THE 7 BEST EMAIL MARKETING TOOLS TO QUICKLY GROW YOUR EMAIL LIST (ALL ARE FREE TOO!)

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Have you started building your Email list yet? If not then START IT NOW!

‘But why do I need an Email list?’

Suppose what will happen if social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or Pinterest suddenly disappears one day? You’ll lose your each and every follower. How would you contact them?

This is exactly why you need you own Email list. And this only one reason of why you should build an email list. There are million other reasons too (Scroll down to see more).

That’s why in this post, I’ll discuss about the 7 best email marketing software which will skyrocket your Email list as a small business owner or blogger.

I’ll also discuss the pros and cons of each software to make the whole selection process much easier for you. But first, let’s discuss why you need to build an Email list.

Some links in this post are affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, I earn a commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products, tools and services which I trust. For more information, read the full disclosure here.

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WHY BUILDING AN EMAIL LIST IS IMPORTANT?

Here are some of the most important reasons of why you should build an Email list:

• You can communicate directly with your audience/customers by just sending them an email.
• You can market your content, product or services to your target audience which can turn your viewers into customers.
• Your Email subscribers are considered as your ‘real’ followers because they are genuinely interested in your services or content.
• This is one of the cheapest way of marketing your content. Once you have an email list, you can promote your content/services in low cost.
• Unlike social media platforms, you have full control on your Email list.
• You can include links in your Emails to drive traffic to your site or landing page.
• You can get feedback of your latest service, product or content from your subscribers.

I think these points are enough to motivate you to start building your own Email list and in order to do that, you’ll need a good Email marketing tool. I got you!

Let’s jump in, shall we?

Read more: 10 SEO tips for beginners and bloggers

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THE 7 BEST EMAIL MARKETING SOFTWARE FOR BEGINNERS & BLOGGERS

Before moving on further, I want to let you know that you can always upgrade these tools by buying the premium version of them without any hassle. Here you go!

1- MAILERLITE

Let’s start this list with the tool that I use for Email marketing and building my own email list.

I don’t know why this tool is called Mailer’lite’. No, I am not saying that because it’s difficult to use. It’s not. I am saying this because the free version itself has tons of features. FOR FREE!

I’ve used many tools before but this tool definitely outdid other tools. It’s so simple to use and like I said before, it has a lot of features.

PROs of Mailerlite:

• Free up to 1000 subscribers: You can send up to 12,000 emails per month with the free price of Mailerlite. It’s free to use up to your first 1,000 email subscribers which means you have to upgrade the plan after reaching 1,000 email subscribers.
• Easy to use drag and drop editor: You can create beautiful forms, pop-ups, emails and landing pages using the drag and drop editor to make your it look more professional. You don’t need any coding skills to design the forms, pop-ups and landing pages.
• Can create Email automations: You can create automations in the free version of Mailerlite to send emails on auto pilot mode. You need this automation feature for email marketing because sending emails manually to each and every subscribers would be too much work.
• Provides analytics: Mailerlite provides a detailed analysis such as number of subscribers, email open rates, click through rates, engagements etc.
• Responsive forms: The landing pages, embedded forms and pop-up forms created using Mailerlite are responsive on every device. Looks great on every device too!

CONs of Mailerlite:

• No templates in free plan: You don’t get any templates on free plan of Mailerlite. Templates for newsletter and landing pages are only available in paid plan.
• Spam or design testing features are missing: You can’t use some pro features such as advanced automation or spam/ design testing.

Overall, Mailerlite is a good option for email marketing. You should definitely give it a go!

Try Mailerlite here for free

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2- CONVERTKIT

ConvertKit is especially designed for bloggers and content creators. It is a great and easy to use email marketing tool. This tool is now available in a free version.

I think the best thing I like about ConvertKit is its simplicity and template designs. You get so many easy to customize template designs to create landing page and forms.

PROs of ConvertKit:

• Free up to 1,000 subscribers: For new bloggers and creators, a free plan is available up to 1,000 email subscribers where you can build unlimited landing pages, unlimited forms and you can send unlimited broadcasts/emails.
• Responsive templates: All templates of landing pages and forms are responsive on every device which is good for user engagement.
• Easy to understand: When I first used ConvertKit, I was genuinely amazed at how easy to use this tool was. You don’t need to be a marketing expert to use this tool.
• Can apply tags to subscribers: ConvertKit uses a tagging system through which you can divide your subscribers according to their interests. You can target your audience easily through tagging system.

