What Is the Recommended Email Service Provider for a Business?

Email marketing is a major revenue-driver for all companies, no matter the service or product. Not only is it direct,  controllable, and measurable, but it also boasts an incredible ROI. While there are plenty of factors that come into play and may affect how effective your business’ email marketing efforts are, there is one that can make or break the success of your entire email marketing initiative: not choosing the recommended email service provider, or ESP.

With so many email marketing providers to choose from, shopping for one can feel like a daunting task that leaves you with all sorts of questions regarding features, tools, usage and pricing. As you search, it’s important to remember that each ESP is designed to support a specific email need that isn’t currently met for certain sectors of business. For example:

• Klaviyo has a target audience of eCommerce businesses
• Mailchimp has a target audience of small businesses 
• Constant Contact has a target audience of SaaS companies
• Pardot has a target audience of B2B sales

As you can see, there are many services that would be considered the best email marketing platforms because each company is the best for a specific type of user. For the email platforms listed above, we’ve added a little bit of context to better understand the strengths (automations, deliverability, etc.); user types (B2B, retail, etc.); and pricing for each one.

Klaviyo: Powerful Segmentation and Real-Time Analytics 

Klaviyo is a marketing automation platform that specializes in email marketing, SMS messaging, and other personalized digital marketing channels for ecommerce businesses. It is designed to help businesses create targeted campaigns for segmented audiences, track user behavior, and measure the effectiveness of their marketing efforts through real-time analytics. 

The platform has a user-friendly interface that is easy to navigate and use while also providing advanced analytics and reporting tools that can help you track and measure your marketing campaigns’ effectiveness. It also offers an unlimited number of email sends, so you do not have to worry about a limit on your email marketing campaigns and has a powerful segmentation and targeting feature that allows you to create targeted campaigns for your audience.

Klaviyo’s pricing model is based on the number of contacts you have in your database and the number of emails you send each month. Their free plan allows up to 250 contacts and 500 email sends per month while their paid plans start at $20 per month and increase based on the number of contacts and email sends. 

Mailchimp: User-Friendly Campaign Management

Mailchimp is a marketing platform that helps businesses manage customer relationships, generate leads, and grow their business. It offers tools for email campaigns, content management, and data analysis. 

It features an easy-to-use web builder that lets you develop your campaigns from the front end without coding knowledge. You can choose from features and basic readymade layouts for different email campaigns. Besides the layout of your choice, you can also use a range of themes for your emails without needing any backend design (coding).

The ESP integrates with popular e-commerce platforms such as Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, and BigCommerce. This integration allows you to sync customer data, purchase history, and order information between your e-commerce platform and Mailchimp. You can create targeted campaigns, send personalized product recommendations, and track the effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns based on robust campaign reports. 

Mailchimp offers a free plan that includes 1,000 monthly emails, email support for 30 days, one audience and marketing CRM, landing pages, and 1-step automations.

Constant Contact: Extensive Integration Capabilities

Constant Contact is an email marketing and digital marketing platform that was created to help businesses create and deploy effective email campaigns that convert leads into customers easily. 

The core features of Constant Contact are its email marketing platform and its various tools, such as its user-friendly email editor, time-saving automations and reporting capabilities. It also offers tracking for open rates, bounce rates and shares for every email that is sent automatically. To give users further insight, it also provides industry averages and benchmarks to help give a better idea of how their campaigns are performing compared to other businesses.

The platform has nearly 6,000 integrations available, with all major website platforms and online selling channels, such as Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, WooCommerce, Zapier, eBay and Etsy. Given its vast number of available integrations, it’s not surprising that it also connects with just about any major tool businesses use, such as call tracking tools, accounting software, sales CRMs, human resources (HR) tools, and more.

There are three pricing plans that are offered for organizations seeking email and digital marketing services. They may also offer discounts or promotions, especially for new customers or nonprofit organizations. 

Pardot: Advanced Lead Management and Sales Automation 

Pardot is a CRM platform that offers lead management, lead tracking, and lead nurturing functionalities. It integrates with Salesforce a popular CRM tool to provide a comprehensive suite of customer relationship management functionalities, such as sales pipeline tracking, sales forecasting, and account management. It offers a wider range of customer relationship management features, including lead scoring, automated lead nurturing, and sales team collaboration functionality. 

The platform offers comprehensive lead management capabilities, allowing users to score and grade leads based on their behavior and profile data. Its’ automation capabilities extend beyond marketing campaigns to include sales automation, lead nurturing, and lead qualification. It also offers robust reporting and analytics features, providing users with a clear view of their marketing and sales performance. Users can track email engagement, website traffic, pipeline development, and more.

Pardot pricing starts at $1,250 per month for up to 10,000 contacts. The pricing increases with the number of contacts you have, and the features you need.

Key Considerations When Choosing Your Email Service Provider

Whether it’s the first time you’re in the market for an ESP or if you’re thinking about upgrading your current ESP, there are a number of other factors you should consider when making your decision:

• What are your needs and how is email marketing defined by your organization?
• How many email addresses are in your current database?
• How frequently do you email?
• Do you incorporate personalization and dynamic content?
• Do you use triggered/transactional emails (e.g., cart abandonment, order confirmation)?
• What types of segmentation do you use?

Choosing the right ESP depends on your specific requirements, needs, goals and general business direction. Keep an eye on emerging trends in email marketing, and ensure your chosen ESP aligns with your goals for powerful and effective email communication.