There are numerous marketing software out there that offer similar services. Some of them are particularly great for small businesses, and if you’re in the UK, you will want to consider a few of them to take your business to the next level.
According to Statista, 81% of small businesses depend on email campaigns as their main customer acquisition channel – 80% for retention. This is because email marketing has been reliable.
In this article, you’ll find some of the highest picks and uncover their benefits, features, prices, strengths, weaknesses, and many more!
Even though some of the lists online differ, some email marketing software can’t be left out, and for good reasons. We’ve compared their features and benefits, and here is our choice:
7 Top Email Marketing Software for Small Business in the UK
- ActiveCampaign – best for small and medium-sized business
- ConvertKit – best for content creators
- MailChimp – best for marketers and startups
- Constant Contact – best for online stores
- Sendinblue – best for user-friendly CRM
- GetResponse – best for outstanding deliverability
- MailerLite – best for cost-effective email marketing
1. ActiveCampaign – best for small and medium-sized business
Established in 2003 and with more than 90,000 active customers, ActiveCampaign is a fantastic email marketing software that offers you all the tools needed to set up a successful email marketing campaign.
Why ActiveCampaign?
ActiveCampaign comes with tons of features that make it easier to use. For example, it offers split testing, customized subscription form, automated email responders, an analytics dashboard, and a dedicated mobile app.
Again, you can take advantage of the 14-day free trial to get the hang of it while you test its amazing features.
Furthermore, it comes with a massive library of pre-built templates for emails and a drag-and-drop editor to make it easier to create customized email signup forms.
What’s more? ActiveCampaign hosts free images with awesome features. And when you’re done using the images you want, you can save them on your cloud servers.
You’ll also find an option for audience segmentation in your dashboard. And, thanks to the ActiveCampaign mobile app, you can track the progress of your various campaigns through your cellphone.
Pricing
For the pricing, you have more options compared to the first four on the list. You have four different plans you can subscribe to, and they are all based on the number of your subscribers.
The plans are Lite (£9 per month), Plus (£37 per month), Professional (£98 per month), and Enterprise (£174 per month).
In summary, ActiveCampaign is the best option for SMEs looking to expand. It’s absolutely worth the try.
» MORE: Best Email Marketing Service for Bounces
2. ConvertKit – best for content creators
At the top of our list of best email marketing software in the UK is ConvertKit, which boasts over 250,000 users and a very long list of happy reviews. Since 2013 when it was founded, it has been the number one choice for several small businesses. In addition, it is widely used among content creators.
As for the quality of service, ConvertKit is a top-notch email service provider that comes with all the marketing tools vital to the success of your marketing campaign.
Apart from its customized landing pages, 98% delivery rate, and email analytics, why else should you use it? Let’s see.
Why ConvertKit?
With ConverKit, you can customize your email signup forms as well as your landing pages. That is very crucial for your email marketing campaign. You are also allowed to automate your sales funnel.
What’s more? ConvertKit is a host to hundreds of email templates that you can easily customize and send to your subscribers. It can also be scheduled for any preferred dates.
Furthermore, you can customize your subscribers’ list on the basis of their actions using the audience section feature. Finally, you can also perform A/B testing.
Pricing
In terms of cost, ConvertKit offers three varieties of packages to users, and the pricing is based on the number of your subscribers.
So, if you just started and you still have less than 1k subscribers, you can enjoy the software for free!
Nevertheless, businesses with over 1k subscribers can choose between a creator pro package that starts with £45/month or a creator plan that starts with £22/month.
Overall, ConvertKit remains a top-of-the-list recommendation for online businesses looking to succeed in email marketing campaigns in the UK.
» MORE: ConvertKit Alternatives
3. MailChimp – best for marketers and startups
From its inception in 2001, MailChimp has grown to become one of the leading email marketing software for small and large businesses. However, even with over 11 million users, MailChimp is picked as second in the UK.
Nonetheless, at a glance, MailChimp offers some of the best features such as the drag-and-drop builder, real-time analytics, automated response, transaction emails, and award-winning customer support.
Why MailChimp?
Designing and customizing converting emails has never been made easier!
The success or failure of your email marketing heavily depends on A/B testing, and MailChimp plans provide this feature.
Thanks to MailChimp, you get a user-friendly content studio and real-time analytics dashboard that allows you to track your campaign progress. You get to find out what’s working and what’s not.
For startups with less than 2k contacts, MailChimp can be used for free! While for those with more than 2k contacts, there are three different paid plans to choose from.
Pricing
The paid plans are Essential (£7.79 monthly), Standard (£11.68 monthly), and Premium (£233 monthly).
In summary, whether you’re a professional marketer or a startup, MailChimp is an excellent email marketing software for your campaign. They’ve topped the industry for a while and for a good reason.
» MORE: How Effective Is Email Marketing?
4. Constant Contact – best for online stores
Established in 1995, Constant Contact has stayed among the top in the list of best email marketing software for a long time. The software has been growing businesses via email for over 5 million of their customers for years, and this is due to the quality of their service.
If you want to create an automated email series, or you are looking to customize personalized emails for your online store, ConstantContact is the way to go. ConstantContact might be popular, but why should you go for it?
Why ConstantContact?
With their drag-and-drop feature, you can set up and send personalized emails in minutes. And the fantastic part is that the software resends your emails to non-openers automatically.
Also, Constant Contact offers a user-friendly dashboard and allows you to monitor your campaigns with ease.
