Top Email Marketing Tools for Automated Campaigns

On an ever-evolving digital landscape email remains one of the most effective ways to create leads, build customer relationships, and generate sales. While both AI chatbots and social media grown in popularity, nothing has matched the dependability and return on investment of email marketing.

As a result of many industry benchmarks, the average ROI for email marketing is $36 for every dollar invested. Additionally, the true value is found when companies utilize automated email campaigns. This way, companies can deliver targeted content to their customers at the perfect moment, without requiring a lot of daily management.

In this piece, we are going to discuss some of the best tools for automating your email marketing as well as help you decide which tool is the best fit for your business.

Why Email Automation Matters More Than Ever

Automated Email Campaigns are Labour Intense & Unreliable: Automating your email marketing makes it easy for companies to develop workflows that react to customer behaviour, saving you hours of time that would be spent developing individual eBlasts.

• When automated, your email marketing allows you to
• Send "Welcome" e-mails immediately upon signing up
• Send Follow-up e-mails based on Clicks/Purchases
• Automatically Recover Abandoned Shopping Carts
• Automatically sort Customers into Segments without manual intervention
• Maintain a consistent level of contact with Customers on a large scale.

Data shows that automated e-mails have more than 300% higher open rates than traditional bulk e-mails. This data alone indicates why more companies are moving towards automation-first email platforms.

What to Look for in an Email Marketing Automation Tool

When you are choosing a tool, you need to consider the features that are important for your needs.

The Key features to look for in a tool include:

• Automation Workflows (Visual or Rule-Based)
• Segmentation of Your Audience Based on Their Behavior or Demographics
• Email Templates That Are Easy to Customize
• Analytics and Reporting on Open Rates, CTR's, and Conversions
• Integration Support with CRM, Ecommerce, Websites
• Deliverability Reputation (ie. emails going to the inbox, not..., spam)

Every business does not fit into the same tools or have the same type of tools available, therefore making sure your desired tools match with your overall goals is imperative.

Top Email Marketing Tools for Automated Campaigns

Below are some of the most trusted and widely used tools, each with its own strengths.

1. Mailchimp – Best for Beginners and Small Businesses

Mailchimp is a common choice for new businesses to start with email marketing. This is due to Mailchimp's easy-to-use automation and good analytical capabilities along with its visual design and layout.

Here are some advantages to using Mailchimp:

• Pre-built automation journeys (e.g., welcome email series, reminders for products).
• Has a drag-and-drop email builder.
• Ability to tag and segment audience.
• High deliverability rates with standard campaigns.

Mailchimp states that when it comes to automation welcome emails average open rates are up to 52% higher than those of standard newsletter emails.

Best suited for: Small businesses, startups, creatives, etc.

2. ActiveCampaign – Best for Advanced Automation

ActiveCampaign is a product that focuses on both customer segmentation and automated communication. It is an excellent option for companies that rely on behavior-driven marketing and communication across their brand.

Here are some advantages to using ActiveCampaign:

• Visual automation builder allows for complex automation conditions
• CRM connection for fast follow-up and tracking
• Scoring leads and tracking their behaviors
• Ability to create dynamic and personalized emails from your content blocks

According to research, companies using automated workflows for their email promotions experience 15% to 25% more productive sales conversions than those sending static email marketing communications.

Best suited for: Companies looking to grow, Software as a service (SaaS) companies, Sat/year Agencies.

3. HubSpot Email Marketing – Best for CRM-Driven Campaigns

HubSpot is a single platform for Email Marketing, CRM, Sales and Customer Service; basically all of your software needs in one location.

HubSpot has the following features which make it very powerful:

• Provides the ability to track contacts on the Email, Form and Website level.
• Automate Workflow based on Life Cycles within CRM.
• Offer a powerful revenue based analytics platform.
• Personalize Emails based on CRM data.

According to data from HubSpot, personalized emails have an increased 14% Click Rate when compared to non-personalized emails.

Best suited for: B2B companies, Service Providers & Sales Oriented Industries.

4. Klaviyo – Best for Ecommerce Automation

Klaviyo is an eCommerce-centric solution that specializes in revenue-centric automation for eCommerce businesses.

Key Features of Klaviyo:

• Integration of abandoned carts and website browsing behavior to drive commerce
• Segmentation based on purchasing behavior
• Personalized content on a per-product basis
• Tracking of revenue generated in real-time from email correspondence

ECommerce companies using automation workflows such as abandoned cart emails report recovering between 10 — 15% of sales they otherwise would have lost.

Best suited for: ECommerce retailers, direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands, and subscription services.

5. ConvertKit – Best for Creators and Content-Driven Brands

ConvertKit focuses on simplicity while still offering powerful automation features. It’s especially popular among bloggers, educators, and creators.

Why creators love it:

• Simple visual automation builder
• Tag-based subscriber system
• Easy content upgrades and lead magnets
• Clean email design focused on readability

Segmented creator emails can generate over 60% of total email revenue despite going to smaller audiences.

Best for: Bloggers, YouTubers, educators, and personal brands.

How Automation Improves Engagement and Sales

The main advantage of using automation to streamline your business processes is that it helps your overall performance, not just saves you time.

Increased Rates of Engagement with Automated Campaigns:

• Automated campaigns send emails to potential customers at periods of peak interest, resulting in higher open rates.
• Automated campaigns provide more relevant content to potential customers by personalising the email content, leading to improved engagement.
• Automated campaigns follow-up on every lead, preventing any leads from becoming lost.
• Automated Campaigns facilitate Scalable Growth 24/7 without requiring any manual intervention.

Research indicates that segmented automated campaigns produce more than 50% of the total revenue generated through email, however, compared to all other emails sent via email marketing, they send approximately 20% of the total sent emails.

Common Automation Workflows Every Business Should Use

If you’re just starting, begin with these proven workflow:

• Welcome Email Series
• Lead Nurture Sequence
• Abandoned Cart Emails
• Re-engagement Campaigns
• Post-Purchase Follow-Ups

Even implementing just one or two of these can significantly improve results.

Email Automation is No Longer Optional; It's Mandatory! With growing competition for users' inboxes, only relevant, timely, and personalized email will capture your customer's attention.

The right solution for you will be based primarily on your specific business model:

• If you need basic campaigns - use Mailchimp.
• If you have complex automation needs - use ActiveCampaign.
• If your business depends on growing via a CRM - use HubSpot.
• If you are selling products online - use Klaviyo.
• If your brand focuses on producing and distributing content - use ConvertKit.

Starting with small test workflows and improving based on data are the most important steps to take. While you set up automated campaigns, they will continue to build relationships and generate revenue for you without actively running.

When executed properly, email automation creates a sense of conversation rather than feeling like a marketing campaign.