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MailChimp Review: Compared to its Competitors Does it Measure Up?

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Last Updated on September 5, 2022 by

In our MailChimp review, we will take an in-depth look into MailChimp’s features, pros, cons, and top alternatives!

When it comes to the world of online marketing and promotion, there are few things as effective as email marketing and newsletters. Newsletters and regular email send-outs are a great way for you to increase the amount of organic engagement that your brand, website, or online store receives on a consistent basis. Newsletters give you the opportunity to gain in-depth insight into how your core audience behaves and what their core interests are as it relates to the industry or niche that you’re in. You can then use this data to optimize your overall marketing approach so that you can begin seeing larger conversion or interaction rates with whatever products or services you may be offering.

To begin using a newsletter and email marketing for all of the benefits that they have to offer, you’ll first need to find the right email marketing platform which offers the capabilities and features you need to create high-converting email marketing campaigns that bring in real results for your online business. There are a lot of different options for you to choose from in terms of the right email marketing platform which will help you further your efforts.

However, before making a final decision you need to understand and know about all of the various features and capabilities that each platform offers so that you can ensure you are making the right decision. Things such as the number of customization options that the platform gives you as it relates to creating personalized email templates and designs are very important. You also want to consider the type of integration options that your selected email marketing platform offers as they will play a huge role in helping you advance the progress of your marketing campaign.

One of the top email marketing and newsletter platforms out there is Mailchimp, the platform gives you a nearly endless amount of abilities when it comes to customizing your marketing adverts and how you interact with your customers in general. When you sign up for the platform, there are several different perks and features that you’ll gain access to. Depending on your desired results and what your ultimate marketing goal is, all of these different integrated features can be used to create a better relationship between your brand and audience.

mailchimp logo

If you’re someone who has been looking for the right email marketing tool to help you improve your conversion rates, sales, and overall interaction, you’ve come to the right place. In this guide, we’re going to provide you with an in-depth review of Mailchimp and what features you can expect to gain access to when using this solution for all of your email marketing needs.

To begin, let’s examine exactly who Mailchimp was designed so that you will be able to get a realized view of the potential benefits that it can bring to your promotional campaigns.

Who is MailChimp for?

MailChimp was designed for online business owners, online marketing specialists, life coaches, and many other types of individuals who are interested in creating high-quality newsletters that translate into actual interaction and engagement with their brand, product, or services. If you have a large following or a bunch of subscribers for your content, you can use this platform as a way to optimize the way in which you interact with them and market content to them in the future. One of the main benefits of using MailChimp is that it allows you to easily scale your online marketing approach regardless of how large or small your business may be. It can be challenging trying to create a comprehensive email marketing approach that delivers content in a way that seems personal instead of disconnected.

If you’re someone who has been struggling with this feat, this platform gives you access to a lot of different tools and features that can make the entire process a lot easier for you on all ends. The platform offers a free plan which allows beginning online marketers and business owners to start experiencing the difference that the platform makes without having to spend too much money upfront.

All around, this platform has a lot of unique and powerful features for individuals of all kinds who are trying to elevate their email marketing approach. If you have a large crowd and need to stay in contact with them regularly, this is the right platform for you.

Now that we’ve taken a look exactly who Mailchimp is for, it’s time to take an in-depth look into how much it will cost you to begin using the platform and all of the various pricing options that you can choose from when signing up.

Is MailChimp Expensive?

Most premium email marketing solutions and platforms are quite expensive and require a paid plan before you can even begin using the various features included. One thing that separates MailChimp from the rest is that it offers a free plan to all users who have a certain number of subscribers or followers. That means that you can begin experiencing the difference that the Mailchimp platform makes right away without having to pay a large amount of money to gain access.

The platform also offers a lot of other paid plan options all of which vary in terms of the features and capabilities’ that you’ll be able to use once signed up. In the following section, we’re going to provide you with a comprehensive breakdown of all the various plans and pricing options offered by this platform so that you can choose the best plan option for your specific needs.

