6 Best Email Marketing Software for Small Businesses

“How will my business stand out in a sea of digital noise”?

As a small business owner, you’ve asked yourself this question more than once. And yes, the journey won’t be without its challenges. But as you strive to rise above the competition, there’s an indispensable tool that engages your audience on a personal level.

A well-crafted email campaign will transform you into a key player in your industry. How can you build that email campaign?

First, you need to find the right email marketing software. Navigating through the countless tools might be daunting. That’s why we researched and selected the best email marketing solutions specifically designed for small businesses, exploring their best features, limitations, and pricing.

Join us in discovering how to harness their potential to grow your small business. Before that, let’s explore whether (and why) small businesses must use email marketing software for their campaigns.

What Are the Benefits of Leveraging Small Business Email Marketing Software?

One question may arise constantly why should small businesses spend resources on email marketing software in the first place? Let’s explore the main benefits of using such a solution:

• Professional layout: Email marketing tools come with built-in, professionally designed email templates for every occasion.
• Effective segmentation: Small businesses can segment their lists based on various criteria like behavioral patterns or engagement levels.
• Cost-effectiveness: While there may be upfront costs, the long-term benefits outweigh the investment. Many email marketing solutions are budget-friendly, offering scalable pricing plans so you can pay only for the features you need.
• Time-saving automation: An email marketing tool even allows you to automate critical and repetitive tasks, such as dispatching different types of email marketing campaigns or segmenting your subscribers.
• Measurable results: Tracking metrics like open, click-through rates, and conversions helps you understand what resonates with your audience and make data-driven decisions for future strategies.

Now that you know the most important benefits of using email marketing software, it’s time to go through the best email marketing software to skyrocket your email performance.

The Best AI Tools for Small Businesses of 2024

6 Top Email Marketing Software to Drive Growth

1. Moosend

Moosend is one of the top email marketing platforms—an affordable email marketing service for small businesses that want to create and customize laser-focused emails without spending too much time or effort.

It comes with a visual drag-and-drop builder that’s easy to handle regardless of your experience or coding skills.

Where Moosend also stands out is its advanced yet intuitive automation workflows. This makes it an excellent choice for marketers who need an extended range of automated campaigns, conditional steps, and triggers to match all business needs.

In other words, Moosend offers valuable and user-friendly features at lower price points than its competitors.

Best Features:

• An email template library with more than 90 pre-made and responsive templates for every occasion.
• A wide selection of automation workflows ranging from simple email campaigns like birthday emails to more advanced options like AI-powered product recommendations and cart recovery emails.
• The option to include conditional blocks and personalize your email content based on each recipient’s preferences.
• The ability to run spam tests even as a low-tier plan user to avoid the spam folder and increase your deliverability rates.

Limitations:

• Some users report a limited number of direct integrations compared to other tools. However, the platform does integrate with the majority of eCommerce apps and CRMs through Zapier.
• No SMS marketing options for businesses that need to have email and SMS under one dashboard.

Pricing:

Starter	Premium	Premium
30 days	$9/month	Custom

Ratings and Reviews:

• G2: 4.6/5.0 (675)
• Capterra: 4.7/5.0 (191)

2. Constant Contact

Constant Contact is a veteran in the email marketing game. Still, it’s one of the most fast-growing email marketing software for small businesses. The reason why it’s so popular with small businesses is its beginner-friendly features that make managing email templates, forms, and email lists a breeze.

Especially when it comes to contact management, Constant Contact comes with its own CRM, which is helpful if you want to have all the data under one roof.

Its auto-generated segments help you personalize your email communications by automatically grouping recipients based on their level of engagement.

Best Features:

• Online donations, surveys and polls, coupons, social media, and SMS marketing options.
• If you’re a high-tier user, you leverage the platform’s ad management features.
• More than 300 integrations with third-party platforms, including Shopify, Salesforce, and Vimeo.
• An event management solution to organize every aspect of your online events, from sending event invitations to receiving online payments.

Limitations:

• The features are somewhat underwhelming compared to the tool’s high prices. So, if you’re looking for a value-for-money platform, consider one of the best Constant Contact competitors instead.
• Limited options in terms of customization in email design features. Some of the email templates look kind of dated, too.

Pricing:

Free trial	Lite	Standard	Premium
60 days	$12/month	$35/month	$60/month

Ratings and Reviews:

• G2: 4.0/5.0 (5764)
• Capterra: 4.4/5.0 (2699)

3. Brevo

Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) is an email marketing platform that offers a large feature list at competitive prices. It provides marketers with a complete marketing toolkit allowing them to run multi-channel campaigns with one tool.

The service is easy to use, with an intuitive drag-and-drop campaign editor that lets you build beautiful emails quickly.

You can even create branded emails by choosing one of its fully customizable templates and uploading your brand assets that suit your email marketing strategy.

There’s even the option of adding stock images directly from the email creator.

Best Features:

• Automation options for several marketing purposes, from sending transactional emails to segmenting contacts.
• A separate SMTP service for dispatching bulk emails, and even SMS campaigns, directly from your WordPress site.
• The ability to combine multiple channels like SMS, WhatsApp, push notifications, and Facebook ads for better targeting.
• Its AI algorithm helps you optimize your email sending times and deliver timely information effectively, thus improving your deliverability.

Limitations:

• Some users mention slow loading times when using the email editor.
• Its free plan comes with limitations, some of them being you can’t remove Brevo’s branding or send more than 300 daily emails.

