Email automation is one of the online marketing tools that have completely changed the way businesses communicate with their clients.
It’s a powerful tool that allows you to automatically send your message to specific animation clients based on their business needs at the schedule you set.
If you link it with your website analytics tool, such as Google Analytics, you will be able to keep your animation clients loyal to you and help move your clients down the sales funnel.
Not only is email marketing automation important in connecting with your clients, but it also has the potential to have your content about your animation services shared more than through any other channel.
Below we list the top email marketing automation tools for animators.
1. HubSpot for Animators
HubSpot’s free feature is enough to help small businesses to grow. With the free feature, you can send 2,000 emails to your animation clients for a month.
It also has a drag-and-drop email builder, which means you can design and create emails according to your preference and how your audience will like them.
In addition to the free email tool, you can also use HubSpot’s other free product, HubSpot CRM. What’s better is that HubSpot Email is automatically connected with the HubSpot CRM, so you can revise relevant emails based on the details or content you already have (e.g., submissions and website activity).
With the HubSpot Email tool, you can include personalized content in your emails (e.g., your GIFs, cool memes, animated videos).
2. SendPulse for Animators
Like HubSpot, SendPulse offers its drag-and-drop functionality, and you can choose from 130+ pre-made templates as well for your emails.
When you are busy animating for your clients, and you find yourself in need of help from their customer service, you may contact their 24/7 support team using their live chat. And yes - it’s free.
Another feature that makes SendPulse really great to use is its offering of multiple channels of communication with your clients: email, web push notifications, SMS, Viber, and chatbot messages (for your website). And you can choose to buy each package - à la carte.
SendPulse’s price depends on the number of subscribers you will have and also how you will be billed (if monthly, semi-annually, or yearly). With the free plan, you can have up to 500 subscribers.
3. MailerLite for Animators
MailerLite’s free feature is probably the best low-budget option you can have in the world of email marketing automation tools.
You can have up to 1,000 subscribers and be able to send 12,000 emails per month to your animation clients. MailerLite is ideal for small businesses that need to send bulk marketing emails.
It also boasts of its 14-day free trial for its premium features and 24/7 chat support.
Aside from the free version being awesome, you might want to do the trial to see if some of the premium features will be extra beneficial to your animation business.
Last but definitely not the least, MailerLite has a preview feature that allows you to preview your email on desktop and mobile before sending it.
The free version includes subscriptions up to 1000 and also 12,000 emails per month.
4. GetResponse for Animators
GetResponse is an all-in-one platform that includes workflow features and unique ones such as “spam testing” or “perfect timing”.
Its email automation workflow feature allows you to see how your animation clients respond to the emails you send to them and will enable you to see what topics have the highest open rates, etc.
If that’s not enough, GetResponse also has a very good and responsive support team.
If you are looking for extra features and a visual automation workflow builder (which helps you in the long run), then GetResponse is for you.
They offer a 30-day free trial for all their products. Starting with their basic plan, you can have 1,000 subscriptions, unlimited emails, automated templates, unlimited landing pages, one sales funnel, Facebook Ads, and many more.
5. ActiveCampaign for Animators
When it comes to email automation workflows based on user behaviors, ActiveCampaign is probably the best automation email tool right now.
Like GetResponse, it also has a visual automation workflow builder and what’s awesome is that if you have your clients’ or contacts’ numbers, you can also automate your SMS and send messages to them alongside your emails.
One of the best features of ActiveCampaign is its high deliverability rate over time. This means that your animation clients are sure to receive the emails you send. Good deliverability can result in higher open rates and more, especially if you have good content.
ActiveCampaign is comparatively more expensive than the tools already mentioned. However, it is for very good reasons, as ActiveCampaign maximizes your capability to see and analyze your data as a result of your emails.
ActiveCampaign is best for animators who already know email automation tools and want to build complex automation workflows.
ActiveCampaign offers a 14-day free trial. Their Lite feature allows you to have unlimited email sending, automation, chat and email support, and up to 1,000 subscribers.
6. ConvertKit for Animators
ConvertKit is known for having very good support (for its paid features) and provides its users a landing page builder.
Its landing page builder allows you to find your niche as an animator and test out your new ideas for your audience.
If you don’t want to be fed up with too much analysis, date, and you just simply want to connect with your clients and be able to share your lovely animation ideas, then this tool might be right for you.
With its free plan, you can have unlimited landing pages and forms, customizable domains, send email broadcasts, and manage 1,000 subscribers.
7. SendInBlue for Animators
ConvertKit is known for having very good support (for its paid features) and provides its users a landing page builder.
Its landing page builder allows you to find your niche as an animator and test out your new ideas for your audience.
If you don’t want to be fed up with too much analysis and data, and you just simply want to connect with your clients and be able to share your lovely animation ideas, then this tool might be right for you.
With its free plan, you can have unlimited landing pages and forms, customizable domains, send email broadcasts, and manage 1,000 subscribers.
8. Mailchimp for Animators
Mailchimp has a dashboard that lays out everything clearly. It allows you to import lists, create and send email campaigns, and build your list of animation clients.
Another advantage of using this tool is that you’ll also be able to integrate with WordPress if your business uses WordPress as its content management system.
Aside from collecting statistics and sending emails, you can also use Mailchimp to send surveys. It's important to note, however, that for its free version, you'll have MailChimp branding in your email footers and won't have access to premium support.
Mailchimp offers a free plan of up to 2,000 subscribers and many more upgradable features.
9. MailGenius for Animators
One way to look for your animation clients is to send cold emails. This is when you not only sell to them but promote yourself as the animator that they need.
You might have the best-written cold email, but if it won’t reach your prospect client, then it’s all for nothing. This is where MailGenius enters as a real genius.
This tool allows you to test your emails and lays out all the things you can do to avoid landing in the spam folder, along with advice and explanations on how to improve your email and fix the parts of your email that are most likely, “spammable”.
It also works with every major email provider (e.g., Gmail, Outlook, etc.), proving its reliability as an effective tool.
Though their basic service is 100% free, with an additional fee, they offer to monitor your email domain around the clock to increase your emails’ deliverability rate.
10. Litmus for Animators
Last on the list but definitely not the least is Litmus. A tool where you can test your emails in traditional web clients and also mobile devices like Android, Apple, and Windows.
Litmus pre-send email testing helps you find and fix issues long before your message hits inboxes. It analyzes your market, emails, and devices where your emails usually land and then informs you of changes that you need to make to enhance deliverability.
By connecting Litmus with your email service provider, it inserts a tracking pixel in your email, which in turn gets subscriber data; how and where the email was opened, what time, how long was it read, and if it was forwarded or printed.
Litmus is a very helpful tool if you target a particular group of clients for your animation, as it allows you to know very specific details and metrics you can use to plan your email campaigns.
If you want to see if it’s right for you and your business, make sure to try its 7-day trial.
In Closing
Take your time to check which tool works best for you and your needs. Consider the price and don’t take it just as a cost but as an investment for your animation business. Take advantage of the free features and the free trials.
We hope the email marketing automation tools for animators we listed helped you be informed about some of the best plans out there. Every animator is different, and so is their need for an automation email tool.
There’s no right or wrong automation tool to use. What’s important is that the email marketing automation tool you choose must effectively help you maximize your emails and help grow your business.
To know more about how to best market your animation service, send cold emails, and more, feel free to check out what Business of Animation has prepared for you! Join our masterclass and download a copy of our free marketing handbook.
