Email List Building Series: Step 2 - Choose an Email Marketing Platform

Last week, we talked about the first step in building your email list - Create an Opt-in. If you missed last week's Tip Tuesday, be sure to go back and check out that blog post!

This week, we're going to talk about Step 2 - Choose an Email Marketing Platform. There are several options out there and most have a free plan or free trial.

I'm going to cover 3 of the most popular Email Marketing Platforms and provide a little information on each one.

1. MailChimp - This is my chosen Email Marketing platform. I find that it's very user friendly, the free version has all the tools I need to manage my email list, and there are great tutorials to help along the way. If you’re just starting out, you can sign up for their free plan up that allows up to 2,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails per month. As you grow, you can pay for more features for as little as $10 per month.

2. MailerLite - This is another great option for beginners on a tight budget since you can use the free version until you reach 1,000 subscribers. They provide you with tools to attract your visitors and convert them into subscribers, such as landing page, popups and easy-to-use form builder.

3. Constant Contact - If you're ready to jump all in and want all the bells and whistles, then Constant Contact is for you! They offer a free trial for the first 60 days, then it is only $20 for up to 500 subscribers.

You can easily search each of these to do a bit more research to see if any of these fit your needs. There are a few things you'll want to look for while doing your research:

Ease of Use - You want to make sure it's easy for you to use and matches up with the type of business you have.

Automation - This is a MUST for email marketing! This is how you will set up an email sequence that automatically goes out when people sign up for the opt-in you created. Some platforms offer this in their free package and in others, you have to pay for this feature.

Pricing - This may seem like a no-brainer, but you want to make sure you check out all of the features available in the package you choose and know exactly what you're paying for.

There's no "one size fits all" email marketing platform, so it's important to know what features you want and know how much you're able to pay for those services before you start.

If you're looking for help in getting your email list going, send me an email or visit my website to see how a Virtual Assistant can help!