The Best Email Marketing Platform For Sales Funnels
For a sales funnel to deliver… sales, and a great experience for your subscribers…
… you’re going to need an email platform that’s sophisticated enough to automatically deliver the right messages, to the right people, at the right time.
That’s the most important thing for your sales funnel. Creating a seamless, natural subscriber experience. And making your email delivery feel human and authentic.
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Most mailing list platforms can handle an email sequence BUT some are better than others when it comes to creating a sophisticated sales funnel because…
A sales funnel isn’t just a sequence of emails! You need your sales funnel to interact with your subscriber’s behaviour too.
For example when someone in your funnel buys your offer, you don’t want them to continue receiving your sales funnel for that offer.
When someone in your funnel doesn't buy your offer, it makes sense to continue to nurture them and invite them to buy a different offer that might be better suited for them.
When you’re working with a powerful mailing list provider - you can do all of that on autopilot.
As a sales funnel builder I’ve worked with pretty much all of the big email marketing platforms - Convertkit, Flodesk, ActiveCampaign, Mailerlite, Mailchimp…
And let me tell you this… some email mailing list providers are far better than others. And I definitely have my favourites.
The email marketing platform that’s right for you is going to depend on your needs and your brand, as well as which platform is going to be sophisticated enough for your sales funnel.
Here’s a run through of the email marketing platforms I’m familiar with and share the pros and cons to help you decide which mailing list supplier is best for you and your future sales funnel. Let’s dive in.
CONVERTKIT
Convertkit is a great place for people who want simplicity combined with sophisticated tagging and automations. But falls short when it comes to customization of the opt-in forms and emails.
Pros
Powerful tagging & segmenting
Subject line testing on broadcast emails
Loads of automations and clever rules available which is great for building sales funnels but also for things like automated re-engagement campaigns and course welcome sequences
Relatively simple to use as well as having loads of automation ability.
Advanced stats and insights
You can set up branded email templates
Integrates seamlessly with different platforms. For example when someone buys one of my courses on Thinkific, it automatically adds them to my mailing list and triggers the welcome emails for that course via Convertkit.
Cons
Limited customisation available in the opt-in forms. I tend to use the most basic form and design the rest of the lead pages on my client’s websites.
Editing the look of emails can be tricky. Convertkit is best for simple image and text emails - but I have lots of clients who prefer a no frills approach to email. For them it’s all about the content and the words, not the design.
Convertkit is great if you’re…
Growing your mailing list beyond 1-2k and want to build multiple, sophisticated funnels and automations.
ACTIVECAMPAIGN
ActiveCampaign is the next step up from Convertkit with next level insights, sophisticated, automations and subscriber scoring.
Pros
Loads of tagging and segmentation options
Subscriber scoring ~ great if you want to get super geeky about who your hot and cold leads are, and email them accordingly
Lots of automations and ability to run complex funnels
Most in depth insights and reporting
Cons
Can feel over-engineered and overwhelming for a lot of business owners
Takes some time to learn how to navigate it all
Limited customisation on forms and email design
ActiveCampaign is great if you’re
Growing a BIG mailing list and want to get super geeky with your insights, segmentation and subscriber scoring to send highly personalised campaigns.
FLODESK
It’s all about the lewkkkk with Flodesk. It’s where you can create beautiful emails and opt-in forms. It’s also the easiest email platform to navigate and use too.
Pros
Easy and intuitive to use, and quick to learn
Easily create beautiful emails and opt-in forms - lots of customisation options
Flodesk are constantly working on upgrading the platform
Have a great Facebook community page where you can get your questions answered
Cons
No tagging, which becomes quite frustrating TBH but there are workarounds.
Pretty emails mean lots of images and large file sizes meaning there’s a chance some of your emails will end up in junk
‘Layout’ text is often delivered in emails as an image making it difficult to read on mobile and unaccessible for screen readers (unless you add alt text).
It requires some coding if you want to put multiple opt-in forms on one page (which is essential for your homepage/ lead pages).
Flodesk is great if you’re…
Getting started with email marketing and want an easy to use platform that creates beautiful emails. Also great for designers and other brands where the *look* of your emails is important.
MAILCHIMP
I’ll be honest. Mailchimp is my LEAST favourite mailing list tool because it’s SO clunky and frustrating to use. BUT I’ve built sales funnels for clients with over 60k subscribers plus on Mailchimp ~ and their sales funnels WORK. You can build a working sales funnel on Mailchimp, the process of building it is just frustrating.
Pros
Reallllly struggling here!
Cons
You can only use email sequences on the higher subscription plan
The email builder is soooo clunky and unintuitive
Very limited customization on the look of your emails and I find the editing tool really buggy.
Creating a simple redirect from your opt-in form is a major operation and you can only redirect to one page for an entire audience
You have to create every opt-in form from scratch (it doesn’t save them so you can make tweaks later like every other platform here does).
Mailchimp is great if…
Already on the platform and have got used to using it - and it’s working for you.
MAILERLITE
Cost-effective, simple to use, great for starting out. and you can build a fairly sophisticated sales funnel on the platform for the price point.
Pros
The most cost effective platform here. If you have a list of under 1,000 the platform is free and you can build sales funnels on the free package too (unlike mailchimp)
Simple to use
A good level of customization
Cons
There really aren’t many! The emails and forms aren’t as customisable as they are on Flodesk, but the cost-effectiveness might outweigh that!
Limited insights (but TBH the insights you get are enough for getting started with funnels)
Mailerlite is great if…
Getting started with email marketing and have a list under 1,000 - as you can build a funnel on this platform for free!
OTHER EMAIL MARKETING PLATFORMS
Kajabi
Squarespace campaigns
Hubspot
Awebber
These are platforms I wouldn’t recommend building your sales funnel on. They simply (IMO) don’t have the ability to deliver the right messages, to the right people, at the right time to create that truly human feeling sales funnel.
For me, they all fall into the category of… trying to do two (or more) things… and not doing them all well.
SO there you have it - a run down of the mailing list platforms I rate… and don’t rate…
Ultimately, any of these email platforms can be used to build a working sales funnel.
I have built sales funnels that are delivering sales for clients across all of these email platforms. Which platform is right for you really comes down to your needs.
If you’re a photographer who wants beautiful emails, or someone who just wants something simple to use - go for Flodesk
If you’re someone who loves getting into the data and optimising your marketing - go for Convertkit or ActiveCampaign
If you’re just getting started with email marketing and you want an approachable, easy to use and low-cost option, go for Mailerlite.
Moving to a new email platform
I have zero loyalty to my email marketing platform provider.
It’s got to work for me… So when it doesn’t ~ I export my subscriber list and off I go somewhere else.
Most email marketing tools offer a free trial. So it’s easy to test one out and see how it feels.
What I will say however is that we can often look to the tool as being the answer to more sales, more subscribers, more engagement. It can be the shiny thing that distracts us from, y’know… writing and sending great emails.
If you’re on a platform that’s a good fit - double down on sending regular emails (and building your sales funnel)!
If you need to move platforms, move. Do it! But then also double down on sending regular emails (and building your sales funnel)!
Pssst, Here’s two ways I can help you get your sales funnel built, fired up and delivering easeful sales…
My done-for-you sales funnel build service.
DIY it with my support every step of the way in my group program Freedom Friendly Marketing.
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