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Updated in April 2025
Top 10 Email Marketing Tools For Promotional Email in 2025
Promotional emails will always play a fundamental role in SaaS marketing by converting customers, nurturing leads, and helping to generate revenue that exceeds the cost of an email send. In this post, I'll explain the uniqueness of promotional emails, how to develop campaigns that convert, the best times to send promotional emails, and the most affordable platforms and most recommended providers in India to use in 2025. Platforms like MailChimp, HubSpot, Brevo, and Zoho include tools for tracking return on investment (ROI), templates for promotional emails, and even ways of personalising promotional emails to increase engagement. Regardless of whether you are a startup or an enterprise looking to launch a SaaS email campaign, this post can help you get started.
10 Best Email Marketing Tools For Promotional Email in 2025
- Creator Focused Email Marketing
- API Integration for Verification
- Bulk Email Verification
- Email Marketing
- CRM Integration
- Social Media Management
- Integrated Email Marketing & CRM
- A/B Testing
- Customizable Templates
- Email Templates
- Audience Segmentation
- Marketng CRM
- Advanced Marketing Automation
- Email Segmentation
- CRM Integration
- Email Marketing
- Landing Pages
- Webinars
- Drag and Drop Email Builder
- Marketing Automation
- Subscription Forms
- Multichannel Marketing Automation
- SMS Marketing Automation
- Advanced Segmenntation
- Drag and Drop Email Editor
- A/B Testing
- Reporting & Analytics
- Email Marketing with Automation
- Lead Generation
- A/B Testing
What Is A Promotional Email, And How Is It Different From Newsletters?
A promotional email is a targeted marketing email that is designed to elicit a definitive action from the customer, which could be to sign up for a free trial, upgrade to a paid plan, or to purchase some element of the SaaS product (feature, capability, etc.). Whereas newsletters themselves might have a goal focused on informing customers and subscribers and promoting some level of engagement through articles related to the industry, blog posts or company news, promotional emails focus almost entirely on conversions with definitive CTAs and time-sensitive promotions (e.g., a discount, a limited-time deal, etc.).
Major Differences:
- Objectives: Promotional emails have the sole purpose of selling something, or converting someone (e.g., “Get 20% off your annual plan!” – MailChimp), whereas newsletters are more about building relationships and awareness of your brand (e.g., Hubspot’s industry tips).
- Content: Promotional emails communicate offers, highlights, or incentives associated with products (offering product discounts is a common promotional email), whereas newsletters communicate educational updates and/or curated content.
- Frequency: Promotional emails are generally campaign-specific and sent less frequently than newsletters, whereas newsletters are usually regular (weekly/monthly) to keep the relationship fresh.
- Metrics: Promotional emails are recognised by conversion rates and ROI, whereas newsletters send signals via open rates and engagement.
Examples:
- Promotional Email: Brevo’s Black Friday Email discount for Software as a Service upgrades.
- Newsletter: Zoho’s monthly digest with their CRM tips and updates.
Brevo
- Features: Drag-and-drop editor, promotional email templates, and automation to manage email density and templates.
- Details: Free as part of their plan (300 emails per day); paid plans = $25/month.
HubSpot
- Features: Add a personalised promotional email experience, CRM play, and A/B testing.
- Details: Free tools and paid plans start at $20/month.
Let’s get deep dive into the top 5 Best Email Marketing Tools For Promotional Email in 2025
Features:
- ConvertKit focuses on mail promoting automation, customizable e-mail sequences, tagging, segmentation, landing pages, and integrations with e-commerce platforms.
Advantages:
- ConvertKit is designed for makers and bloggers, advertising effortlessness and adaptability in creating automated mail sequences, overseeing supporters, and offering digital products.
Use Cases:
- Perfect for bloggers, podcasters, and online makers looking to develop their audience, build connections through mail marketing, and monetize their content.
Pricing:
- ConvertKit's estimating begins at $29/month for up to 1,000 subscribers, with highlights tailored to the wants of creators and small businesses.
Features:
- HubSpot's CRM-integrated email features include email templates, personalization tokens, scheduling, tracking, automation, and A/B testing.
- It offers seamless synchronization of email interactions with CRM records.
Advantages:
- HubSpot provides a user-friendly interface and powerful automation tools to streamline email marketing efforts.
- Its tight integration with the CRM enables sales and marketing teams to work collaboratively and effectively
Use Cases:
- Suitable for businesses looking for an all-in-one CRM and marketing automation solution to manage contacts, track email interactions, automate follow-ups, and analyze campaign performance.
