There are a number of platforms out there to choose from and I know that for a fact. It can be a bit overwhelming to check on them one by one. So, in my good conscience, I have decided to provide a list of the best newsletter tools to use in promoting your online business. Some I have previously used in the past for professional work, that you can check to see which is the best platform for you and your needs.
One of the tools that are ever handy to a digital marketer is the e-campaign or e-newsletter platform, with it we are able to reach to all our subscribers, keeping them updated and always in check with your business. An e-newsletter is not only useful for updates, but it is also great for promotions or generally giving tips and advises to your target audience.
In no particular order, I listed each of the strengths and weaknesses of the platform below:
Benchmark Email:
Free to use for the first 2000 subscribers w/ 12000 max email to be sent per month.
The Good:
• Drag and Drop Editor
• Code Editor – source code is viewable and editable
• Real-time integration with social media platform [e.g. Facebook, Twitter]
• Track-able by Google Analytics
• Includes image library – Here you are able to save and reuse previous images applied to other templates.
• Add notes to campaign preview
The Bad:
• No resizing capabilities for elements
• Adding columns a bit complicated
• 3 Columns maximum
Fresh Mail
Free: 500 subscribers; unlimited sending can be upgraded to Premium w/ additional features
The Good:
• Drag and Drop Editor w/ layout grid that can be enabled
• Sleek design and feature-rich
• Text formatting options [underline text option available]
• Vertical or Horizontal Text Alignment
• Real-time editing of elements
• Resizing of image elements within the editor – Autofit of images, 1:1 Scale
• Height and width of each blocked columns are customisable
• CKEditor lets you create campaigns using HTML code blocks
• Custom graphics available
• Inbox test – able to view how the campaign would appear on major email clients such as Outlook.
• Able to add up to 6 columns
• Undo and redo option using keyboard shortcuts
• Anti-spam testing available – Ensures that email sent won’t be mistaken as erroneous emails across major email clients.
The Bad:
• Free version campaign are sometimes marked as spam by some major email clients
• Takes a bit of time to get used to
• Background image not loading when viewed on some desktop email clients like Outlook.
• Layout sometimes breaks on some email clients but can be fixed if elements are carefully adjusted.
Active Campaign
14 day Free Trial w/ all features included can add up to 100 subscribers
The Good:
• Drag and Drop Editor
• Conditional Content Block – Hides specific elements in campaigns through email filtering. (E.g. images, text-block)
• Width of campaigns is editable
• Width of elements are adjustable
• Multi-User Editing and Revision – Gives you the ability to see who else is currently editing the template as well as see revisions done in the history log.
• Manually add margin and padding on elements.
• Manually add HTML code blocks
• Able to insert images on text-block and text wraps around images.
• Line height is adjustable
• Personalisation Option [auto-generated field depending on user email sent]
The Bad:
• Editor is a bit complex, some knowledge of HTML coding is required.
• Design is a bit too simple
• Unable to change template on the current campaign.
• No default column provided, manually create custom divisions.
• Difficult to resize and arrange.
• No auto-fit capability for elements
Campayn
14 day trial
The Good:
• Drag and Drop Editor
• Sleek user interface
• Map integration available
• Setting up header and content fonts are made easy by providing default combinations that could come in handy in designing.
The Bad:
• Quite similar to campaign monitor.
• Columns aren’t editable.
• Source code, not view-able.
• Capabilities are quite limited… more features available with the paid version.
• Width of the campaign can’t be adjusted.
• Campaign is stuck to singular generic newsletter layout.
MailChimp
Free to use for the first 2000 subscribers w/ 12000 max email to be sent per month.
The Good:
• Drag and Drop Editor
• Insert HTML code snippet
• Auto-save every 20 seconds.
• Footer and header can be resized
• Create automated emails that are great is easily integrated with websites.
• A/B Conversion Testing – Create email templates that could be tested out every-day to see which yields a higher conversion, promoting better marketing strategy.
The Bad:
• Elements aren’t resizable.
• Columns aren’t editable.
• Source code cannot be viewed.
• Content background is set to default for all elements, so choosing the background for each element is unavailable.
• Able to add background images, but will not show on some major email clients such as Outlook.
GetResponse
Free 30 day trial on all features
The Good:
• Drag and Drop Editor
• Width of the campaigns can be adjusted
• View and edit custom template using HTML code editor.
• Width and Height of elements [row and columns] are adjustable, a bit difficult to adjust as images don’t automatically snap to size of the container.
• CRM compatible
The Bad:
• Is only a capable in sending test campaign to your own email
• Background images will not load in some email clients like Outlook
Vision 6
Free Version Available – Send to 250 subscribers
The Good:
• Drag and Drop Editor
• Width of the campaign can be adjusted
• View and edit custom template using HTML code editor.
• Width and Height of elements [row and columns] are adjustable, a bit difficult to adjust as images don’t automatically snap to size to the container.
• CRM compatible
The Bad:
• Is only a capable in sending test campaign to your own email
• Background images will not load in some email clients like Outlook
Was this list any help to you? Let me know by giving me a message here or shooting me an email at artbluck@gmail.com
