
• No in-app mobile preview feature, only desktop
• Personalization limited to the subject line and email greeting
• Only available in two languages (English & Spanish)
• Transaction fee. You pay 1.5% of each sale your online store makes.

Now let’s see what the cheaper services have to offer.

10 Best Constant Contact Alternatives

1. Sendinblue

Sendinblue offers a robust email marketing service as part of its all-in-one sales and digital marketing toolbox. Alongside the necessary email marketing tools (drag-and-drop editor, transactional emails, GDPR compliance), you get marketing automation, CRM, SMS, chat, push notifications, signup forms, and a landing page builder.

Main differences between Sendinblue and Constant Contact

Here’s what makes Sendinblue one of the best Constant Contact alternatives:

• Pricing based on the number of emails sent, not contacts stored. Sendinblue lets you store an unlimited number of contacts across all its plans. No matter how big your email list grows, this will not impact the pricing. Constant Contact, as we know, charges per contact stored. This can be frustrating for any small business with a rapidly growing list.
• Advanced automation features: Create complex automation workflows with Sendinblue using if/then/else logic. Personalize customer journeys, automate lead scoring and nurturing, and react to any customer behavior. Sendinblue is a complete email marketing automation platform. 
• Simplify list management with dynamic segmentation and automation.
• Send abandoned cart emails with the Sendinblue Tracker – a tracking feature that monitors your subscribers’ on-page behavior and triggers email workflows.
• Dynamic personalization: Engage your subscribers with personalized emails using Sendinblue’s custom contact and dynamic content fields.

Sendinblue vs Constant Contact pricing

Sendinblue is one of the cheapest Constant Contact competitors you’ll find. Our email marketing software helps you grow instead of charging you for gaining more contacts and customers. The free plan includes access to advanced email marketing features, 300 emails/day, unlimited contact storage, as well as the platforms other functionalities like transactional emails, sales CRM, SMS marketing, chat, and more

Paid plans start at $25 for 20,000 emails/month. All plans include unlimited contact storage.

Here’s what to expect when comparing base plans. Keep in mind that these Constant Contact ‘Core’ plan prices don’t include automation functionality. For most marketing campaigns, you’ll need to upgrade to their ‘Email Plus’ plan, which starts at $45 per month for 500 contacts.

What’s more, Constant Contact will charge you an additional 1.5% of your total revenue if you sell through your website. 

Read our Sendinblue vs Constant Contact guide for a detailed comparison of pricing and features. 

2. ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign boasts intuitive features when it comes to email marketing, marketing automation, SMS marketing, and CRM. 

Main differences between ActiveCampaign and Constant Contact

• Automation tools: If you find Constant Contact’s automation a bit too basic for your needs, you’ll be pleased with ActiveCampaign’s more advanced features. You’ll have tons of options to create complex workflows and sales funnels.
• ActiveCampaign is a great Constant Contact alternative for the advanced marketer or anyone looking for granular-level segmentation. To get the most out of this tool, you need to be comfortable with setting up complex automations.
• Neither solution has a free version. ActiveCampaign offers a 14-day free trial, Constant Contact does 30 days.
• ActiveCampaign has a built-in sales CRM feature, something you won’t find with Constant Contact.
• Constant Contact offers more integrations than ActiveCampaign (about 400 vs. 270).

ActiveCampaign vs. Constant Contact pricing

While the pricing gap is not as wide as with Sendinblue, you’ll make savings with ActiveCampaign if you’re a high-volume sender.

3. HubSpot Email Marketing

HubSpot is more than an email tool, it’s a growth platform with advanced features, designed to empower your marketing, sales, and customer service teams to grow better.

