When it comes to email marketing, CRM and automation play a crucial role. Marketers who excel at automating tasks achieve high productivity and Return On Investment (ROI). Email marketing coupled with CRM provides numerous advantages. Selecting the best CRM for email marketing is key to lots of opportunities.6+
Today, we explore CRM tools with email marketing capabilities. While many CRM platforms offer email marketing functions, the array of choices can be overwhelming. To simplify, we have curated a list of the best CRM for email marketing for you. Let’s kick off with brief definitions of email automation and CRM email marketing.
What is email automation?
Email automation involves sending emails based on timing or specific actions. Whether you aim to nurture leads, share blog updates, or send personalized birthday wishes, email automation ensures your campaign remains relevant and effective.
Note that email automation is different from email blasts or broadcast messages that are sent to subscribers manually. An automated email is triggered by a specific action taken by the subscriber. Email automation helps you to stay connected to your subscribers and increase engagement by delivering timely responses.
Email automation examples include a welcome email or an abandoned cart email, streamlining repetitive tasks. Once set up, email automation operates smoothly, with minimal effort required to keep it running.
Let’s explore 6 statistics demonstrating the impact of email automation:
- Automated emails boast 70.5% higher open rates compared to generic emails.
- Companies utilizing email automation software are twice as effective in lead generation as those relying solely on blast email software.
- Sending automated outreach and follow-up emails can boost reply rates by 250%.
- Nurturing leads with automated emails can increase revenue by 10% or more.
- Personalized automated email messages achieve 46% higher open rates than traditional marketing messages.
- 55% of e-commerce marketers employ software for email marketing automation. (Emailmonday)
So, email automation is effective, but how does CRM fit into the picture?
What is CRM email marketing?
CRM serves as a savvy approach to handling a company’s connections with potential leads and loyal customers. By leveraging CRM software, businesses can streamline sales and marketing operations effectively.
In the realm of CRM email marketing, the fusion of customer relationship management software and email marketing elevates personalization and fosters direct interaction with clients. This strategy emphasizes the individual recipient rather than a broad audience.
Through CRM email marketing, companies can craft tailored messages, grasp customer buying patterns, and even predict future purchases.
CRM software is crafted to empower businesses in nurturing robust customer relationships. It acts as a hub for storing customer data, monitoring engagements, and overseeing touchpoints throughout the customer voyage. This comprehensive insight equips businesses to comprehend their customers profoundly and fine-tune marketing tactics accordingly. Isn’t that pretty neat?
What is the best CRM for email marketing?
Here’s our list of the best CRM for email marketing:
- Brevo – the most affordable email software with CRM
- Active Campaign – the best small business marketing automation CRM
- Benchmark Email – the most accessible email marketing tool with built-in CRM to get started with.
- Keap – the best email CRM for advanced automation
- Engagebay – the best email CRM for tracking and analytics
- Hubspot – the best CRM software with a full platform of apps
- Freshworks – the best CRM for managing buyers’ journey
- Pipedrive – the best easy-to-use CRM with email marketing
- Zoho CRM – the best CRM for medium-sized businesses
- Salesforce – the best for scaling businesses
- Thryv – the best CRM with email marketing and invoicing
- Netsuite – the best enterprise CRM with marketing automation
- Monday.com – the best CRM with email marketing and project management
Explore the top 13 email marketing software options that come with integrated CRM features in-depth.
1. Brevo
Brevo empowers businesses to strengthen connections via email initiatives, including campaigns, transactional emails, and advanced automation capabilities. Its features include tailored workflows, streamlined contact list management, and personalized email delivery based on user interactions.
Moreover, Brevo facilitates automatic campaign resending to recipients who haven’t opened emails and incorporates functions like send-time optimization to enhance email open rates. Offering over 40 email templates and 8 automation blueprints, Brevo simplifies workflow optimization to drive successful email marketing strategies.
Brevo offers a streamlined contact list management feature that allows businesses to easily segment and target their audience and conduct more effective email campaigns. With the ability to create custom workflows, businesses can cater to different types of customers, increasing engagement and conversions.
