How many times have you tried running an email marketing campaign and then found out that you’ve lost access to your autoresponder account? In the worst scenario, losing your email list… I can’t imagine such a heartbreak
Dozens or even hundreds of email copies gone
Precious time wasted
Powerful automation sequences lost
I get all that!
It feels like the end of the world and in the middle of giving up.
“Internet marketing wasn’t made for my kind of person after all”
No, it doesn’t have to be that way: You only need a friendly autoresponder to UP your email marketing efforts. I mean an affiliate friendly autoresponder that will serve you till the end of time. You deserve better than that!
It is easy to find an automated emailing service for an eCommerce business, blogging platform, or for small to large businesses… But if you are an affiliate marketer, it becomes extremely difficult to find affiliate friendly autoresponders.
What To Look Out For In An Autoresponder
When looking for an autoresponder as an affiliate, there are a couple of things that you want to look out for.
1. Features
Firstly, we have the features.
In an autoresponder for affiliate marketing, you definitely want to have features like automation workflows and probably even landing pages. Make sure that you are aware of what features you need, this will make your choice a lot easier.
2. Deliverability
You should also keep an eye out for deliverability, although if you are following the best practices, you shouldn’t really run into any issues. Here are some best practices that you should always follow:
Cloak your affiliate links, ideally with your domain.
Test your emails before sending them, see where they land.
Don’t send or promote spammy content (i.e click here to make $5940, etc.)
As long as you are following these guidelines, you should not really run into any issues when it comes to Deliverability.
3. Allowing Affiliates
Lastly, you also want to make sure that the autoresponder allows affiliates.
Some do and some don’t, but some are also very strict on affiliates like one of the options mentioned on this list.
Don’t worry, if you are looking to use them, then I have some guidance on how to stay in the green area.
Best Autoresponders For Affiliate Marketing
Here are the best autoresponders for affiliate marketing:
GetResponse
ConvertKit
ActiveCampaign
Aweber
Kartra Mail
SendLane
1. GetResponse
GetResponse is one of the most popular autoresponders out there, with over 350,000 customers.And, it’s the best for affiliate marketing. Why. Mainly features, but also the pricing.
The features are explained below as GetResponse is the first on this list, but won’t be for the other’s (if the features have already been explained).
GetResponse Features
GetResponse offers a variety of features and it’s actually more than an autoresponder.
Autoresponder & Automation Workflows
Firstly, we have the standard features that you would expect from an autoresponder.
You get the email autoresponder, as well as the action-based automation workflows which are a must.
After collecting your leads email, they will then be sent into something like this:
Pretty standard stuff, but this is something that you always need.
Email Analytics
Next, we have the email analytics.
Again, pretty standard stuff, so that you can compare which of your emails did well and which ones didn’t.
List Management
You also get some great features that allow you to manage your list effectively.
Contact tagging: This feature allows you to “tag” your leads and segment your list even further.
For example, if they entered into your automation workflow via your opt-in page about blogging, you could add a “blogging” tag to them.
Now, that you know that they are interested in blogging, you can send them specific offers that would interest bloggers.
Contact scoring: GetResponse also gives you scores on how engaged your leads are.
Using these scores, you can then quickly realize when they become unengaged and try to get them back in terms of engagement.
Landing Pages & Funnels
If you are looking to run traffic to a landing page, GetResponse can be a brilliant option.
Not many autoresponders offer landing pages, but GetResponse does.
So, you won’t need an additional landing page builder, as you can just build all your pages in GetResponse.
You also get access to the auto funnel feature which lets you build your entire funnel easily & quickly. Plus, you also get done-for-you lead magnets on topics like conversions which can work great in marketing niches.
Webinars
You also get webinars which can be beneficial to affiliates too.
Most affiliates don’t really use webinars, but some do, especially when trying to sell really high-ticket items. For example, if you’re trying to sell a $2,000 course, you could offer 3 bonus courses and a 1-hour coaching call, as a bonus.
GetResponse Pricing
Just like most autoresponders, GetResponse pricing depends on how many contacts you have, so, therefore, the table updates dynamically.
GetResponse Is a Great Option For…
GetResponse is a great option for affiliates, who are looking to drive traffic to a landing page and collect emails there.
As GetResponse is an autoresponder, you also get the powerful automation features that you need to make the most out of each lead.
