The Best Email Marketing Platforms For Bloggers

Have you ever wondered how your favorite brands or bloggers create beautiful and useful newsletters? In this article, I break down email marketing platforms, what they are, and why growing your email list is important for bloggers and influencers.

I also share a comparison of nine of the best email list providers for bloggers, the pros and cons of each platform, and how to sign up for the best platform for your blog.

Why Growing Your Email List Is Important

Having an email list is one of the most important and easiest ways to turn readers into subscribers and customers. These are the people who are interested in your content and want to receive more of it.

Your email list is all yours; an algorithm does not control it; it’s a way to get directly into the inboxes of a group of people who are your ideal customers.

Email marketing is considered one of the best forms of marketing to reach customers directly. It has a high ROI (return on investment)- in 2019, it was stated that for every $1 spent on email marketing, there was an average return of $42!

Whether you want to sell products in the future, offer a service, use affiliate marketing, or increase your website traffic, an email list is a great way to do all these things.

By creating an email list you can send links to website content, share valuable information, helpful resources, or even showcase a new product or service. You are directing this information straight into the inbox of the people interested in your blog (and what you are an expert in!).

These are the people who are more likely to purchase your products or services and read your website content, so it gives them a chance to see it without it being lost in social media algorithms.

What Are Email Marketing Platforms And Why You Should Use One

Email marketing managers or email marketing platforms are applications where you can plan, create, send, and evaluate email marketing campaigns.

Whether you want to send a monthly newsletter to your subscribers, offer a digital product, or just update them on your blog or travels, an email marketing platform is the ideal way to do all of these things.

In an email manager, you can go beyond sending a basic email: you can add images, website links, videos, integrate your social media, link to purchase your products and services.

In addition, you can segment the people subscribing to your email list, tagging them based on their interests, what freebies they signed up for, and what links they have clicked on.

This segmentation allows you to create a variety of series of emails (or funnels) that go to subscribers with specific interests.

With these platforms you can send your entire email list the same email at the same time or pre-set a time for the email to be sent. They also provide detailed information and analytics about opening rates, click-throughs, unsubscribe rates, and other useful analytics for you to evaluate each campaign.

Comparison Of Email Managers:

There are hundreds of different types of email marketing software available online for you to choose from. Each one is suited for different business sizes and a different purpose.

The best email list providers for bloggers depends completely on the size of your email subscriber list and what you want to achieve or send out in your emails. 

Below I have created a list of nine of the best email list providers for bloggers.

Flodesk

Flodesk is one of the newer email marketing platforms. Owned by two female founders, Flodesk was created to make email marketing simple and design-focused.

This platform is one of the best email marketing options for bloggers who have a design focus. The platform has the ability to design your own template from scratch or choose one of the beautiful image-focused templates.

Successful entrepreneurs have designed the templates and users have the ability to change fonts, colors, and even an Instagram feed integration.

Flodesk is created with freedom of expression in mind but while also being clear and easy to use. Everything from their drag and drop email template blocks to the analytics is simple to use and clutter-free.

If the user doesn’t know how to use something, Flodesk has a space called Flodesk University which highlights how to use the email software in addition to tips and marketing tricks by entrepreneurs and business owners.

The sign-up process is simple, and Flodesk has a 30-day free trial to get you started, with no credit card required.

Best of all, Flodesk currently offers unlimited subscribers for the one low monthly rate of $38, and you can lower this to $19 per month by using my affiliate link, making it much cheaper than almost all of the alternatives especially if you have a larger list!

Pros

• One low price for unlimited subscribers
• Great looking emails that are easy to use
• Shopify, Instagram, and more integrations
• Offers a 30-day free trial
• Easy to use fully customizable templates
• Clear and simple to use analytics
• Image and branding focused
• Unique fonts and styles
• Excellent customer support and an Insiders Facebook group

Cons

• A relatively new company so has kinks to resolve
• Not many landing page templates
• Customization limitations
• Limited e-commerce integrations
• Limited analytics
• Templates are limited, so many companies often use the same templates
• Unable to add HTML custom code into emails
• Not as many advanced features as some other email providers

Pricing

Flodesk only has one plan, which is $38/month, but they also offer a 30-day free trial. Use My Link To Get 50% Off The Monthly Subscription / $19 Per Month

Convertkit

ConvertKit is the email marketing platform that I personally use.

