What is Mailchimp? Is it better than its alternatives?

Email marketing is an important strategy in any business. For a few email marketing companies it is the only tool to run their business. We’ve already discussed the market competitors like ConvertKit, Hubspot, ActiveCampaign, and Campaign Monitor and it is time to discuss Mailchimp.

If you’re new to the series, check out these articles for additional information.

• What is ClickFunnels? A Complete Review.
• What is Convert Kit? A Free Solution for Email Marketing.
• What is the Best Powerful Email Automation Tool for you?

Is there any necessity to explain Mailchimp, when we’ve already covered multiple email marketing services?

What is Mailchimp? Mailchimp is an email marketing software. But recently they’ve added features like Domain-Web hosting and Web site builders to make it an all-in-one wholesome package. That essentially takes it to compete with the heavyweights.

Let’s see how it fares compared to its alternatives.

Mailchimp

We can perceive the difference between Mailchimp and the others from their home web page. The only other tool which comes close to Mailchimp in terms of simplicity is Hubspot.

While the rest of them are cluttered and scattered with information, Mailchimp manages to connect the dots perfectly. We can go through every feature with a definitive start and end. There is minimal confusion.

Domain and Web hosting is the latest addition in their arsenal. Many noobs would like to start from the basics when they are visiting these pages. The domain is a good place to start. It also lets the existing customers be aware of these new features.

As of the moment, they are covering 200 extensions. That is more than enough. All the top-level domain extensions are available here.

Simple instructions are given to follow along with the features. Basics like how to register a domain, how to use Mailchimp are explained in a step by step basis.

You can register a domain and put out a custom ‘Coming Soon’ page within 3 clicks. Else, you can create your Mailchimp landing page straight away.

They also have a Domain name suggestions list and instructions on how to choose a domain name. But they are shown after registering the domain. I felt that page misplaced.

Features

Mailchimp offers a variety of features. All of them can be accessed from a single page. Your dashboard.

And the features are segmented in groups for easy access.

Create

You can create anything you want in here. If you want to create an email newsletter service, it gives further options.

Do you want to create a broadcast mailing list?

Are you planning an email newsletter?

Does it include all your contacts or segmented groups.? Everything is customizable.

You can also create Automated mails for your customers. Also You can notify them if there are any abandoned carts.

You can congratulate them for signing up and you can rekindle the bond you had with an old loyal customer.

By automating these, you can spend more time on creating and developing your business. Mailchimp automation tools would take care of email marketing.

Audience

In the Audience tab, you can access all your customer’s information. You don’t have to juggle around multiple options to get them. Everything about your customer is available here.

You can view your contacts list and segment them or tag them. Survey options are available here, in case you want to brainstorm an idea. It doesn’t have to be detailed as an email. Just some of your random thoughts could be used to explore the interests of your customers.

Understanding and updating ourselves to the customer’s preference is an important strategy.

Conversation tab stores all the communication you’ve had with your customers. So, when you communicate with them in the future, you can go through their chat history. It paves an opportunity for more customizable conversations.

Sign up forms can be used to capture new contacts. You can easily create sign up forms and landing pages in Mailchimp’s drag and drop editor.

Mailchimp templates don’t have an extensive collection. Compared to its competitors, the templates are limited. But they provide many customizable options to create your own.

They also have a Postcard option. Yes, we can connect to our customers through emails. But Postcards give us the opportunity to convey the short messages. We can share our upcoming project without much detail and we don’t have to create a customized email for this purpose. We can simply use a Postcard.

Campaign

The campaign menu provides the option to plan and create a campaign. The campaign tools provide the research reports here. It gives detailed information about your campaign results.

Mailchimp also has a feature called Customer Journey. Here, you can customize the contacts and set them an individual automated message.

These options can be accessed from sub-menus. But campaign serves as a single interface to automate your customer’s journey.

Segmented, automation emails don’t make a personal touch with your customers. If you want to give them the impression of one-on-one attention, use the customer journey tools.

Content Studio

Media files are nowadays essential in the marketing business. It is easier to convey our ideas visually. Instead of sending them a long essay, media files can be used to boost our content.

In the content studio, you can store your files or you can access the internet. It also provides an integration with your Instagram account.

Mailchimp offers 300+ integrations with other platforms. It provides E-commerce, website builders, and designing applications. Canva is integrated with many platforms but I was pleasantly surprised to see photoshop integration in Mailchimp.

Content Studio also has the option to integrate our social media accounts. We can connect our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Whenever we create something on Mailchimp, we can share them on these platforms as well. All it takes is one click.

Mailchimp pricing

Is Mailchimp really free?

Yes and No.

Yes, they have a free email marketing version.

No, it is not suitable for everyone.

In the free version, you can add 2000 contacts, which is 1000 more than ConvertKit. It comes with all the basic elements a beginner would need to launch his project immediately.

1- step automation for mails, basic templates for landing pages, Customer research management tools, and options for surveys and website building are available in the free version.

In the paid version, we have 3 plans. The standard version offers split testing, Audience insights, behavioral targeting, and customer journey builder. From the price point, it is cheaper than ConvertKit.

ConvertKit’s premium option costs $29/month.

ActiveCampaign’s basic plan starts at $17/month for 1000 subscribers.

Campaign Monitor costs $29/month.

We can buy Mailchimp’s transactional email pack individually. Of course, it comes integrated as an Ad-on in standard and premium versions. Those who choose Essential and free versions can buy this individually.

You can buy your block according to your needs. 1 block which costs $20 for 25000 emails. But you cannot use the remaining sends in the next month. Blocks expire in the same month.

Special mentions

Alternatives Comparison

ConvertKit is the only other tool that included the comparison column on their web page. But it wasn’t a detailed comparison. It felt like ‘for the sake of’.

But Mailchimp has detailed comparison studies that dissect the alternatives.

Surprisingly it not just compared itself with the other marketing campaign tools. We have GoDaddy, Squarespace which are domain and web-hosting platforms. We have Shopify which is a commerce platform.

Mailchimp Resources

Mailchimp 101 starts everything from the beginning. You need not know anything. Its documentation would be very helpful for beginners.

The graphical representation and the arts are great. Everything is designed in a step by step method, so you wouldn’t feel lost. The resources would be a goldmine to email marketing agency to enrich their knowledge.

Mailchimp Presents

Mailchimp presents is an Entertainment platform for Entrepreneurs. It produces quality documentaries, podcasts, and series. It hosts literary festivals. Even though it is not relevant to the automation tools, it is a commendable approach.

If you’ve time, go to their Mailchimp presents page and watch the ‘My Dear Kyrgyzstan’ documentary. It shows one man’s attempt to transform his village into a tourism destination. Great visuals.

They promote these media as relaxation as well as inspiration.

In Conclusion

Mailchimp is not a complex tool like ActiveCampaign or Clickfunnels. Even though it is not rich in features like its alternatives, it gives the customers what they need. If you’re new to the marketing automation platforms, there is no doubt Mailchimp is the simplest tool you could find. The standard plan costs $15, which is the most affordable in this segment.

Some people might get demotivated because of its limited templates collections. But they have a simple drag and drop tool. So, you can create our custom templates. Don’t back out because of the less visual appeal. Customer Journey is a great way to understand our customers and alter our content. Overall, it is one of the best email marketing software for beginners.

If you want to increase traffic to your websites, check out this e-book here.