Are you looking for an in-depth AWeber review to see if this email service provider is right for you?
Email service providers (ESPs) are a vital piece of your marketing toolbox. They have a bundle of tools to build, grow, and connect you with your email list. ESPs help you design eye-catching emails, automate everyday marketing tasks, and create email workflows.
They are how you will stay in touch with your leads and customers after a successful conversion from your website.
Usually, that’s done by creating email optin campaigns that encourage people to sign up for your marketing list.
Overall, when you choose the perfect ESP, it can undoubtedly make email marketing easier.
In this post, we’ll be doing an in-depth review of a popular email service provider: AWeber.
There are 5 specific areas that we’ll take a look at in this review:
Feel free to use the table of contents above to jump around to the topics you’d like more information on.
So, let’s dive right in to find out if AWeber is the right ESP for you and your business.
AWeber Review: What Makes It Ideal for You
AWeber is a popular ESP that prides itself on doing 90% of the work while leaving the last 10% for you.
And that 10% that they leave is the fun stuff.
Designing, personalizing, and making your emails sound and look uniquely you.
While AWeber offers other tools like landing pages, push notifications, and other things, we’ll be focusing exclusively on the email features.
First, let’s explore how easy the platform is to use.
1. Ease of Use
When we’re talking about using any ESP, we need to make sure it’s easy to do 2 main things:
- Setup the service
- Design a new email campaign
a) Setup: Ease of Use
Setting up AWeber is very easy and intuitive. Since it is a browser-based platform, you don’t have to worry about installing software or anything overly technical here.
Your account is instantly created after giving AWeber your name and email address.
Once you validate your email address, you’ll be taken through a set of questions to personalize your dashboard and AWeber experience.
Of course, some of these questions are basics just to learn about who you are and help link your site to your Aweber account.
And, of course, you can expect the questions that will help you comply with anti-spam laws.
The AWeber setup wizard also will ask you about your existing email list. If you are starting from scratch, that’s perfectly fine. Meanwhile, if you are migrating a list from another ESP, AWeber will help you import your current list.
This can be done by typing or coping your subscribers or uploading your list in one of these formats:
- .xls
- .xlsx
- .tsv
- .csv
- .txt
Next, you’ll be asked about any other marketing tools you are using. This way, AWeber can suggest and help you integrate these for a seamless marketing experience.
Finally, you’ll be taken to your dashboard. Depending on your answers, AWeber will suggest a few steps to get started.
For instance, if you are importing subscribers, you’ll be able to start that process right from the dashboard home page.
Signing up for AWeber took less than 5 minutes from start to finish.
b) Campaign Design: Ease of Use
When working with an email provider, you’ll be spending the bulk of your time creating your campaigns. So, we need to make sure that the builder is easy to use for anyone on your team.
This is one area where AWeber truly excels.
Most people are very comfortable and familiar with drag and drop visual builders. So, of course, AWeber offers one.
Though, it also offers options to create plain text messages or use an HTML editor.
But 1 unique feature is the Smart Designer. This tool customizes an email template based on your existing website.
Having different options ensures that they can use the email builder no matter which style you or your team prefer.
Since most people prefer the drag and drop builder, we’ll be looking at that more in-depth.
Adding or editing elements with AWeber’s builder is simple.
Take a look at how simple it is to embed a YouTube video in your email:
Unfortunately, though, that email is still looking a little bland. And you are running low on time.
Don’t worry. AWeber also has a wide selection of templates to help you fast-track your email design.
If you really want the red carpet experience, AWeber can also create templates for you in seconds. Just input your website address in the wizard and let it work some magic. Take a look at these templates it created based on the OptinMonster homepage.
Then, you can easily change up the content and text back in the drag and drop builder.
For us, this feature is a game-changer. Most businesses spend so much time curating their brand image and making their website shine. Instantly carry that over to your email with AWeber.
Now, we’ll take a look at Aweber’s flexibility.
2. Flexibility
Flexibility is crucial when looking for a new email provider. You’ll want to find a platform that excels at 2 main things:
- Grow with your business
- Work with your existing marketing suite
AWeber checks both of those boxes with ease.
First, let’s explore just how it can grow with your business.
Starting out, your budget for email marketing may not be that high. And that’s OK. AWeber recognizes that and gives you a free plan to get you started while growing your list.
Now, we’ll go over this in more detail in the pricing section, but you only pay for the actual amount of people on your list.
Of course, some features are locked here, but there’s more than enough there to get a fantastic start!
Let’s turn to integrations. In layman’s terms, it’s how AWeber and other platforms work together.
Some tools, like Canva, are integrated directly into the AWeber designer. If you have an AWeber account, you can design and add images from Canva without ever leaving your AWeber account.
AWeber also integrates with a massive list of other programs from content managers, survey creators, productivity tools, and eCommerce platforms.
These integrations can help you make the most of your email campaigns by driving more leads to your AWeber lists.
Next, we will talk a little about how AWeber can give you more time back in your day through automation.