Created for creators and bloggers, ConvertKit has all the tools to build an audience, watch it grow, and even the ability sell products or services.

It is one of the best email marketing software for bloggers who want to build their subscriber list by offering free downloads and creating custom landing pages.

ConvertKit has the ability to send personalized content with easy-to-use templates, email automation, collect email list subscribers, and integrate with your favorite tools.

Their landing page templates are perfect for opt-in freebies, meaning you don’t need to use a separate service like Leadpages.

The sign-up process is simple, and you can choose your desired plan depending on your subscriber numbers and what you want to use your email list for. ConvertKit will even help you switch from your previous email platform while also providing live training and resources.

ConvertKit is a little more complicated and not as “pretty” as Flodesk, but they have some really advanced features and automations that can boost sales and open rates.

A unique thing about ConvertKit is that it has a community where creators can connect, interact, and ask/answer questions.

Pros

• Friendly and helpful support
• Easy to use
• Send emails in sequences that can be paired with ConvertKit automation
• Powerful functionality
• Great landing page templates
• Tutorial videos and step-by-step guides
• Free downloads
• Made for bloggers

Cons

• More expensive than other email marketing software
• Lack of integration with some platforms such as eCommerce
• Not great for having more than one email or clients
• A lot of features and capabilities that take some getting used to

Pricing

ConvertKit has three different price plans the Free plan (available for up to 1,000 subscribers), a Creator plan (starting at $29/month for up to 1,000 subscribers and increase in price up to 500,000 subscribers), and a Creator Pro plan (starting at $59/month for up to 1,000 subscribers and increasing in price up to 500,000 subscribers).

Free Plan

• Up to 1,000 subscribers
• Full email support
• Ability to sell digital products and subscriptions, in addition to sending email broadcasts
• Create an unlimited number of landing pages and forms
• Opt-in incentives

Creator Plan

• Up to 500,000 subscribers
• Create an unlimited number of landing pages and forms
• Ability to sell digital products and subscriptions, in addition to sending email broadcasts
• Full priority support
• Free migration from another tool
• Opt-in incentives
• 70+ intergrations and API
• Automated funnels and sequences

Creator Pro Plan

• Up to 500,000 subscribers
• Create an unlimited number of landing pages and forms
• Ability to sell digital products and subscriptions, in addition to sending email broadcasts
• Full premium support
• Free migration from another tool
• Automated funnels and sequences
• Social media audience customization
• Advanced and detailed reporting
• Opt-in incentives
• A newsletter referral system
• Subscribers scoring
• 70+ integrations and API

Constant Contact

One of the best email list providers for bloggers is Constant Contact: it is perfect for building an audience and relationships with followers.

Designed for bloggers, this email marketing software contains the optimum tools to create visual emails with their templates or create your own designs.

Constant Contact has unique social media integrations, management, and monitoring, in addition to event management.

With a marketing calendar, built-in Google Ads manager, and analytics, all within a mobile app or online version.

This email software platform has a drag and drop interface with a modern look but is still simple to use. 

Pros

• User friendly
• Ability to save previous templates
• Mobile-friendly templates
• Group contacts together into categories
• All data in one place
• Easy to import contacts
• Helpful customer service

Cons

• More storage adds additional costs
• No image stock artwork
• Additional users are an extra charge
• Costs add up quickly with subscriber numbers
• Formating issues with images and customization

Pricing

Constant Contact has two plans: the Email plan (starting at $20/month for 500 contacts, increasing with the number of contacts) or the Email Plus plan (starting at $45/month for 500 contacts, increasing with the number of contacts).

