Best software/tool to start a newsletter?
My experience with email marketing has been with tools like Mailchimp, Convertkit, and the rest.
I would like to start a newsletter and I'm wondering if Substack would be a better option if I'm starting from 0 or would the regular email software do the trick?
It's really hard to tell the best.
They're all great on their own terms, I have tried a lot of email service providers. I'd give a little bonus to MailerLite, Email Octopus and SendFox.
These tools are good enough for newsletters, analytics, and drip campaigns.
Yeah, I decided to stay with Mailerlite after all. Thanks!
Depends what your needs are!
Will your newsletter be free, or do you plan to monetise? Make sure you choose a platform where you own your business data — https://opensubscriptionplatforms.com/
Do you already have a website or blog that you want to connect a free newsletter to? If so you could use your favorite ESP and connect it to your site. Might make more sense to do that if you already have an established site.
Do you want your newsletter to be published to a website? (Like Substack/Revue) If so, how much do you need to customise it and what features do you need? (If you want to customise things maybe something like Ghost or Memberful would be better).
Thank you! My newsletter will be free. The reason I was considering tools like Substack was that I thought they have an advantage with added visibility. I already have an established website and a blog.
What stack do you use for your site?
Another consideration is whether you want to have customisable email templates or not (which isn't really possible using Substack/Revue).
If you do, and since you already have an established website, using an email marketing tool might be your best option. IMO — Email Octopus and MailerLite are great. I use Mailchimp for a charity side-project I volunteer at and I honestly think the user experience is dreadful these days.
Substack doesn't have a real network effect. Using the existing audience you have on your website would be a great way to get started.
I built it with Elementor on WordPress. If substack doesn't have a real network effect then I'll just continue with Mailerlite. Thanks!
I guess it depends what functionalities you need. I‘ve worked with MailerLite and Mailchimp but sometimes these two tools just offer too much and are actually overkill.
If I was to start a simple newsletter for a personal brand or a small business I would also go for a solution like substack. If you consider Substack, I would also take a look at getrevue.co (owned by Twitter) which offers similar features with lower fees.
Thank you! I'm looking at Revue now