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Email marketing CRMs are sales software offering email marketing functionality for lead nurturing. The best CRMs for email marketing provide core sales pipeline features to manage your sales process as well as features like template emails, mass email sends, ongoing drip sequences, email analytics, list segmentation, and more. To help you find the best platform for your business, we reviewed the top email marketing CRMs to arrive at the best options.
Here are the top seven email marketing CRMs for salespeople and marketers:
Per our evaluation, we found that Zoho CRM offers the best value for salespeople and marketers needing an email marketing CRM, claiming the top spot for customization and integrations and tying in three categories. Continue reading to delve deeper into each option, including its use case, pricing plans, and key features. Otherwise, see our scoring logic below.
Note: All per-user prices are with a one-year commitment unless otherwise noted.
Offers a robust sales CRM with advanced email marketing features and customization.
Price Range: Free to $52 per user, per month (15- to 30-day free trial)
Zoho CRM is a top-rated marketing CRM offering core sales features, email marketing functionality, and custom options. Leverage its standard sales tools, including pipelines, forecasting, and invoicing, as well as its email marketing tools for sending mass emails and AI-powered email insights. Zoho’s campaigns module, offered in all tiers, also helps you plan, execute, and personalize your drip campaigns or track which one brings the most revenue.
Even though Zoho is a leading email marketing CRM, its interface can be hard to use. If you're looking for a more intuitive option offering similar features, check out Pipedrive or Freshsales, which are tied in the ease of use category.
Provides free email marketing capabilities as well as free integration with HubSpot Sales Hub.
Price Range: Free to $3,600 per month
HubSpot Marketing Hub is the marketing platform offered by HubSpot with a free tier as well as premium paid tiers you can upgrade into. Its free option includes email marketing capabilities, and its paid tiers include unlimited email automations, omnichannel marketing, and more dynamic email content personalization powered by HubDB tables. While it doesn't come with a visual pipeline, you can integrate natively with HubSpot's free CRM to supercharge your efforts.
HubSpot Marketing Hub is a great free email marketing solution, but you need HubSpot's CRM to make full use of it. If you'd rather have a native CRM with email marketing capabilities, try Zoho CRM instead.
Helps reps create and manage drip campaigns with email templates and advanced sales tools.
Price Range: Free to $69 per user, per month (21-day free trial)
Freshsales is our top-rated CRM offering a robust yet easy-to-use sales tool with a free version and paid options with advanced sales features. It also includes email marketing capabilities such as template emails, bulk emails, email sequences, and more. Its email marketing templates include advanced template tagging, allowing you to better manage your reusable email templates. It even offers AI-powered tools for advanced features.
Freshsales is a great option, but its email marketing drip capabilities are lacking. If you need an intuitive sales CRM with more robust email marketing functionality, visit Pipedrive.
Allows you to choose an inexpensive add-on to natively integrate email marketing features.
Price Range: $14 to $99 per user, per month (14-day trial)
Pipedrive is an intuitive CRM offering core sales pipeline features as well as an inexpensive email marketing add-on called Campaigns. With this premium email marketing add-on, you can create reusable email marketing templates, segment your email lists, and send automated email drips. From there, track your email performance with robust email analytics in pre-built or customizable reports. Campaigns’ costs range from $13.33 per company, per month.
Pipedrive offers robust a la carte upgrades, but it doesn't come with a free version. If you need a free email marketing CRM option, visit HubSpot Marketing Hub.
Helps you send mass emails with workflow templates, multivariate tests, and segmentation.
Price Range: Free to $350+ per month (30-day free trial)
Mailchimp is an email marketing platform that allows you to send bulk emails via workflows, built-in testing tools, and list segmentation. Easily create targeted mass emails based on various factors, automation, and date-based actions. Also, test out multiple variables to see how small changes in your drip campaigns can impact your engagement. Mailchimp has extensive segmentation tools, so users can customize their bulk messages using more detailed criteria.