Brevo not only provides advanced automation capabilities but also includes comprehensive analytics and reporting functions. This empowers businesses to monitor the effectiveness of their email campaigns and base future strategies on data analysis. Using Brevo, businesses can delve into open rates, click-through rates, conversions, and other valuable metrics. All these features get it to the top of the best CRM for email marketing list.
2. ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign serves as a comprehensive marketing automation platform with an integrated CRM system that can enhance your email marketing campaigns, contact management, and post-sale processes efficiently.
With a vast user base of over 150,000 businesses worldwide, ActiveCampaign stands out due to its intelligent features. The platform seamlessly combines email and messaging with marketing automation alongside a CRM system that includes sales automation. It excels in tracking activities across various marketing channels, enabling the creation of multichannel marketing workflows and automated follow-up sequences.
ActiveCampaign’s integration with more than 870 apps, ranging from analytics to accounting tools like Shopify, Unbounce, Thinkific, Jotform, and Pipedrive, provides extensive functionality.
Personalize email content for each contact using conditional content, adapting images and text blocks based on the contact’s website interactions. For instance, tailor sales promos to display products that subscribers have previously engaged with.
One common challenge faced by users of marketing automation platforms is the complexity of visual automation campaign builders. ActiveCampaign addresses this by offering an intuitive drag-and-drop flowchart tool for creating automation workflows. Additionally, the platform supports split testing for subject lines and email content optimization.
3. Benchmark Email
Benchmark Email is an easy-to-use email marketing platform featuring a streamlined CRM. Its intuitive drag-and-drop email editor, ready-made templates, forms, landing pages, and automation features set it apart and made it one of the best CRM for email marketing. The tool’s simplicity and superb customer service make it a premier option.
Seamless integration with over 1500 business tools like LiveChat, Stripo, Shopify, and WooCommerce. The WordPress plugin simplifies form integration on websites. By using triggers, Benchmark Email can automate email sequences, like sending welcome emails to new subscribers.
A user can effortlessly convert subscribers into customers with various available templates of Benchmark Email, one of the best CRM for email marketing. The tool offers a lightweight system with detailed contact profiles displaying email engagement data. Key features include A/B testing, contact list management, real-time reports, polls, surveys, and social media connectivity.
4. Keap (Infusionsoft)
Keap (formerly Infusionsoft) is a comprehensive CRM platform known for its robust automation features. It covers SMS, email, landing pages, and payments. With over 20 years in the industry and 200,000+ customers, Keap excels at keeping customer data organized, a feature highly appreciated by most users.
Enhance lead generation and conversion through funnel design, segment creation, and automated marketing campaigns. Keap is particularly effective for bottom-of-the-funnel tasks. Opt for customizable email templates to speed up payment processes. A standout feature of Keap is its ability to centralize all customer data in one dashboard.
Experience a robust suite of sales and marketing automation tools with Keap. These tools streamline tasks, saving time through reminders, drip email sequences, and post-purchase follow-ups.
What sets Keap apart is the option to personalize messages using segmentation and automation conditions. Additionally, it benefits from a robust reporting and analytics dashboard presenting various insights on sales, marketing, lead generation, and revenue. Visualize data for informed decision-making and operational efficiency.
5. Engagebay
Engagebay works as an all-in-one business hub, offering several vital tools like CRM, marketing automation, helpdesk, and live chat features. You can go for the complete package or pick specific functions as per your business needs. So, let’s check out its CRM and marketing automation powers.
Founded in 2018, Engagebay has attracted over 12,000 users. This comprehensive platform streamlines tasks by integrating marketing, sales, and support functions. Additionally, it provides a range of extra benefits. Transitioning from other tools is effortless, thanks to its intuitive interface.
Engagebay’s free CRM involves workflow automation, targeted marketing, email templates, pipeline visualization, and data entry automation. Upgrading to a premium plan grants access to extra features like multi-currency support, sales automation, contact management, and customized reports. Handling contact details and making decisions based on data becomes more accessible.
