12 Best Email Marketing Software for Startups in 2024

Starting a startup can be difficult, especially when it comes to marketing. You want to make sure you are reaching your target audience and growing your business as quickly as possible, but you may not have the time or resources to do everything yourself. That’s where email marketing services can help. 

This guide takes a look at the best email marketing software for startups and why they might be a good fit for your business.

Recommended Email Marketing Software: AWeber

By using a top email marketing service, your business will fast-track its ability to connect with your customers and warm leads in a more cost-effective way than with paid ads. It’s also a much more direct marketing channel than SEO or organic search.

There are many different types of email marketing, but the ones more relevant to startups are lead nurturing, customer retention, and customer acquisition. Each of these is more immediate to the continued growth and success of a business. 

As a startup, if you can not only implement, but succeed, in each of these email marketing areas, you’re giving yourself the best chance at sustainable success within your industry. Here are the best email marketing services and what makes each unique.

12 Best Email Marketing Services for Startups 2024

1. AWeber – Best Email Marketing Overall
2. GetResponse – Ideal for Sending Newsletters
3. HubSpot – Best for Scaling
4. Drip – Best for Ecommerce
5. Mailchimp – Most Popular
6. ActiveCampaign – Best for Advanced Email Marketers 
7. MailerLite – Best for Email Marketing Beginners 
8. Constant Contact – Ideal for Non-Tech Savvy Entrepreneurs
9. Moosend – Easiest to Use Platform 
10. Brevo (Formerly Sendinblue) – Best for Customer Engagement
11. Omnisend – Best for Email and SMS Combined
12. ConvertKit– Ideal for Upgrades & Incentives

1. AWeber

As one of the oldest email marketing services around, AWeber has been a classic for small businesses for years. It’s a great option if you’re looking for an email marketing service that is tried and true. 

AWeber offers all the basic features you need to run successful email campaigns like automated emails, segmentation, list management, and more. The great thing about AWeber is that it’s very reliable; you can always count on your emails going out on time and to the right people.

Pros

• Extremely reliable and widely used
• Has a full set of email marketing features
• Great customer support with online resources

Cons

• Higher cost than other email marketing services

Price Breakdown

• AWeber Free
• Lite: $14.99/month
• Plus: $29.99/month
• Unlimited: $899/month

2. GetResponse

GetResponse is a great option if you want to send newsletters to your audience. It offers a wide range of templates to choose from and makes it easy to create beautiful emails that will look great on any device. 

GetResponse also has good automation capabilities so you can set up email campaigns that will run without any manual input from you. And if you’re looking for a way to track how well your newsletters are doing, GetResponse offers good reporting tools.

Pros

• Variety of original templates to choose from
• Great automation tools

Cons

• Lack of integrations and API abilities

Price Breakdown

• Free up to 500 contacts
• Email Marketing: $19/mo
• Marketing Automation: $59/mo
• Ecommerce Marketing: $119/mo

3. HubSpot

HubSpot was created in 2006 as an inbound marketing and sales platform. It has since become the world’s leading CRM for small businesses. HubSpot offers a suite of tools to help businesses with email marketing, SEO, social media, and content management.

The great thing about HubSpot is that it’s not just for startups — it can scale with your business as it grows. If you’re looking for a platform you can stick with no matter how big you get, HubSpot is the one.

Pros

• Integrated with CRM functionality
• Can service small to large businesses
• Largest offer of features available

Cons

• Can be confusing to use all of the functionality offered

Price Breakdown

• Free
• Starter: $20/month per seat
• Professional: $890/month (3 seats included)
• Enterprise: $3,600/month (5 seats included)

4. Drip

It doesn’t matter what platform your website is on — Drip will have no problem seamlessly integrating with it to create a powerful email marketing funnel. Since setting up your email funnel is essential for email marketing, it’s nice that Drip makes it easy. 

Drip really separates itself by providing advanced email marketing tools like better automation, segmentation, and split testing features. It’s also great for ecommerce businesses and offers a ton of automated support to keep your sales pipeline going smoothly. 

Pros

• Integrates into most major website building platforms
• Offers advanced tools for ecommerce businesses

Cons

• Harder to use and integrate

Price Breakdown

• Pricing tailored to list size and send volume

5. Mailchimp

Mailchimp has been around since 2001 and has become one of the most popular email marketing services available. It’s great for small businesses because it’s affordable and easy to use. 

Mailchimp offers a lot of features for such a low price point, including automation, customizable templates, list management, reporting, and more. And if you’re just getting started with email marketing, Mailchimp’s onboarding process will walk you through everything you need to know.