Pricing:
- HubSpot offers a free CRM with limited features, with paid plans starting at $45/month for additional marketing features, including CRM-integrated email capabilities
Features:
- It allows for seamless communication management within the CRM.
- They give integration with Google Workspace, DNS administration, and domain forwarding.
Advantages:
- Zoho CRM provides a comprehensive suite of CRM and email marketing tools at an affordable price point.
- It's known for its ease of use and customization options to tailor email communication.
Use Cases:
- Ideal for small to medium-sized businesses seeking an affordable CRM solution with integrated email capabilities to manage customer communication, track interactions, and drive sales.
Pricing:
- Zoho CRM's pricing starts at $12/user/month for the Standard edition, with higher-tier plans offering more advanced features and scalability.
Features:
- Mailchimp's CRM-integrated email features include email templates, automation, personalization, segmentation, A/B testing, and reporting.
- It allows for seamless synchronization of customer data between the CRM and email platform.
Advantages:
- Mailchimp offers a user-friendly interface and advanced email marketing capabilities suitable for businesses of all sizes.
- Its CRM integration enables targeted and personalized email campaigns based on customer behavior.
Use Cases:
- Suited for businesses looking for an integrated CRM and email marketing solution to manage contacts, nurture leads, and automate email campaigns while leveraging customer data.
Pricing:
- Mailchimp offers a free plan for up to 2,000 contacts, with paid plans starting at $9.99/month for additional features and larger audience sizes.
Features:
- ActiveCampaign's CRM-integrated email features include email automation, segmentation, personalization, lead scoring, tracking, and reporting.
- It offers advanced automation capabilities to streamline email marketing efforts.
Advantages:
- ActiveCampaign is known for its powerful automation tools and CRM integration, allowing for highly targeted and personalized email campaigns.
- It provides comprehensive analytics to measure campaign performance.
Use Cases:
- Ideal for businesses looking for advanced automation and CRM integration to automate email marketing processes, nurture leads, and track customer interactions throughout the sales funnel.
Pricing:
- ActiveCampaign's pricing starts at $9/month for up to 500 contacts, with higher-tier plans offering more advanced features and larger contact limits.
What Are the Steps to Set Up an Effective Promotional Email Campaign That Converts?
In just a few minutes, I can show you how to create promotional email campaigns that have a high conversion rate:
- Define Goals: Create a clearly defined goal (e.g., what is good for you – 10% trial-to-paid conversion rate) and track the goal in ActiveCampaign.
- Segment the Audience: By using behavioural data (e.g., trial users, older campaigns, inactive subscribers), you can segment the audience using tools such as Zoho or MailChimp.
- Create an Engaging Promotional Email Campaign: Use interesting subject lines (e.g., “Get 30% off your plan today!”), Write copy that isn’t too long, make sure your call to action is strong, and include visuals using Moosend’s template builder.
- Personalise: Add the recipient’s name, previous interactions, or historic data on features used either through Hubspot’s personalisation tokens or Get Response’s dynamic content.
- Add A/B Test: Using tools such as MailChimp or ActiveCampaign to test subject lines, call to actions, or time of day.
- Add Urgency: Use offers that have a time-limited offer (e.g. “48 hours left!” and add countdown timers through Omnisend.
- Optimise for Mobile: Finish properly designed, responsive emails with Brevo’s mobile templates.
- Track Metrics: Measure conversions and r.o.i.. with FreshSales analytics or Pipedrive’s integration with any CRM to measure conversion track conversions.
Some additional tips: X posts recommend using MailChimp A/B testing in combination with Semrush (for keyword-driven subject lines) to help increase open rates.
When is The Right Time for Promotional Emails?
The right time for sending promotional emails depends on the audience and industry, as a data-led approach helps:
- General Best Times (2025 benchmarks):
- B2B SaaS: Tuesday-Thursday, 10 am-12 pm or 2 pm-4 pm (local time) when professionals are more likely to check their emails at work.
- B2C SaaS: Tuesday-Wednesday, 8 am-10 am, or 7 pm-9 pm based on morning or evening routine.
- India-Specific: The audience in India is more likely to open your emails if sent between 9 am and 11 am IST (when work starts) or after 8 pm-10 pm IST (after work). Open rate averages 42.35%.
- Behavioural Triggers: If you have ActiveCampaign, you can also use predictive sending to push emails after customers have engaged with your online business (like a trial signup).
