If you’ve read an article or two on my blog, you’ve probably picked up on the importance of email marketing (if not, start with this one about your strategy.)

In today’s day and age, 95 percent of companies are taking advantage of email marketing. The ones who are not risk being left behind.

Whether you’re selling a product, service, blog, or personal brand, you NEED to build an email list. Depending on your needs, here are some of the best platforms to get you started.

ConvertKit

Building a personal brand, blog, or consider yourself a full time creative? Consider looking into ConvertKit. This platform is incredibly user-friendly and offers quite a few easy to use features to begin building your list.

With a visual builder comparable to Squarespace, ConvertKit also enables you to make Email Marketing Workflows. Platforms like Squarespace who have begun introducing email marketing campaigns have yet to introduce this feature, but it’s one essential to list building and staying in touch with prospects.

Though it’s priced higher than other platforms starting at $29 a month, it may just save you back precious time.

MailChimp

Why do we love MailChimp? Because you can start building lists for FREE.

If you’re bootstrapped into a low budget while getting off the ground, MailChimp is your best friend. It’s been around for quite a while and integrates with reputable platforms like Salesforce, Zapier, Eventbrite, and Shopify to name a few.

Though the platform isn’t as user-friendly, if you’re a smaller website looking to grow, MailChimp is an excellent starting point. And if you run into trouble, there’s plenty of resources about this platform to help you get back on track.

InfusionSoft by Keap

If you’re a growing business and have the budget for this all in one platform, InfusionSoft by Keap may be for you. Now known as Keap, this platform is the best of both worlds including both CRM (Customer Relationship Management, a tool used to manage all of your client conversations and data) and automated email marketing. Though it’s a bit pricier of an option (starting at $99 a month) keep in mind most CRM platforms are priced higher than this rate. But if you’re looking to build your list through content marketing, this platform is a must.

Constant Contact

As a small business primarily selling products, Constant Contact has quickly moved to the top of the list for most email marketers. Considering it provides access to an event management tool, download coupons added directly to your social media platforms, Facebook ad integrations, a diverse image library, audience segmentation, on top of the automation features offered by every other platform, it’s no wonder Constant Contact has become so popular. Pricing starts at $20 a month.

Drip

Another new platform, Drip has quickly generated attention marketing itself as the world’s first ECRM platform (CRM designed specifically for e-commerce.)

This platform is extremely friendly for beginners and is specifically notable for their email segmenting capability, visual workflow, marketing automation, and email segmenting. With plenty of integration capability, Drip is an incredible option to explore. Drip is actually free up to 100 subscribers and then jumps to $49 a month for 2,500 subscribers.

ActiveCampaign 

Starting at only $9 a month, ActiveCampaign is another all in one platform combining email marketing and CRM. With marketing automation and messaging features, ActiveCampaign is used by bloggers, marketing agencies, ECommerce stores, SaaS businesses, and even for higher education.

One unique feature is that this platform can actually track onsite events. For instance, you can track billing through your apps incoming calls, all of which that can be utilized in their CRM to create better customer conversation. If you’re a marketing company or agency, this one is worth looking into.

SendinBlue

Last but not least, SendinBlue is another easy to use beginner friendly platform. Users can create transactional emails, workflows, and segment users. Their free plan allows you to send 300 emails daily, and create campaigns without prior knowledge. Their free account offers unlimited contacts, with a cap of 9,000 emails each month.