Main differences between HubSpot and Constant Contact

• Marketing Automation: Constant Contact’s automation features can be quite limiting. HubSpot lets you create customizable autoresponders and automation workflows. Emails can be triggered whenever someone interacts with your website or with one of your social media ads. You can use one of the premade automation workflow templates, or you can build your own from scratch.
• HubSpot Email Marketing uses the power of its CRM to personalize your emails at scale. HubSpot’s products work seamlessly together to augment the power of email. All of your subscribers’ info and activity is automatically logged into the CRM, which can then be used for email personalization.
• HubSpot’s signup form and popups builder is more customizable than Constant Contact. You can choose from a variety of formats and add as many custom fields as you want.
• HubSpot has a Free plan that gives you access to all of HubSpot’s free tools. In addition to email marketing, you get a free CRM, forms and popups, live chat and chatbots, ad management software, ticketing, and more.

HubSpot vs. Constant Contact pricing

HubSpot is a much cheaper alternative to Constant Contact if you have a small subscriber list. The price does go up quite a bit as your subscribers list grows, but keep in mind that when you get to the paid version of HubSpot, the account will also upgrade the full suite of marketing tools, so you ultimately get more value than you would with Constant Contact.

4. GetResponse

If you’re a small business or blogger looking for a cheaper Constant Contact alternative, Getresponse is another option. It offers email marketing, automation, autoresponders, a landing page builder, and more.

Main differences between GetResponse and Constant Contact

GetResponse has some unique features that give it an edge over Constant Contact, namely:

• Webinars for up to 500 attendees (the number of seats varies according to different pricing tiers)
• A conversion funnel builder
• Ecommerce integrations (for example, Shopify) to populate your product inventory on landing pages and in emails
• The GetResponse base plan includes autoresponders and the option to code your own templates. Automated segmentation starts with the ‘Plus’ plan at $45.
• GetResponse offers a free plan for up to 500 contacts.

GetResponse vs. Constant Contact pricing

GetResponse is significantly cheaper, which makes it one of the more cost-effective Constant Contact alternatives.

5. MailerLite

MailerLite is a fast growing email marketing provider based out of Vilnius, Lithuania.

Main differences between MailerLite and Constant Contact

• MailerLite offers 24/7 email & live chat support on premium plans. Constant Contact’s support hours are 8am – 10pm ET Monday – Saturday.
• MailerLite’s file manager feature has an integration with Google Drive and helps keep email campaign images organized.
• MailerLite’s paid plan has detailed campaign reports in real-time including click maps and opens by location.
• MailerLite has a free plan but with some limitations (e.g. no access to email templates).
• With MailerLite you can connect your domain to create custom URLs for landing pages.

MailerLite vs. Constant Contact pricing

MailerLite works out considerably cheaper, making it one of the more competitive Constant Contact alternatives.

6. ConvertKit

ConvertKit brands itself as the email platform for content creators: bloggers, artists, musicians, Youtubers, etc. Basically anyone running a creative business.

Main differences between ConvertKit and Constant Contact

• ConvertKit offers more advanced automation possibilities.
• ConvertKit doesn’t have an email template gallery. Instead, users are encouraged to send plain-text emails. This, they say, improves deliverability and lets the reader focus on the email content/messaging.

Images in newsletters: To add them or avoid them? Read more in our guide to newsletter images. Or, check out this article on how to create a newsletter from start to finish.

• ConvertKit lets you create multiple forms for different opt-in incentives. It’s super easy to create a new form and add your content upgrade (e.g. cheat sheet, ebook, etc.) to the confirmation email.

ConvertKit vs. Constant Contact pricing

ConvertKit has a free version for up to 300 subscribers. Pricing after that starts at $15 per month for 300 subscribers.

Out of all the Constant Contact alternatives on this list, ConvertKit is definitely one of the more expensive options. That said, its position toward content creators makes it unique.

7. Moosend

Moosend is a European-based email service provider offering an affordable solution to manage marketing and transactional emails.

Main differences between Moosend and Constant Contact

• Both Moosend and Constant Constant offer the possibility to create landing pages.
• Moosend comes with a handy email subject line tester called Refine.
• You can send transactional emails with Moosend over its SMTP server.
• If you don’t want to sign up to a monthly plan with Moosend, you have the option to purchase email credits instead.