Make sure that you read this entire section in full so that you will be able to understand all of the core features and capabilities that you’ll gain access to when selecting any of the plans offered by this platform.

mailchimp dashboard

MailChimp Plans & Pricing Options

Free Plan- $0

  • 1-click automation
  • 7 marketing channels
  • Marketing CRM
  • Behavioral targeting
  • Basic templates
  • 2,000 Contacts
  • 1 Audience
  • Tags
  • Audience Dashboard
  • Behavioral targeting
  • Segmentation
  • 30-day Custom event data
  • Purchase behavior
  • Marketing engagement

Essentials- $9.99/mo.

  • Everything included in the free plan
  • A/B ad testing
  • Custom branding
  • All email templates
  • 24/7 award-winning support
  • 50,000 Contacts
  • 3 Audiences
  • Audience dashboard
  • Tags
  • Behavioral targeting
  • Segmentation
  • Purchase behavior

Standard- $14.99/mo.

  • Everything included in the essentials plan
  • Retargeting ads
  • Event-based automation series
  • Advanced audience insights
  • Custom templates
  • 100,000 contacts
  • 5 Audiences
  • Tags
  • Audience dashboard
  • Segmentation
  • Behavioral targeting
  • Purchase behavior

Premium- $299.00/mo.

  • Everything included in the standard plan
  • Multivariate testing
  • Advanced segmentation
  • Phone support
  • Unlimited seats and role-based access
  • 200,000 Contacts
  • Unlimited audiences
  • Audience dashboard
  • Segmentation
  • Tags
  • Behavioral targeting
  • Marketing engagement
  • Purchase behavior

As you can see from the charts above, there are several different plan options that you can choose from when signing up for the MailChimp platform. Depending on your desired marketing goals and how you want to approach your promotional email campaign, certain plans will give you access to more valuable features related to your efforts when compared to others. That’s why it’s so important for you to consider your personal needs before deciding which plan is right for you.

The size of your online business or services will also play a huge role in helping you determine which plan is right for you. All of these different plans come with powerful features that allow you to not only optimize but increase the rate at which you see results from your promotional email efforts.

Now that we’ve gone over all of the different plans and pricing options you’ll gain access to when using this platform, it’s time to take a look at some of the main pros and cons that you can expect to encounter.

Mailchimp preview mode

Pros & Cons: Mailchimp

As with all email marketing platforms, there will be several pros and cons that you encounter when using the solution for your marketing needs in real-life. The same applies to Mailchimp, there are a lot of different advantages that make that make this platform worthwhile in terms of optimizing your email marketing plan so that you can increase the number of results that you experience from your marketing efforts.

There are also a lot of different disadvantages that come with this platform which is something you’ll want to consider when trying to figure out if this platform has the essential features and functionalities you need to move your marketing campaign forward.

In the following section, we’re going to take a look at some of the main pros and cons that come with this platform so that you can make an educated decision about whether or not this is the right solution for your email marketing needs.

MailChimp Pros

  • Integrated email marketing tools which make it easy for you to promote your content to a large audience without having to manually handle every backend task related to your efforts
  • Ad segmentation which allows you to separate various audiences and interests in order to make your marketing campaign that much more effective
  • Marketing automation capabilities which enable you to save time on some of the more time-consuming things that g into creating a successful marketing campaign
  • Mobile optimized email designs which make it easy for you to reach a broad audience on multiple different platforms
  • Landing page and custom web form creation can help you gain more personable insight into your audience and what their core beliefs are as they relate to your products or services
  • Subscriber management features allow you to easily manage who you send out emails to and the type of emails that they receive, you can also filter subscribers based on their behavior
  • A/B ad testing capabilities allow you to get a clear picture as to exactly what marketing approach works best with your subscribers and current audience
  • Drag & Drop email editing capabilities which allow you to easily create stunning templates and content that encourages your audience to engage with your products or services
  • Responsive email design templates which make your content interactive and more engaging to your audience
  • Visitor tracking which enables you to gain detailed information about who your most frequent visitors are and how they interact with your site so that you can optimize its design and layout
  • Geo-targeting capabilities which allow you to directly go after specific audiences and market sectors based on specific behaviors

MailChimp Cons

  • Requires an expensive paid plan in order to access higher-level features
  • Outdated marketing parameters in some areas

These are all of the main pros and cons that you can expect to deal with when using the platform for all of your email marketing needs. Consider what needs you have as they relate to the core features which will help you improve your email marketing results and overall approach. Some people might value the pros of this platform while others might think that the negatives outweigh the potential benefits they will receive, the choice is all up to you and your personal preference.