Pros

• One of the most popular services in the world
• Includes a number of essential and advanced features

Cons

• Costly once you start growing

Price Breakdown

• Free: $0/month for up to 500 contacts
• Essentials: Starts at $13/month
• Standard: Starts at $20/month
• Premium: Starts at $350/month

6. ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign is an email marketing software platform geared towards businesses that have growth at the top of their minds. With additional services available for CRM, sales, and ecommerce, ActiveCampaign boasts a wide array of features built to support scale. 

The service’s most powerful feature, however, is its marketing automation capabilities. Users can automate a wide range of functions, from email marketing campaigns to follow-up sales emails – saving time and resources without sacrificing results. 

Pros

• Extensive features 
• CRM and sales packages available 
• Variety of plans available

Cons

• Steep learning curve 

Price Breakdown

• Lite: Starts at $29/month for up to 1,000 contacts 
• Plus: Starts at $49/month for up to 1,000 contacts 
• Professional: Starts at $149/month for up to 2,500 contacts 
• Enterprise: Starts at $259/month

7. MailerLite

MailerLite is a great email marketing solution for beginners. With their user-friendly, drag-and-drop interface, users can easily manage their email marketing efforts without extensive experience. 

MailerLite’s features include campaign editors, monetization features, workflow automation, and analytics. Plus, with this service, you can send target campaigns to improve conversation and better meet your subscriber’s needs. 

Pros

• 24/7 customer support 
• Easy-to-use interface 
• Affordable plan options

Cons

• Limited functionality for advanced users 

Price Breakdown

• Free: $0/month for up to 1,000 subscribers 
• Growing Business: Starts at $9/month for up to 500 subscribers
• Advanced: Starts at $18/month for up to 500 subscribers
• Enterprise: Request a quote

8. Constant Contact

Constant Contact has made quite a name for itself in the email marketing industry because it is the default option in the WPForms plugin. The easy integration with WordPress makes it a favorite for entrepreneurs who don’t have a ton of tech background and need something easy to use. 

It has much of the functionality you’ll need to grow your email marketing like segmented audiences, importing contact list options, pre-designed templates, and a drag and drop email builder. 

Pros

• Extremely easy to integrate into WordPress
• Has essential email marketing features
• One of the fastest-growing services in the industry

Cons

• Very focused on WordPress sites

Price Breakdown

• Lite: Starts at $12/month
• Standard: Starts at $35/month
• Premium: Starts at $80/month

9. Moosend

Combining email marketing and automation, Moosend is a simple solution geared toward revenue growth through email marketing. Used by major brands such as Sephora and Vogue, Moosend is a trusted platform in the space, providing easy-to-use features that get the job done. 

Notable features include a drag-and-drop newsletter editor, workflow automation, and analytics and reporting functionality. Additionally, the platform offers a resending feature, allowing you to resend emails to non-openers. 

Pros

• CRM tools included 
• Easy-to-use platform 
• Robust features 

Cons

• Few plan options

Price Breakdown

• Pro: Starts at $9/month for up to 500 subscribers
• Enterprise: Request a quote 

10. Brevo (Formerly Sendinblue)

If you’re looking for ways your email marketing can help you connect with your audience to build better relationships, Brevo is a great option. It has all the power of an email marketing system combined with a CMS system to give you everything you need to run successful campaigns. 

The easy-to-use interface and drag and drop editor make it incredibly easy to get customized emails sent to your audience. You’ll also be able to rank prospects based on the level of interaction they’ve had with your brand. 

Pros

• Very easy to use interface
• Combines email marketing with a CMS system
• Advanced features available like prospect ranking

Cons

• Not as established as other brands

Price Breakdown

• Free: $0
• Lite: Starts at $25/month
• Premium: Starts at $65/month
• Enterprise: Contact for quote

11. Omnisend

Omnisend combines powerful features for both email and SMS marketing together on one platform. Plus, this platform also offers web push notification services to keep your customers engaged with your brand. 

The platform’s features include customizable templates, automation options, a drag-and-drop email builder, and segmentation capabilities, to name a few. 

Pros

• Web push notifications 
• Email and SMS combined 
• Integrates with over 30 apps 

Cons

• Geared mainly toward ecommerce and CPG startups

Price Breakdown

• Free: Starts at $0/month for up to 500 contacts 
• Standard: Starts at $16/month for up to 500 contacts
• Pro: Starts at $59/month for up to 2,500 contacts

12. ConvertKit

With a robust level of features for offering your prospects upgrades and incentives, ConvertKit is a great email marketing service for startups. It’s also perfect if you have a complex sales process with many different stages. 