- Smart Delivery: If maintaining timezone awareness is crucial, companies like MailerLite (not included above), GetResponse also provide smart delivery services and features to cater to the availability of global audiences.
- Testing: Companies like Moosend or Omnisend allow you to test your sending times and also report on open rates, click-through rates, etc.
GetResponse
- Features: Time-zone optimisation, A/B testing, promotional workflows.
- Pricing: Starting at $19.99/month; 90.9% deliverability rate.
Omnisend
- Features: Countdown timers, smart scheduling, and eCommerce focus.
- Pricing: Free for 250 contacts, paid starting from $16/month.
NOTE: For your B2B, avoid Saturdays and Sundays; for B2C, test sending in the evenings. X discussions indicate Tuesday mornings in India for SaaS campaigns.
Which Platforms Offer the Most Affordable Promotional Email Services in SaaS?
Affordable promotional email services in 2025 are:
Brevo: The free plan offers 300 emails/day, which is perfect for a start-up. The paid plan begins at $25/month, which includes unlimited emails, automation and templates.
- Features: Drag and drop builder, promotional templates, CRM integration.
- Details: Free tier, paid for $25 a month.
MailChimp: Free for 500 contacts, can send 1,000 emails/month. Offers promotional templates and segmentation. Paid plans start from $13/month.
- Features: Free plan, A/B testing, analytics included.
- Details: Free tier, paid for $13/month.
Moosend: Free plan for 1,000 subscribers/unlimited emails, with automation & templates. Paid plans from $9/month.
- Features: Affordable automation, promotional templates, and analytics included.
- Details: Free tier, paid for $9/month.
Zoho: Free plan for 5,000 emails/month (250 contacts), which includes CRM integration. Paid plans for $6/month.
- Features: Free plan, CRM integration, promotional emails.
- Details: Free trial, paid for $6/month.
*Important Note: HubSpot, ActiveCampaign, FreshSales, Pipedrive, and Keap average $20 – $49/month with a lot of features but very little to offer in the ‘cheap’ category. Some marketing & promotional email services like ConvertKit, Omnisend, AWeber, and Benchmark can offer very limited free plans.
Who Is the Best Vendor of Promotional Email Services in the SaaS Marketplace?
The “best” is predicated on needs, but the leading options for SaaS in 2025 are:
HubSpot: Ideal for B2B SaaS with CRM integration, trigger-based send, and personalised campaigns. Free tools for small campaigns, paid plans starting at $20/month.
- Features: CRM, automation, A/B testing, lead scoring.
- Details: Free tier and paid options starting at $20/month.
ActiveCampaign: The best option for automation and deliverability (94.2%), great for complex workflows. Plans start at $29/month.
- Features: Extensive deliverability, behaviorally triggered launches, conversion tracking.
- Details: $29/month, built-in reporting and analytics.
MailChimp: Best for ease of use and scaling an email marketing strategy, offering templates and a free tier.
- Features: Easy to learn and use, templates, A/B testing.
- Details: Free up to 500 contacts; paid tiers start at $13/month.
Brevo: Best for value-based pricing and all-in-one capabilities while still having a good deliverability rate.
- Features: Drag-and-drop editor, automation, CRM.
- Details: Free up to 300 emails/day; paid tiers start at $25/month.
What makes them different?
- HubSpot is a leader in personalisation and playing nice with your CRM.
- ActiveCampaign leads in automation and deliverability.
- MailChimp and Brevo strike the best balance in price and capability.
Which Providers Offer Quality and Affordability in India (2025)?
These provide quality and affordability for Indian SaaS businesses in 2025:
Zoho: A quality provider for Indian businesses with CRM integration. Zoho is free for 5,000 emails/month (250 contacts), and paid plans are from $6/month. High deliverability, local tech support.
- Features include: CRM, automation, and promotional emails with templates.
- Details: Free tier and paid from $6/month.
Brevo: Affordability! 300 emails/day free. Great automation and templates. Paid plans starting from $25/month. Brevo is one of the more popular solutions for Indian startups.
- Features include: Drag-and-drop XML builder, segmentation, and analytics.
- Details: Free tier and paid from $25/month.
MailChimp: Free for up to 500 contacts; plenty of options for scaling your business from $13/month with templates, A/B testing, etc. Most popular email provider in India, especially in the startup community.
- Features include: Free tier, email templates, and segmentation.
- Details: Free tier and paid from $13/month.