Moosend vs Constant Contact pricing

At nearly half the price, Moosend is a clear winner over Constant Contact in terms of pricing. Moosend does not offer a free plan, only a 30-day free trial.

8. Mailchimp

Mailchimp is one of the biggest names in the email marketing space. They’re no longer focused on just email though, Mailchimp now offers an all-in-one marketing platform. 

Main differences between Mailchimp and Constant Contact

• Mailchimp has a free plan of up to 2,000 emails/day and 10,000 emails/month for 2,000 contacts. This is great for someone just starting out. Unfortunately the prices rise sharply the more subscribers you get.
• Mailchimp counts one subscriber in several lists as multiple subscribers.
• Both are known for being user-friendly and suited to email marketing beginners.
• While Mailchimp offers email client testing, Constant Contact has an email error testing feature.
• Mailchimp has more options when it comes to A/B testing (subject lines, names, content, and send time). Constant Contact only offers A/B tests for subject lines and on its ‘Email Plus’ plan.

Mailchimp vs Constant Contact pricing

Mailchimp is far from the cheapest Constant Contact alternative on this list. Advanced automation and segmentation aren’t available on Mailchimp’s Free or Essential Plans so be prepared to pay extra for these features.

Like Constant Contact, Mailchimp charges transaction fees on all ecommerce purchases they handle (2% on the Free plan, 1.5% on the Core plan, 0.5% on the Plus plan). In addition, Mailchimp users have to foot the bill for their card processing fees. These vary based on location, but European cards incur a 1.4% + $0.25 fee on every transaction. For non-European cards, it’s even higher— 2.9% + $0.25.

Though, like Constant Contact, Mailchimp also offers a discount to non-profit organizations.

Hesitating about switching to Mailchimp? Check out these Mailchimp alternatives.

9. EmailOctopus

EmailOctopus started off as a plugin application for Amazon SES (Amazon’s transactional email service) and has since grown into a fully fledged email marketing platform. It comes equipped with everything you need to get started with basic email marketing campaigns include a drag and drop email editor, 

Comparing EmailOctopus & Constant Contact features

• EmailOctopus offers much the same features as Constant Contact (simple automation sequences, a template library, segmentation, form builder, etc.).
• If you use Amazon SES, EmailOctopus integrates directly with customers’ AWS accounts and gives an intuitive front end on top of the SES platform.
• Being EU-based, EmailOctopus puts strong emphasis on GDPR compliance.
• EmailOctopus lets you personalize emails with custom contact fields.

EmailOctopus vs Constant Contact Pricing

EmailOctopus doesn’t come with any bells or whistles but it’s a solid choice if you’re looking for an affordable Constant Contact alternative.

10. Campaign Monitor

Last but not least, Campaign Monitor is another Constant Contact alternative that lets you create, send, manage and track email campaigns.

Main differences between Campaign Monitor and Constant Contact

• Get simple automation sequences on the Campaign Monitor ‘Basic’ plan. For more advanced automation you need to scale up to a higher tier.
• Campaign Monitor has transactional email capability.
• You can set up dynamic email content using if/else conditions.
• Campaign Monitor has 24/7 live customer support.

Campaign Monitor vs Constant Contact pricing

It’s not the cheapest on this list but you’ll still earn some small savings by switching from Constant Contact to Campaign Monitor.

Test Drive Constant Contact Alternatives

Having gone through 10 of the most popular and cost-effective Constant Contact alternatives, you hopefully have a better idea of what options are out there. 

As with any digital marketing tool, the best option for you may not be the best option for your neighbor. For this reason, we suggest trying out a few different email marketing platforms to compare features and pricing, to see which is the most intuitive and user-friendly for your team, and to find one with customer support that matches your needs.

In the end, an email marketing solution is meant to work for you and support your business’s growth. At Sendinblue, this is exactly our goal, so why not try things out with a free account?

The post 10 Constant Contact Alternatives: 2022 Pricing and Features Comparison appeared first on Sendinblue.