If you‘re looking for a powerful yet easy-to-use email marketing service, AWeber is definitely worth your consideration. As one of the oldest and most popular email marketing platforms around, AWeber has been helping small businesses and entrepreneurs build their audiences and drive sales through email since 1998.
In this in-depth AWeber review for 2024, I‘ll take you on a complete tour of the platform. We‘ll explore its key features, check out the latest pricing, weigh the biggest pros and cons, and help you determine if it‘s the right email marketing tool for your needs.
Whether you‘re an AWeber veteran considering renewing your plan or a total email marketing newbie, by the end of this post, you‘ll have all the information you need to make an informed decision. Let‘s dive in!
What is AWeber?
AWeber is a full-featured email marketing platform that allows you to:
- Build your email list by creating signup forms and landing pages
- Design professional newsletters and email marketing campaigns
- Automate your email flows to send the right messages at the right times
- Analyze your results to optimize your strategy over time
With a wide range of tools for list building, email creation, automation, and reporting, AWeber aims to be an all-in-one email marketing solution for small businesses, bloggers, course creators, podcasters, and more.
The platform has evolved quite a bit since its launch in 1998. Recently, AWeber has added advanced features like an AI-powered writing assistant, unlimited landing pages, ecommerce functionality, and more. But at its core, it‘s still a user-friendly platform that makes email marketing accessible to anyone, even without technical or design skills.
A Look Inside AWeber‘s Email Marketing Features
Now that you know what AWeber does at a high level, let‘s take a closer look at its specific email marketing features. I‘ll walk you through the key tools and show you how they work.
Drag-and-Drop Email Builder
AWeber‘s drag-and-drop email builder allows you to design beautiful, professional-looking emails without any coding required. Simply choose an email template, then customize it to match your brand by dragging and dropping design elements like images, videos, buttons, columns, and more.
The email builder is incredibly intuitive to use. As you hover over different sections of the template, you‘ll see options to edit the text, change the background color or image, adjust the padding and alignment, and more. There‘s also a handy undo/redo function in case you make any mistakes.
One of my favorite features of the email builder is the Canva and Unsplash integrations. With Canva, you can quickly create custom graphics for your emails using Canva‘s library of templates and design assets. And with Unsplash, you get access to thousands of free stock photos to make your emails more visually engaging.
Overall, AWeber‘s email builder is one of the easiest to use that I‘ve come across. It has all the functionality you need to create great-looking emails, without being overly complex or confusing.
Smart Designer & AI Assistant
If you want to take your email designs to the next level, AWeber offers two tools powered by artificial intelligence: Smart Designer and AI Assistant.
Smart Designer automatically creates custom email templates for your brand based on your website‘s color scheme, logo, and imagery. Just enter your website URL, and Smart Designer will generate a variety of templates that match your visual style. You can then customize them further in the drag-and-drop builder.
I tested out Smart Designer with my own website, and I was impressed by the quality of the templates it produced. They looked professional and on-brand, and they would have taken me hours to design from scratch.
AWeber‘s AI Assistant, on the other hand, helps you write compelling email copy, subject lines, and calls-to-action. Using GPT-3 technology from OpenAI, the assistant can generate human-like text based on your prompts and commands.
For example, you could tell the AI Assistant to "Write an email subject line about a flash sale on sneakers," and it would generate several options for you to choose from. Or you could ask it to "Write a product description for a new yoga mat," and it would create a compelling block of copy to paste into your email.
The AI Assistant is still in beta, but it‘s a promising tool that could save you a ton of time on email copywriting. It‘s not perfect, but it‘s great for quickly generating ideas and rough drafts that you can then polish and refine.
Email Automation
Email automation is one of AWeber‘s strong points. With its intuitive automation builder, you can easily set up automated email sequences that get sent to your subscribers based on their actions and behaviors.
Some common examples of automated email campaigns you can create with AWeber include:
- Welcome series for new subscribers
- Lead nurturing sequences
- Post-purchase follow-ups
- Abandoned cart reminders
- Birthday and anniversary emails
To get started with email automation, simply choose from one of AWeber‘s pre-built campaigns or start from scratch. Then use the visual automation builder to map out your sequence step-by-step.