Pricing:

Free plan	Starter	Business	BrevoPlus
Free	$25/month	$65/month	Custom

Ratings and Reviews:

• G2: 4.5/5.0 (695)
• Capterra: 4.6/5.0 (1942)

4. MailerLite

Speaking of value-for-money, MailerLite is one of the most cost-effective tools in this list while providing users with a generous number of features.

Its easy-to-use interface facilitates email creation and customization. You can dive into sophisticated segmentation to personalize your messages – for instance, with the delivery by time zone feature, you can reach recipients at an optimal time.

MailerLite goes beyond email marketing with a robust landing page creator that lets you build one website and up to 10 landing pages. The best part is you get to do so even as a free plan user.

Best Features:

• A complete website builder that helps small businesses build their own website and blog from scratch without the need for coding skills.
• Monetization options to create and sell digital products and paid newsletter subscriptions. This makes it a great choice for bloggers and any small company that wants to make money from its content marketing.
• An AI-powered writing assistant and subject line creator to inspire your content creation process.
• You can choose between its drag-and-drop editor to add and tweak blocks based on your needs and an HTML editor to design custom emails from start to finish.

Limitations:

• With MailerLite’s free plan, you can create your own emails from scratch but there’s no access to the tools ready-made email templates.
• Users report issues with learning how to use the platform, especially when it comes to automated workflow creation and list segmentation.

Pricing:

Free Plan	Growing Business	Advanced	Enterprise
Free	$9/month	$18/month	Custom

Ratings and Reviews:

• G2: 4.7/5.0 (916)
• Capterra: 4.8/5.0 (1998)

5. Omnisend

Omnisend is an email marketing service made specifically for online stores that want to take their marketing to the next level.

Its robust email marketing features, combined with user-friendly eCommerce capabilities, make it appealing to small businesses in this industry.

Omnisend features an extensive library of modern email templates and a long list of eCommerce automation workflows for every business need. Aside from that, there are additional features like SMS and push notifications if you want to dive into omnichannel marketing.

Best Features:

• Seamless integrates with popular eCommerce platforms like Shopify or WooCommerce and other valuable tools to help you with every business activity, from shipping platforms to customer support options.
• Omnisend’s SMS feature supports all country codes for SMS messaging while giving you access to built-in automation workflows with SMS.
• Its in-depth reporting and sales tracking allows you to compare how different channels perform across a range of key metrics.
• According to most users, Omnisend’s customer service team is responsive, friendly, and fast at finding solutions. Plus, its email and live chat support is available 24/7.

Limitations:

• The platform’s automation functionalities are eCommerce-oriented, making it a bad fit for small businesses outside this niche.
• The option to send unlimited emails is reserved for Pro plan customers.

Pricing:

Free plan	Standard	Pro
Free	$16/month	$59/month

Grammarly Ratings and Reviews:

• G2: 4.6/5.0 (867)
• Capterra: 4.7/5.0 (709)

6. GetResponse

GetResponse is another well-known solution for small business email marketing. The reason is that it’s considered an affordable option while not missing anything in terms of straightforward email creation, granular contact management, and advanced reporting.

The platform isn’t limited to email marketing, though. You get handy features like CRM options and a robust landing page builder that lets you create and optimize your landing pages for SEO.

Plus, you can build your own website, even if you’re using the tool’s free version.

Best Features:

• Its reputable webinar hosting feature helps brands organize interactive webinars from start to finish.
• Its comprehensive conversion funnel creator allows you to convert customers at every stage through 30 professionally -designed scenarios.
• With GetResponse, you can add live chat functionality to your website, connecting with visitors in real time and paving the way for more conversions.
• An AI-powered email generator to optimize your email subject lines and content and tailor them based on industry trends and keywords.

Limitations:

• According to users, GetResonse lacks advanced reporting capabilities. Plus, its competitors do better in terms of integrations.
• No marketing automation features in the Free plan, whereas the low-tier plan offers only basic autoresponders.

Pricing:

Free Plan	Email Marketing	Marketing Automation	E-commerce Marketing
Free	$11.8/month	$18/month	$78.2/month

Hubspot Ratings and Reviews:

• G2: 4.2/5.0 (678)
• Capterra: 4.2/5.0 (486)

How to Pick the Perfect Tool for Your Small Business Email Marketing

Selecting the perfect small business email marketing software is a crucial step toward achieving growth. Here are some factors to consider to make an informed decision:

Understand your specific needs

Take the time to assess your target audience, the scale of your operations, and the features you’ll need along the way. This will lay the foundation for finding a tool that aligns with your business goals.

Scalability

Scalability is another important factor to keep in mind. As your email marketing efforts expand, a scalable solution will help you avoid limitations or disruptions, allowing for a smooth workflow. So, opt for a tool that can grow alongside your business.

User experience

It’s also crucial to consider the overall user experience of your small business email marketing software. An intuitive and user-friendly service reduces the learning curve for you and your team, saving you time and enhancing your productivity.

Customer service and resources

Lastly, explore customer service and educational resources that the software provides. A responsive support team and access to helpful resources make a significant difference in resolving issues and making the most out of the tool’s capabilities.

Make sure to carefully weigh these factors while going through our list of the top email marketing software for small businesses.

You could start with one or two tools that you feel will match your business goals and try their features through a free version or free trial.

But remember that email marketing is a dynamic field. So, as your marketing operations scale, you can always upgrade to a different plan and adjust the software to your unique objectives.

In short, you need software that is appropriate for your business and acts as a campaign monitor on auto-pilot so your manual work decreases.