As an Infusionsoft Certified Consultant, people often think I am always going to give them a pitch to use Infusionsoft as their email marketing solution. Those that have actually talked to me about this subject know this isn’t the case at all. Why? Because Infusionsoft isn’t for everyone. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s the best at what it does.  But by no means is it the right fit for every business. For me (or anyone) to tell you otherwise would just be plain wrong.

Instead of focusing on the most popular email marketing solutions in the marketplace and trying to convince yourself that your business is a fit for that tool, I recommend you get a broad understanding of all of the options in the marketplace and then determine which option is the fit for your business now and in the future.

Before we get started, there is one thing you must know:

If you are going to market to people via email, you will want to use an email marketing software to do so. DO NOT load up all of your contact’s email addresses in an Outlook email and push the send button. This is not only tacky, it’s in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act. There is no need to get into detail on this one – just don’t do it.

Now, these are the most popular email marketing software options:

MailChimp, iContact, Constant Contact and aWeber: All 4 of these options are low cost and fairly low functionality. If you strictly need a system to send out emails, this will work.

1Shopping Cart: This is an email marketing option that also has shopping cart functionality.

Infusionsoft: This is an email marketing, shopping cart and CRM solution all in one. This is the most robust of the options, and the most expensive.

You can learn more about each option by visiting the respective websites, talking to other business owners, signing up for a free trial in some cases or signing up for a demo in others. Do your homework and make the best decision for YOUR business.