Best Email Marketing Automation Software for 2021

The best email marketing automation software is one that can provide you a robust package of useful features. While all the tools included in this review offer good automation capabilities, some are better than others in terms of segmentation, integrations, or email design options. These are just some of the criteria we used while carefully analyzing the 10 email automation software services.

Short on time? Here are the top 3 email marketing automation software:

Best Email Marketing Automation Software - Full Analysis 

To optimize your email marketing strategy and boost your ROI as a result, you need a reliable email marketing tool. Read on and discover 10 of the best options you can come across these days. We carefully analyzed their features and key advantages to offer you a quick and useful overview. 

1. Constant Contact - intuitive email automation solution 

This platform has been around for quite a while. With more than 20 years of experience in the field, the Constant Contact’s team manages to provide excellent automation solutions for successful email campaigns and outstanding customer support.  

Editor’s note: We like this tool because, despite its advanced automations and segmentation features, it is easy to use and provides numerous educational resources. 

Bottom line: 

The emails you can create and easily schedule from this platform are responsive and easy to build thanks to the drag-and-drop editor. It’s also easy to set up custom-made email flows by choosing from the multiple trigger actions. 

The event invitation and registration management features and engagement tracking tools are other nice additions. The highlight of this platform is definitely the reliable and intuitive AI-powered website builder, which makes Constant Contact one of the best email marketing automation software services. 

Read Constant Contact Full Review 

2. Sendinblue - advanced personalization features 

This company was founded in 2007 and the email marketing automation platform has been improved ever since. Sendinblue has a team of more than 400 members worldwide. 

Editor’s note: This platform is pretty straightforward when it comes to its automation implementation and, with its paid plans, you don’t have a limit on the number of emails you can send. 

Bottom line: 

One of the useful features you can easily access with Sendinblue and don’t find in all the other platforms is the send time optimization feature that helps you deliver your emails at the best time to increase their open rates. 

The flexible sign-up forms are also quite useful as they are the starting point of your automated email campaigns. This complex marketing platform allows you to engage your customers via SMS marketing as well and the email personalization and segmentation tools will contribute to your campaign engagement too. 

Read Sendinblue Full Review

3. AWeber - Awesome subscriber engagement features

AWeber has been on the market for approximately 2 decades. This robust email marketing platform has supported more than 100,000 businesses in creating engaging email campaigns.  

Editor’s note: Aweber boasts strong automations and reliable ready-made campaigns that will help you save a lot of time, especially if you’re barely getting started with your email marketing strategy. 

Bottom line: 

There are several advantages you can enjoy with this platform. For example, it provides numerous tracking features and analytics to help you understand if your automated emails are efficient. There are more than 25 types of reports you can get.

The tagging system is pretty intuitive and allows you to easily segment your list and send targeted emails. You can also divide your contacts according to their activity on your website by using the tracking tool. One of the best automation features of this platform is the Follow Up function that will help you keep your subscribers engaged. 

Read AWeber Full Review

4. GetResponse - easy list management and reliable testing 

If you’re looking for an intuitive email marketing automation service, GetResponse is a good starting point. This company, which has more than 15 years of experience in the online marketing field, has developed one of the most intuitive, yet highly performant platforms.  

Editor’s note: One of the features that can simplify your email marketing automation job is the intuitive calendar interface. This system allows you to easily manage your campaigns and keep track of their delivery times. 

Bottom line:

The platform calendar is very easy to use, based on drag-and-drop functionality. GetResponse also helps you customize and send autoresponders. 

In terms of automation, GetResponse performs quite well. It provides multiple automations, and the possibility to customize your workflows. The spam detection function is another plus, as well as the reliable A/B tests that can help you optimize your campaigns. This tool also provides responsive landing page templates. 

Read GetResponse Full Review 

5. ActiveCampaign - reliable built-in CRM 

This company was founded in 2003 by Jason VandeBoom. Its headquarters are located in Chicago. ActiveCampaign is one of the best email marketing automation software services for intermediate and advanced marketers.  

Editor’s note: We love how supportive this platform is. Although it’s harder to get used to it, in the beginning, due to its complexity, there are lots of training materials and a useful help button. 

Bottom line: 

This powerful email marketing platform provides you more than 120 templates you can choose from to build personalized emails. It’s easy to segment your contacts list using ActiveCampaign’s advanced features such as the tag system. 