Email 

• For small businesses who want to create emails and build customer relationships
• Up to 3 users
• Sign-up forms
• Unlimited number of sent monthly emails
• Third-party apps and integrations
• Templates that can be fully customizable and organized by industry
• Extensive tracking and reporting analytics
• Ecommerce marketing
• Contacts database
• List building tools and emails
• A/B testing
• Social posting and monitoring, in addition to Facebook and Instagram Ads
• Logo maker, image library, event, and marketing calendar
• Digital products and downloads

Email Plus

• For organizations and small businesses with automated emails and increased engagement with their audience
• Up to 10 users
• Everything in the Email plan
• Surveys, polls, coupons, RSVPs, and online donations
• Automated emails and dynamic content

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign is one of the most popular and best email marketing software for bloggers and has won many awards for its services and marketing products.

This email marketing software is user-friendly and an all-in-one place for marketing tools. For many, this is the go-to email software with everything from email lists, email marketing automation, AMA features, a CRM, landing pages, third-party applications, and much more, all within an easy-to-use platform.

ActiveCampaign has the optimal balance between functionality and cost-effectiveness. It goes beyond email marketing and email lists, it is also a place for A/B testing, marketing automation, analytics, and live chat functions.

To sign-up, all you have to do is input the number of contacts you have and then choose your desired plan and complete the details.

Pros

• Wide variety of features
• The machine learning program to improve results over time
• Powerful email builder with lots of different functions
• CRM is integrated with automation
• Easy to use platform
• Lots of integrations with third-party software
• Pre-designed templates

Cons

• It takes time to get used to some features, especially the advanced ones
• Slow application
• On-site chat function not available with standard plans
• Email builder isn’t the easiest to use
• Price can add up quickly with subscribers and additional features

Pricing

ActiveCampaign has four different price plans: the Lite plan (starting at $9/month for up to 500 subscribers), a Plus plan (starting at $49/month for up to 1,000 subscribers), a Professional plan (starting at $129/month for up to 2,500 subscribers), and an Enterprise plan (starting at $229/month for up to 2,500 subscribers).

The prices increase depending on the number of subscribers.

The four different price plans come in three different business types: digital business, B2B, and E-commerce. The digital business is great for bloggers.

Lite Plan

• Subscription forms and marketing automation
• Sales emails and lead capture forms
• 540+ automation recipes and 850+ automation
• Up to 3 users
• Email and Chat support
• Segmentation, site and event tracking
• Campaign and automation reporting
• Email marketing and unlimited email sending

Plus Plan

Everything in Lite and

• Facebook custom audiences and SMS marketing
• Advance performance reporting
• Landing pages and branded customizable forms
• Inbox sync with CRM and CRM sales automation
• Up to 25 users
• Advanced mobile reporting and custom user preferences
• Advanced integrations with third parties and E-commerce applications

Professional Plan

Everything in Lite, Plus and

• Website personalization
• Predictive sending and content
• Split automation and conversion reporting
• Personalized product experiences and in-app messaging
• Up to 50 users
• 1:1 onboarding support
• CXA strategy consultation
• Three 1:1 pieces of training per month

Enterprise Plan

Everything in Lite, Plus, and Pro as well as

• Custom reporting and enrichment
• Custom mail server domain, a custom domain, and application URL
• Free design service and unlimited email design testing as well social data enrichment and branding
• An unlimited number of users
• A dedicated account rep and phone support service
• HIPAA support and SSO

GetResponse

GetResponse is one of the best email marketing platforms for auto-responses.

This platform is one of the pioneers of email software, with one of the best email marketing software for bloggers and other features such as marketing automation, landing pages, webinars, CRM, and other features all in one platform.

GetResponse has great email templates (organized by industry), an excellent conversion funnel feature, webinar creation, and superbly easy-to-understand analytics.

You can even build a mini e-commerce store to sell digital products within the platform on the platform.

