Small business life is tough, no doubt about it! You’re permanently short on time but you need to be 100% sure before you invest in new platforms or systems. And they need to be cost-effective! So how do you choose the best email marketing platform for your small business? Never fear, I am here with the top 5 things you need to know PLUS a little bonus should you wish to sign up with my email marketing platform of choice. You’re so welcome!
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I will earn a commission. Real talk: I only write and share information about companies that I truly believe in.
Ok, so you might be thinking, why do I need an email marketing system? I’ve got Gmail, or Outlook, thats enough right!? Listen, I feel you! Although it can sound complicated or overwhelming at first, trust me when I say it will be a worthwhile investment for your business and I promise we can keep it simple! There are a million reasons why you need a proper email marketing platform, but let’s keep it to the top 3 for now:
Time - even if you only speak to a handful of people on a semi-regular basis, it’s going to save you a tonne of time! Templates are your friend.
Data - you’re going to be able to get data back on how many people opened and clicked your emails. Just think of all that insight!
Automation - you’re going to be able to set up emails that get to the right people at the right time, without you having to do A THING. Sounds good, right!?
The reality is, email marketing is a no-brainer, no matter what your business offers. So, what are the top five things you need to think about when considering a new email platform, or implementing a new one? Here’s a little checklist I’ve put together especially for you…
Integrations - it doesn’t matter what a platform can do if it’s a giant ballache to integrate with your existing systems. Most important ones to assess: does it integrate easily with your website and CRM system? This is key, especially if your website has e-commerce.
Functionality - you’re looking for a system that does segmentation, triggered emails, workflows and solid analytics at a minimum. In layman’s terms:
-segmentation = the ability to split your audience into different groups, so you can speak to them in different ways
-triggered emails = emails that can be set up to send as soon your customers do something e.g. buy from you, leave you a review, visit your website etc. Imagine your email platform doing your marketing for you, without you having to life a finger. Ideal!
-workflows = a sequence of emails sent to customers to encourage a type of behaviour or acknowledge where they are in their purchase journey. For example, a welcome email series to welcome new customers to your business, educate them about your offer and encourage them to find out more about you
-analytics = numbers you get back from each email you send on how many people opened, clicked, unsubscribes etc.
Interface - is the system easy to use? You’re looking for drag and drop; you do not want to be worrying about HTML! Is the interface intuitive? Does it have a bunch of nice templates you can use without having to create your own? Can you upload your logos, colour palettes and brand imagery easily? Does it walk you through the process in a clear, understandable way?
Cost - is it a flat subscription fee per month or does it rise with the number of contacts? Does it have a free basic level that you can sign up for and have a play around with? Are there any hidden extra costs?
Support - no one knows more than us small business owners that good customer service is worth its weight in gold. I highly recommend checking out what support is offered and how - is it via online chat, email, telephone? What resources will you be provided with - training, best practice guidelines, industry trends?
So how does this look in practice? Well, when I was recently looking at changing email systems I reviewed Klaviyo, Active Campaign, Mailchimp, Mailer Lite and Flo Desk. Here’s the results of my investigation…
Integrations - the priority for me was integration with my Squarespace website. This needed to be direct, simple and straightforward to implement. I am a big Klaviyo fan but its lack of integration with SquareSpace meant it was a no go. Some of the others required another plug in (like Zapier) to bridge between the two - again a no go for me as I wanted integration to be straightforward. This put Flo Desk at the top of the list straightaway.
Functionality - they all offer similar functionality but for some, the options scaled with the subscription package. I wanted a low cost package where I got access to ALL the functionality, obviously! Again, Flo Desk came out on top. Active Campaign has lots more CRM tools (CRM = Customer Relationship Management) but at present I’m really just looking for email management.
Interface - they all look pretty good from the demos I looked at. MailerLite reminded me a lot of Klaviyo, so I was drawn to it’s familiarity. However, Flo Desk blew me away with it’s user experience, literally walking me through my first campaign without me having to think too much about anything. It is RIDICULOUSLY easy to use.
Cost - apart from Active Campaign, they all have a free basic option, but most of the subscription costs will then scale with number of contacts, number of emails sent, or addition of more functionality. Yep, you guessed it, Flo Desk is just a flat rate, no matter what. Dreamy.
Support - to be fair they all score pretty highly on this - lots of resources, webinars, industry advice etc. All the good stuff you want to ensure your email marketing stays on point.
Whatever you’re looking for in an email marketing system, make sure you have a good think about what’s important in each of these areas for you and your business. And if you’d like to give Flo Desk a try, you can get 50% off if you sign up with this link - enjoy!