When it comes to marketing as a startup, there’s nothing more important than emails, especially in 2024.
Why?
It’s because emails return as much as $40 for every dollar invested and that’s quite reassuring amidst the funding winter and investors’ newfound dislike of the “burn rate.”
Another alluring aspect of email marketing is “owning your audience” once they opt in as opposed to other platforms where you pay to reach out. Moreover, there’s no competition for attention as you own the screen real estate once a recipient opens your email.
However, how well you engage your subscribers depends on email design, and creating emails that stand out is easier said than done. That’s where email design agencies for startups come into the picture.
Read on to find 9 of the best email design agencies that are perfect for startups.
Here are some of the key factors we considered to create this list of the best email design agencies for startups.
Though Attrock also provides email marketing and design services, we believe it wouldn’t be fair to include ourselves on the list. We offer end-to-end services, not just email design, so it wouldn’t be a like-for-like comparison anyway.
That’s why we’ve decided to give a shoutout to email design agencies for startups that are doing a hell of a job.
Here are our top picks for the best email design agencies for startups.
Image via Email Uplers
Today, no discussion on email design agencies is complete without discussing Email Uplers—a custom email template design agency with a top-tier client portfolio.
It has clients like Disney and National Geographic in its portfolio and experience in handling fast-paced, high-volume design needs. This expertise can be easily applied to small businesses that can benefit from its learnings and experience working with industry giants.
Based on client reviews, Email Uplers tops the chart in following a process-driven approach and quick turnarounds. The company’s flexible engagement models and scalability make it an ideal pick for startups and enterprises alike. It also offers white-label services for agencies.
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Image via SmartMail
SmartMail is a specialized email marketing agency for startups that caters exclusively to the ecommerce sector.
With a team of experts in strategy, design, coding, and client success, it offers a full range of services to help online merchants optimize their email campaigns throughout the customer lifecycle.
What sets SmartMail apart is its focus on delivering high-converting, trigger-based email campaigns that are fully managed by its team.
From growing subscriber lists and personalizing campaigns to creating responsive templates and executing data integrations, SmartMail has the knowledge and experience to drive results.
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Image via ActionRocket
ActionRocket is a boutique email design agency that pushes the boundaries of what's possible in the inbox. It specializes in using advanced tactics like gamification, animation, and dynamic content to create interactive email experiences.
Unsurprisingly, ActionRocket's portfolio has impressive examples of the same including product carousels, quizzes, and even in-email purchases.
It’s an ideal fit for startups that need more than beautiful-looking emails—functional and conversion-optimized assets that drive engagement and revenue.
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Pro Tip: Use its design services to create visual assets that you can reuse in various emails.
Image via eFocus Marketing
If you’re looking for an agency that not only designs emails but helps you map out a cohesive email marketing strategy, then this is it. With a specialization in the ecommerce space, it can help you create email designs for different stages of the funnel, from welcoming new subscribers to recovering abandoned carts.
It provides extensive email marketing training to clients and considers their goals and audience to guide their email marketing strategy. This is great for startups who want to learn from the experts and then build in-house expertise.
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Image via Indiemark
Founded in 2008, Indiemark is a full-service email marketing agency built on the insights and passion of a team of email marketing veterans.
It focuses on helping clients build loyalty and generate revenue through practical guidance, creative design, and technical expertise to make the most out of every email marketing opportunity.
It helps clients in critical areas like deliverability and automation on top of training services, making it an ideal fit for startups.
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Image via MailBakery
Mailbakery is an email design studio with over 10 years of industry experience. It specializes in designing, coding, testing, and implementing reusable HTML email templates.
If you want to convert your existing sketches or PSD files into an HTML format to be used for emails, then it can help with that as well. The agency has a team of coding experts that take care of technical aspects of email design along with the aesthetics.
Its team does an exceptional job with animations, making it a great fit for any startup that wants to leverage visual storytelling to its full extent.
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Image via MH Digital
MH Digital is a full-service email and SMS marketing agency that specializes in delivering comprehensive lifecycle marketing programs to drive growth and fortify revenue. Its team of experts balances both creativity and technical know-how to design effective campaigns.
MH Digital specializes in custom integrations, especially for Braze and Klaviyo, to maximize the potential of these platforms for ecommerce companies.
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Image via Designmodo
If you are running on a tight budget and would be happy to use templates that aren’t customized down to pixel level to meet your expectations, Designmodo is the best choice for you. It is an online marketplace of professionally designed, affordable email templates.
Since these templates are created by experienced designers and optimized for various devices and email clients, they provide a fast and reliable way to ramp up your email marketing efforts.
Also, it provides the source files with each template, giving startups full control to customize the designs to match their branding.
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Postcards (template builder app)
Pre-designed email templates are also available for free.
Image via The Better Creative
The Better Creative is an email design agency that builds, tests, and implements emails on various email service providers. It is a high-touch, custom solution that takes clients’ requirements to create tailor-made email designs.
Depending on the plan, three to six dedicated designers work with you to design each email. You also get a dedicated project manager to handle your account and all your email requirements.
It charges per email and doesn’t bind clients with a monthly contract. The price per email reduces with the number of emails, so you get more value for your money with bulk orders.
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Q1. How much should an email design cost?
A. It can cost anywhere from $100 to thousands of dollars, depending on the complexity or design. On average, you can expect to spend a few hundred dollars for custom email designs by professional email design agencies.
However, if you’re ok with predesigned templates, you will get those for much less, even for free.
Q2. What is an email design agency?
A. An email design agency specializes in creating email templates for clients, based on their specific requirements. Some such agencies also offer email copywriting, coding, and testing services.
Q3. Which is the best email design agency for startups?
A. That depends on your business needs and budget. Our top three picks for the best email design agency for startups are:
Q4. Which is the best email marketing company?
A. While there’s no right answer to this question, as it depends on various factors, some popular options include Mailchimp and Brevo. These are affordable email service providers that are often preferred by small businesses.
Q5. Is email marketing still worth it?
A. Absolutely yes! Email marketing is an evergreen marketing strategy that still remains effective. It gives you a chance to connect with your prospects directly and engage them without spending much.
Email marketing is an evergreen and cost-effective marketing tactic, but without great design, it fails to capture the audience’s attention.
That’s where email design agencies can help. They design engaging and responsive email and newsletter templates that are on-brand and help your emails stand out.
Some of these agencies for startups also offer email coding and copywriting services, which can further help you create high-performing emails.
We’ve listed some of the best email design agencies for startups to supercharge their email campaigns and get the best results.
If you need more comprehensive, end-to-end, email marketing services, then contact our team and they’ll design a custom strategy for your business.
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