No matter what your reasons for starting a blog, getting readers to read a post is just the first step. It’s only by developing your relationship with your readers that you’ll achieve your goals.
And email newsletters are a crucial tool for developing those relationships. Social media is useful, but there’s still something uniquely intimate about email: it’s more of a personal, one-on-one conversation, plus newsletters are (still) the top way to convert lead into sales.
You understand the “why” behind email newsletters – but what about the “how”? Which email newsletter service will help you achieve your blogging goals?
Here are the highlights of the most popular ones so you can decide for yourself.
Founded in the 90s, Constant Contact has been around for a while. Known for their dedicated customer support, they focus on providing email newsletter service for small businesses and nonprofits.
Learn more – Constant Contact Review
Small businesses and nonprofits are their main target audience. If you’re not very tech-savvy and phone support is a priority for you, then Constant Contact may be a good choice.
There’s much more to MailChimp than their cute mascot, Freddy. They’re one of the most popular email newsletter providers for a reason. MailChimp is known for their ease of use, intuitive interface, and great email design.
Ecommerce is MailChimp’s primary target audience, and it’s where they really shine. If you’re selling a physical product online, MailChimp is meant for you. MailChimp is also great for bloggers sending simple email newsletters or RSS-driven campaigns to small lists (it’s free for under 2000 subscribers!). MailChimp is the best at RSS campaigns.
Founded in 1998, AWeber is one of the most well-known email newsletter providers. Known for their robust features, they offer a free trial and a money back guarantee.
AWeber is geared more towards businesses or career email marketers than individuals. Honestly, AWeber offers some good features, but if you’re an individual blogger it’s nothing you can’t get in a better platform for the same price or cheaper.
Founded in 2013, ConvertKit is the new kid on the block, but they’ve certainly made a splash so far and are still growing rapidly. The founder is a professional blogger who also creates and sells his own products, and he created ConvertKit for a similar audience. It’s meant to help bloggers to manage email lists and drip campaigns in order to increase sales when they launch a product or service.
When I asked a group of online business owners which email newsletter provider they used, many were exuberant in their support of ConvertKit:
Convertkit ROCKS if you have multiple funnels running at the same time or you have multiple ways someone can enter your email list. The use of Triggers and Tags in Convertkit [makes] it super easy to help your customers navigate through the customer journey without mistakes of a client receiving an email that is intended for a prospect. Marissa Stone of Simon Says Social.
I was with MailChimp for the longest time – I was grandfathered in so had free automation etc. it was fine until I used it to run a course. I had lots of issues getting people on the right list, issues stopping or starting individual delivery, and if I needed to move someone from one list to another or manually add someone it took me forever. I realized I was spending about half an hour or so every few days just making sure things were working. I moved to Convertkit and really like it. It took me about 15 minutes to recreate my 30 day email series and importing my list was easy and drama free. Super happy to be paying for something that I’m confident in – it’s great to know it just works. Helen Stringfellow of Equilateral Design Studio
ConvertKit is specifically designed for bloggers and digital marketers who want to sell their own products and services. If you want to run an email course, set up complicated funnels or audience segmentation, etc., then ConvertKit is for you.
GetResponse used to be our tool of choice here at WHSR for the past 2 years. You can see Jerry’s GetResponse review here.)
Digital marketers, especially dedicated email marketers, who need advanced functions will likely find everything they need with GetResponse. If you want to handle everything in one place (landing pages, webinars, analytics, etc.) then try the free trial to see if GetResponse is right for you.
Have you been putting off starting your email newsletter because you’re not sure which provider to use? All of the above providers are good, and many of them provide a free trial or even a free level of service.
Don’t put off starting your list any longer – try one of these email newsletter providers and get started building your list today!
FTC disclaimer: Links to GetResponse, Constant Contact, and MailChimp are affiliate links.