The platform can track user behavior on your website and provide you different statistics to help you automate your workflows accordingly. The entire life cycle of your subscribers can be automated through ActiveCampaign and the integrated CRM helps you manage your contacts easier and supports multi-marketing strategies. 

Read ActiveCampaign Full Review 

6. MailerLite  - outstanding monitoring tools 

This platform was developed in 2012. The company’s main office is located in Lithuania, but MailerLite’s team has members in more than 30 countries.

Editor’s note: MailerLite is a user-friendly platform and a great choice for teams as it allows you to grant different permissions to each member. 

Bottom line: 

There are plenty of useful automations you can benefit from with MailerLite; the platform allows you to choose between different types of action triggers, use RSS push emails, and discover the best delivery times. 

MailerLite is also very intuitive and helps you design beautiful emails by using the existing templates. The embedded signup forms can be easily personalized according to your subscribers' behavior. Moreover, MailerLite also provides good optimization features that boost open rates. 

Read MailerLite Full Review 

7. Hubspot Email Marketing - comprehensive automations package 

HubSpot has been on the market since 2006. The company’s main office is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. HubSpot usually ranks as one of the best email marketing automation software services. The company provides a wide spectrum of online marketing tools.  

Editor’s note: We appreciate this tool’s numerous personalization options. To improve your automated emails, you can optimize them with personalized CTA’s, different images or layout choices.  

Bottom line: 

HubSpot Email Marketing is a robust email automation solution. The intuitive interface allows you to easily experiment with different workflows and the personalization features are very handy. 

The integrated CRM is a great asset especially for sales teams or large contacts lists that can easily be managed from this tool. The engagement analytics and time zone sending options are other features you can leverage to streamline your email campaigns. 

Read HubSpot Email Marketing Full Review 

8. Benchmark - great testing tools 

This California-based company developed its email marketing platform in 2004. Nowadays, Benchmark means a team of more than 100 people based in 15 countries.  

Editor’s note: Benchmark provides a great set of personalization options. We like how efficient and easy-to-use the tags are. 

Bottom line: 

With the help of this platform, you can easily tailor your emails to your audience based on their interests or the stage of the conversion funnel they’re in. There are various segmentation options you can rely on and the platform is pretty intuitive too. 

Benchmark also boasts a series of useful smart automations that can help you speed up your email marketing and increase your conversions. The A/B testing for subject lines or delivery time is another significant asset. 

Read Benchmark Full Review 

9. ConvertKit - Robust CRM and tags segmentation 

ConvertKit is another powerful email marketing automation tool you can safely rely on. This platform was developed in 2013. The headquarters are located in Boise, Idaho. 

Editor’s note: We like this tool’s powerful automation features and the targeted autoresponders. 

Bottom line: 

ConvertKit is one of the best-performing email marketing tools in terms of automation. You can rely on multiple rules to streamline your workflows. Based on how your contacts behave after each email, the tool will trigger personalized autoresponders. You can create different types of autoresponder sequences using ConvertKit’s blueprints. 

The segmentation features are also efficient and easy to access and the integrations with numerous popular platforms such as Zapier or WordPress are also helpful. 

Read ConvertKit Full Review 

10. Moosend - effective personalized workflows 

This European email marketing services provider has been around since 2011. Moosend is often ranked as one of the best email marketing tools and, to support this claim, let’s just say they’ve got plenty of clients in the Fortune 500 list.  

Editor’s note: We appreciate this tool for various reasons starting from its high-converting workflows. These predefined email sequences are easy to implement and understand, and they do a great job bringing in new leads. 

Bottom line: 

Apart from its efficient personalized workflows, Moosend offers additional benefits such as real-time analytics that help you track your campaign’s success. The split testing and AI subject line test functions are other useful optimization tools. 

When it comes to segmentation, this platform also delivers good results. There are multiple segmentation criteria you can choose from. Moosend also provides easy integrations with different platforms and CRM. 

Read Moosend Full Review 

How to Choose the Best Email Marketing Automation Software 

• To make sure you purchase one of the best email marketing software services for automated email campaigns, you should do your research before making a decision. Seeing what people have to say about the most popular options will allow you to make a better choice. 
  