Although Mailchimp is a robust platform for sending mass emails, its user interface can be challenging to learn. If you’re looking for an email marketing CRM that’s easier to use, check out Pipedrive or Freshales, which are tied in the ease of use category.
Features a full-service email marketing platform with CRM tools and advanced automation.
Price Range: $29 to $149+ per month (14-day free trial)
ActiveCampaign is email marketing software with a built-in CRM, letting you automate your email marketing campaigns with just a few clicks. Not only does it provide automated follow-ups and notifications, but you can kick off the entire customer relationship with an automated message that’s sent after they visit your site. Because ActiveCampaign is email marketing software first, it provides one of the top solutions available.
ActiveCampaign is robust email marketing software, but its CRM features may be lacking when compared to traditional CRMs. If you need a more robust sales CRM with email marketing features, check out Pipedrive instead.
Provides the best available solution for current Google Workspace users, formerly G Suite.
Price Range: $23 to $99 per user, per month (14-day free trial)
Copper CRM is compatible with many other apps and services but was built specifically for Google Workspace, formerly known as G Suite. It features native integration with apps such as Gmail, Google Docs, Google Drive, and more. Not only that, but Copper CRM even boasts some features that can’t be found in other Workspace integrations, including advanced reports from Google Sheets, analytics from Google Data Studio, and more.
Copper is great for Google Workspace users, but it might not be a good fit for Microsoft or other users. If you need a more widely-applicable email marketing CRM, try Pipedrive.
The below email marketing features are included in the top CRMs for email marketing:
Create reusable email marketing templates using drag-and-drop builders. Many of the top email marketing CRMs also offer pre-built templates you can use as is or customize for your specific needs. Save important templates and tag them for easy management.
Segment your list of leads or prospects based on demographics, psychographics, or online interactions. From there, you can send personalized mass emails or email drips that are tailored to your intended audience. This is especially important for those with multiple customer profiles or buyer personas.
Send mass sales emails for promotions or nurturing. While mass email sends can't be used as automated, ongoing drip sequences, it's a time-saving feature when you need to share the same or similar information with your wide audience.
Email drip sequences automate your email efforts by creating automated email flows that send specific emails over a specified period or when an email subscriber takes a specific action. This email automation is less common than the mass send functionality but still available in many CRMs for email marketing.
Stay on top of your email marketing performance with robust email analytics. This data can include things like email sends, opens, clicks, and more. Review this information using pre-built or custom reports and reporting dashboards.
When evaluating the best CRM software for email marketing, we first identified six weighted scoring categories and then scored every option in each category. We then used the individual category scores to assign each option on our list an overall score out of five, including the identification of primary use cases. Check out our specific scoring criteria below:
Email marketing tools offer email marketing capabilities for nurturing leads as well as integrated standard sales pipeline features. Top platforms provide a wealth of email templates, bulk email sends, custom drip sequences, and advanced campaign analytics. Businesses need email marketing tools to engage leads as they move through the pipeline and also help identify which marketing channels generate the most revenue.
The right CRM email marketing tool should respond to what your business needs, especially when it comes to nurturing your leads, and also fit into the resources you have, including your budget, manpower, and skills. As drip campaigns are part of a company’s marketing strategy, finding an email marketing platform that can easily sync with other channels such as social media, landing pages, and blogs will allow your team to cover critical customer touch points.
A robust email marketing tool should offer the right mix of email features, standard CRM tools, customization options, and tight marketing integrations. When choosing an email marketing platform, look for email builders, mass email features, list segmentation, and advanced tools like campaign analytics and generative AI. Also consider pipeline management and standard reports, plus the customizability and availability of apps for email, social media, and more.
Never underestimate the reach of a strong email marketing campaign. Although they often work best when paired with other strategies, your email campaigns have the potential to reach far more consumers than social media or SMS advertising alone. Since campaigns can be difficult to manage, it’s recommended to find a CRM with built-in email marketing features. If you’re looking for a platform with other marketing features, see our list of the best marketing CRMs.
This article was written by J.R. Johnivan and updated by Kezia Jungco.
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