You know and I know that being a network marketer is a fabulous thing. So, why do they get such a bad rap by so many?
There are many bad corporations out there—does that mean all corporations should be punished? Does the occasional unscrupulous small businesses make you suspect all small businesses? Not at all!
Sure, there are some shady network marketing companies, but most have integrity and should not pay the consequences for the actions of the minority.
One of places this unfairness is seen the most is with email marketing companies. Did you know that many do not allow network marketers to use their platform?
The scary part is that they don’t always make it obvious and you may not find out until it’s too late.
Your email list is one of your most valuable business assets. Can you imagine having it stolen from you and there’s not way to get it back?
This can happen—which is why it’s crucial to be educated so you can choose the best email marketing platform for network marketers.
Six Top Email Marketing Platforms
There are too many email marketing companies out there for me to review them all, so I chose six companies that are popular options for small business owners.
On the surface, they might seem like a good option for a network marketer, too.
Let’s take a look at them…
1. Mailchimp
Mailchimp has evolved from a simple email marketing provider to a fully integrated marketing platform for small businesses. Don’t be fooled by it’s silly interface, this is a powerful tool!
They have four plan options:
(Click to learn more about pricing)
I’ve used Mailchimp for years—both for myself and clients.
I’ll be blunt — if you have anything but the Premium Plan, they have a special way of making you feel like a moocher.
Also, the limitations on the free plan can end up causing major frustration. You’re severely restricted on the number of lists and contacts, you can’t schedule your email blasts, and you have a limit on the number of emails you can send per month.
Many users end up feeling bait and switched because in order to get what seems like a basic capability and any customer service, they have to pay.
That being said, this is a pretty powerful platform. In addition to sending emails, you can take surveys, build a basic website and landing pages, manage your digital ads and social media, and more.
For email blasts, you can use one of their attractive design templates. Moochers have very limited options.
An email marketing platform is only as good as its deliverability—if your emails are landing in your customers’ junk folder, you’re wasting your time and money.
Mailchimp has a solid reputation when it comes to getting your messages to your customers’ inboxes.
Customer service is non-existent with the Free plan and not much better on the paid. In the words of one user — “Customer service is only decent if you pay, and only decent not very good.”
If you’re a network marketer and are feeling like this is a worthy option, I have some bad news for you—they do not allow network marketers to use their service, even if they’re willing to pay!
CONCLUSION: Mailchimp is NOT the best email marketing platform for network marketers!
PROS:
- Numerous marketing features
- A nice library of design templates (paid plans only)
- Rate your subscribers in terms of their level of interaction
- Solid reputation on deliverability
CONS:
- Pricey
- Does NOT allow network marketers
- Takes time to learn it to get started (and not many learning resources)
- Non-existent to poor customer service (unless you pay the big bucks)
REVIEWS:
RELATED | Email Marketing Tips
2. SendInBlue
SendInBlue is another powerful marketing platform that will help you communicate and grow your business through email, SMS, landing pages, ads and more.
They have four plan options:
Their free plan seems better than most—there’s no daily sending limit and no limit on the number of subscribers.
I have not used SendInBlue personally, but have gathered some feedback from reputable review sites.
According to an email I received from Sendinblue’s customer support department, they have specific standards that customers must meet in order to maintain their account, including:
- A minimum of 10 to 12% opening rate
- No more than 1-2% of unsubscription rate
- No more than 2-3% of hard bounce rates
- No more than 0.2% of complaint rates
Trust me, these are tough standards.
Similar to MailChimp, they have attractive design templates and, on the paid plan, you can create landing pages.
Reviews on deliverability are mixed, but they lean toward the positive.
On the positive side, one user says, “We’ve been able to solve deliverability issues and our emails are now landing in inboxes which is great” and another one says, “Best deliverability out of every solution we tested.”
But, another one taketh away—“Your emails will be marked as spam if you don’t buy their dedicated IP.”
Phone and chat support are not available to members on the free plan; your only option is to email them. There is evidence (i.e., many user reviews) that indicate that customer service is pretty poor.
In the words of one user, which was corroborated by several others, they “failed to deliver emails and there was nobody to help for days.”
This is particularly concerning considering that users are also constantly frustrated by glitches and need help from customer service to resolve their issue(s).
While Sendinblue doesn’t specifically exclude network marketers, they indirectly exclude many of them by not allowing any companies promoting weight loss or “get rich quick” schemes.
CONCLUSION: Sendinblue is NOT the best email marketing platform for network marketers!
