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Writer's pictureSimon Zaku

A Complete Mailchimp Review: Mailchimp Email Marketing Pros & Cons!

Is it good to use Mailchimp for email marketing today?


In this IbiFoundry Academy review, I walk you through, Mailchimp, an email marketing and management service provider for businesses.


Mailchimp offers a great user interface, sterling features, and tracking that would greatly boost your sales through email marketing.


If you want to integrate effective email marketing into your startup, blog, or business, consider Mailchimp.


TABLE OF CONTENT:


  1. What is an Email Marketing Software?

  2. Some Great Alternatives of Mailchimp

  3. What is Mailchimp Email Marketing Software?

  4. Is Mailchimp Free?

  5. Mailchimp Features, Pricing, Pros & Cons

  6. How to Design Website Sign-up Forms with Mailchimp in Minutes

  7. Creating & Sending Effective Emails in Mailchimp

  8. How to Send 'Regular' Emails in Mailchimp

  9. Does Mailchimp Have Email Templates?

  10. Mailchimp Email Automation

  11. Mailchimp Pricing: How Much Does it Cost to Use Mailchimp?

  12. Mailchimp Customer Support: Mailchimp Support Options

  13. Pros of Using Mailchimp for Email Marketing

  14. Cons of Using Mailchimp

  15. My Final Review on Mailchimp Review


What is an Email Marketing Software?


An email marketing software is a service-based company that allows users (marketers, businesses, brands) to send, manage, and track email marketing campaigns on a dashboard.


There are loads of email marketing software on the internet due to differences/preferences in features, pricing, services, and functions.


15 MailChimp Alternatives


Some great alternatives to Mailchimp are:


  1. Wix Email marketing.

  2. Omnisend.

  3. Drip

  4. Moosend.

  5. Constant Contact.

  6. Sendinblue.

  7. HubSpot.

  8. Mailerlite.

  9. GetResponse.

  10. ConvertKit.

  11. ActiveCampaign.

  12. AWeber.

  13. Mailjet. 

  14. Mailpoet.

  15. Sender.


Email marketing is one the most effective tools for marketing - ahead of traditional marketing, and social media.


What better way to reach your audience than using emails?


What is Mailchimp Email Marketing Software?


What is Mailchimp software used for today?


Mailchimp is an email marketing service provider or tool that offers users email marketing features. Mailchimp sends email marketing campaigns that promote businesses, products, and services to email subscribers (target audience).


Mailchimp allows users to create simple landing pages.


Is Mailchimp Email Marketing App Free?


At this moment, Mailchimp is great and free for up to 1000 email subscribers.


Mailchimp's old version had way more free features than users enjoy today.


For example, years back both free and paid Mailchimp users could create as many automation campaigns as possible.


Today, users can only create a few automation in Mailchimp. Only the premium users get to enjoy most of the benefits but either way, it's still one of the best free email marketing tools for beginners, intermediaries, and even experts.




Mailchimp Features, Pricing, Pros & Cons:


What are the features included in Mailchimp?


Mailchimp Features:


  • Email templates

  • Email automation

  • Leads CRM

  • Landing pages

  • Marketing automation:

  • Autoresponders

  • Recover Abandoned Carts

  • Feedback

  • Google Remarketing ads

  • E-commerce integration

  • Mailchimp's Web-page Builder

  • Mailchimp's Responsive Editor


Marketing Automation & Autoresponders:


What are Mailchimp email marketing automation and autoresponders?

Mailchimp Automation Dashboard from my Account


These features allow users to send a sequence of emails automatically, based on the options they make. This feature helps reach new contacts as soon as they sign up and set emails to be sent, such as sending an email the day after they join your list. 


Also, you could set up auto-responses for events such as contacts’ birthdays and a message for festive seasons.


Recover Abandoned Carts:


What are Mailchimp's Abandoned Cart features?


This is one of the most impressive features of Mailchimp automation. It could send out email reminders to customers who have left their cart, so they could complete their purchase.


Feedback:


Mailchimp's automation allows some basic feedback, particularly when your contacts have made a purchase. You could get the feedback by sending a quick survey, asking for a review, or offering helpful advice that would help you serve them better. Again, you can set the time for the feedback, for instance, 10 days after purchase. 


Google Remarketing ads:


This software would create Google remarketing ads automatically so your campaigns can reach users as they continue to surf the web. 


The idea here is that some visitors would not buy your product on the first visit, but as you retarget and provide extra incentives, there is a higher chance of making purchases.


Landing Page Builder:


Can you build landing pages with Mailchimp?


With Mailchimp, you can create as many landing pages as you want. The built-in landing page builder can be used on every plan. There are two types of landing page builders: you use one to build your email list and the other for product promotions. 


E-commerce Integration:


Does Mailchimp offer e-commerce integration?


You can efficiently integrate the WooCommerce store with Mailchimp.


You synchronize all of your available WooCommerce products, orders, and customers. And any alteration you make in the future will surely be reflected in Mailchimp.


Keep track of your campaign performance by evaluating your campaign's exact revenue. To move a step further, the tracking feature would indicate the campaign your visitor was coming from before making a purchase.


Lists are segments of your contacts, and this software allows an unlimited number of lists. Every month you can send up to 5,000 emails.