Moosend: Free for up to 1,000 subscribers and paid plans starting from $9/month. Great deliverability and automation have made it popular with Indian startups.
- Features include: Automation, templates, and analytics.
- Details: Free tier and paid from $9/month.
Why They Are Good for India:
- Zoho offers local pricing and tech support.
- Brevo and Moosend have free tiers for startups.
- MailChimp provides scalability as you grow.
X feedback highlighted Zoho’s popularity in India for CRM integration.
How Can I Measure Promotional Email Campaigns' ROI?
Tracking your ROI will help ensure the value which you receive from your campaigns.
The ROI formula is:
ROI = [(Revenue generated from Campaign – Cost of Campaign) / Cost of Campaign] × 100.
- The average profit for email campaigns is anywhere from $36 – $42 for every $1 spent.
Tools:
- HubSpot – Tracks conversions and revenue, and lead scoring through the integration with the CRM.
- ActiveCampaign – Tracks conversions, click-through rates, and revenue attribution with integrated budgeting.
- MailChimp – Analytics for open rates, clicks, and eCommerce revenue tracking.
- FreshSales – Integrates with CRM to keep track of sales dollars earned from email campaigns.
Steps:
- Set goals (Contact us, trial signups, etc.) in Pipedrive or Zoho.
- Use UTM parameters with Google Analytics (Brevo or Moosend can generate your UTM links) to track clicks and conversion attribution.
- Once your rideable data is collected, use ActiveCampaign’s real-time-based dashboard for reference. You should know your open rate (the average threshold for open rates is 42.35 per cent), click-through rates and conversions within the dashboard.
- Conduct A/B testing with GetResponse to optimise the various elements that contribute to delivering a high ROI.
ActiveCampaign
- Features: Revenue attribution, automation and analytics.
- Details: Pricing starts at $29 per month, with 94.2% deliverability.
HubSpot
- Features: CRM, conversion tracking and A/B testing.
- Details: Free tier and paid versions start at $20 per month.
Here’s a tip: X users recommend integrating MailChimp with Google Analytics for better and more complete ROI tracking in SaaS email campaigns.
What Templates or Personalization Strategies Work Best When It Comes to Promotional Emails?
Effective templates and personalisation strategies lead to better conversion rates:
Templates:
- Welcome Emails: Leverage on-board templates with CTAs (50% open rate) through Hubspot.
- Discount Deals: With discount offers, Brevo has Black Friday templates that have countdown timers to create a sense of urgency.
- Feature Announcements: Moosend has block-style templates to differentiate features, with bold titles to show new features.
- Re-Engagement: Omnisend win-back templates include an incentive, such as “20% off your next plan.
Personalisation Strategies:
- Name Tokens: Using MailChimp or Zoho with name tokens to include recipient names in the subject line: “Amit, Save 20% Today!”
- Behavioural Triggers: Send emails that are triggered after experiences, such as signing up for a free trial, using Active Campaign or GetResponse.
- Dynamic Content: Hubspot’s smart content allows you to segment and personalise campaigns by user role or business sector.
- Segmentation: Use FreshSale or Pipedrive to send personalised emails to trial users or churned customers.
- AI Personalisation: ActiveCampaign personalises messaging and content based on behaviour; Brevo includes dynamic content for parts of segments to create personalised interactions.
Moosend
- Benefits: Block-style templates, personalisation, and automation.
- Details: Free for 1,000 subscribers, then paid subscription from $9.00 per month.
GetResponse
- Benefits: Dynamic content, promotional templates, A/B testing, and landing pages.
- Details: Starts at $19.00 per month, with a 90.9% deliverability.
Note: Try to avoid generic templates – if branding is significant, the way to go is Adobe’s design tools and adding custom visual elements to promote personalisation.
Conclusion
This Promotional Email for SaaS Review demonstrates how applications like HubSpot, ActiveCampaign, MailChimp, Brevo, and Zoho will help SaaS businesses in India create high-ROI promotional email campaigns in 2025. HubSpot leads in B2B personalisation, ActiveCampaign leads in automation, Brevo and Moosend are affordable options, and Zoho focuses on Indian Startups with local support.
Create campaigns with segmented, blisteringly relevant, personalised data, test sending times (Tuesday morning for India), and closely monitor ROI – you should be pairing ROI tracking with a CRM, and your email software must allow for that also. Use templates that create urgency, include dynamic content to drive conversions.
Check out more email marketing apps at Alternate Product to supercharge your SaaS growth!