Using GetResponse, you won’t need any 3rd party landing page builder tool, which can save you costs and time getting everything to work together. It has everything you need to get started to build an affiliate marketing business, which is why it’s the best autoresponder for affiliate marketing.
2. Aweber
In the 2nd spot, we have Aweber, which is also another option that is very popular.
Aweber has all the basics at an extremely affordable price of just $19.99 per month for 500 subscribers. They don’t have multiple pricing plans which means you get access to ALL the features for just $19.99 per month.
Everything you need for affiliate marketing like automation sequences, landing pages, newsletters, and more you will be able to find inside of Aweber. Considering their affordable price, I had to rank them 2nd for this.
Now you might be wondering why Aweber is behind GetResponse. And, the only reason for this is the automation sequences feature. GetResponse’s automation workflows are simply on another level.
Other than that, Aweber is probably the best value, considering their ultra-low price. And the fact that they have all the features you need. Not bad.
Aweber Pricing
Again, Aweber’s pricing is heavily dependant on the number of contacts that you have.
So, for full info head over to www.aweber.com/
Choose Aweber If
If you are looking for a simple, yet complete autoresponder that comes at an affordable price, go with Aweber. It has some truly great features and is actually enough on its own to help you start an affiliate marketing business.
You can collect emails using its landing page feature, and have everything you need to mail your leads whenever you want. Overall, I would say that Aweber is a pretty solid option for affiliates, especially when you consider their pricing point. This could make it a great option for beginners, and even advanced affiliates who value simplicity.
3. ActiveCampaign
Warning: ActiveCampaign does not really allow affiliate marketing, so read this carefully!
ActiveCampaign has the highest deliverability and is probably the best email marketing tool out there.
However, they don’t really allow affiliate marketing, as they want to look after their deliverability which makes them stand out. They do allow affiliate links if you:
Offer value to your audience
Don’t just send them any random offer
Don’t send them random B.S about making money online and promising the world.
Plus, they want it in limitations and only next to high-quality content.
So, what I like to do, is just send my audience blog posts that contain affiliate links.
This way, I am just sending my contacts to my new blog posts, not sending them affiliate links.
Related Article:
Pricing
Again, for full pricing head over to ActiveCampaign.
Below, you can find the pricing if paid annually, for the smallest number of email contacts.
As you can see, the pricing is also very good, especially considering the strong email marketing tools that it provides.
Why ActiveCampaign is in 3rd Spot
They don’t offer landing pages, but they do have the best email marketing tools and deliverability. Combine this with the fact that they don’t really allow affiliates, I think 3rd spot is a fair ranking for them.
Use ActiveCampaign IF
you’re not going to send loads of affiliate links in emails and have somewhere else to collect emails. Maybe, you’re a blogger or YouTuber who mainly wants to use Email to send your audience your newest content which contains affiliate links.
4. ConvertKit
Just behind ActiveCampaign, we have ConvertKit.
And, there really wasn’t much between the two.
ConvertKit is quite similar to GetResponse, but it doesn’t perform quite as well.
The automations aren’t quite as advanced, the email builder kind of sucks and it’s also missing out on these features:
Webinars
Autofunnels to help you build funnels better & more easily
CRM (GetResponse’s CRM is pretty basic too & most affiliates probably won’t need a CRM)
Plus in a recent study on deliverability, ConvertKit only scored 60% in Deliverability compared to Aweber’s 85%. And considering Aweber is more affordable too, this is quite disappointing from ConvertKit.
Usually speaking, if you follow the best practices for getting your email delivered, you’re not going to run into issues. The only reason why I took this into account for this particular ranking was that your affiliate links can sometimes have a negative impact on deliverability.
So, always make sure to cloak them properly with trusted cloaking services and test your emails before sending them.
ConvertKit Pricing
ConvertKit does only have one pricing plan, which includes all the features and it starts at $29 per month. It also depends on how many contacts you have, so if you need more than 1,000 head over to ConvertKit for more info.
Where Does ConvertKit Win Compared To Others?
The ConvertKit dashboard is a little easier to use than most others on this list.
But, it’s not a huge difference. I have even heard others say that they don’t like ConvertKit’s dashboard at all.
Either dashboard is fine for both beginners and more experienced marketers. Other than that, there isn’t really too much that is special about ConvertKit. It does have some cool automation templates specifically made for digital creators and bloggers, but that’s about it.
5. Kartra Mail
In the 5th spot, we have Kartra Mail. Kartra mail is a feature of Kartra, meaning it actually offers a lot more than an autoresponder. And, Kartra is the best at what it does.