You can sign up to GetResponse for a 30-day free trial with no credit card required.

Pros

• Simple to use and user friendly
• Good value for money
• Advanced features for your money
• Great list management and data segmentation
• Useful for small businesses with conventional funnel features
• Comprehensive reporting features
• Integration with third-party apps
• Landing page creator and A/B testing
• Integrates with Google Analytics

Cons

• Creating landing pages can be tricky
• Only Max plan has phone support
• Limit of 500 attendees in webinars
• Integrations involve third party syncing tools

Pricing

GetResponse has four different plans, the Basic plan (starting at $15/month for up to 1,000 subscribers), the Plus plan (starting at $49/month for up to 1,000 subscribers), the Professional plan (starting at $99/month for up to 1,000 subscribers), and the Max plan which is fully personalized and flexible with custom pricing.

Except for the Max plan, each plan increases in price depending on the subscribers’ number (up to 100,000 subscribers).

Basic Plan

• This plan is perfect for building a contact base and sending emails
• Email marketing and autoresponders
• Unlimited landing pages and automation templates
• 1 sale funnel and unlimited lead functions
• Facebook and Google ads

Plus Plan

• Created to generate leads, gain sales, and grow your business
• This plan includes everything is basic
• 5 sales funnels
• Webinars with up to 100 attendees and webinar funnels (up to 5 funnels)
• 5 workflows in the automation builder
• 5 sales funnels
• 3 users for work together

Professional Plan

• Ideal for pro automation, integrations, and premium results
• This plan includes everything in both the basic and plans
• Unlimited automation builder
• Push notifications for websites
• The ability to hold paid and free webinars with up to 300 attendees
• Unlimited sales funnels
• Unlimited webinar funnels
• 5 users for work together

Max Plan

• An advanced platform to take marketing to the next level
• Everything in the Basic, Plus, and Professional plans
• A dedicated support team
• Multiple accounts (10) and users (up to 500)
• Account migration support and help
• Team and role management
• Webinars for up to 500 attendees
• Transactional emails

MailerLite

One of the newer email marketing platforms on this list is MailerLite. Despite its newness, this email software keeps up with its competitors.

MailerLite is the chosen platform for many high-quality big brands such as BMW, GoPro, and Typeform.

This platform is a great place to build email campaigns with list segments, automation, and third-party app integrations. Once you have sent out your email campaign, you can use the built-in analytics and split testing tools to evaluate it.

Another unique feature of MailLite is the built-in photo editor, eliminating the need for a third-party image editor when creating your campaigns.

MailerLite is easy to use with a minimalistic design scheme and simple to navigate – perfect for beginner bloggers.

MailerLite has a sign-up form, and no credit card is necessary to sign up for the free version of the software. When you sign up for the free version, they automatically give you a free 14-day trial of the premium plan.

Pros

• 24/7 live support
• Great features in the free plan for beginner bloggers and those starting out
• Slightly cheaper and better value for money than others in this list
• Built-in landing page, image editor, and opt-in form builder
• Drag and drop email editor
• Integrations with a large number of third-party apps including WordPress, Shopify, Woocommerce, and more
• Clean and simple easy to use interface

Cons

• No social media integrations
• Automation isn’t as detailed and elaborate as some other platforms on this list.
• Hard to insert videos into emails
• A tough verification process to connect to your website

Pricing

MailerLite has two plans: a free version and a paid version (Premium plans).

Free Plan

The free plan is a great way to get started with your email list as it allows you to have up to 1,000 subscribers and send up to 12,000 emails a month.

The free plan also includes a drag and drop editor, a rich text editor for creating your newsletters, and a built-in photo editor.

With this plan, you can create detailed landing pages with embedded sign-up forms, a pop-up subscriber form, and organize your subscriber list.

Premium Plans 

Once you reach 1,000 subscribers, you have to sign up for a premium plan (but you can also sign up for a premium plan start away with less than 1,000 subscribers).

