Considering its ability to turn leads into sales, it’s no wonder that we recommend spending a large proportion of your marketing budget on e-mail marketing. Of course, implementing campaigns for only a small number of clients is relatively easy.

Contrastingly, if you have an extensive roster of clients, this is an entirely different story. Thankfully, if you fall into the latter, e-mail marketing automation software should be your next main priority.

As well as being able to automate entire e-mail campaigns, smaller, less important tasks can also be automated.

Large e-mail send-outs can be scheduled with ease, and everything can be personalised.

Essential E-Mail Marketing Automation Features to Consider

The main advantage of an e-mail marketing platform is its ability to automate the e-mailing process and make it easier for you.

However, the benefits don’t stop here. You can make use of pre-compiled templates, test everything and get your final message to your customer through their chosen platform.

Here are some other things to look for when selecting an e-mail marketing platform.

Social Media

It’s possible to cross over and automate social media with some types of e-mail marketing platforms. Metrics can be tracked, and user lists can automatically be generated on previous interactions.

Digital Marketing

Some platforms help you set up PPC, SEO and other campaigns for digital marketing. This can help you create a better funnel of leads. Some e-mail marketing platforms feature landing page builders.

Analytics

This is an essential feature you’ll need when looking for e-mail marketing software. After all, without looking at campaign data, how will you know if it was a success? Make sure the platform you’re considering allows you to set KPI’s, track and report on them.

The Best Automation Tools for Email Marketing this Year

Once you’re confident in the features making up the best email automation tools, we recommend you take a look at two of the best out there. If you want to automate the processes and send bulk emails to your subscribers, you can also use EngageBay‘s marketing automation tool designed for this purpose.

If you’re looking for something that includes tools in CRM, e-mail, sales and content creation, social media and analytics here are our recommendations.

HubSpot

It’s especially suitable for B2B, B2C and ecommerce businesses. All leads can be centralised from initial acquisition to final conversion, automatic workflows can be created, and all campaigns can be tracked easily.

On the other hand, it’s not the best choice for those looking for e-mail tools with robust SEO features.

We don’t recommend it for people who intend to scale their team quickly as the price will go up considerably.

If you’re just starting out, and are looking for something that’s easy on your wallet Contant Contact can be a good choice.

ConstantContact

It’s particularly suited to SMB’s looking to automate their e-mail processes. Despite the low price tag, it packs a punch in terms of features which include metrics, a variety of educational content and an extensive library of e-mail templates.

Another handy feature is its ability to integrate with well-known ecommerce platforms like Shopify, WordPress and WooCommerce.

Despite all the positives, there are a couple of drawbacks. Workflow management and segmentation aren’t the best we’ve seen.

So, if these happen to be near the top of your list of priorities, ConstantContact won’t be the best choice.