Why We Chose AWeber As Our Email Provider
So our story begins with trying to find the right email autoresponder for our needs. Several years ago, we tried MailChimp and ConvertKit but found both difficult to use (It has been a few years so things might have changed and we also didn’t know much about autoresponders at the time) and confusing. We read recommendation after recommendation about AWeber and finally gave in and tried their service on a free trial.
In the end we were glad we did because Aweber was easy to use with guidance tips and help at every step. There were also a lot of video tutorials on how to use Aweber that helped guide us too.
By the way, the free trial is gone but it has been replaced with an even better deal. Aweber is now free up to 500 subscribers! This is perfect for those just starting out.
What is AWeber?
Aweber is an email marketing suite that is hosted online (cloud). If you plan on implementing email marketing for your site you will need some sort of program to accomplish this task. Aweber is such a program. Not only do they offer opt-in forms but you can build landing pages, email campaigns, and newsletters as well.
About The Company
The company name is AWeber Comms Inc and was founded in 1998 by Tom Kulzer. They are headquartered in Chalfont, PA.
AWeber Features
| Usage | Free Plan | Pro Plan |
| Subscriber limit | 500 | Unlimited |
| Email sends | 3,000 | Unlimited |
| List profiles | 1 | Unlimited |
| Team / Account Managing | Free Plan | Pro Plan |
| Unlimited users | Y | Y |
| Free Plan | Pro Plan | |
| Integrations | Y | Y |
| Free Migration | Y | Y |
| 24/7 Live Support | Y | Y |
| Email Features | Free Plan | Pro Plan |
| Create And Send Newsletters | Y | Y |
| Email Automation | Y | Y |
| RSS To Email | Y | Y |
| Drag-And-Drop Email Builder | Y | Y |
| 100s Of Email Templates | Y | Y |
| HTML Emails | Y | Y |
| Dynamic Content | Y | Y |
| AMP Emails | Y | Y |
| Hosted Broadcast Archive | Y | Y |
| Access To Thousands Of Professional Images | Y | Y |
| Email Split Testing | No | Y |
| Behavioral Automation | No | Y |
| Cart Abandonment / Purchase Tagging | No | Y |
| Branded Click-Tracking Links | No | Y |
| Remove AWeber branding | No | Y |
| Landing Pages | Free Plan | Pro Plan |
| Sell Products And Services With AWeber Ecommerce | Y | Y |
| Unlimited Landing Pages | Y | Y |
| Landing Page Templates | Y | Y |
| Access To Thousands Of Professional Images | Y | Y |
| Video Landing Pages | Y | Y |
| Google Analytics And Facebook Pixel Tracking | Y | Y |
| Custom Domains | Y | Y |
| Remove AWeber Branding | No | Y |
| List Building | Free Plan | Pro Plan |
| Sign Up Forms | Y | Y |
| WordPress Plugin | Y | Y |
| Sign Up Form Split Testing | No | Y |
| Segmentation | Free Plan | Pro Plan |
| Tagging Subscribers | Y | Y |
| Send To Basic Segments | Y | Y |
| Save And Send To Custom Segments | No | Y |
| Reporting | Free Plan | Pro Plan |
| Simple Subscriber And Message Analytics | Y | Y |
| Advanced Message Analytics | No | Y |
| Advanced Audience / Account Analytics | No | Y |
| Webpage Tracking | No | Y |
| Email Sales Tracking | No | Y |
Aweber Pro Pricing
Pricing In words
0 – 500 contacts: $19.99/month
This is if you need more than the free plan offers.
501 – 2,500 contacts: $29.99/month
2,501 – 5,000 contacts: $49.99/month
5,001 – 10,000 contacts: $69.99/month
10,001 – 25,000 contacts: $149.99/month
More than 25,000 contacts: Contact AWeber for a quote
You can pay monthly or annually if you choose.
AWeber Customer Service
AWeber has some of the best customer service around.
Live Chat and Email correspondence are open 24 hours a day.
By telephone they are open 8 am – 8 pm EST USA.
Aweber VS Software
Should you choose Aweber or Software? That depends on your business needs.
AWeber is an email marketing service online. Also called an autoresponder but with so many more features which we talk about above.
Basically, messages you create are sent out from the Aweber servers to the recipients. Your personal subscriber lists are backed up and stored in an online database that you can get to at anytime, anywhere.
Nothing to download or host on your computer or server.
Software works differently in that:
Emails are sent out through your own server or your own computer. Basically, you’re the host.
Subscriber lists are stored on your computer or server and you are the one responsible for backing up your data on an ongoing basis.
The software will need to be installed.
Some People Prefer Software Because
They only pay a one-time fee to buy software.
Usually, no monthly fee.
They want more freedom to send emails and do not have to deal with the rules and regulations of the autoresponder service. This is not really a good sign as that typically means that they bought email lists to send emails to random people. This goes against the CAN SPAM ACT and can get you in a lot of trouble if you are caught. You actually need permission to be able to send emails to your list of subscribers. Which is why most autoresponders come with an automatic opt-in yes or no question. If they say “yes” they are added to your personal list.
They want to host their own opt-out form (unsubscribe form).
Final Words
As your business grows an automated email system is something that is needed to handle subscription services, alerts, current events, sales, and newsletters. If you plan on doing email marketing campaigns you will need an autoresponder as well.
With the special that Aweber runs, you can start for free and you can upgrade as your business grows.
If you already have subscribers, it is very easy to import them to AWeber.
If there are any issues AWeber’s tech support is some of the best in the business and available in some form 24/7.
Let AWeber handle the hassle and worry allowing you to focus on the content.