ConvertKit offers all the features you need to move people through your sales funnel, including automated emails, tagging and segmenting capabilities, and more. It also has good reporting tools so you can track how well your campaigns are doing.

Pros

• Great features for offering upgrades and incentives
• Lots of features specific for bloggers

Cons

• Doesn’t offer many templated designs

Price Breakdown

• Free: $0/month for up to 1,000 subscribers
• Creator: Starts at $15/month for 300 subscribers
• Creator Pro: Starts at $29/month for 300 subscribers

Honorable Mentions

With so many great email marketing software options available, it is difficult to narrow down the list. Here are a few additional services with great features to consider as well: 

Campaign Monitor

Campaign Monitor markets itself as a straightforward email marketing and automation tool. The platform offers all of the standard features as well as SMS functionality. 

Packages from Campaign Monitor range from $11 per month for their lite package to $149 per month for their premier package. Plus, you can opt to use the service per campaign as well.

Keap

Keap is great for businesses that are looking for a more sophisticated email marketing system. It offers a lot of features like automation, CRM integrations, and lead scoring that can help you improve your sales process. 

Keap is also very customizable, so you can make it work the way you want it to. And if you’re not sure how to do something, Keap’s support team is always available to help.

Zoho Campaigns

If you’re already embedded into the Zoho ecosystem, Zoho Campaigns is a great email marketing tool offered within the company’s suite of products. 

However, even if you aren’t an existing user, you can utilize Zoho Campaigns’ email marketing tool for free for up to 2,000 contacts without sacrificing great features like high email counts, sign-up forms, and email templates.

Campaigner

Campaigner is an email marketing solution with SMS capabilities available as an additional feature. The platform offers over 60 features, including marketing automation, email design builders, and several integration options. 

One of the biggest pros for Campaigner is their full-feature free trial that allows users to experience the entire suite of features and functionality before choosing to pay for a plan.

How to Choose the Right Email Marketing Software

Email is a powerful marketing tool. Therefore, choosing the right startup email marketing software is crucial to the success of your campaigns. Here’s what you should consider when deciding the right solution for your startup’s email marketing needs: 

Automation Capabilities

Automation is one of the integral parts of email marketing. Not only does it allow you to schedule your campaigns to connect with new and existing customers, but many services also offer features that can re-engage customers without your help. 

Growth Plan Pricing

While many email marketing software providers offer free or low-cost plans, the amount of contacts or subscribers you’re able to have on them is typically very low. For startups looking to scale, make sure that you are choosing a provider that has high-tier plans at a reasonable price to support your startup’s growth. 

Features Built for Your Industry

Not all businesses require the same type of email marketing services. For example, an ecommerce website may benefit from a function that would nudge customers if they take interest in a product from an email and abandon it in their cart. However, other startups may not have a need for this feature and, therefore, should opt for a service that is more tailored to their industry needs. 

Ease of Use

An easy-to-use interface takes much of the headache out of planning an email marketing campaign, especially for beginners. If you aren’t an advanced email marketer, consider opting for software with an intuitive interface, drag-and-drop functionality, and top-tier customer support. 

Email Marketing Tips for Startups

There are many factors that make an email marketing campaign successful, from design to targeting. These are some of the top tips to implement for your startup’s email marketing strategy. 

Segmentation Is Key

Keeping your customers engaged and opening your emails is key to successful email marketing campaigns. One of the best ways to ensure you are delivering value to your customers is to segment your audience by their needs and interests. 

This may also help with your conversion rate as customers will be more likely to engage with products and services that are targeted to them.

Make It Scannable

The formatting of your email should be scannable and draw the reader toward your desired action item. While some newsletters contain all of the information readers need in one campaign, many are used to drive users to an article, service, or product while establishing credibility with helpful information. 

Scannable, thoughtfully formatted text makes it easier for your subscribers to digest the content you’ve given them and drive them toward converting.

Make It Aesthetically Pleasing

A well-designed email doesn’t just convey your brand, it gives it credibility. Most email marketing software offers templates and drag-and-drop editors. Go the extra mile and take the time to ensure your email campaign is visually appealing and aligned with your branding. 

Provide Value

While your email campaign should be scannable, it should also be valuable. In order to encourage subscribers to open your emails and stay subscribed, you need to ensure the information conveyed in your email campaigns is valuable to your audience. 

Track Results and Adapt

Most services offer analytics and reporting features, use these to track the success of your campaigns. Data like clicks and opens can give you valuable feedback on whether a type of email is performing and even insight on whether you need more effective subject lines if your open rate lowers. 

Once you are able to track this information, you can then adapt your strategy to increase your open rates and conversions.

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