Email marketing tools for businesses in Kenya

Email marketing in Kenya still registers low engagement due to the cultural and consumer behavior of Kenyans in general. Preferred mode of communication tends towards WhatsApp and SMS given the instant ability to respond.

However, this does not negate the growing adoption of email marketing in the digital marketing mix especially for larger and more corporate companies, all for specific purposes of course.

This trend has also given birth to major marketing tools that have the capacity to integrate all channels of communication on one dashboard. This allows businesses in Kenya to enjoy the mix of email, SMS and WhatsApp engagement without having to switch from one tool to another.

Kenyan businesses should be keen while choosing the right tool by bowing to a few considerations:

• Business size: What tool works for an SME may not necessarily work for a large business.

• Feature needs: Is it automation that your business needs? Newsletters? The choice is dependent on the business need or campaign.

• Budget: You will discover that some of the tools are free to start but with limitations and others low cost.

In this article, we share some of the email marketing tools at the disposal of businesses in Kenya that want to scale in the world of digital marketing.

Trembi

This AI powered lead generation tool helps businesses find leads, nurture the leads, convert and retain them using their powerful CRM capabilities.

Trembi email marketing features:

• It supports multi-channel marketing campaigns across email, SMS and WhatsApp which is particularly crucial for businesses in Kenya where mobile usage is at its peak.

• Its automation capabilities make it easy to schedule or set up trigger messages and build customer journeys saving businesses time to focus on conversion of potential leads.

• Trembi integrates CRM and lead management for centralization of customer data, tracking leads and customer interactions and managing sales pipeline.

• Trembi provides real-time insights on campaign performance helping the businesses measure Return on Investment and future messaging.

  Pro:

• Besides email marketing, Trembi is an eco-system of all sales and marketing solutions from lead generation to connecting you with multiple influencers to help push your product or service.

Brevo

With this platform, businesses in Kenya can design, send and track email campaigns, alongside additional messaging tools like SMS and WhatsApp.

Email marketing features:

• It has customizable templates that help businesses build their emails and allows for trigger messages with its marketing automation.

• It has CRM abilities helping business store customer data that can easily be accessed.

• Mutli-channel messaging, that is, e-mail, WhatsApp and SMS.

• It supports transaction emails and not just newsletters.

• It gives real-time statistics on campaign performance.

Pro:

• It has a free plan but with limitations.

• For businesses that only appreciate email marketing as a digital marketing strategy it is quite competitive in that area.

ConstantContact

This is an easy-to-use platform for beginners and rather small businesses.

Email marketing features:

• Performs all core features of e-mail building, automation, contact management and analytics.

• It supports social and event marketing to complement email outreach for the sake of local brand engagement for Kenyan businesses.

• It integrates seamlessly with many platforms such as e-commerce tools, CRM systems, ads tools and landing page builders.

  Limitations:

• It offers tier pricing and automation is very basic.

ActiveCampaign

This platform has more advanced automation workflows that surpass basic newsletters.

Core features:

• Advanced email marketing and automations

• Built-in CRM and sales automation

• Contact segmentation and personalization

• Multi-channel outreach crossing to SMS campaigns, website messages and ads.

Limitations:

• It is less beginner - friendly and quite costly compared to other beginner tools which may not favor the Kenyan small and medium businesses.

Recommendations:

Core capabilities	E-mail Marketing Tool
All-in-one sales and marketing automation across multiple channels	Trembi, Brevo, ActiveCampaign
Simple newsletters / Beginner friendly	ConstantContact
Advanced automations ad CRM	Trembi, ActiveCampaign
Email marketing focused tool	Brevo
Scalability	Trembi and ActiveCampaign

Email marketing tools serve different business needs and different levels of maturity for Kenyan businesses.

It is therefore pertinent that businesses understand their needs and goals. Tools that give Kenyan businesses ultimate sales and marketing solutions like Trembi stand a chance at scaling and performing at optimum.