In today’s modern times, crafting powerful, and effective emails is crucial for businesses as well as individuals. An email that is well-designed and user-friendly will have the power to boost engagement and build stronger relationships with the audience. However, customizing emails can feel quite overwhelming.
Here in this article, we will be exploring the best-rated tools and plugins to lift your email writing game, no matter if you are a professional marketer or just starting out.
First thing first, choose your platform. There are two main categories:
- Email Marketing Platforms (EMPs): Examples of these platforms are Mailchimp, Constant Contact, and ConvertKit, these platforms are great for creating, managing, and automating large-scale customizing emails campaigns. Here are some of the features they offer:
- They have the drag-and-drop feature and are user-friendly which means you do not need coding skills to use these tools.
- They provide pre-designed templates for different email types such as newsletters, promotions, or welcome messages.
- The email marketing platforms allow you to personalize email content with subscriber data, for example, their name and purchase history, for a more targeted approach.
- You are even allowed to automate emails based on your subscriber’s behavior. You can send them relevant messages at key moments when they are most likely to check them.
2. Email Clients: Email clients include Gmail. Outlook, and Thunderbird which are primarily used for sending and receiving emails. Some of them do offer customization options but they are limited. Overall, they lack the advanced features that email marketing platforms (EMPs) have.
Now, coming to the tools. Here are some of the best-rated tools that you can use to customize your emails.
If you are looking for robust features and automation then you may consider:
Best Customizing Emails Tools
Features it offers:
- It allows you to create landing pages.
- Mailchimp offers a website builder to create simple websites to showcase your products or services.
- Allows you to design pop-up forms to collect email addresses directly on your website.
- Also allows A/B testing to decide which version of your email performs better.
- You can track the performance of your email campaigns with detailed reports and analytics.
- Mailchimp can integrate with third-party applications like e-commerce platforms or social media.
- You can send automated emails.
- Other this than, you can add team members and assign different access levels to manage your account.
Pros:
- It is a well-designed user-friendly platform that has features that can easily be understood by beginners.
- Offers a wide range of pre-designed email templates which can save your designing time.
- It even has automation capabilities, meaning that it provides features for building complex email journeys based on your subscriber’s behavior.
- Additionally, it offers a free plan with basic features that are suitable for smaller email lists, typically up to 2,000 subscribers.
Cons:
- The free plan has limitations on features such as automation and email sending volume.
- As your subscriber list grows the cost also keeps increasing, it can be a burden for businesses.
- While it is user-friendly, you may still require some effort to master the advanced automation features.
Other than catering to a broad audience, the marketing automation features that Mailchimp offers can be valuable for creators who promote online courses, eBooks, or other digital products.
Features it offers:
- You can schedule and publish social media posts directly from Constant Contact.
- It allows you to create surveys and polls to gather feedback from your subscribers.
- Your subscribers can even directly donate to your cause through emails if needed.
- You can organize and manage your email contacts with segmentation options.
- You can customize email sign-up forms to grow your subscriber list.
- It gives you access to a stock image library to use in your email designs.
- It has a drag-and-drop facility.
- Even has a mobile app through which you can manage your email marketing.
- Provides live chat support.
Pros:
- Constant Contact prioritizes email deliverability and ensures that your messages reach subscriber’s inboxes.
- It offers detailed, real-time reports that are used for tracking campaign performance and making data-driven decisions.
- It also includes built-in event management tools for managing event registrations and invitations within the platform.
- Apart from this, it is renowned for its strong customer support and for providing assistance when needed.
Cons:
- It contains limited automation features, unlike its competitors.
- Similarly, it also has less extensive template options as compared to other platforms.
- The pricing plans can be higher than some competitors, specifically for larger email lists.
Although Constant Contact has limitations in automation features and templates as compared to its competitors, it has several other functionalities that cater to businesses.
Features it offers:
- You can add digital products directly through CovertKit such as e-books, courses, and other downloadable content.
- It offers subscription plans for management.
- You can deliver exclusive content in exchange for email sign-ups.
- Additionally, you can also create email sequences.
- It also allows affiliate marketing programs to promote your products.
- It integrates with other multiple platforms.
Pros:
- It has features that are specifically designed for creators and course owners. The features include land page builders and sale funnels to promote digital products.
- Offers a powerful tagging system that allows for detailed subscriber segmentation and enables highly targeted email campaigns.
- Also offers user-friendly, simple, and effective automation features that focus on nurturing leads and promoting digital products.
- Provides a free plan that has basic tools for up to 1,000 subscribers.
Cons:
- Has limited design flexibility. It offers fewer pre-design templates as compared to others.
- Moreover, it may not be ideal for businesses that are outside the creator and course owner niche.
- It has limited reporting features as compared to its competitors.
ConvertKit is specifically designed for creators. It has features that cater to building email lists, nurturing leads, and promoting digital products such as courses, e-books, and memberships.
HOW CAN YOU CHOOSE THE BEST TOOL?
Isn’t this the question that has just come to your mind? Well, choosing the right tool is not even that hard. All you have to do is consider the following factors:
- Choose the tool considering your industry. For instance, if you are a creator then ConvertKit might be ideal for you. If your focus is on deliverability then Constant Contact is suitable. At the same time, Mailchimp is preferable for broad use cases.
- Consider pricing structures as your list grows. Free plans may work only for very small lists.
- Additionally, evaluate the level of automation you require and choose the one that has features that match your needs.
This was all about automation, but if you are looking for design flexibility then here are some additional tools for this purpose:
Features it offers:
- It offers advanced segmentation and highly targeted campaigns.
- Allows you to create automated emails based on your subscribers’ behavior.
- You can track the performance of your emails through in-depth reports and analytics.
