Starting an email list and participating in Email marketing will help generate more raving fans and increased revenue for your Teachers Pay Teachers business. To begin your email marketing journey you need to select an Email Service Provider (SEP’s). But which one?
In this article we will briefly look at four of the most popular ESP’s, and I will briefly share some of the pro’s and con’s of each. I wil make a recommendation for you at the end, but please know that all four will work for you.
If you would like a more in depth conversation on each platform, as well as some of my experiences with each, get this free video from my Mastermind group.
Why Select an ESP?
You do not want to be sending mass emails out of your email provider, like Gmail or outlook. Sending a mass email out to many people out once will dramatically increase the likelihood of your emails ending up in peoples’ spam folders. This is one of many reasons you need an email service provider (ESP). Other reasons include that an ESP will allow you to segment your audiences, set up automated email sequences, and build landing pages and optin forms.
But which ESP should you choose?
There are no shortages of viable options to select when it comes to Email Service Providers. And the good news is that they almost always have a lot of the same features. Usually, the big difference is what cost do these features become available at.
Features you Want to Focus on
The major features you should pay attention to when making a selection are:
- Segmenting – the ability to add tags to your subscribers based on things you want to focus on (like what grade level or subject they teach)
- Automation – the ability to setup automatic emails based on actions the customer takes (like subscribing to a certain opt-in or making a purchase)
- Landing Pages – a place where customers go to give you their email address in exchange for a freebie
- Customer support – seems obvious, but not all offer the same great service, especially at the lower tiered pricing options
Features to Not Focus on
The length of the free version. Most of the ESP’s offer a free trial period. Some are longer than others. Some are indefinite, as long as you stay under a certain number of email subscribers. This should not impact your decision making.
When you start your email marketing, you will have to learn things. Technical things and vocabulary which will be a large time investment. You do not want to have to invest all that time setting things up and learning things, for it to not work correctly and then you have to learn it all again on a new platform. You want to select an email service provider that you will keep for at least the next year.
Popular ESP’s
There are four very popular email service providers and all of them will get the job done, though there is one I would recommend more than the others.
Here’s a quick recap of the pro’s and con’s of each. To watch a more detailed explanation of each, get this video that I recorded with my membership – that you are also welcome to be a part of.
MailChimp
MailChimp is a popular option and it’s what most email marketers start with because it offers a long free trial – longer than most other providers. MailChimp remains free as long as you stay under a certain number of subscribers. Depending on when you read this, that number could be between 500 and 2,000 subscribers. MailChimp also has a very easy to platform for making beautiful emails.
However, I have not enjoyed MailChimp’s automation and landing page builders. Beyond that, I have always found creating sequences to be a bit clunky. And many of the features I told you were important (above) are not available with the free version, including the abiltiy to schedule emails; meaning if I want to email my list at 6am on Tuesday morning, because that’s when they’re most likely to be read, I need to be logged in and pushing send at that time.
MailChimp is a fantastic service, but it is not what I would recommend. But if you are on a super tight budget, and want to bootstrap everything by staying on the free version, this will work well for you. But you will spend a lot of time making things work as opposed to building your TpT products and email sequences.
AWebber
AWebber is a phenomenal service, that makes beautiful landing pages and great funnels. Their customer support is fantastic and they are more affordable than others as you get into a larger amount of email subscribers.
However, AWebber does limit the number of landing pages and funnels you are allowed (three) at the lower priced tiers. AWebber also doesn’t allow you to email multiple segments at once (at least at the time of this writing) and you have to go through an extra step to remove subscribers who unsubscribe – an important thing to do when trying to keep your price down.
AWebber is a great service that will serve you well. It is not my top recommendation, but it is a viable option for any TpT Seller.
FloDsek
This ESP has become quite popular among internet marketers because it has a set price that doesn’t increase regardless of how many email subscribers you have. Which means as you get to a larger email list, you will save money with this platform.
On the reverse side, FloDesk does not have great data reporting on your email and landing pages when compared to other services. I’ve also had several clients tell me they have had trouble attaching freebies. Also, their price is actually on the higher end when you are just beginning.
There are other limits that other email marketing experts have brought up, but overall FloDesk is an excellent service that will meet your needs at an affordable price.
ConvertKit
ConvertKit is the Email Service Provider I recommend. It starts out at an affordable price, yet still gives you unlimited landing pages, sales funnels, segmenting, and emails (the number of emails you are allowed to send).
ConvertKit has great data reporting, their funnels are super easy to use and intuitive, as is their segmenting. They have high deliverability rates because they are such a large company. And it works well with many platforms, like Thinkific (for online courses), WordPress (for your website), and Microsoft Word (to copy and paste your writing directly into the email body).
Convert Kit is the ESP I recommend, but all of these ESP’s will get the job done.
Conclusion
Selecting an Email Service Provider is an improtant step in your email marketing journey. All four of the above mentioned are great providers who will get the job done for you. The one I recommend is Convert Kit, not only for its functionality and practicality, but also for its great customer service and outstanding data reports that will help youo make smart decisions.
If you’d like to learn more about email marketing, download my Email Marketing Starter Kit, which includes the video mentioned above, that will give you a more in depth analysis of each of the four ESP’s mentioned in this article.
For more information on my Email Marketing for TpT Seller’s Course, click here.