Email marketing - whats the best free software to use?

20 replies
Whats the best free software to use to send out bulk emails and create special emails? Thank you all in advance..
#email #free #marketing #software
  • Profile picture of the author Danny Cutts
    Hello,

    Dont use any free services just use aweber!

    The free ones are absolute crap!... I made the same mistake a while back and well I moved to aweber and it is the best thing I have done!

    Aweber is worth its weight in gold!

    Danny
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    • Profile picture of the author MassiveMarketer
      Yes, Danny's right. Don't depend too much on free software. It is sometimes better to spend a little. Aweber & GetResponse are few of the most popular software.
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      • Profile picture of the author EvanScott
        Free software for email marketing is a big no no!! You can try out Aweber for 30 days for $1 and $19 recurring. Its very very cheap. I personally have many lists so I pay more only cause im emailing more peeps.

        You can pay for the year up front or monthly but please do yourself a favor stay away form the free stuff
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        • Profile picture of the author sundrop881
          It may not be free, but it is just a one time fee or price --Phpautoresponder.
          I like it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason_prz
    Mail Chimp isn't free software, however it is an online service and I have been hearing a lot of good things about it. Furthermore what's really cool is if you don't want to feel comfortable paying a monthly fee, you don't until have to. It is free until you a certain amount of people on your list. (I think it is 500 but not sure.)
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    • Profile picture of the author n7 Studios
      Originally Posted by Jason_prz View Post

      Mail Chimp isn't free software, however it is an online service and I have been hearing a lot of good things about it. Furthermore what's really cool is if you don't want to feel comfortable paying a monthly fee, you don't until have to. It is free until you a certain amount of people on your list. (I think it is 500 but not sure.)
      You can have up to 500 subscribers, and send up to 3,000 emails per month (i.e. 6 campaigns to your 500 subscribers). This will include a Mailchimp link on all emails sent, though (i.e. free advertising for them).

      If you have more than 500 subscribers, prices start from $30/month with no sending limits.

      Alternatively, you can use their "pay as you go" service, where you purchase credits which then allow you to send emails.

      It's a good service (I use it myself for smaller sites), but may not be the most cost effective solution over time, as your list increases in subscribers.
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  • Profile picture of the author Big Al
    I'd day the general feeling is ... if you're not prepared to invest in an auto-responder service do you really think are going to succeed and make that money back?

    Probably not -- just do it and go with one of the main paid services.
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    • Profile picture of the author Shaun OReilly
      There is NO best free software to send bulk e-mails.

      This is business.

      In business, cheap can be very, very expensive.

      If you're on a tight budget then consider a $1 trial of
      AWeber.

      Dedicated to your success,

      Shaun
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      .

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  • Profile picture of the author simonjwarner
    Check out Listwire, its free and looks decent,

    Personally I use Getresponse.

    Also Trafficwave has a 30 day free trial.

    I rather stick needles in arms than deal with aweber again.
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  • Profile picture of the author marcdonovan
    Free can be good, but the gospel you see above is why I started charging for my email service (plus I can pay affiliates). I started out donation-based, and that has been a money maker in my other online services, but not for autoresponder/list manager software.

    I did leave the bottom tier free. Under 500 per month is still free.

    Funny, but nobody says why free = junk.

    If you are running your own script, you will need to subscribe to all of the larger feed-back loops, otherwise your deliverability will suffer and you will invariably wind up in the spam folder. Maybe that is where other free services are lacking, don't know.
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    • Profile picture of the author trafficwave
      Originally Posted by marcdonovan View Post

      Funny, but nobody says why free = junk.
      The reasons that come to mind right up front include:

      * The true cost of "Free". Most of the time, this means that other ads are being included with your messages. When you spend the time and money to build your own targeted list, why let someone else advertise to them for free?

      * The true cost of providing autoresponder services. As the company grows, the cost of putting together and maintaining the servers, infrastructure, and logistics of managing hundreds of thousands or millions of subscribers can be quite prohibitive. A "free" service isn't generating the revenues it needs to be able to keep up with the ever changing demands of technology, delivery framework, dealing with ISP's, managing reputations, etc...

      Imagine getting a "free" service to find out that the leads you have worked so hard to generate are now being sent ads by someone else.

      Then imagine that "free" service collapsing under its own weight as it fails to keep up with increasing demand, changing policies, regulatory bodies, and so on.

      Most businesses really don't want to spend time worrying about stuff like that. They'd rather know their AutoResponder service has that end handled so they can focus on generating more revenues.
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      Brian Rooney, CEO
      TrafficWave.net Email Marketing AutoResponders
      Email Marketing Blog

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  • Profile picture of the author ezimedia
    Hi

    I would use aweber.. but they do not accept paypal



    Tom
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  • Profile picture of the author rapidscc
    There are reasons why people would want free, and there are times when it could be appropriate. For example, when just testing the waters.

    So far I've tested several free/trial services.

    1. Email Aces
    2. Mail Chimp
    3. Getresponse
    4. sendfree

    There's also free scripts you can install on your own hosting.

    1. Dadamail
    2. PHPlist - This is what I'm presently looking into.

    One of the things I'm concerned with re: autoresponders is the deliverability rate and the open rate.

    I assume big name autoresponders have higher deliverability rate than sending them from your own domains.

    Still, everything should depend on your testing. If you'll get the same subscribe rate, delivery rate, open rate using a free service against using Aweber or the same services then wouldn't it save you much to stick to free service. However, if you'll earn more using Aweber, then by all means go.

    Again, it should be based on the results, not just based on the opinion of the crowd.

    Best,
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  • Profile picture of the author lawrencejakab
    Banned
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author ScottTrimble
      Use Aweber or GetResponse to send mass emails. A free tool doesn't have, even by far, the same deliverability and open rate as a professional one.
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  • Profile picture of the author brucelee-jkd
    I have checked out Aweber and a few other mail auto-responders but I noticed that there is always a limit to the amount of people you can send to. Do you guys know of any service that does not limit me to the number of recipients?
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  • Profile picture of the author paulie888
    Don't use the free email solutions out there, PERIOD. Once you grow your business and have a sizable mailing list, it'll be a huge headache to import your mailing lists into reputable autoresponders like Aweber and Getresponse, and you'll inevitably end up losing many subscribers.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jon Daniels
    If you want a lower price and terrific option check out Imnica....
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    Seasoned Sales Professional since 1999 sharing my knowledge online. Check out my phone closers cheat sheet.

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