Now that we’ve gone over the main pros and cons of this platform, it’s time to take a look at the main features that you can expect to utilize while choosing this platform as your go-to email marketing tool.

In-Depth Feature Review: Mailchimp

MailChimp has a lot of very powerful email marketing tools that you can utilize to not only improve the quality of your email campaign, but also the way that you interact with your audience and how you tailor content to their specific interests. To make sure you know what features will provide you with the most benefits related to the enhancement of your email marketing campaign, we’re going to give you an in-depth look at all of the main features you can expect to access when signing up for this platform and using it for all of your email marketing needs.

Make sure you read this entire section in full so that you will be able to accurately decide on whether or not this platform is right for you.

Email Marketing Automation

One of the best features of MailChimp is that it allows you to automate the entire process involved with your email marketing campaign. That means that you can easily set-up automatic email blasts and send-outs to your core audience consistently without having to do so manually. This can substantially increase your overall rate of interaction and engagement that you receive from your email marketing campaigns with ease and in a hassle-free manner. There are several tasks related to your email marketing campaign that can be automated to help you better manage your efforts without having to put in too much physical time or effort.

Reports

The best way to improve the rate of success that you see from your email marketing campaigns is by analyzing the results of your campaigns and comparing them against one another over a specific time. This platform gives you the ability to generate reports from your email marketing campaigns which can then be used to optimize your marketing material and overall approach in the future. You will have the ability to create custom reports for a given time period to track certain engagement events that have taken place on any of your campaigns. This is a really great feature if you’re someone who is consistently seeking ways to improve and refine the way that you promote content to your audience.

A/B Ad Testing

A/B ad testing is the practice of creating different variants of the same ad to see what design brings in the best results. There are several different ways that you can use A/B testing to analyze the results and effectiveness of your current marketing strategy, this platform makes it easy for you to set up the A/B ad testing parameters that you want to measure so that you can begin getting verifiable data which can then be used to improve your content marketing approach and strategy overall.

Geolocation Tracking/Targeting

Finding out where your audience is located and from where they access your content is a very important factor in optimizing your email marketing game. This platform provides you with robust geolocation tracking and targeting capabilities which make it easy for you to target people in specific areas of the world in addition to finding out where your most active subscriber locations are. You can use this information to fine-tune your email marketing campaign so that you can increase the amount of engagement and interaction that your campaigns receive.

Custom Forms

Capturing visitor or consumer data is critical in helping advance the progress of your email marketing campaign and the results that you see from your efforts. This platform gives you the ability to create custom forms that can then be used to capture specific points of data from your audience. Say for example you want to offer a free coaching guide via a downloadable link that is sent via email, you can collect the email addresses of your audience by creating a custom sign-up form which will prompt them to enter in certain pieces of information like their name and preferred contact email address. This is a powerful feature that you can use to collect virtually any piece of information that you feel like you need or want from your audience.

Social Sharing

We all know how powerful social media is when it comes to marketing certain products or services. Because of the immediate reach to people who show a direct interest in your product or service that social media gives you, it can be used to further the efforts of your marketing campaigns quite effectively. One of the main benefits that this platform is that it comes with integrated social media sharing capabilities that allow you to blast your content to a wider audience not only through email but also through various social media platforms.

Delivery by Time Zone

An interesting feature of this platform is that you can schedule email delivery according to the time zone. This is very useful if you have a large audience that lives in separate places across the globe because it will enable you to deliver emails to your audience at times when they are most likely to be up and interacting with your content. Resulting in increased effectiveness when it comes to the rate at which individuals interact with your digital content overall.