For each email in your sequence, you can choose the trigger that will prompt it to send (e.g. when someone subscribes to your list, clicks a link, or purchases a product). You can also set wait times between emails, add conditional logic, and personalize your emails with dynamic subscriber information.
I found AWeber‘s automation builder to be very user-friendly, even for someone like me who‘s not super tech-savvy. The visual interface makes it easy to see your entire sequence at a glance and understand how it will flow for your subscribers.
Landing Pages
In addition to email marketing, AWeber also offers tools to help you build your email list from your website. With the platform‘s landing page builder, you can create dedicated pages to promote your lead magnets and encourage website visitors to sign up for your emails.
AWeber provides a library of mobile-responsive landing page templates for different types of lead magnets, like ebooks, webinars, courses, and discount codes. You can also design your own landing page from scratch using the same drag-and-drop builder used for emails.
The landing page builder includes all the elements you need to create high-converting pages, including headlines, bullet points, images, videos, countdown timers, and signup forms. You can also add pop-ups and alert bars to your landing pages to make your offers even more attention-grabbing.
One nice thing about AWeber‘s landing pages is that they‘re hosted on AWeber‘s domain, so you don‘t need your own website to use them. However, you can also publish your landing pages to your own domain if you prefer.
Landing pages are included on all AWeber plans, even the free plan (which includes 1 landing page). Paid plans come with additional landing pages, so you can create as many as you need to grow your email list.
Signup Forms
Another way to grow your email list with AWeber is by creating signup forms to embed on your website. AWeber offers a variety of signup form templates that you can customize to match your site‘s design.
To create a signup form, simply choose a template, then use the drag-and-drop builder to add and arrange fields like name, email address, and custom fields. You can also add GDPR checkboxes to get explicit consent from EU subscribers.
Once you‘re happy with your form‘s design, you can publish it to your website by copying and pasting the provided HTML code. AWeber also integrates with popular website builders like WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace, so you can add your form to your site with just a few clicks.
In addition to embedding signup forms on your website, you can also create pop-up, slide-in, and full-page forms to capture email addresses from your visitors. AWeber‘s form builder allows you to trigger these forms based on visitor behavior, such as time on page, scroll depth, or exit intent.
Like landing pages, signup forms are included on all AWeber plans. The number of forms you can create depends on your plan level, with higher-tier plans offering more forms.
AWeber Pricing 2024
So how much does all this cost? AWeber keeps its pricing simple, with just two plans to choose from:
- Free: $0/month for up to 500 subscribers
- Pro: Starting at $16.15/month for up to 500 subscribers (price increases as your list grows)
Both plans come with unlimited emails, so you can send as many broadcasts and automations as you want without worrying about hitting a monthly limit.
The key difference between the Free and Pro plans is the number of lists, users, and signup forms you can have. With the Free plan, you‘re limited to 1 list, 1 user, and 1 signup form. The Pro plan allows you to have multiple lists, users, and forms.
Here‘s a more detailed breakdown of what‘s included in each plan:
As you can see, AWeber‘s Pro plan is very generous, with unlimited landing pages, email automations, signup forms, and more. The main limitation is the number of subscribers you can have, with the price increasing as your list grows.
One nice thing about AWeber is that it offers a free plan, which is rare among email marketing platforms. Although the Free plan is limited, it‘s a great way to try out AWeber‘s features and see if it‘s a good fit for your needs before committing to a paid plan.
Integrations
AWeber integrates with over 750 third-party apps and services, so you can easily connect it to the rest of your marketing stack. Some popular integrations include:
- E-commerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento
- CRM systems like Salesforce and HubSpot
- Membership sites like MemberPress and Teachable
- Webinar platforms like GoToWebinar and WebinarJam
- Social media networks like Facebook and Twitter
- Analytics tools like Google Analytics and MonsterInsights
- Payment processors like PayPal and Stripe
With these integrations, you can do things like automatically add customers to your email list when they make a purchase, track conversions from your email campaigns, and trigger automated emails based on subscriber actions on your website or social media profiles.