PROS:
- Good free plan
- Competitive pricing
- Attractive interface
- A library of design templates (most are for paid members)
- Solid reputation on deliverability
CONS:
- Does NOT allow promoters of weight loss companies
- Very strict standards required to maintain an active account
- Poor customer service
- Often delays in sending outgoing messages
REVIEWS:
3. Constant Contact
The first time I ever heard about Constant Contact (many years ago) was when my client left them in a huff because of poor deliverability. Although I saw no complaints of emails going to spam in any of the recent reviews, this first impression has been hard to shake.
Like Mailchimp and SendInBlue, Constant Contact is a fully integrated marketing platform for small businesses. In fact, it’s the most extensive one out of all of the ones I review here and is well suited for all sizes of businesses.
In addition to email marketing, they have a logo maker, website builder, ecommerce solutions, surveys, a social media posting service, image library, and more.
They have two email plan options:
As you can see, there is no free plan, so from the get go, you’ll be paying $20/month to use this platform—more if you want to use all of the other features.
The lack of complaints about customer service in nearly all of the reviews speaks well for their product support.
The reviews scream that this platform has an intuitive, user-friendly interface and superior analytics reporting. There is a solid inventory of email templates and they’re easy to create.
Now, for the bad news—if you’re a network marketer, this is NOT the email marketing platform for you.
First, although they may not come right out and tell you, they do not allow network marketers (and other “suspect” businesses). And, this is what can happen if they figure out that they don’t like you:
“Three days after my first message and 27 days after signup, they suddenly closed my account, stating that my industry was “prone to spam,” wasting the money I paid employees to learn their system. I had specifically told them exactly what industry I was working in a month earlier and they waited until I had already invested a lot of resources into them. They never accused me of actually sending spam.” | Stephen S. of Prohashing.com
CONCLUSION: Constant Contact is NOT the best email marketing platform for network marketers!
PROS:
- So…many…features!
- Ease of use
- Good for small, medium and large businesses
- Lots of email templates
- Superior analytics
CONS:
- Does NOT allow network marketers
- No free version
- A bit pricey
- Very strict with subscriber database
- Difficult to cancel
REVIEWS:
RELATED | Small Business Tips
4. GetReponse
GetResponse is another popular automated marketing platform that enables you to send emails, create conversation funnels and landing pages, offer online webinars, and more.
GetResponse caters to those offering online webinars by offering a webinar platform (to Plus and higher customers) that has flexible scheduling options, a custom webinar URL, and registration system—and a complete funnel system that will help you get attendees.
They have four plan options:
The standout positive aspect of GetResponse reported by users is it’s ease of use—getting an automated series or funnel can be setup and implemented quickly thanks to the drag-and-drop interface.
Although design was reported to be easy, it was also considered pretty basic from a presentation standpoint.
The word on deliverability is also positive. This comment was left by someone who was not pleased with GetResponse overall, which lends to its credibility:
“Great deliverability–GetResponse does a great job of getting your emails to as many people as possible (rather than sending to Spam/Junk, etc.)” | Brock R.
Unlike most other email marketing platforms, GetResponse speaks out about their deliverability:
“At GetResponse we are frequently asked about the quality of our deliverability rate. Because deliverability depends upon numerous elements, including the material of your messages, the deliverability rate might vary for each mailing. For all our consumers collectively, however, we are proud to state our overall deliverability rate currently stands at 99%.” Here’s their support section on this topic: Understanding Deliverability
The word on customer service is primarily positive with some expressing frustration, something that’s tough for even the best of customer service departments to escape.
Here’s a little tour for DIY marketers:
Great news for network marketers! GetResponse does not prohibit them from joining—they just have the following rules:
- Your subscribers must consist of people who have opted in (no purchased or self-added subscribers)
- You must not have a high bounce or complaint rate
- You must abide by their content guidelines as outlined in Item VI of their Terms & Conditions (if they randomly decide your networking marketing company is a “pyramid scheme,” you could be in trouble!)
CONCLUSION: Based on a conversation with a GetResponse sales rep and review of their Terms & Conditions, I’m pretty optimistic about GetReponse for network marketers. It’s at the very top of my list of the best email marketing platform for network marketers.
PROS:
- Good customer service
- Easy to use
- Visual campaign builder
- Good deliverability
- Good for those new to email marketing
CONS:
- Pricey
- Can’t imbed videos in emails
REVIEWS:
5. Rule Your Business
Rule Your Business touts themselves as the “Ultimate System to Help Network Marketer Take their business to the next level” with an “All-In-One Sales & Marketing Platform.”
They have two plan options:
Clearly, this is not an option for a newbie network marketer! (Although they do claim you can save a lot of money by canceling other services you’re paying for because they do it all.)
With Rule Your Business, you have the ability to create landing pages, surveys, forms, calendars, and more.
You can follow up with your leads via SMS, emails, FB Messenger, and voicemail. An automated follow up system and pre-scheduled tasks this aspect of your business.
