Why Flodesk Is the Only Email Platform I Recommend for Small Businesses in 2025
(And What My Clients' Results Have Taught Me)
by Kayla Leed, Flodesk Partner
Over the past few years, I’ve worked with dozens of small businesses, creatives, clinics, designers, and artists who all have one thing in common: they want to show up beautifully, consistently, and professionally online… but they don’t have hours to figure out tech or pretend they’re a full-time marketing department.
If you’re a business owner, you already know the drill: You’re wearing nine hats. You’re juggling client work, homeschooling, meal prepping, packing lunches, remembering who needs to be where and when… and oh, you’re also supposed to run a marketing strategy?
Email marketing always seems to land at the bottom of the list — not because you don’t care, but because traditional email platforms make it so hard to care.
I’ve tried them all.
The corporate ones.
The all-in-one ones.
The ones with menus inside of menus.
The ones that claim their templates are beautiful (even though they look like 2010 clip art).
I built emails through platforms that made me question whether I actually knew how to design anything. I’d spend an hour trying to adjust spacing in one section before giving up and hitting send anyway.
And then I found Flodesk.
It wasn’t just “prettier.” It genuinely felt like the first email platform made for people like us — creators, women-owned businesses, makers, educators, practitioners, designers, and the heart-led entrepreneurs who care deeply about every touchpoint of their brand.
Flodesk felt like a sigh of relief — and over time, it became one of the most transformative tools inside my business and my clients’ businesses.
And now, seeing everything Flodesk has rolled out recently — new features, deeper automations, integrations with tools we actually use (hello Canva, ManyChat, and Thrivecart), thoughtful pricing… it’s clear they're entering a whole new chapter.
So today I want to share the real story — not a pitch — of why Flodesk is my go-to recommendation, how it’s evolved, and what I’ve seen happen inside the businesses I support.
As always, I’m a Flodesk Partner, which simply means I may earn a commission if you choose to sign up with my code. But more than anything, I’m a long-time user who genuinely believes in this company.
Flodesk’s Evolution: Where Beautiful Design Meets Actual Power
When Flodesk first arrived on the scene a few years ago, they were known as “the pretty email platform.”
They changed the game with their drag-and-drop editor and brand-like-it-was-made-for-you templates.
But here’s the thing:
They didn’t stop there.
2024–2025 has been a season of *quiet growth* for Flodesk — the kind that doesn’t yell for attention but shows up where it matters.
A few of the features I’m loving now:
→ Canva integration
I can pull designs straight from Canva without downloading, exporting, resizing, hoping, praying, or whispering affirmations over my laptop. Game changer.
→ ManyChat integration
If you use Instagram or Facebook DMs to grow your list, this is huge. A single keyword reply can now automatically send people straight to a Flodesk segment or workflow.
→ ThriveCart integration
For digital product sellers, coaches, and educators — this combo is *chef’s kiss.* Post-purchase sequences, onboarding flows, upsells… finally seamless.
And no matter what features they add, they maintain the one promise I think matters most:
Flodesk keeps email marketing simple enough for anyone to use — without stripping away the power.
That’s rare.
Why I Recommend Flodesk to Every Client I Work With
I’ve worked with clients across every industry:
A medical clinic.
A luxury interior designer.
A fine artist whose paintings sell within hours of launching.
Retail shops.
Nonprofits.
Coaches.
Makers.
Real estate pros.
You name it.
And here’s what I’ve learned:
Email only works when the business owner actually wants to use it.
If the platform overwhelms you, you won’t show up.
If the designs look off-brand, you won’t feel proud of what you’re sending.
If writing an email feels like fighting through a swamp of menus, you’ll avoid it until Q4.
But when your platform feels intuitive — when it mirrors your brand, when the templates make you feel like a designer even if you’re not — suddenly email feels doable again.
And that matters… because email is still the highest-converting marketing channel we have.
Let me show you what I mean.
Real Client Wins (and Why They Matter)
1. The medical client who finally became “the trusted provider” in their county
One of my clients, a local weight-loss clinic, came to me with almost no digital presence. No email list. No consistent messaging. No established way to educate patients. After we got them set up with a simple Flodesk structure — monthly education themes, wellness content, patient reminders, and a faith-forward tone that mirrored their in-office experience — things started to shift.
Their website traffic increased by 27% year over year.
Patients came in already informed.
Their messaging finally matched the heart of their brand.
And it wasn’t because we ran ads or did anything fancy — it was because their communication became consistent, warm, and clear. Flodesk made creating and sending those emails easy enough that we could actually *keep* the rhythm.
2. The luxury interior designer whose emails perform like a dream
Another client — a high-end interior designer — had the most stunning portfolio but no consistent email presence. When we switched to Flodesk, everything clicked. Her newsletters now average an 80.5% open rate and a 7.2% click-through rate, which is basically unheard of in the design world. Every time she emails her list, her website traffic surges. People click through to see her new projects, her behind-the-scenes stories, her moody design inspiration.
Why?
Because Flodesk lets her emails feel like her brand: elevated, textural, moody, intentional. Her audience is experiencing the same aesthetic she’s known for in her homes.
And this is the part I love most:
She now feels confident emailing her list — because her emails look like *her.*
3. The fine artist who quadrupled her launch sales
This one still blows me away.
One of my clients, a full-time painter, has over 11,000 followers on Instagram. She had always depended heavily on social media for her collection launches… until the algorithm changed, and everything felt unpredictable.
We rebuilt her website and shifted her launches toward Flodesk.
Her very next collection sold four times more through email than Instagram.
Not because she suddenly painted differently.
Not because we ran an ad.
But because collectors finally had a beautiful, organized, emotional email experience that matched her art.
Email became her #1 revenue driver — a stable, reliable channel no algorithm could take away.
So… Why Flodesk? Why not something else?
There are a million email platforms out there, but Flodesk is the only one that consistently checks all the boxes for the kinds of businesses I serve:
✔ Creatives
✔ Service providers
✔ Boutique brands
✔ Small business owners
✔ Designers
✔ Coaches
✔ Healers
✔ Nonprofits
✔ Photographers
✔ Makers
✔ Wellness practitioners
These are people who care deeply about how their business *feels.*
People who value connection.
People whose brands are built around trust, beauty, intention, and relationship.
Flodesk gets that.
And they’ve built a platform around one simple belief:
Good design isn’t frivolous — it’s foundational.
When your emails look like your brand…
When the tech feels effortless…
When writing to your audience doesn’t feel like a chore…
Everything changes.
You show up more.
Your audience trusts you more.
Your launches perform better.
Your business grows in ways that feel aligned and sustainable.
And honestly?
You start to enjoy marketing again.
My Final Thoughts (and my Partner Note)
I’ll say this plainly:
If you’ve been wanting to take email marketing seriously but haven’t known where to start… Flodesk is the easiest and most beautiful doorway into that world.
I’ve watched it transform businesses — not because the software is magic, but because it finally gives small business owners permission to *enjoy* showing up for their audience.
If you want to try Flodesk, you can use my partner link. It supports me, but more importantly, it supports your business by giving you a tool that was genuinely designed for people like us.
Here’s to beautiful emails, clearer communication, and a business that grows in a way that feels aligned, intentional, and true to you.
If you create something with Flodesk, send it my way — I’d love to cheer you on.