AWeber also integrates with Zapier, which allows you to connect it to over 2,000 additional apps and create your own custom automations.
Customer Support
When it comes to customer support, AWeber has a solid reputation. The company offers 24/7 email and live chat support to all users, even those on the Free plan.
In my experience, AWeber‘s support team is responsive and helpful. I‘ve reached out to them a few times with questions about automations and integrations, and I always received a thorough answer within a few hours.
In addition to one-on-one support, AWeber also has an extensive knowledge base with articles and tutorials on every aspect of the platform. Whether you‘re a beginner or an advanced user, you should be able to find answers to most of your questions in the knowledge base.
AWeber also offers a free migration service for users switching from another email marketing platform. If you have an existing list with a different provider, AWeber‘s team will help you move it over to your new account at no extra charge.
Pros and Cons of AWeber
As with any email marketing platform, AWeber has its strengths and weaknesses. Here‘s a quick summary of the main pros and cons I‘ve found in my testing:
Pros:
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Easy to use, even for beginners: AWeber‘s interface is intuitive and user-friendly, with drag-and-drop builders for emails, landing pages, and forms.
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Generous free plan: Unlike many other email marketing platforms, AWeber offers a free plan with enough features to get started.
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Advanced automation: AWeber‘s automation builder is powerful yet easy to use, with pre-built campaigns and the ability to create complex sequences.
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Unlimited emails: All AWeber plans include unlimited email sends, so you don‘t have to worry about hitting a monthly limit.
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AI-powered design and writing tools: AWeber‘s Smart Designer and AI Assistant can help you create professional-looking emails and write compelling copy, even if you‘re not a designer or copywriter.
Cons:
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Limited A/B testing: AWeber only allows you to split test subject lines, not email content or sending times.
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No free trial for Pro plan: While AWeber offers a free plan, there‘s no way to try out the Pro features without committing to a paid subscription.
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Pricing based on number of subscribers: Like most email marketing platforms, AWeber‘s pricing is based on the size of your email list. This can get expensive as your list grows.
Overall, I believe the pros outweigh the cons for most users. AWeber is a robust, reliable email marketing platform with a wide range of features to help you grow and engage your audience. And with its generous free plan and 24/7 support, it‘s a low-risk option for those just getting started with email marketing.
Alternatives to AWeber
While AWeber is a great choice for many businesses and content creators, it‘s not the only email marketing platform out there. Here are a few alternatives to consider:
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Mailchimp: Mailchimp is one of the most popular email marketing platforms, known for its ease of use and generous free plan. It offers a wide range of features, including landing pages, signup forms, and automation.
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Constant Contact: Constant Contact is another user-friendly email marketing platform with a focus on small businesses. It offers a drag-and-drop email builder, automated workflows, and integrations with popular apps like Shopify and Eventbrite.
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ConvertKit: ConvertKit is an email marketing platform designed specifically for content creators like bloggers, podcasters, and course creators. It offers powerful automation, landing pages, and integrations with platforms like WordPress and Teachable.
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GetResponse: GetResponse is an all-in-one marketing platform that includes email marketing, landing pages, webinars, and more. It offers a wide range of templates and automations to help you save time and grow your business.
Ultimately, the best email marketing platform for you will depend on your specific needs and goals. I recommend signing up for a free trial or plan with a few different platforms to see which one feels like the best fit.
Final Thoughts
I hope this AWeber review has given you a good overview of what this email marketing platform has to offer in 2024. With its user-friendly interface, powerful automation, and AI-powered design and writing tools, AWeber is a strong choice for businesses and content creators looking to build and engage their email list.
Of course, AWeber isn‘t perfect. Its A/B testing capabilities are limited, and its pricing can get steep as your list grows. But overall, I believe it‘s one of the best email marketing platforms on the market, especially for those just getting started.
If you‘re interested in trying out AWeber for yourself, you can sign up for a free plan here. With 500 subscribers and 3,000 email sends per month included, it‘s a great way to test out the platform and see if it‘s a good fit for your needs.
Have you used AWeber for your email marketing? What has your experience been? Let me know in the comments below!