Utilizing Engagebay’s marketing automation allows you to streamline tasks, emails, workflows, lead generation, and lead nurturing. Creating automation workflows is straightforward with the drag-and-drop builder. The platform also provides predictive lead scoring and intelligent customer segmentation to boost your marketing strategies.
6. Hubspot
HubSpot serves as a comprehensive CRM platform that merges marketing automation, CMS, and sales functions, negating reliance on external tools. Yet, expanding email lists and requirements can escalate costs, prompting users to explore alternative solutions. This factor should factor into your decision-making process.
Employing HubSpot’s marketing automation facilitates the creation of seamless workflows. Leveraging email drip campaigns automates prospect guidance through the marketing and sales journey.
Besides, HubSpot streamlines various tasks through workflow templates, simplifying bulk data management, email dispatching, task assignment, lead scoring, and more. The platform also furnishes in-depth analytics for monitoring and producing exhaustive reports on marketing channels and customer segments.
HubSpot’s marketing automation feature proves invaluable for businesses of all scales. It aids in streamlining marketing endeavours, saving time and resources while enhancing campaign effectiveness.
Nonetheless, like any software, it may possess limitations or lack features tailored to your needs. Hence, exploring HubSpot alternatives can prove advantageous.
7. Freshworks
Freshworks is a cloud-based software for multiple business functions. The platform Freshworks offers as a CRM platform is called Freshsales. Freshworks was founded and started serving clients in 2010 and now it serves 50,000 plus customers worldwide.
This might not be the best CRM for email marketing for all businesses, Freshsales is a popular sales force automation platform, particularly for medium-sized businesses. Its primary value is its ease of use and price.
The CRM is customizable to fit your business and the buying journey of your customers. Set up custom lifecycle stages and build email automation to nurture leads automatically. Freshsales is a good choice for international sales teams because it supports 10 languages and 150+ currencies.
Automation features include workflows, sales sequences, task management, and auto-assignment rules. With these, you’ll automatically assign leads to the right salesperson, get task and appointment reminders, and close deals quickly.
8. Pipedrive
Pipedrive is different from other platforms for its user-friendly and robust sales CRM tool. It empowers businesses to create winning strategies for sales campaigns, keep the customer engaged through email marketing, track sales performance, forecast sales, and generate insightful reports. It also enhances operational efficiency by automating repetitive tasks with workflows, reducing manual effort.
Campaigns by Pipedrive is their email marketing software, which is just as straightforward and user-friendly as their CRM. Design templates effortlessly using the drag-and-drop editor and send campaigns seamlessly. They offer 40+ professionally designed templates, along with segmentation and analytics features. It integrates smoothly with the CRM.
With over 250 integrations for landing page builders, marketing platforms, email marketing tools, scheduling apps, and lead generation software, Pipedrive ensures versatility. The intuitive interface facilitates easy onboarding. Being recognized as the top CRM for small businesses in 2022 is another achievement for them.
If we consider user-friendliness, this is the best CRM for email marketing as it offers a multilingual feature, available in 19 languages. Salespeople can access mobile apps on iOS and Android. The app includes caller ID, call tracking, search, and organization tools.
9. Zoho CRM
Zoho CRM, tailored for small to mid-sized businesses, excels in email marketing. It serves as an ideal solution for lead management, workflow automation, and marketing automation. With 250,000 customers in 180 countries and available in 28 languages, Zoho is a global CRM leader.
You’ll find tracking and closing deals with Zoho’s sales automation features easy. Starting from the top of the funnel, use Zoho to capture leads and score leads. Then, set up automation to send lead nurturing emails and keep track of lead engagement with analytics. With deal management features, track what stage of the buyer’s journey customers are in and have your sales reps reach out.
You’ll also find helpful features like customer segmentation to target customers with precise and targeted campaigns. The best part is that with Google Ads integration, you can even compare sales against your campaigns to check which ones are working and which ones need to be improved.
10. Salesforce
Salesforce stands tall as a major player in CRM software, providing a comprehensive product suite spanning sales, marketing, customer service, and e-commerce. Its expertise in applying AI and data analytics to business operations sets it apart.