  
• Another useful thing you can do is go through the detailed services section most of these platforms have on their official website.
  
  
• It’s good to compare the pricing plans of different options, to make sure you get the best value for your money. While studying these plans, do take into account the features spectrum each tool provides. Some cost more because they also include additional features. 
  
  
• Since you’re looking for a solution to automate your email campaigns, it’s precisely the automation side of each service you should be focusing on. Look for details about the product’s predefined workflows, automation triggers, send time optimization options. Also, see what testing and segmentation features each product offers because these tools are extremely important in helping you optimize your campaigns.

What Makes an Email Marketing Automation Software Option a Great One?

An email marketing platform can be considered a great one if it provides a reliable set of automation features. This means that your email platform should be able to offer you the ability to create or implement ready-made email sequences. These workflows will handle the customer engagement process without your intervention. Based on the action subscribers take after reading each email in the sequence, the tool will automatically send them a series of personalized emails. 

Complex reporting and testing features are also important. To know how your email campaigns are working, you need accurate data on how many people have read your emails, clicked on your links, unsubscribed, etc. Being able to perform A/B split testing or to test your emails’ deliverability is a key factor in crafting successful email campaigns.

The number of contacts you can use the platform for is another criterion that can make the difference between a good platform and a great one. The best services allow you to use their tools with a large or unlimited number of contacts for a reasonable price. 

Why Is Choosing the Best Email Marketing Automation Software Important? 

The best email marketing automation software for your email campaigns shouldn’t be a choice, but a must-have. There are multiple reasons why any company regardless of its size should be using such a tool. The most significant one is the fact that email marketing is still an efficient method to promote your business. 

Nowadays, people are more connected than ever and while social media or Google advertising can help you get some of the leads you aim for, these probably shouldn’t be the only strategies you focus on. People pay close attention to what’s happening in their inbox, most check their emails on a daily basis. Therefore, if you write well-targeted emails that manage to get past spam filters and deliver them on time, periodically, you’ve got good chances to engage your contacts and convert them into buyers. You can achieve this more easily if you automate your campaign using an email marketing platform. 

This tool will help you save time, optimize your content, deliver your message at the perfect time, and keep track of your open rates. Email marketing is still the main marketing strategy for approximately 80% of small businesses. This says enough about its effectiveness. 

What Features Should I Look for in an Email Marketing Automation Tool?

• Automation is the core feature you should be looking for when your main aim is to put your email campaigns on autopilot. Through automation, you can implement different workflows that will help you save time and walk your leads through the conversion funnel easier based on their actions. 
  
  
• Segmentation features are important because they allow you to divide your contacts list based on their specific behavior, website activity, previous purchases, demographics etc. in order to craft targeted emails that are more likely to lead to a purchase. 
  
  
• Integration is one of the main features to be looking for when purchasing an email marketing automation platform. The software you decide to use should allow you to easily connect it to other marketing tools, social platforms, CRM systems or WordPress to facilitate multi-channel marketing activities.
  
  
• Reporting capabilities are a good starting point when you have to decide which email marketing software to work with. Platforms that provide in-depth reports and strong analytics are great, especially for advanced marketers who need to get plenty of insights to be able to optimize their email campaigns. 
  
  
• An intuitive dashboard might be for many marketers another must-have feature. Although you need to be at least a bit tech-savvy to start automating your email campaigns, this doesn’t mean you’ve got a lot of time to learn how to use an intricate system. The best way to automate your campaigns stress-free is with an intuitive platform that streamlines your user experience. 
  
  
• A/B testing and spam detection tools are other useful features to watch out for when you want to buy email marketing software. These tools will allow you to test different emails to see which ones are more engaging and make sure they’re not blocked by spam filters. 
  
  
• Customer service also plays an important role when it comes to buying an email marketing tool. While most services in this niche offer a vast array of educational and training resources to help you out, it’s important to know that there’s also a customer department you can contact. The best platforms offer multiple contact options including live chat, email, and phone support. 

Summary 

While there are many other email marketing software options out there, in this review we tried to cover 10 of the most complex and popular ones.  We’ve reviewed them from different angles to offer you a comprehensive image of what they can do. Yet, to learn more about each product, or the one you consider more suitable for your campaign, we recommend you read the full reviews. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)