Top Mass Email Tools for Small Businesses

In continuation of our Best Tools for Small Businesses series, we’d like to tackle the ‘can’t live with it, can’t live without it’ solution that takes up the bulk of many employees’ time and energy. That’s right: we’re talking about email.

Small businesses have traditionally relied on word of mouth and traditional marketing techniques to attract customers, but the state of marketing has changed and inbound methodologies are more accessible and effective than ever before. What does this means for you? Small businesses can use technology to make a big impact. If you’re not ready for full marketing automation but still want to conduct your outreach in a savvy and calculated way, finding the right mass email tool is an important step to growing your business.

There are a wide variety of mass email solutions to pick from, but after ten years of technology consulting, we’ve cultivated a great list of go-to’s. What makes these tools particularly good for small businesses is that they’re affordable, easy-to-use, and include strong support. When you’re just picking up steam with email marketing, these elements are essential.

Here’s a snapshot:

iContact
This tool is especially great if you’re a Salesforce user, as one of iContact’s big perks is that it’s a native solution. This means it integrates seamlessly and lives inside of your Salesforce instance; you don’t have to go back and forth between your CRM and your email; it’s all in one place. If you’re not on Salesforce, iContact is still a great solution that provides a reliable mass email tool with room for growth.

Who it’s best for: Businesses who need a straightforward solution that lives in Salesforce
Who it’s not for: First-time Salesforce users with little to no marketing experience

Cirrus Insight
Cirrus Insight isn’t what you might think of as a traditional mass email solution, as it can also sync your calendar, set appointments, and save emails and attachments to Salesforce. But it also manages email campaigns, scheduled sends, and with their analytics tool, you can track responses. The email version of a leatherman, it’s a tool with many uses that can enhance the outreach from the safety of your personal/office email account.

Who it’s best for: Businesses that don’t want to leave their inbox
Who it’s not for: Sophisticated marketers looking to run drip campaigns and the ability to email more than 500 contacts at a time

Emma
Emma also has a 2-way sync with Salesforce, but our favorite feature is Emma’s dedication to design. They provide gorgeous templates and the ability to code, drag-and-drop, and customize your own so you never have to compromise your aesthetic ideals. Their support team is also great, so if you do have any trouble with design or with your campaigns, or contacts, you know help is already on the way.

Who it’s best for: Businesses with an eye on design
Who it’s not for: Businesses interested in expanding their email tool to marketing automation

Predictive Response
If you’ve got a handle on email and are already looking into marketing automation, Predictive Response can pave your way. This is a ‘and then some’ email tool that provides enhanced functionality and analytics that are closer to marketing automation than mass email, but won’t be too much to handle. We always recommend an organic growth from mass email to marketing automation, so for many clients, Predictive Response provides the sweet spot in the middle that solidifies your marketing strategy and internal processes.

Who it’s best for: Businesses who are ready for some aspects of marketing automation
Who it’s not for: Non-Salesforce users

Remember, picking a mass email solution is always a lesson in compromise. Keep an open mind and an agile business process to make the most of this invaluable technology. If you have questions about which email solution is right for your small business, click the link below to schedule a call.
 

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