Email marketing is one of the cost effective and high ROI marketing channels. Pricing email marketing services when there are so many options can be difficult, especially with so many platforms, services and support levels available. It all depends on your size of email list and how complex your campaigns are and what your marketing goals are.
If you want to break down email marketing pricing further and your understanding of how costs effect email marketing, this comprehensive guide is for you. At the end of this article, you will know exactly what to expect with email marketing costs and you will be able to decide.
How is Email Marketing Pricing Affected?
The cost of email marketing services is influenced by many factors. Let’s explore the most critical elements to consider:
1. Size of Your Email List
Most of the time, your cost in email marketing is driven by your number of subscribers in your email list. Many email marketing platforms have a fee per contact, or per subscriber.
- Small Lists (up to 1,000 subscribers): The plans usually start from $10 to $30 per month.
- Medium Lists (1,000 to 10,000 subscribers): Costs should run about $30 to $100 per month.
- Large Lists (10,000+ subscribers):For lists greater than $1,000 users, the price ranges from $100 – $500+ per month based on the platform.**
If you have lists that have many subscribers, then you’ll need more bandwidth and server resources, which will increase your costs.
2. Frequency of Emails Sent
Email marketing costs also depend on how often you send emails. Some email service providers (ESPs) charge you based on the amount of emails you send each month. For instance:
And perhaps basic plans have some sort of limit on how many emails you can send every month (say, 10,000 emails).
Premium plans have no sending limits, and are typically the best option for business users running highly frequent campaigns.
Businesses that use the email for marketing need to pay more for those companies that need to send them daily or more than once a week and less than that.
3. Types of Email Campaigns
Different email campaigns require varying levels of complexity, which can affect the price:
Often basic newsletters and promotional emails are cheap.
The more common ways in which automations are done require more effort, so automated drip campaigns or complex workflows with several steps usually cost more.
Depending on how much you need, you may pay for Transactional emails (such as purchase confirmations or password resets) as well.
**4. *Additional features and services*
Many email marketing platforms offer a range of add-on services, which can significantly increase costs:
- Advanced segmentation and personalization: Open rates improve for emails targeted to specific audiences but it typically means paying extra.
- A/B testing: However, A/B testing of your campaigns has an additional cost from some platforms.
- Analytics and reporting: Basic analytics might be included, deeper insights come at a higher tier.
- Customer support: Most platforms charge a premium if they provide 24/7 support or offer a dedicated account manager.
**5. *Other Tool Integrations*
Additional cost incurred from having to integrate with other marketing tools and platforms can serve as part of your total cost of your email marketing services. However, if you’re trying to sync your email marketing tool with CRM systems or e-commerce platforms, or more analytics tools, you might need to go with the more advanced plans or pay for custom integration.
**6. *Custom Design and Copy Writing*
Outsourcing these services also comes at an extra cost, but if you don’t have in house designers or copy writers these services aren’t just an added expense but are also required. High quality emails use custom templates, branded designs and professionally written copy, but that comes at a price.
- Email design: If you bring in freelancers or agencies, you could get charged anywhere from $100 to $1,000 per email design based on complexity.
- Copywriting: The range for professional email copywriting services is $50 – $500 per email for professional content that speaks to your audience.
Email Marketing Price Models
Email marketing services typically follow one of these pricing models:
1. Pay-as-You-Go Pricing
With pay-as-you-go, you are billed by the number of emails that you send or your subscriber database size. If you need email from time to time and never know how often, this model is great for your business–you can purchase credits and use them as needed.
If you’re sending emails regularly, though, this can be more expensive than monthly subscriptions.
2. Subscription-Based Pricing
**Most email marketing platforms provide **subscribed monthly or annually, and the package prices vary depending on the size of your email list and the available features. The most common model is subscription pricing, because it supplies predictable, recurring costs.
Subscription tiers may include:
- Basic: Smaller list, fewer sends per month.
Lesser features. - Professional: Better customer support, more features like automation, and A/B testing.
- Enterprise: High support and advanced features in the custom plan for large businesses.
**3. Full Service Email Marketing Agencies **
A full service agency can also be useful for businesses that want to work with someone completely – such as completely outsource email marketing. From strategy, design, copywriting, list management, and reporting, everything is handled by agencies.
Agency fees vary widely:
- As small to mid-size businesses, you can expect to pay $500 to $5,000 per month.
**For large enterprises with complicated needs, the price tops out at *$10,000 to $50,000+ per month*.
While more costly, this option does bring expertise and does save time, which is particularly important, as your internal team can now focus on other priorities.
Email Marketing Costs Comparison
Below is a breakdown of popular email marketing platforms and their approximate costs:
- Mailchimp: Beginning at $11 per month for up to 500 subscribers. It offers free plan with limited features.
- Constant Contact: At $9.99/month, but plans with more advanced capabilities are available for larger business sized lists.
- Sendinblue: Pricing at which it is offered is $25/month with 10,000 @$ emails.
- GetResponse: It gets $15 per month plans with a complete suite of tools.
- ActiveCampaign: Focusing on advanced automation features, **it begins at *$29 per month*.
It’s only after weighing your needs specifically — such as size of your audience, desired features, and budget — that you find the right platform for your business.
Choosing the Right Email Marketing Plan
When evaluating email marketing pricing, consider the following:
- Your budget: Your email spends will vary from month to month, so figure out how much you can spend realistic from month to month on email marketing.
- Your goals: What are you trying to drive conversions for, improving customer retention, or generating new leads?
- Your audience size: See how rapidly your subscriber list is growing, and pick a plan that can grow with it.
- Feature requirements: Do you require automation, segmentation, advanced reporting, or can you do with something simpler?
Balancing all of the factors listed above will aid in helping you choose the most cost effective option for your email marketing endeavors.
Conclusion
Though email marketing hasn’t changed much in 2016, though email marketing is still one of the most potent and cheapest go-to marketing avenues, knowing how those two things interplay to affect its cost is crucial to determine whether it’s the best bang for your buck. When evaluating your business’s specific needs, subscriber size and desired campaign goals you will know how to budget for email marketing. It doesn’t matter if your business is using a pay as you go model, a monthly subscription, or a full service agency, what truly matters is that you choose a pricing structure that supports your business goals.