Email Marketing Tools Checklist for Small Businesses
Use this checklist to evaluate email marketing software without getting distracted by a long feature list. The best platform is the one that supports your actual audience, workflow, budget, and growth plans.
Campaigns
- Easy email editor
- Templates or reusable layouts
- Scheduling
- Personalization
- Mobile-friendly messages
Subscribers and consent
- Clear subscriber management
- Segmentation and tags
- Import/export options
- Unsubscribe controls
- Permission-based acquisition workflow
Automation
- Welcome sequence
- Follow-up workflows
- Conditional segments where needed
- Triggers and timing controls
- Ability to review and disable workflows
Forms and integrations
- Website signup forms
- Landing pages where needed
- CRM integration
- Ecommerce integration where relevant
- Booking or other business-tool integrations where relevant
Cost and scale
- Subscriber limits
- Sending limits
- Automation availability by plan
- Additional-user costs where relevant
- Expected cost as the audience grows
Before you subscribe
- Define your first three email workflows.
- Estimate your subscriber count for the next 12 months.
- Check the exact plan required for those workflows.
- Verify export and cancellation options.
- Confirm that your signup and unsubscribe processes are clear.