Email marketing with your potential and current customers is a great way for your business to build up brand awareness and brand loyalty. It's the modern version of direct mail, only instead of sending out flyers and letters and having no idea if they end up in the trash or turning into real customers, with email marketing you can track who is opening your emails, how many customers are clicking through to content and managing your leads.

CONSTANT CONTACT

The question is, which email marketing automation software do you choose to create the best and most effective email campaigns? We broke it down into the three most common marketing programs to help you decide which will work best for your business.

Constant Contact is a popular email program that excels in how it allows you to upload contacts easily, by adding them individually, multiple at once, or uploading a file. Unlike other programs, Constant Contact accepts more file formats, such as .xls, .xlsx, and .vcf for an easier upload. The program also does a better job than most when it comes to managing your contact/subscriber lists, with easy to use tags which you can create yourself. However, Constant Contact does lack in how many images users can upload - only five images may be uploaded for free.

Overall, if you're a small business Constant Contact may be just what you need. As long as all you need is a basic email software, this program will fit the bill. If you're looking for a few more features or more flexibility, you may need to look towards a different program.

MAILCHIMP

MailChimp is another popular email program that your business can benefit from using. MailChimp allows you to easily import contacts using one by one importing, copy/paste from files, import contacts from other services, or importing files. MailChimp, however, ranks below other programs when it comes to importing, as they only accept CVS files. It can also be a bit more complicated when it comes to managing your contacts, as it requires you to create groups and segments in a way that is a bit confusing. The program makes up for that confusing portion, however, with users' ability to upload unlimited images into emails, as well as giving you the ability to view how specific users will view the email depending on which email provider they use (Gmail, Outlook, etc) in order to identify potential issues. MailChimp also offers you far more information in regards to your email analytics.

MailChimp may be the right choice for your business if you are just starting out, but have plans for growth. It's simple to use and set up, and it begins at the lowest cost on the market for $10 per month for its smallest subscription. Using MailChimp is a great start to get your business started.

HUBSPOT

HubSpot is the best tool on the market for your inbound marketing, which includes email marketing. What HubSpot has that Constant Contact and MailChimp lack is sophistication. Through using HubSpot you can import your contacts, sort your contacts into segments that can be emailed separately, and use the HubSpot workflow tool with emails that use automation to be sent on fixed dates. HubSpot also offers it's superior service when you choose to use their forms to understand the leads you get and generate detailed profiles for them within your CRM.

If your main goal is growth and turning your small business into a big one, HubSpot is for you. You'll get all of the information you need in terms of your email marketing - and more. HubSpot doesn't just stop at email, unlike the other programs we talked about. You can implement full inbound strategies right in HubSpot and have your website completely working for you, all on one platform.

Still confused? Find a marketing agency that can help you. Fortunately for you, our team at Hughes & Co. are here and eager to help you get started using email in a strategic and effective way.