Flodesk: The Best Email Marketing Software for Small Businesses
Fun fact: Email marketing generates $42 for every $1 spent. That gives it a 4200% ROI (Hubspot). š¤Æ So, yes, as a business owner, you need an email marketing strategy. Which means you need an email marketing service provider.
Enter Flodesk.
Flodesk is changing the game of email marketing for small businesses, solopreneurs, and creatives.
I didnāt want to do email marketing. It felt like one more thing to add to my ever-increasing to do list as an entrepreneur.
And thenā¦ Instagram and Facebook went dark. Remember that? It was kinda scary for small businesses.
And thatās the event that gave me a swift kick to get it together and get my email marketing organized. I knew the statistics. I knew I needed to be doing it. I just didnāt want to.
BUT I wanted something I have control over. I wanted something where the algorithm couldnāt decide which of my followers saw my content.
It had been awhile since I really used an email marketing software, so I did a lot of research. I used the free trials of several different email marketing service providers, nd ultimately landed on Flodesk. All the other ones I tried were so confusing, and as a small business owner wearing all-the-hats, I didnāt have time to learn how to use them.
So today I want to talk to you about why Flodesk is hands-down the best and easiest email marketing tool for you to use as a small business owner, as a creative, as a realtor, as a service provider, as an ecommerce shop, etc.
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I will earn a tiny little commission. Keep in mind that I only share about companies that I truly believe in. Pinky promise.
Why do you need email marketing?
Email marketing is a stupid easy way to grow your business. I went into depth about why you need to build an email list.
But if you want or need more to convince youā¦
Marketers who use segmented campaigns note as much as a 760% increase in revenue (Hubspot)
78% of marketers have seen an increase in email engagement over the last 12 months (Hubspot)
61% of consumers prefer brands to contact them through email, which is good news for your business (Optin Monster)
Even better news? 99% of email users check their email every day, some as much as 20 times a day! (Optin Monster)
60 percent of consumers say theyāve made a purchase as the result of a marketing email they received. Contrast that with the 12.5 percent of consumers who say theyād consider using the ābuyā button on social media, and itās not much of a contest (Constant Contact)
And email is comfortable. Everyone has email. Itās what we know how to use. And itās not like social media that constantly changes. You donāt have to stay on top of the latest updates to know how to keep up with it. That darn algorithm.
Plus, email is private. If someone wants to ask a question, they may feel more comfortable asking it through email rather than in a public comment section on social media. Or they may not want their question to get lost in someoneās DMs.
What can you do with email marketing?
SO MUCH!!!
You can:
Build Relationships and Community: I L-O-V-E getting responses from my subscribers. These are my VIPs. These are the ones who are truly invested in my business. I give them extra tips, extra resources, and theyāre the first to hear about any discounts or promos I have going on. Weāre tight.
Build Authority and Brand Awareness: You can send tips and continue building your authority and brand awareness.
Promote your content: If you run a blog, you can do a round-up of your latest posts and send them to your subscribers. If youāre pretty active on social media, you can send your list a roundup of things they may have missed on social media.
Generate, Follow Up with, and Nurture Leads: Most people who sign up for your email list are somewhat interested in what you have to offer. And this is where you can nurture those relationships and convert them into paying customers.
Send email sequences: There are several email sequences you need for your business. Email marketing software makes that very easy to do.
Why should you use Flodesk as your email marketing service provider?
Flodesk is intuitive, easy-to-use, and friendly.
I like to think of it as āSquarespaceās Best Friendā. Like Squarespace, it is intuitive and user-friendly. Itās clean and clear. Thereās no clutter. The navigation is easy, and you donāt have a billion and one options to have to decipher through. It even has a very similar drag and drop block system in the email builder. If youāre a small business owner, you donāt have time to learn complicated software. Flodesk makes it easy so you donāt have to waste your limited time trying to navigate a program.
Look how clean the UI isā¦ itās a beautiful dashboardā¦
Flodesk has beautiful ready-to-use templates.
The templates available are modern and stylish. They stand out against other email marketing software. And if you donāt want to use a template but want to build your own, thatās fine! Itās still easy to design. And you can design all your emails to be on-brand through your brand's fonts and colors.
Flodesk includes Landing Pages and all sorts of forms.
You donāt have to pay extra for landing pages. Youāre also given the option of creating a variety of forms: pop-ups, inline, and embedded. And all forms are completely customizable. You can adjust the fonts, colors, imagery, padding and spacing. Just a reminder: your subscription includes all these features.
Flodesk is easy to use and integrate with Squarespace.
You need to have a Business account with Squarespace to integrate Flodesk, but once you have that, itās super easy to embed forms.
Flodeskās segmenting is easy-to-use and understand.
Segmenting your subscribers is very important because it allows you to hyper-personalize your communication so it stays relevant and provides value. Many email marketing service providers make segmenting pretty difficult and complicated to understand. Some of them even have ways to both segment and tag your subscribers. I always found this to be way too confusing. But Flodeskās segmenting is easy. You can manually add subscribers by entering them one-by-one or by uploading a CSV file. You can also segment your subscribers when they sign up for your list through one of your forms. And Flodesk tags your subscribers based on their behavior (i.e., havenāt opened your emails in X days). The ONLY thing is missing is the ability to segment your list even further by allowing subscribers to click a link in your email to segment themselves. But I have a feeling that will come at some point.
Flodeskās workflows are easy.
A workflow tends to trigger when a subscriber does something (like signs up for your freebie). You can setup a workflow to send someone your freebie. Then you can choose how long to wait until Flodesk sends the next email in the sequence. And if you donāt want to create your own workflow, Flodesk has several templates you can use. I found that other email marketing service providers make workflows complicated, and againāas a small business owner doing #allthethings, I donāt have time for it.
Flodeskās analytics are simple and easy to understand.
Chances are you donāt have an email list with thousands and thousands of subscribers. So you donāt need overly robust analytics with your email marketing software. Flodesk has analytics, and itās simple enough to understand. There are quick views of your analytics and then thereās a little more comprehensive view.
Hereās a fun little fact for you: My average open rate for the last 7 emails Iāve sent is 76.7%. The average email open rate for all industries is 21.5% š¤Æ (Campaign Monitor).
Flodeskās pricing is simple and affordable.
There are no pricing tiers. It doesnāt matter how many subscribers you have. And youāll always have access to all features. This was honestly one of the biggest selling points for me.
Is Flodesk right for your business?
It depends.
Flodesk focuses on usability and style. So if youāre a creative business owner (photographers, wedding planners, florists, calligraphers, artists, etc.), then people are going to expect you to send beautiful emails.
If youāre a small business owner wearing all the hats in your business, you likely donāt have time to learn a complicated and confusing email marketing tool. I canāt emphasize this enough: Flodesk makes email marketing stupid easy.
If youāre a larger business with thousands and thousands and thousands of subscribers, Flodesk might not be the best for you. You might need a tool that offers more robust analytics. Iāve found for myself and my clients, that Flodesk offers enough in this department.
Want to try Flodesk for free for 30 days? Click this link or button below to start your trial AND when youāre ready to subscribe, youāll be eligible for 50% off your monthly or annual subscription. Or just use code SHANNONPRUITT for your 50% off!
And, as always, if you have questions, I welcome emails! Shoot me an emailā¦ I respond to every single one of them!