Searching for an email marketing platform that is free is not an anomaly, but rather the starting point for all those who are interested in email marketing -knowing all its advantages-. The best known of all, that of the chimpanzee, is not really the only one nor is it the best in that search line, so the analysis and comparisons are worthwhile.
Variety in sight
For sure, Mailchimp is much more than an email marketing platform, and really, that works for or against the service depending on what the user’s needs are. Due to its way of operating and the number of integrations, it can even be ideal as a basic CRM platform for those just starting out in digital business.
But considering only the features as a mass email platform, there is currently a lot of variety and a lot of Mailchimp competition in the market, even offering more and better features for the same or even much lower price, which is even more evident in all existing free plans on each of the platforms.
It is not a minor detail. The usability, the functionalities, the advantages, in short, can make it better to look for another platform, opt for a service other than Mailchimp. The results can then give the reason.
Judge free services by what they offer or don’t offer
Email marketing platforms usually have free plans. If it is often said that an email marketing campaign can have a remarkable performance in terms of the economy of the method, in the case of free plans, it would be a digital marketing execution at zero cost.
Choosing the most convenient free service, therefore, does not try to see which will be cheaper, that everyone will start on equal terms, but rather analyzing what they offer or what they do not offer in exchange for paying nothing.
How much, in basic volume, does each supplier offer?
When talking about basic volume, we are talking about the number of contacts that can be managed in an email marketing database, and the number of emails that can be sent per month, or in a 24-hour period -depending on the way in which the platform counts them.
Mailrelay, at present, is the email service with the greatest capacity -and not only that, but it is also the most convenient because it also stands out in each of the successive points that will be detailed regarding the choice of a free platform -.
Thus, on this platform you can send between 15,000 and 75,000 emails per month; and you can have contact bases of between 3,000 and 15,000 subscribers, being well above other providers such as Mailchimp, which offers a maximum of 10,000 emails and 2,000 contacts.
Platform logos and branding
When talking about free plans, whatever it is, we are obviously talking about services that usually have cuts or limitations. In the case of mass email services, one of the basic limitations is in the identification by the provider in their free plans.
Thus, when a campaign is sent with a free plan, at the end of the email, or even at the beginning, subscribers will read or see some content allusive to the platform, which, for example, would be something similar to “Sent with Mailchimp technology », or any other allusive message, or even the brand logo -which is recognizable to many Internet users-.
That is negative. First, because it can attract the user’s attention to another link, and second, because the neatness of the message is eliminated, in which only the content of the brand carrying out the campaign should stand out. Some, like Mailrelay, offer a free service without this annoying limitation.
Deliverability Guarantee
Another little-talked about cutback is the deliverability guarantee. That is, the provider’s technical and server capacity to ensure that campaign messages are properly delivered to subscribers.
Some providers -especially the less competitive ones- in their free plans cut a lot from the technical point of view, which means that some messages end up in the SPAM trays of the subscribers, or that they are not delivered at all.
Choosing the platform that has the same services and the same power in its free plan is ideal.
Advanced and real-time statistics
Everything related to digital marketing is binding to decision-making with advanced statistics in hand. If they are not, the process of improving and optimizing the technique becomes very difficult.
Most of the free services are limited to saying how many emails have been sent, and with this, statistics can be obtained regarding registrations or sales, but manually. Others do offer complete statistics, which can be exported or linked to another digital analytics system, as in the case of Mailrelay, which has the same panel of advanced and real-time statistics in all its plans, even the free ones, which allows make better decisions regarding the optimization of the campaign.
Free, but enough in many cases
A free plan does not have to fall short to get started in email marketing. In fact, if the provider is chosen properly, it can be enough in most cases, only deciding on payment alternatives when the basic volume of sending and contacts is not covered by the free plans.
Of the rest, the most innovative platforms on the market today have no technical, aesthetic or functional limitations of any kind, which is even more a point in favor of those who decide on email marketing as the center of their sales strategy. online, and with good reason, since its benefits and its low cost of implementation show its usefulness.