The Premium plans start at $10/month (up to 1,000 subscribers). For between 1,000 and 2,500 subscribers its $15/month, for between 2,500 and 5,000 subscribers its $30/month, and for between 5,000 and 10,000 subscribers its $50/month, and so on.

Premium plans include everything in the free plan, plus:

• Live 24/7 chat support
• The ability to remove the MailerLite logo
• Custom HTML editor
• Templates for newsletters
• Custom domains and promotional pop-ups
• Auto resend options and deliver by time zone
• The premium plans also include advance A/B testing

Along with the Premium packages, users have the ability to add on different features. These add-ons are SitesPro ($10/month extra), MailerPro ($100/month extra) and the Dedicated IP add on ($50/month).

AWeber

AWeber is a veteran in the email marketing world, first released in 1998. This email software is great for creating HTML newsletters and emails.

This email marketing software has all the features you would expect to see in great email software, such as email marketing automation and list segmentation, landing pages, and opt-in builders.

They also have other extras such as integration with third-party apps and built-in analytics, which are easy to use and practical to work with. 

AWeber also has a mobile app, which has tracking statistics and content curation right from your mobile phone.

Everything AWeber has created is easy to use and figure out how to use; you don’t need a degree to work out how to send an email – it is designed to be simple and for the everyday blogger.

This email marketing software is ideal for every blogger type, no matter what the subscription size as it is easy for beginners to use and contains everything established bloggers need. 

AWeber is easy to sign up to and the form on their webpage is simple to complete and choose your desired subscription plan.

Pros

• Ability to import and host mailing lists
• Detailed analytics, reporting, and ability to split test
• Landing page builder and email builder
• Over 700 email templates
• Emails resize themselves using ‘responsive emails’ to fit the device it’s being viewed on
• Ability to use web-fonts
• Autoresponders
• Third-party integrations
• Easy to use

Cons

• More expensive than other options on the list
• Dated templates
• You can’t include multiple segments in a single newsletter

Pricing

AWeber has a Free and a Pro option. The Pro plan ranges from $19/month (for 0-500 subscribers to $149/month for 10,001 – 25,000 subscribers). They also have a tailored option for those with 25,000+ subscribers.

Free

• Up to 500 subscribers, and you can send 3,000 emails a month in one list
• Create and send newsletters using templates or the drag and drop email builder
• RSS to email and email automation
• HTML emails
• Access to professional images
• You can sell products or service with AWeber eCommerce
• Create unlimited landing pages
• Video landing pages
• Great tracking with third-party apps such as Google Analytics, Facebook, and WordPress
• Sign up forms
• An unlimited number of users

Pro

The Pro plan has everything the free plan has in addition to advanced features such as:

• An unlimited number of subscribers, list profiles and send an unlimited number of monthly emails
• Split testing email
• Branded clicking/tracking links
• The ability to remove AWeber branding from emails
• Sign up for split testing
• Advanced messaging, audience analytics, webpage tracking, and sales tracking

All the features of the Pro plan are available in five different price ranges, depending on the number of subscribers:

• 0-500 $19/month
• 501 – 2,500 $29/month
• 2,501 – 5,000 $49/month
• 5,001 – 10,000 $69/month
• 10,001 – 25,000 $149/month

Drip

Drip is the newer email marketing platform with a user-friendly experience and run by forward-thinking people.

This email marketing software is an all-around service, with a specialism in e-commerce CRM, built to turn email subscribers into leads and then convert them into paying customers.

Ideal for bloggers and affiliate marketers, this email software is easy to use and great for creating dynamic content.

Drip has a sign-up form that allows you to create an account to start your 14-day free trial without needing to input any credit card details.

Pros

• Easy to use email builder with great visuals
• Specializes in eCommerce
• Great integrations with third-party apps
• Excellent automation options
• Social Media integrations
• Personalization and built by humans for humans
• Great customer support

Cons

• The reporting isn’t as detailed as other email marketing platforms in this list
• Email templates are limited
• It gets expensive quickly than some of the other email marketing platforms on this list when subscriber numbers increase.
• Basic A/B testing

Pricing

Drip has one plan which starts at $19/month for between 1-500 contacts and increases in price depending on the number of contacts.