CONs of ConvertKit:

• Can’t automate emails in free version: You need a paid version to set up email automations in ConvertKit which can be a downside of this tool especially for new bloggers and creators.
• Cannot rearrange email content: The email editor of ConvertKit is pretty simple to use but the only downside was if you accidently deleted a section or layout, you cannot undo it or cannot bring it back. Similarly, you cannot move the content around freely in the editor.
• Need some coding knowledge to set up personalized emails: Sending personalized emails increases engagement and email opening rates. Your subscriber is more likely to open your email if you call them by their name. In ConvertKit, you need to use a piece of code to use that feature.

If you are a beginner blogger or creator then ConvertKit would be the most suitable tool for you.

Try ConvertKit here for free

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3- SEND IN BLUE (NOW BREVO)

Send in Blue (now known as Brevo) is both an email marketing tool as well as marketing automation tool.

You don’t have to be a techy savvy to use this platform, it’s that easy to use. It has a user friendly interface with a drag and drop editor so that everyone can use it in an easy way.

The customer support of this tool is also awesome and always available in case you are facing any issues.

PROs of SendinBlue:

• Free to use with unlimited contacts: In the free plan you can have unlimited contacts and can send 300 emails per day. This feature makes it suitable for bloggers and small business owners.
• Customizable email templates: This tool offers different email template design in the free version which you can easily customize to make it suitable for your brand.
• Drag and drop editor: No coding knowledge is required to design email templates and forms. You can use the drag and drop editor to design your own emails quickly and easily.
• Sends transactional emails: This tool offers the feature of sending a transactional email whenever a customer takes an action such as subscribing or signing up to your newsletter etc.

CONs of SendinBlue:

• Complete beginners may it overwhelming: SendinBlue has a lot of features. If you are complete beginner, you may have to follow some tutorials to find your way around this tool.
• Cannot send more than one email at a time: If you have any automations running then you cannot send an email immediately after another email. This can be pretty frustrating.
• Editor doesn’t have any advanced features: The drag and drop email editor is easy and simple to use but it lacks many advanced features.

Try SendinBlue (Brevo) here for free

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4-MAILCHIMP

Mailchimp is an email marketing tool which everyone, from a small business owner, blogger, content creator to large enterprises, can use. It is one of the most popular email marketing tool.

Honestly speaking, if you are a complete beginner, you may find this tool a bit difficult to use. Even, I still find this tool kinda difficult to use. I am just saying this based on my personal experience.

PROs of MailChimp:

• Free up to 500 email subs: The free version is for new bloggers or marketers who wants to give this tool a try. You can send up to 1,000 emails per month with this tool.
• Easy to use email editor: The drag and drop email editor of MailChimp is easy to use and requires no coding knowledge whatsoever.
• Can make the emails personalized: To increase the open rates of your emails, you need to make it more personalized. With MailChimp, you can use tags such as ‘first name’, ‘last name’, ‘address’ etc. in the email editor.
• Provides real-time analytics: MailChimp provides real-time analytics such as number of subscribers, people who unsubscribed, email open rates, links click rates, impressions etc.
• Lots of email templates: MailChimp offers a variety of templates in its templates library so that you won’t have to create emails from scratch.

CONs of MailChimp:

• No automation feature in the free version: You can’t create automations in MailChimps’ free version.
• Difficulty in navigation: You’ll find this tool confusing to find basic features such as creating forms or landing pages. Drag and drop editor has also limited features.
• A/B testing not possible: In MailChimp, A/B testing is not possible which is the most major drawback.

What is A/B Testing?
A/B testing means comparing different versions of a single email to see the difference in results.

In a nutshell, if you have some experience in marketing then you can definitely give this tool a shot.

Try MailChimp here for free

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5- AWEBER

Another great option is Aweber email marketing tool. This tool is not known by a lot of people. I would definitely say that it’s really underrated.

You can design newsletters, create email automation and much more with this tool. Let’s take a closer look.