Spam Filter Diagnostics

One of the major problems with email marketing platforms is that most of the content promoted and sent through their systems can be flagged by spam filters in various email providers such as Google. This platform gives you the ability to keep track of how many of your emails are being flagged as spam when sent from your campaign. This will allow you to tailor certain campaigns towards specific email filter settings so that you can increase the effective rate of delivery for emails in all of your campaigns.

Integrations

Regardless of how successfully designed your email campaign is, the undeniable fact is that you will need to use integrations in order to improve the overall experience that you have when designing and blasting out your email campaigns. This is a great feature offered by this platform because you will be able to use a variety of different integrations to elevate the amount of interaction that you experience with your email marketing efforts.

These are just some of the features offered by this platform, when you sign up and begin using all of the features, you will be amazed at the amount of improvement that your email marketing campaigns undergo simply because you have the ability to automate and optimize a lot of the traditional tasks that require time and physical input.

Depending on how you want to approach your email marketing campaign, all of these different features can be used to target very specific elements as they relate to the practical results that you see from your marketing efforts and how you reach your core audience in general.

Now that we’ve gone over all of the core features you’ll gain access to when using this platform, it’s time to take a look at what some of our alternative recommendations are when it comes to other email marketing platforms that can bring you many of the same benefits as this one.

mailchimp dashboard

Our Top Alternative Recommendations

If after going through all of the information above you still don’t think that Mailchimp is the right email marketing solution for your needs, you’re in luck. In this section, we’re going to provide you with a few alternative options that you can choose from all of which offer the same level of marketing capabilities and customization options. Take the time to look at all of the alternative recommendations that we list below so that you can make the right decision about which one will be the best for your desired email marketing needs.

Keep in mind, all of these various alternative recommendations will offer different levels of capabilities and features that can be used to your advantage in terms of optimizing your email marketing campaign for higher rates of interaction and engagement.

#1 ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign gives you the ability to use pre-made email marketing automation templates which allow you to easily fine-tune your content marketing approach to maximize your potential engagement rate. The platform also offers a lot of advanced features such as tagging and segmentation to make your marketing efforts that much easier.

#2 ConvertKit

ConvertKit is a rather new yet very powerful email marketing platform that makes it easy for you to promote a wide range of different content with ease and automation. The platform offers a lot of unique and powerful features such as customizable forms and visitor analytics which allow you to gain in-depth insight into how your campaign is performing over a certain period.

#3 Drip

Drip is a powerful email marketing tool that allows you to perform a wide range of different functions including an automated visual editor function and a tagging system that makes it easy for you to keep track of what emails you sent and how you sent them. Overall, you can use these features to further optimize the results that you see from your email marketing campaign with ease.

MailChimp Review: Our Honest Opinion

When it comes to whether or not we would recommend this platform to email marketers who need assistance optimizing and fine-tuning their content, the answer would be yes. MailChimp provides a lot of powerful tools and features that you can use to gain further insight into the results that your email marketing campaign is bringing in. Regardless of the size of your business, this platform will allow you to effectively send out content that reaches the right audience.

MailChimp Dashboard

More Email Marketing Tools

FAQs

Does this platform offer a free plan?

Yes, you can sign up for free to begin using the service however you will need to upgrade to a paid plan if you insist on using more advanced features

Are integrations compatible with this platform?

This platform gives you the ability to use a wide range of different integrations

Does this platform offer multi-user accounts?

Yes, this platform does offer multi-user accounts and features

MailChimp Review: Conclusion

We’ve covered all of the most important features and information that you need to know about MailChimp. Use all of the tips that we’ve given you to make the right decision about whether or not this platform is the right email marketing solution for you. As long as you compare your core needs against the feature that this platform offers, you will have no problem making the right decision.

Marketing Satchel Team

The Marketing Satchel team is a group of business and marketing professionals that came together to help others struggling with these topics. We're here to make sure that you understand all of the important parts of marketing.