Email marketing is perhaps the single most important tool that farmers and local food businesses have for connecting with customers and growing sales. These platforms offer cost-effective features that are useful for every business, like:
Enhancing customer engagement
Streamline communication
Tracking and analyzing customer behavior
And boost sales!Â
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When considering options it is important for business owners to consider:
Their near-term and long-term goals
Frequency of emails sent (e.g. sending a newsletter once a month vs sending weekly promotional emails)
Sophistication of features needed (e.g. sending simple emails vs using workflows to automate tasks for each customer segment)
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Many e-commerce platforms (e.g. Square, Shopify, etc.) are starting to build native email marketing tools into their own technology stack. Before you decide for an email service provider, check if your e-commerce platform includes email marketing features in your plan.
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If you don’t have an e-commerce platform, you can build your own email list with the following email marketing tools. There are hundreds of options available! For this resource, we selected 5 platforms that are affordable, well-known, and integrate with many other different software platforms that you may use already. We have summarized the pros and cons of different email service providers with the goal of giving business owners a clear starting point for picking the right one. If you’re not already using email marketing, pick a free plan and get started!
Comparison of Email Service Providers
Original Author Todd Jones, CAFFÂ
Design Liv Froelich, FairShare CSA Coalition.
Updated by CAFF Tech Hub in 2024
Most platforms bill their customers based on the number of contacts they have saved, but a few bill based on emails sent. This pricing table assumes that the business will send one email per month to their whole list of contacts. Â
Summary of options are provided below and the resource is available to download here.Â
Don’t feel like reading? Watch this 10 minute video with our comparison among these email service providers.
PROS
Mailchimp may sound familiar because they’re an industry leader used by millions. Their free plan provides users with basic email marketing features such as email creation and scheduling. What makes this a great email marketing tool is its smart recommendations feature, which provides you with valuable audience insights to optimize your marketing efforts.
CONS
Mailchimp is definitely a product designed for beginners. Campaign tracking is limited and somewhat difficult. For anyone wanting to lean into list segmentation and customer journey mapping, even the paid plans are likely to feel a bit limited.
PROS
MailerLite offers all of the essentials with none of the fat. It’s a great option for anyone who wants a straightforward email marketing service. You’re a creator who doesn’t need a ton of bells and whistles, you just need the tools to start your newsletter or send emails. The platform still offers tools for automation, landing pages, pop-ups, and surveys, so new users have room to grow. Plus, they have a generous free plan, too.
CONS
Right now, users can only build automations around the different segments available (first-time customers, repeat customers, etc.) and product purchases. It lacks automations for more advanced triggers such as when they visit a page on your website. The integration process is slightly more involved than with other tools, although it’s not overly complicated
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PROS
Klaviyo is marketing software for e-commerce, which makes it a great match for Shopify shop owners. The integration with Shopify is quick and easy to set up. They have some attractive, modern-looking email templates that work with dynamic blocks, so business owners can determine what customers see based on their data. A/B testing is also available. Their selection of pre-built workflows is extensive, covering everything from welcome and abandoned cart emails to post-purchase followup and winback emails. Users can also set them up from scratch.
CONS
At $100 for 5,000 contacts, it’s one of the more expensive providers on this list, and in light of the cost, the customer support could be better. There is definitely a steep learning curve so advanced functionality may be harder for beginners to leverage.
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PROS
It is an easy to use platform with excellent tools to create beautiful and highly engaging emails. Their simple drag and drop email editor is well-suited for beginners with no experience in email marketing. Brevo includes beginner-friendly marketing automation tools that allow you to send transactional emails, create workflows for automatic follow-up emails, and segment users. It can also select the best time to send bulk emails using their AI algorithms to ensure the best email deliverability.
CONS
To be able to use advanced features like dynamic content and lists, you need to generate a bit of code, which may take a bit of practice to get used to. Additionally, advanced template creation is a separate service and cost, unfortunately, and initial account setup can be tedious.
PROS
The entry level plan will do the trick for any business that wants basic, professional-looking emails. However, the “Email Plus” plan comes with more advanced features like subject line A/B testing, dynamic content, and automated behavioral campaigns that will help deliver stronger results for those who go the extra length to use them. Additionally, Constant Contact offers a wide range of third-party integrations along with social marketing for posting ads, scheduling content and tracking performance.
CONS
The email templates don’t offer much flexibility and the photo manager feature is out-of-date and clunky, which may become a perpetual annoyance since every email is likely to have at least one image. Also, the pricing for even the lowest tier will add up once a business has thousands of contacts. Their website states that list sizes over 10,000 contacts are automatically upgraded to their “Email Plus” plan.
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When you’re ready to start using email marketing, make sure to check our article “Use email marketing to grow your farm business” to get started!
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About the Small Farm Tech Hub
CAFF’s Small Farm Tech Hub provides free support & resources to small scale farmers, food hubs, and farmers markets operating out of California. Support services include identifying ways to leverage web-based technologies such as e-commerce, social media, online marketing, and more.
Do you want to request a one-on-one consultation with us? Fill out our support form at caff.org/techsupport or email techhub@caff.org with your questions.