To enjoy better results, you can design various audience sections and run A/B testing. And, another great feature is that Constant Contact allows users to design social media ads – this is a unique feature in the industry.
Pricing
Unlike other software on this list, Constant Contact doesn’t offer a free package.
However, it provides two paid packages and the pricing, just like MailChimp, depends on the number of your subscribers. The first package – “Email” – sells for £15 per month, while the second plan – “Email Plus” – starts from £30 per month.
» MORE: Why Email Marketing Is Important?
5. Sendinblue – best for user-friendly CRM
Launched in 2007, Sendinblue hasn’t only gained popularity for their excellent service but is very inexpensive compared to their counterparts in the market.
Just like the other email service providers on the list, Sendinblue also comes with the drag-and-drop editor, which is very easy to use when creating and customizing landing pages as well as signup forms.
Although they have predesigned templates, you can edit and customize your signup forms to fit your needs.
Why Sendinblue?
Sendinblue provides users with an easy-to-understand analytics dashboard where that allows you to track your email marketing campaign progress. It also allows you to customize your audiences based on behavioral patterns.
Another amazing feature of Sendinblue is their transaction emails and their user-friendly CRM you can use without prior experience.
Pricing
In terms of pricing, Sendinblue’s costs depend on the number of emails you send monthly. So, you have the option of three different packages. And yes, Sendinblue offers a free plan!
The Lite plan starts from £16.5 monthly and allows for a maximum of 100k emails. The Premium plan starts from £42 monthly and allows up to 1 million emails, while businesses looking to send over 1 million emails monthly can go for the Enterprise plan.
Aside from their cost-effective pricing, the software features stand to surprise you when you use them. Therefore, this SaaS tool is highly recommended!
» MORE: Best Cheap Email Marketing Software
6. GetResponse – best for outstanding deliverability
Operating since 1998, GetResponse remains on the list of the best email marketing software in the UK. The software hosts over 350,000 active subscribers and works in 27 different languages to meet the needs of users around the world.
With a delivery rate of 99%, your emails are sure to sail safely into the harbor of your target audience. What more could you ask for? Well, GetResponse offers more!
Why GetResponse?
GetResponse is developed with pre-built templates and design tools to design a personalized signup form in few minutes.
You can also create various automated triggered-based email marketing campaigns with so much ease and zero previous experience.
Another fascinating feature in GetResponse is the Perfect Timing Tool, which estimates the optimal (perfect) sending times to increase your investment return. They also offer a 30-day free trial!
Pricing
GetResponse pricing comes in four different packages, including the Basic plan (£9.4 per month), Plus (£30.5 per month), Professional (£61.7 per month), and for the advanced plan – Max – you’ll have to order for a custom quote.
All in all, the GetResponse delivery rate is extremely impressive, and if you can afford their prices, you should go for it.
» MORE: Best Email Marketing Software for 10,000 Contacts
7. MailerLite – best for cost-effective email marketing
Launched in 2010, this email service provider might be seen as a newcomer. However, even with such little time, it has grown into one of the best email marketing software in the UK by evolving into a go-to tool for several marketers.
The platform is host to a long list of tools and features to support users, such as subscribe-management dashboard, content editor, automated email sequence, real-time email report, etc.
Why MailerLite?
Although the software has few pre-designed email templates, it is fairly easy to design a customized landing page and signup form.
Thanks to the detailed campaign reports and simple dashboard, monitoring email campaign progress is very easy. And with their awesome delivery rate, your campaign is in good hands.
Like other software on the list, you can use MailerLite to design an automated sequence based on your subscribers’ segmentation and behavioral patterns.
Pricing
If your business has below 1k subscribers, you can take advantage of MailerLite for free! But if your business has above 1k subscribers, you have to go for the Premium plan.
The Premium plan sells for £7.6 per month, and the price increases based on the number of subscribers your business operates with.
In summary, MailerLite offers top features at a fair price. As a startup looking for cost-effective email marketing software, you should try this out!
» MORE: Make Money with Email Marketing
How Do You Choose?
Most of the email marketing software in this list has similar features and offers almost the same benefits. However, you can pay attention to a few factors to help you make the right choice based on your needs.
- Audience automation and segmentation
A successful campaign relies on lots of A/B testing as well as audience automation and segmentation. These two factors are critical.
- Pre-built Templates and Drag-and-drop editor
If you’re not exactly tech-savvy and want easy-to-use tools to get the job done, then you should keep the editing tool in mind when browsing for the best email marketing software in the UK. In addition, since most of your time will be spent building and testing different emails, you would want it to be done quickly.
- Detailed Analytics and Reports
For marketers, analyzing and monitoring various marketing campaigns’ performance is one of the major aspects of the job. For this reason, you will want to go for an email service provider that offers detailed stats on how your emails are performing.
- Pricing
Most of the best email marketing software charges depend on the number of subscribers you have, and the price will only increase when the number of your subscribers increases. As a startup, pricing might not seem like an issue if you’re operating with less than 1k subscribers. But as you expand, you will begin to see the reason why you should have considered price at the initial stage.
Wrap Up
Businesses, whether with a small or large customer base, must get involved with email marketing as one of their primary marketing strategies. While it seems as though all email service providers offer the same thing, you must watch out for features that are inconsequential to your needs and go for the ones that will favor you in the long run.
Your business has more to do tomorrow than in the now, so pay attention to details.