3. Automation
How often have you gotten a lead only to have them fall through the cracks, never to be heard from again?
Did you ever forget to follow up with a customer after a purchase, only to find out that they needed help and didn’t know how to find it? Then, they left a poor review.
Ouch! For any small business, we can’t afford for that to happen.
With AWeber’s automation rules, you can stay in constant contact with both current and prospective customers. Check in with them on their purchases, seek feedback, announce sales, and push them farther down the customer funnel.
Now, you will need to upgrade to a Pro plan to use some AWeber automation abilities. However, if you are building campaigns, this is open for free users.
AWeber offers 3 types of automation: open-based, click-based, and list-based:
- Open-based: triggers anytime a subscriber opens a particular email message.
- Click-based: activates when someone clicks a link in the email message.
- List-based: manage multiple lists based on someone subscribing/unsubscribing from a different list
Just like the email designer, the automation builder is drag and drop, so it won’t be hard to get started.
AWeber also has pre-built campaigns designed to do anything from generating buzz for sales, running a free mini-course, recovering abandoned carts, welcoming new subscribers, and much more.
But wait. Let’s take a step back. How will you get emails on your list in the first place? How about we talk about lead generation?
4. Lead Generation
No matter how good your ESP is, it doesn’t matter unless you have names and emails on your marketing lists.
Like other ESPs we’ve reviewed, AWeber does have some lead generation tools. Mainly a form and landing page builder.
Though, these are just extra tools. The main draw of AWeber is its email service tools. So, it’s not the best way to attract and generate the most qualified leads.
Generate More Leads With OptinMonster
If you want to instantly grow your email list, then you need OptinMonster:
OptinMonster is hands down the world’s most powerful lead generation tool.
Watch your subscriber numbers soar with a combination of eye-catching designs and powerful targeting rules.
With OptinMonster, you don’t even need to know coding or design to create high-converting lead generation campaigns. That’s because OptinMonster comes with over 60 beautiful pre-made templates.
Plus, with OptinMoster’s drag and drop visual builder, you can easily change your lead generation popup with just a few clicks.
But you may be wondering why you need a separate tool for lead generation.
That’s because OptinMonster has industry-leading targeting rules that result in even more people signing up for your email lists.
Not only does OptinMonster let you personalize where you show each campaign, but you can target specific people and actions with rules like:
- Exit-Intent® Technology: Trigger your campaign to appear when visitors actively leave your site.
- OnSite Retargeting®: Shows new campaigns to returning visitors.
- Geolocation: Personalize campaigns based on the visitor’s physical location.
Finally, OptinMonster and AWeber seamlessly integrate so you can feed your leads right into your lists.
But how do we know that it’s the wisest decision to use separate tools for lead generation and emails? Because we see the results every day.
In fact, using OptinMonster is how Social Media Examiner adds 1,000 new leads a day.
You too can experience these spectacular results by clicking below and starting your 100% risk-free OptinMonster account today:
5. Pricing
There are 2 plans for AWeber: Free and Pro. If you have a small email list (under 500 contacts) and need only the basic email functions, then this plan is perfect. However, one thing to remember is that the AWeber branding will show up on the Free plan.
The Pro AWeber tier unlocks unlimited email lists and all of the premium functions. You’ll only pay for blocks of subscribers, which makes it easy to scale it to your business needs.
For up to 500 subscribers, you’ll pay $16.15 per month. The price will increase based on the amount of people on your email list:
- 501-2,500: $26.15/ month
- 2,501-5,000: $46.15/month
- 5,001-10,000: $66.15/month
- 10,001-25,000: $146.15/month
Again, you are only paying for the number of people on your list. You immediately unlock all of the paid features of AWeber the second you upgrade from the Free plan. With some other platforms, you have to pay even more to unlock certain features.
That’s one reason that we definitely appreciate AWeber. The pricing plan is simple to understand and won’t hold you captive in paying for more than you need. But, on the same page, it also won’t make key features out of reach of those of us that may not have the room in their budget for ultra-premium package prices.
Verdict: Is AWeber It the Right ESP for You?
AWeber is an excellent choice if you are a small business needing a cost-effective email service provider that will grow right along with you.
Also, with AWeber’s ease of use and flexibility, it’s a tool with a very flat learning curve, so you can get going with no issues.
Aweber is solid, reliable, and has pretty much all you need to have a high-functioning email marketing program.
But if you want the absolute best results and feed the most high-interest leads into your leads, don’t forget to add OptinMonster to your toolbox.
That’s it for our AWeber review. We hope that this helped you decide if AWeber is the perfect ESP for you and that you found this helpful.
If you did, then you’ll definitely want to check out the following resources:
- How to Automate Lead Generation in 3 EASY Steps (Step by Step)
- How to Generate Leads for Small Business: 5 PROVEN Tips
- Email Marketing: The #1 Ridiculously Easy Way To Grow Your Business
These articles will have even more valuable information to help your email marketing efforts reach the next level by driving more leads and sales.
Want even more conversions? Get started with OptinMonster today!
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