This is very much on show in Salesforce’s marketing software. Its Marketing Cloud suite combines customer data management, analytics, AI, and automation. It’s great for integrating marketing campaigns across different channels. You get a single place to keep all data. And the data and AI tools help with decision-making, personalization, and automation.
This includes email campaigns. Email marketing is part of what Salesforce calls its ‘engagement marketing’ offer. Again, it’s all about managing customer communications across different channels. And letting automation do the heavy lifting.
Specific email tools include building options with templates for transactional and promotional emails. And you can use AI to personalize emails with dynamic content. Salesforce also takes care of managing the sender’s reputation. This is important as your campaigns go out to bigger audiences.
Salesforce’s core user base is enterprise-level companies and professional agencies. It does offer a small business plan. This covers marketing, sales, and service CRM tools. Email marketing is the focus of the marketing features. However, it lacks the advanced automation tools of higher plans.
One of the great things about Salesforce Marketing Cloud is how it brings all your customer data together seamlessly. This gives you a complete picture of your customer’s journey, helping you tailor experiences and run targeted campaigns.
11. Thryv
Thryv is a feature-packed small business software platform. Its products cover communications, CRM, payments, invoicing, and marketing.
One of the big attractions of Thryv is how much you can do in one place. For small business owners, this saves time and money. The same principle applies to its marketing features. It leans heavily towards online advertising. But you can also run email marketing, SMS and social media campaigns. There’s a landing page builder with templates and tools for managing your online business listings and reviews.
Automation plays a key role across all marketing tools. You can schedule sequences of emails and SMS messages. Or you can trigger sending based on the actions of contacts. Automations are easy to build and edit as you go along. There are 5 workflow templates you can customize. These include welcome sequences, messages for lapsed customers, and thank you messages.
Numerous email templates are available for selection, along with templates for SMS and social media posts. While the email templates are simple, they allow for image integration. Thryv campaigns are easily customizable, catering to the preferences of business professionals. Additionally, Thryv offers a sleek, user-friendly mobile app for those who prefer working on the go.
If you want more email marketing tools, you can connect your Thryv account to Constant Contact or Mailchimp.
12. Netsuite
Netsuite is an absolute giant in the business software world. It covers just about every type of software you can think of CRM, ERP, accounting, HR, and eCommerce.
Netsuite’s CRM is an excellent option for joining up marketing, sales and customer service. Automation tools are there for all points of customer contact, right from capturing a new lead. Sales funnels and marketing campaigns operate side by side. This means campaigns support sales goals. And sales activity focuses on the best marketing leads.
Marketing automation covers email, social media, events and more. Automation and analytics are Netsuite’s biggest strengths making it one of the best CRM for email marketing. Tracking tools capture lead and customer data and feed it into automated segmentation and sending.
Tracking also allows for accurate attribution. If an email leads to a click-through that leads to a sale, that data is captured. It means you can calculate ROI on email campaigns. And also set benchmark targets based on sales goals.
One downside of Netsuite is that it doesn’t have any built-in options for creating HTML emails. If you want to send a newsletter, you have to design it in an HTML email template editor. And then import it as a template. Netsuite also supports integrations with some of the best email newsletter software, like Omnisend, Mailchimp, and Constant Contact.
13. Monday.com
Monday.com is a workflow management platform. It provides shared digital workspaces or ‘boards’ that let teams plan and manage tasks visually. There are hundreds of pre-formatted boards for different tasks. They are split into categories for work and project management, CRM & IT development.
Boards can be used for tracking task progress, creating automation, and as collaboration spaces. Communication tools have long been included in the CRM boards. But email marketing is a recent addition.
The existing email options in the Email & Activities app now include mass email sending. This app is available on higher tiers of the sales CRM product only. Not marketing CRM. You can access the tools on any sales CRM board with an email column.
While this means you can send email campaigns straight from a Monday board, the options are basic. There are only very simple text-based templates. You also have to manually select contacts to send to. So it’s not great for sending to very large numbers of recipients.
Monday.com Mailchimp integration for email marketing enables more advanced. featuresMonday.com has a direct plug-in for Mailchimp. This allows you to manage Mailchimp campaigns from any monday.com CRM board.