Sounds dreamy, but I have major concerns:
- The newness of this platform means it’s likely to have some growing pains
- Being a platform primarily for network marketers makes it an easy target for being flagged as a significant source of spam
- There are no reviews to validate any of the claims made on the website
- The website leaves a lot to be desired
It would appear that customer service is excellent, and more personal, as they claim you have access to a trained virtual assistant. If that’s true, that would be great.
As I said above, an email marketing platform is only as good as its deliverability. Again, they don’t have any historical data to go by yet. It’s very likely Gmail, Yahoo, etc., will flag them as a source of spam being that they cater primarily to network marketers.
As a website designer, I am extremely picky about every detail of a website—including overall design, the organizational flow, and the quality and consistency of the content. It pains me to be harsh on a fellow entrepreneur, but I found their website to be painfully unpolished.
Maybe time will tell, but at this point in time, I’m not comfortable recommending this platform.
CONCLUSION: Rule Your Business is NOT the best email marketing platform for network marketers!
PROS:
- Caters to network marketers
- All inclusive services
- Personal service by a trained virtual assistant
CONS:
- Not established enough (no reviews or track record)
- Questionable deliverability
- Very pricey
REVIEWS: None
6. Aweber
Aweber is the email platform I use the most and I’ve been using it for five years now. They tout themselves as a “powerfully-simple email marketing designed to help your small business grow.”
I wholeheartedly agree!
They have two plan options (they recently added a free plan!):
The Pro option price depends on the number of subscribers you have, so it’s affordable for newer businesses with smaller lists and only increases when your email list grows.
True to their mission, Aweber’s interface and features are simple and straightforward. They offer email marketing and landing pages, which for most small pages is enough.
One of their biggest perks is the Smart Designer app. It’s AWESOME!
Simply plug in the url of a website page or social media profile OR post into the app, choose the purpose of the email, and it will pull images and design details from the source and create a custom email template that usually only requires minor tweaking.
They also have design templates with drag and drop capability.
Aweber claims to be an industry leader in deliverability. The client I mentioned who left Constant Contact in a huff over deliverability has been much happier with their results with Aweber—and this is backed by others in the business of email marketing.
Says one, “AWeber provides great email deliverability. Emails get into the inboxes.”
In all of the years I’ve been using them, I’ve gotten excellent customer service. Of course, if you’re on any free plan on any platform, you can’t expect great customer service.
Says one CEO who uses Aweber, “Their customer service is top-notch and unbeatable. Their staff is well trained, courteous, and available when we need them. If we need something off-hours, their help resources and tutorials are easy to follow and almost always cover the problem we are trying to solve. We always feel supported and encouraged to perform at highest standards with AWeber behind us.”
In short, AWeber is an excellent choice for small to medium-size businesses or startups who need a solid email marketing platform to maintain healthy connections with current customers. They aren’t the best option for those with an extremely large subscriber list or a need to send videos or webinars.
Here’s a video about their free starter plan:
AWeber Free: Email marketing for free. No credit card required.
If you’re a network marketer and are feeling like this is a worthy option, IT IS! Aweber does NOT prohibit network marketers.
They protect their reputation and deliverability rates in other ways, including:
- Disallowing certain keywords from being used in emails (they will shut down your account if you use them!)
- Intolerance of high complaint rates as a result of your recipients tagging your messages as spam (they will contact you personally!)
- Do not allow the uploading of purchased email lists
CONCLUSION: Based on my extensive firsthand experience with Aweber, I consider it to be the best email marketing platform for network marketers!
PROS:
- Allows network marketers
- Easy to use and setup
- 30 day free trial and free plan
- Extra simple email design capabilities with Smart Designer
- Drag and drop email and landing page design interface
- Good customer service
- Excellent deliverability
CONS:
- Limited features
- Lacking some analytics features
REVIEWS:
The Best Email Marketing Platform for Network Marketers
Out of the six email marketing platforms I researched and reviewed for this comparison, two were solid options for network marketers.
I’m optimistic about GetResponse, albeit a little cautious because I have yet to use them with one of my network marketing clients. They are an ideal platform for the network marketer who does online webinars and wants a marketing platform that provides a wealth of features that are available as you grow.
My confidence level is higher with Aweber as I’ve been using them for years with a network marketing client and have had zero problems. Therefore, they earn the title of “Best Email Marketing Platform for Network Marketers” from me with the caveat that it’s probably not the right choice for those with a large email list and established business.
I encourage you to take the time to check out BOTH of these awesome email marketing companies!
And, here are some super helpful email marketing stats to check out because the more you know, the greater your success! Essential Email Marketing Statistics You Need to Know in 2022
If you’re a network marketer who needs some help with email marketing, shoot me a message and let’s chat!
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