It’s actually an all-in-one marketing solution that also provides:
Membership sites
Page & Funnel Building
Helpdesks
Video hosting
Affiliate Management
It literally takes every single tool, other than blogging, and stuffs it into one powerful tool.
They do have blogging tools, but it just doesn’t replace WordPress.
Why Kartra Is On This List
Many affiliates will want to use free courses to sell their affiliate products.
Kartra’s membership sites make that easy.
This means you can use Kartra to host a course which you can combine with their powerful email marketing tools to market your affiliate products effectively.
You can build your pages, host the courses that you use to sell your products, and have powerful email marketing tools as well.
Kartra Mail Features
Kartra Mail itself is pretty much a normal autoresponder.
Check out some of the features:
Behavior-Based Automation workflows
Intelligent Split Testing
Glorious Templates
Custom lead tagging
The only feature they are missing compared to GetResponse, ActiveCampaign, etc. is contact scoring.
Kartra Pricing
Due to the incredible amount of features, Kartra’s pricing does start a little higher than most other options on this list. But, keep in mind that if you are going to use all of the features, Kartra will save you a lot of money.
An autoresponder, (sales & lead) page builder, membership site builder, helpdesk, and all the other features individually would cost you around $300 to $1500, depending on the number of leads that you have.
Why Is It behind Aweber?
Despite me praising it to the moon and it being incredibly good at what it does, most affiliates will probably not need all the features.
While some might use the features to make an absolute killing, for others’ it would just be overkill and they probably would not use all the features.
Use Kartra If:
you are looking for much more than an autoresponder.
If you want to host courses and use their comprehensive sales funnel tools, then Kartra is a great option.
Signing up for a ton of different tools separately to get all of these features, would usually cost you a lot more than what Kartra charges, so it can be a great option.
6. SendLane
Lastly, we have SendLane. SendLane is another great tool that lets you send affiliate links inside of your email marketing campaigns.
In terms of segmentation & automation, it’s probably the strongest on this list, alongside ActiveCampaign. Lists, tag management, and some other advanced automation features such as ROI tracking that most other options don’t offer.
However, it does also have some significant problems which is why it’s so far down this list and not at the top.
No A/B testing
Not good handling of sensitive information
Slow support, sometimes taking 96 hours to respond
Pricing starting at $99 per month.
With that being said, keep in mind that they do probably have the best email marketing tools on this list.
The only reason, why SendLane so far down is the 4 problems mentioned above.
I just think $99 per month for literally just an autoresponder would be overkill, but some might want to use it.
SendLane Pricing
Keep in mind that the pricing is for 5,000 contacts which means it’s actually pretty good.
The only problem is that they don’t have a more cost-effective solution for people starting from scratch.
In terms of email marketing features, they are probably on top, but as the pricing starts at $99 per month, I think most affiliates will pass.
I also ranked them behind Kartra, as they both start at $99 per month, but Kartra gives a lot more non-email marketing tools.
Use SendLane If:
you are looking to sell your own products next to affiliate marketing and want comprehensive email marketing tools that will track the ROI for you.
I am not a Sendlane user myself and have never used it, so I am can’t give you the best possible information in terms of the added features. If you want more information on them, I recommend just heading to the SendLane website.
How To Pick The Best Autoresponder For Affiliate Marketing
If you need help picking the right autoresponder, then just take a moment and think about the features you need. How are you looking to promote your affiliate products? Where are you looking to collect emails?
To help you with your decision, I have outlined 3 common scenarios when it comes to picking an autoresponder.
1. Landing Page + Autoresponder
Firstly, you might need a landing page builder and an autoresponder.
If this is the case, then you should go for either GetResponse or ConvertKit, as they offer the best features.
GetResponse slightly wins in terms of features, as well as Deliverability, but either option is fine.
2. Just an Autoresponder
If you’re just looking for an Autoresponder, then go for ActiveCampaign, if you are cool with the guidelines I mentioned earlier. In case you aren’t, go for something like GetResponse or Aweber.
Again, all of these options are completely fine, but GetResponse and ActiveCampaign have the best features.
3. Much More Than An Autoresponder
If you’re looking for much more than an autoresponder including:
(Sales & Lead) page builder
Membership site builder
Helpdesk
Video hosting
Then go for Kartra, as no other options will bring you that amount of quality for such a low price!