AWeber for Therapists: Pros & Cons

Over the past few weeks, I have talked about the importance of Email Marketing for Therapists. I started by asking why its important to have an email list (remember my rule of thumb – that a person needs exposure from you between 5 and 12 to take action). I then taught you how to build an email marketing list, by utilizing a free report. Lastly, I talked about what you are supposed to do once you have built a list. I even showed you how to put together a newsletter in under 5 minutes!

Now that you know the importance of email marketing, and how it can turn potential clients into clients, I am going to turn to the different email marketing services, also known as autoresponders. Over the next few weeks, I will cover a different email marketing service that I have found to be popular among therapists – looking at the pros and cons of each.

Popular email marketing services include:

  • AWeber
  • Constant Contact
  • MailChimp
  • iContact
  • Mailpoet

This week, I will look at AWeber – the email marketing service I used for years, before moving to Infusionsoft, a higher priced email marketing service that is unnecessary for therapists, and what I like to refer to as ‘the cadillac of autoresponders.’ When I added a free report to my site, started promoting webinars and started sending out monthly newsletters, I chose to use AWeber. While all autoresponders have their pros and cons, I fancy AWeber for its ability to ‘include’ and ‘exclude’ specific lists. When I sent out emails about webinars, AWeber allowed me to exclude those who had already registered for the webinar from the announcement emails. I also loved its easy to use design and analytics.

Below are some of the pros and cons of AWeber for therapists.

PROS OF AWEBER 

  • Autoresponder services with sequencing capabilities: After a person signs up for a free report on your website, AWeber’s autoresponder service allows you to build a relationship with them with a sequence of automatically sent emails.
  • Social Media Integration: AWeber allows you to integrate your social media channels, which will automatically post to your Facebook or Twitter page when you send out an email to your list.
  • “Include” and “Exclude” specific lists: When sending out an email campaign, this feature allows you to send to multiple lists at once, while also excluding certain lists if you desire. For example, when I send out emails about an upcoming webinar, AWeber allows me to exclude the list of people who have already opted in for the webinar.
  • Drag and drop editor: Their drag and drop editor allows you to add different email components (headers, logos, images, clickable buttons, etc) to your email with a simple click and drag. We love this feature, and find it speeds up the email creation process.
  • Email templates: The extensive number of email templates (over 600, according to their website) allow you to create professional-looking emails that are also mobile responsive. Simply place your content within a template, and hit send.
  • Analytics: AWeber allows you to track a single email, or an entire campaign with their email analytics – complete with graphs. You can view who opened the email, how many people clicked links and the number of unsubscriptions.

CONS OF AWEBER

  • AWeber does not offer a free version: Some email marketing services offer a free version, however all of AWeber’s packages require monthly payments. If you are looking to try it out though, the first month is only $1.
  • No free trial period: For those who are trying to decide which email marketing service to use, not having a free version is one of the downsides of AWeber. They do offer a 30 day money back guarantee if you are unhappy.
  • Cannot send videos: Unfortunately, AWeber doesn’t allow you to send videos. While you can send photos, sending videos is unavailable.

PRICE OF AWEBER

AWeber is a moderately priced email marketing service, for all the features it has. For $19 a month, users can send an unlimited number of emails out to up to 500 subscribers. The first month is only $1, which is also a plus. For 501 to 2500 subscribers, the cost increases by $10 each month ($29 per month). For 2,501 to 5,000 subscribers, the price increases another $20 per month ($49 monthly). You can look into more pricing information on their website.

While I loved using AWeber, there are many other smaller email marketing providers on the market. Next week I will take a look at Constant Contact – another popular service among therapists. In the meantime,  find out other ways to gain more clients here.

By: Becky DeGrossa

Scroll to Top