Don’t let the advent of social media fool you: While businesses need to have a presence on sites such as Facebook and Twitter, social inventions have hardly displaced other forms of marketing. In fact, many studies indicate that consumers still prefer to receive company updates and promos via email as opposed to social channels. 

Using an email marketing platform is definitely a good investment. It’s an invaluable way to keep your name in front of clients and potential clients.

The trick for many businesses, however, is finding the best — and most affordable — marketing platform on the market. 

Whether you want to email one newsletter per month offering homeowner septic tank care tips or send weekly service discounts or coupons to customers, a great email marketing platform can help you get started. Check out these options: 

iContact

For companies that want just enough bells and whistles, without a burdensome price tag, iContact may be the best bet. It’s rich in features, even offering an HTML editor for those who want to work with different email newsletter templates. Google Analytics can be integrated to track the results of your email blast, and you can easily share your newsletters on social networks. 

And you can’t beat the price: A free version is available for those who have fewer than 500 subscribers, which is most of you. 

MailChimp

MailChimp is a good option for those not-so-tech-savvy business owners, or those who simply don’t have a great deal of time to devote to email marketing. It lacks some of the features found on other platforms, yet it’s incredibly intuitive and easy to use. There is a free version here as well, and a paid version that will run anywhere from $15 to $240, depending on how many subscribers you have. 

Campaigner

Also worth investigating is Campaigner. Another easy-to-use platform, this one comes with hundreds of pre-made email template formats, as well as the option to easily build a new template of your own. A large amount of image hosting and social integration tools also come with Campaigner, which is reasonably priced, costing anywhere from $10 and upward a month. 

AWeber

A bit more feature-rich than some of the others listed here, AWeber comes with tracking, reporting, easy editing tools, and a renowned customer support team. It is only slightly more expensive than the others listed here, too, coming in at just under $20 a month for up to 500 subscribers. 

VerticalResponse

Another feature-rich option, VerticalResponse offers an effective image editor, ample storage space, a Web editor that allows you to upload HTML, and online survey tools. Perhaps the most interesting thing about it, though, is its pricing system. VerticalResponse offers a pay-as-you-go option that can cost just 1.5 cents per email sent, making it quite attractive to business owners with tight marketing budgets. 

Constant Contact

Finally, Constant Contact is perhaps the most widely known email marketing platform, and not without reason: It is affordable — costing as little as $15 a month — and it offers countless templates, tracking tools, and other solutions for companies looking to engage in email marketing. 

Email marketing platforms are all a bit different, and investigating different options is recommended. Start researched those listed here to get a feel for what meets your business’ needs. 

About the Author

Amanda E. Clark is the president and editor-in-chief of Grammar Chic Inc., a full-service professional writing company. She is a published ghostwriter and editor, and currently under contract with literary agencies in Malibu, Calif., and Dublin, Ireland.

Since founding Grammar Chic in 2008, Clark, along with her team of skilled professional writers, has offered expertise to clients in the creative, business and academic fields. The company accepts a wide range of projects and often engages in content and social media marketing, drafts resumes, press releases, Web content, marketing materials and ghostwritten creative pieces. Contact Clark at www.grammarchic.net.