PROs of Aweber:

• Free up to 500 subscribers: Aweber is free to use with up to 500 email subscribers.
• Easy to use drag and drop editor: Like other tools I have mentioned above, the email editor is easy to use with drag and drop editor and a clean interface.
• Can create different types of forms: Using this tool, you can create inline, pop-over and pop-up forms as well as landing pages too easily.
• Can create email automations: You can easily create email automations to send emails on autopilot with Aweber.

CONs of Aweber:

• Can only create one email automation in free version.
• You can’t create any if/then triggers like you can in MailChimp and Mailerlite to target more specific audience through your emails.
• The email automation feature doesn’t have any advanced features.

Overall, Aweber is a great tool for beginners and bloggers who want to build their email list.

Try Aweber here for free

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6- SENDGRID

Another great pick is SendGrid email marketing tool. You can create beautiful forms, landing pages and emails with this easy to use tool.

The reason why SendGrid stands out the most is because of its wide range of features.

PROs of SendGrid:

• Free with 100 emails per day forever: SendGrid is available in a free version where you can send up to 100 emails per day forever which is suitable for bloggers and small business owners.
• Two types of emails editors: SendGrid offers two different types of Email editors: Drag and drop editor and HTML code editor which means you can either design emails using drag and drop editor or you can use coding to design it.
• Straightforward automation builder: You can create automation easily even if you are a beginner. You can use the automation feature in the free plan too.
• Provides detailed analytics: You can see all the reports and analysis of your email subscribers in real-time.

CONs of SendGrid:

• The automation feature is not too advanced and you can’t use triggers such as yes/no or if/then for a better automation.
• SendGrid doesn’t has the cleanest interface in terms of colors and readability.

If you are a beginner then you should definitely give this tool a go.

Try SendGrid here for free

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7- SENDER

Sender is an email marketing tool suitable for small business and bloggers. Its unique feature is that you can send e-commerce related emails to customers if you have an e-commerce website.

You can send welcome emails, follow up emails, cart related emails for e-commerce and much more.

Here are some pros and cons.

PROs of Sender:

• Free up to 2,500 subscribers: Sender is available for free up to 2,500 email subscribers and you can send up to 15,000 emails per month.
• Simple & easy to use: The interface of this tool is simple and easy to use. You’ll easily navigate your way while using this tool.
• Easy to design emails: The drag and drop editor of Sender is very easy to use to design newsletters and emails. No coding knowledge is required whatsoever.
• Works well for e-commerce: Sender is a really good option for e-commerce clients to increase their revenue.

CONs of Sender:

• Segmentation feature is not well polished and requires some work to be done on it.
• You cannot design landing pages in Sender.

Overall, Sender is a really good email marketing tool for beginners and small businesses.

Try Sender here for free

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HONOURABLE MENTION: MOOSEND

I had to include MooSend to this list because it is one of the best email marketing tool for bloggers and small businesses although it’s not available for free (it offers a free 30-day trial if you want to check it out).

Here are some quick pros and cons:

PROs of MooSend:

• Advanced features available at affordable prices.
• Great email automation features.
• Provides a detailed analysis report.

CONs of MooSend:

• Doesn’t integrates with any third party tools
• Average email deliverability
• Not available for free

Read more: 10 sites to promote your blog for free and bring more traffic

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7 BEST EMAIL MARKETING SOFTWARE: AN OVERVIEW

These are some of the best email marketing tools available for free that you can use if you are a blogger or a small business owner. Let’s take a quick glance of these tools:

1. MailerLite: Best email marketing tool for beginner bloggers
2. ConvertKit: Best email marketing tool for content creators
3. SendinBlue (Brevo): Great tool for both email marketing and marketing automation
4. MailChimp: A good email marketing tool for marketers who knows a bit tech stuff
5. Aweber: Great tool for both bloggers and marketers
6. SendGrid: Great tool with a lot of features
7. Sender: Great email marketing tool for e-commerce clients.

This overview is based on my experience with these tools. You’ll know the best when you try them yourself.

I really recommend checking out at least two of these tools before settling for the final one.

What do you think about these tools? Have you tried any of them before? I would love to know your opinion. Let me know in the comments below 👇

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