The email software, like others on this list, has a 14 day free trial for you to get an idea of the platform and see if it’s the right choice for you (note that the trial period is has a limit of 500 sent emails).

MailChimp

MailChimp is one of the most popular email marketing software for bloggers (I used MailChimp before moving to Convertkit and Flodesk). This email marketing software has all the marketing tools bloggers need in one place, with website designs, the ability to create multichannel campaigns and create automated email lists. 

Designed for every business, bloggers, large businesses, and over 13 million small businesses use MailChimp.

This platform is easy to sign up for and there are four plans to choose from, including a free plan suitable for starting a blog and building an audience.

MailChimp has a user-friendly dashboard, a simple interface, and easy to view metrics and data.

Pros

• Marketing tips, guides, and tutorials
• The free plan offers enough to start building an audience
• One place to build a website, use templates, create email campaigns, and real-time analytics
• Third-party app integration
• Relatively easy to use
• Landing pages and widgets
• Risk-free email software option for bloggers

Cons

• It takes a while to get used to working your way around different dashboards.
• It can get expensive quickly when growing a mailing list
• The interface can change pretty quickly
• Few templates to choose from
• Limited integration with CRM’s

Pricing

There are four different plans to choose from: the Free plan (Up to 2,000 contacts and one audience list), Essentials plan ($9.99/month up to 50,000 contacts and three audience lists), Standard plan ($14.99/month up to 100,000 contacts and five audiences), and Premium plan ($299/month up to 200,000 contacts and unlimited audiences).

Free Plan 

• Great for getting started and building an audience
• Email automation, including subject line helper
• Sign up forms and landing pages
• Marketing CRM
• Multichannel tools which include social media posting, Facebook and Instagram ads
• Website Builder
• Basic email templates

Essentials Plan 

• Great for bloggers who want to build a relationship with followers and grow sales
• Email automation, A/B testing, and email scheduling
• Sign up forms and behavioral targeting
• Marketing CRM
• Multichannel tools including landing pages, social media posting, Facebook, and Instagram ads.
• Brand tools, including websites and domains, a creative assistant, content studio, and over 100 pre-built email templates.
• The Essentials plan also includes 24/7 support, smart tools, surveys, the mobile app, and over 250 app integrations.

Standard Plan 

• For experienced marketers that want to use advanced automation
• Email automation, customer journey builder, custom-coded templates
• Sign up forms and behavioral targeting
• Marketing CRM
• Social media posting and scheduling, Facebook and Instagram ads, websites, and domains, landing pages, retargeting ads.
• The smart tools including creative assistant, dynamic content, send-time optimization, and personalized product recommendations.
• The Standard plan also includes 24/7 support, customer journey builder, the mobile app, and over 250 app integrations.

Premium Plan 

• The Premium plan is for advanced marketers, those who want growth tools and enhanced support.
• Email automation, customer journey builder, multiple starting & branching points
• Custom-coded templates and multivariate testing
• Marketing CRM
• Social media posting and scheduling, Facebook and Instagram ads, websites, and domains, landing pages, retargeting ads.
• Priority phone support, 24/7 email support, live chat, knowledge base, and marketing glossary

Email Marketing Platforms Wrap Up

I hope this article gave you some insights into the best email marketing software for bloggers and why you should use one. There are so many different email marketing platforms that it can be overwhelming to find your blog’s best fit.

Once you have chosen your perfect email software, it’s time to start thinking about growing your list, in addition to creating engaging and useful content for your subscribers.

I will continue to share my tips for these topics on the blog so make sure that you subscribe to my email list so I can keep you up to date on this topic and blogging, entrepreneurship, business, and social media!

This website may use affiliate links in our articles. Please see our Disclosures for more information.