Flodesk vs Other Email Marketing Platforms: It’s Not Just Pretty—Here’s Why I Chose to Stay
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 small commission! I only share about companies that I truly believe in and have extensively used myself in my own business.
As a small business owner, I’ve tried more email marketing platforms than anyone ever should to find the best one for me. And do you know what so many of them have in common? Most email marketing platforms are clunky, colourless, and make it so difficult to design emails that look even kind of half-decent. They’re also often complicated and confusing because they’re designed for multi-million dollar companies to use. I don’t know about you, but my brain has a million tabs open at any given minute between work, parenting, and general life. I don’t have time to learn anything overcomplicated to send emails to my list.
I discovered Flodesk in 2021 after hearing other small business owners rave about it, and I’ve had a subscription ever since. If you haven’t heard of Flodesk, it’s the software we all desperately need: a visually appealing and user-friendly email marketing platform for creative entrepreneurs, small business owners, creators, and e-commerce businesses!
And I can confirm first-hand: Flodesk works for BOTH e-commerce and service-based businesses!
When I owned a kids’ wooden toy company (I closed in 2022 to pursue copywriting!), I used it to email regular updates, craft ideas, and parenting tips to my email list. My favourite tip to build my list: I’d tell people to subscribe so they could get early access to my product drops before the general public! It was super easy, too— all I needed to do was password protect the website and set up an automated email in Flodesk to send the password an hour before I reopened the website to everyone.
Now as a service provider (I’m a website copywriter!), I use Flodesk to send weekly emails to my email list, and promote any upcoming events. And now that I’ve added an education arm to my business this year, I use the workflows feature to automatically send “you’re signed up!” emails to people when they purchase, and to send out the recording of the workshop afterward. All you need to do is integrate Flodesk with Zapier and whatever sales checkout you use (I currently use Stripe) and set up that workflow. It takes maybe 30 minutes max, and then it’s all automated for you from there— total time saver.
And best of all: Flodesk emails get seen/opened 17% MORE than the industry average. No fighting to capture your email list’s attention when you’ve got gorgeous emails that convert!
Okay, now that I’ve given you the behind-the-scenes tour into how I use Flodesk in my business, let’s chat about why Flodesk has been better for me than the other email marketing platforms I’ve tried.
HERE’S WHAT I LOVE ABOUT FLODESK (VS OTHER EMAIL MARKETING PLATFORMS):
CUTE, ON-BRAND EMAILS ARE ONLY A COUPLE CLICKS AWAY
I really struggle using things that aren’t cute. My home office is a prime example of this: I’ve curated such a pink and aesthetically pleasing space so I actually WANT to work in it. I need that same energy with all of the tools I use in my business!
So why are so many email marketing platforms for small business owners clunky and honestly a lot of the time, downright ugly?!
When it comes to aesthetics, there is NO competition between Flodesk and other email marketing platforms. Flodesk wins hands-down every time!
Here are a few of the ways Flodesk makes my emails prettier (and more engaging to read!):
SUPER CUSTOMIZABLE EMAIL TEMPLATES
I’m good with words— not design. So I need on-brand emails without hiring one of my designer friends every time I need to send an email to my list! Flodesk has a free template library full of super-customizable and aesthetic email templates. They’re so simple to duplicate and to use as a starting point to make my own! Their emails look great on mobile and desktop (unlike other softwares I’ve used where you have to format separately for both).
And I don’t know how I haven’t mentioned this yet: Flodesk uses drag-and-drop layouts for all of their email designs. No coding or struggling to move things around— all you need to do is click and drag any aspect to move it. I don’t have hours to design an email (entrepreneurs, you get me), so a couple clicks gets me a cute, easy-to-read layout that keeps my audience reading until the very end.
EASILY ON-BRAND EMAILS WITH CUSTOM FONTS AND COLOURS
Upload your custom fonts and brand colours directly in Flodesk’s editor so it’s at your fingertips every time you write an email! You can also add your logo and signature so your emails feel even more on-brand and personalized.
Hot tip: I automatically add the Instagram feed block to the bottom of all of my emails— then my audience can see the content I’m sharing and easily follow me over there, too!
2. EASY-TO-CREATE EMAIL WORKFLOWS AND AUTOMATIONS
Remember the drag and drop layouts I mentioned? Flodesk also uses their drag-and-drop technology for their workflow automations! I’m very visual, so being able to see and move my automations around works so well for me.
I use Flodesk’s workflows to easily create automations to welcome purchasers to my workshop and share the details with them. It’s super quick and simple!
Use Flodesk’s templates to easily create workflows that automatically send for:
Delivering your freebie or product discount when people sign up for your list
Saying “hey” and warming up the new people who join your list with a welcome sequence
Recovering abandoned carts with a follow-up email
Event registration (I use this to auto-send a confirmation to people who sign up for my workshops!)
Post-purchase follow-ups (so customers feel appreciated and part of your community)
Building trust with a nurture series
Flodesk has been working HARD behind the scenes to create the most advanced workflows in the email marketing industry. I personally love how easy it is to see what emails in my workflows are getting opened, where people are, and where they’re engaging! Seeing the data helps me make better decisions about how to easily tweak my workflows for better conversion.
3. THE UNMATCHED FLODESK COMMUNITY
Flodesk was built for small businesses and creatives, and it’s clear their team works so hard to understand exactly what we need! They’re constantly asking for feedback for their users to see how they can make small business ownership even a little bit easier for us.
And Flodesk decides and builds its features based on community feedback, and they’re constantly updating to make sure our needs are met! We NEED more companies for small businesses that care and build based on what we need.
4. ONE MONTHLY FLAT-RATE, UNLIMITED SUBSCRIBERS
Yes, the aesthetics and workflows and community are huge for me. But one of the BIGGEST perks of Flodesk? You pay one flat-rate, monthly price with unlimited subscribers.
I know, take it in. All of the other email marketing platforms I’ve tried charge you more as your subscriber count increases. I personally don’t want to be penalized for growing my list. And that’s why I stay a Flodesk member: I love that I don’t have to worry or have to sacrifice profit in my business because my email list grew!
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Flodesk is the visually-pleasing and easy-to-use email marketing platform for small businesses and creators.
Flodesk is truly changing the email marketing industry for us. I’m so excited to see more and more powerful features roll out!
And if you’re ready to try Flodesk for the first time, click here to get 50% off your first year of Flodesk!