- You can add team members and even collaborate on email campaigns.
- It integrates with a wide range of popular marketing and business tools.
PRICING: Campaign Monitor doesn’t have a free plan and requires a paid subscription, you can find out more pricing information on their website.
Pros:
- This tool is renowned for its user-friendly drag-and-drop builder which has a high degree of design control, allowing for pixel-perfect email creation.
- Offers a good variety of pre-designed templates to start your email design process.
- Ensures that the messages land in subscribers’ inboxes, prioritizing email deliverability.
- Also allows for split testing of several email versions to optimize for better performance.
Cons:
- Has a limited free trial period and requires a paid subscription to access full features.
- The pricing is higher compared to its competitors.
- It does not offer a built-in landing page builder, you will require a separate tool.
Features it offers:
- It allows split testing of different versions of your email based on subscriber behavior.
- Triggers automated email sequences based on specific actions taken by subscribers on your website.
- You can assign scores to leads based on their engagement with your emails or website visits.
- You can track the progress of your sales.
- It creates custom reports for you to analyze specific data points relevant to your marketing goals.
- You can even send text messages alongside your emails.
- Schedule and publish social media posts directly from ActiveCampaign.
- Add chat functionality to your website.
- Allows you to manage email marketing for multiple clients or brands from a single platform.
Pros:
- This tool again is user-friendly and provides a drag-and-drop builder for crafting engaging emails.
- It also offers marketing automation to create personalized emails.
- Integrates with its own Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to manage customer data.
- It doesn’t require any additional tools and includes a built-in landing page builder.
Cons:
- The automation features this platform offers may have a steeper learning curve for beginners.
- Its free plan has limitations on features.
- The pricing increases as you unlock advanced features such as advanced automation and reporting.
Features it offers:
- Create popups and sticky bars.
- You can personalize your emails and landing pages just by inserting subscriber data like names or locations.
- Allows to create exit-intent popups.
- You can even track how far visitors scroll down your landing pages to understand their engagement.
- It integrates with various marketing tools like email marketing platforms, and analytic software.
PRICING: They have different pricing structures based on conversions or lead generations.
Pros:
- It is renowned for its user-friendly and drag-and-drop builder which allows for highly customized email design.
- The features are focused on creating high-converting emails as well as driving action.
- It provides a good selection of pre-designed email templates to save you time.
- Also includes A/B testing facilities to optimize your email performance.
Cons:
- It doesn’t allow advanced marketing automation workflows as compared to other dedicated tools.
- The pricing may be based on conversions or lead generations which makes it less suitable for purely informational email campaigns.
- It is not an All-in-One platform, typically only focusing on email and landing page creation.
Always remember that choosing the best tool depends on your design priorities and all the functionalities you need. For the above-mentioned tools:
- If you are looking for maximum design control then you may choose Campaign Monitor.
- If you need both design flexibility and marketing automation features then ActiveCampaign may be the one for you.
- Moreover, Unbounce is ideal if your focus is crafting visually appealing emails.
Email Customization Plugins
After discussing some of the best email marketing tools, let’s now talk about email plugins. Here are some of the popular plugins:
(Previously known as Bananatag)
Features it offers:
- It integrates with various data sources like marketing automation platforms to collect additional data of recipients for personalization.
- You can even set up different personalized messages for your existing and new customers.
- The paid plan offers features for team management.
- Some of the paid plans include analytics to track the usage of personalized greetings and measure their impact.
Pros:
- It automatically personalizes email greetings and signatures by pulling in recipient data like name or company.
- You need to follow very simple steps to install and use it.
- Offers a free plan with basic personalization features.
Cons:
- Since the free plan has limitations you cannot use all the features.
- It only focuses on personalized greetings and signatures, and not the email body content.
- It relies on third-party services or else data privacy concerns may arise.
PRICING: It offers a free plan with limitations and paid plans with additional features, click here to learn more.
Features it offers:
- It provides detailed open and click tracking.
- You can add UTM parameters to links within your emails to track their effectiveness. (UTM parameters allows you to see where clicks originated from in your website analytics)
- Allows you to track the email sequences as well.
- You can schedule meetings for later.
- It even allows you to create pre-built email templates with tracking capabilities.
- You can assign follow-up tasks based on email interactions.
- Additionally, Yesware also integrates with various CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platforms allowing you to streamline your workflow.
Pros:
- It provides real-time insights into email opens, clicks, and link tracking.
- It integrates with scheduling tools for scheduling within emails.
- Offers a free trial period to test the features before you commit to a paid plan.
Cons:
- The free trial has limitations on tracking data and functionalities.
- Features focus more on catering to sales professionals and outreach campaigns, making it less suitable for general communication.
- The advanced features like email templates and scheduling require a paid subscription.
Features it offers:
- It allows you to snooze emails that you have not received a reply to yet and have them reappear at the top of your inbox at a chosen time.
- You can even set reminders to respond to specific emails later.
- Additionally, it also includes tracking links in your emails.
- Some of the paid plans it offers let you directly include polls and surveys within your emails.
- You can create pre-built email templates with scheduling capabilities to save time.
- Similar to others, Boomerang also integrates with other project management tools and CRMs.
Pros:
- It allows you to schedule your emails to be sent at a specific time or date.
- It tracks email delivery and provides read recipients with added insight.
- Offers a free plan with limited scheduling and tracking features.
Cons:
- The free plan has restrictions on the number of emails you can schedule and track.
- Only focuses on scheduling and tracking, limiting the options for personalizing email content.
- The advanced features require upgrading to paid plans.
Again, while choosing a plugin always understand your needs and then consider the pros and cons of each plugin. Remember even the smallest personalization can make a big impact.
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