However, when it comes to autoresponders and automatic marketing, the free account is limited from using the automation features. 


Mailchimp's Web-Pages Builder:


Can you build landing pages on Mailchimp?

Mailchimp Website Builder


It is a website builder and allows you to create your website without writing or learning a single line of code.


There are several templates and email layouts. You can develop web pages and use the colour palettes and themes to customize them to meet your needs. 


The web editor allows users to make several adjustments, and alter texts, colours, or any content block on a webpage you built with the Mailchimp website builder.


Mailchimp's Responsive Editor:


As you know, sending marketing emails has progressed beyond just typing texts or email copy and hitting the “send” button.


Mailchimp has two types of editors; the standard editor, which allows you to use only their predefined content blocks. The other is the custom code editor, and for this, you can build your HTML template.


You can add and remove content blocks, replicate seamlessly, and hide other content within a content block.


Here are some of the distinct characteristics of Mailchimp Editor:


  • Speedy load time

  • The drag-and-drop functionality

  • CSS In-liner support by default

  • Text version creation along with HTML template


Mailchimp's Geolocation:


Mailchimp email marketing geolocation and geo-targeting feature:


Mailchimp allows you to segment your contact list based on their locations and enables localizing the market requirements. The method used by this platform is not to get the exact physical location of the recipient but to use their IP addresses.


However, when the recipients use a VPN, it affects the accuracy of geotargeting.


How to Design Website Sign-up Forms with Mailchimp in Minutes


How do I create a Mailchimp signup form?


You can create signup forms in Mailchimp, and a form builder is a handy tool for building, sharing, and translating your goals into a comprehensible form.


The steps in creating a signup form in Mailchimp:


The first and easiest step is to "Build from Scratch":

Mailchimp offers a bunch of signup form templates you can use but the easiest way to start is by using a free template and building one that fits your unique brand.


There are three different tabs on Mailchimp's form builder – Design It, Translate It, and Build It.


The Build It tab allows users to add content to forms and structure it to meet any requirements. Users can also select audiences and customize with ease.

Mailchimp Pop-up form builder dashboard

The next step to design a newsletters signup form in Mailchimp is the Design Tab.


On the Design It tab, users can choose the fonts, colours, and graphics that suit their form and response emails.


Any alterations you make will be adapted by subsequent pages to ensure consistency.


Next, we have the 'Translate It' Tab.


For the Translate It tab, users can translate any form to different languages, to appeal to the global market.


Creating & Sending Effective Emails in Mailchimp

Sending emails to subscribers is the key to effective email marketing, and this software allows you to create and send attractive emails swiftly.


All emails in Mailchimp are handled under “Campaigns”.


As soon as you initiate a new campaign, you have some options, which are:


How to Send 'Regular' Emails in Mailchimp:


What are Regular Emails in Mailchimp?


This is the standard one-off email blast. To send a regular email campaign in Mailchimp, create the email by selecting any template and customize it to your taste.

To initiate your Regular email in Mailchimp, kickstart by assigning a campaign name, then select the segment of the list you wish to send to.


Under this campaign, fill in the email subject line, sender name, and email.


Does Mailchimp Have Email Templates?


Yes, Mailchimp has over 50 templates that are responsive to modern design.


After choosing your template, you can edit and make adjustments to fit your brand or business.


Next, the visual editor allows users to customize the email with ease.


You can then preview your emails, and you can edit any element by clicking on it and making the adjustment.


Finally, you have to select when the email will be sent.


Mailchimp Plain text: Regular emails typically have no images or formatting. Mostly text only. 


Mailchimp A/B test: You can create different emails with different versions.


One major difference between the A/B test campaign and the regular campaign is that you would be asked to select the element you would like to split the test from the start. Some of the elements you could split-test are subject lines and email content, among others.


You have some options when you want to split-test: the subject line, form name, content, and send time.


Mailchimp Email Automation:


Sometime back, most of Mailchimp's automation features used to be available for free users.

Some of my old automation campaigns in my Mailchimp account


This Mailchimp feature allows users to create emails that would be sent in response to specific events and you can also create effective autoresponders.


Mailchimp Pricing: How Much Does it Cost to Use Mailchimp?


How much does standard Mailchimp cost today?


Mailchimp Offers a Free Plan.

You can add up to 500 subscribers for the free plan and send up to 1,000 emails every month. That is great for starters looking to try a top-notch email marketing service provider like Mailchimp.


Mailchimp Paid Plans


The Paid Plans:

Mailchimp Paid Plans


1. Mailchimp Essentials Pricing Plan ($6.50 Per Month): This is the least expensive Mailchimp plan.


Features of the Essentials plan.


Everything included in the Essentials Mailchimp plan:


  • There are up to 3 audiences

  • Up to 3 users

  • You can have up to 50,000 contacts, but the price goes up based on the subscriber count

  • A/B testing

  • 24/7 email support


This plan does not include an email autoresponder for automation.


2. Mailchimp Standard Pricing Plan ($10 Per Month): This is the plan every business owner would want to subscribe to, and it is on par with several email marketing service providers’ pricing plans.


Features of the Mailchimp Standard Plan:


  • Everything included in the Essential plan

  • Delivery by time zone

  • Email autoresponders

  • Maximum of 5 audiences 

  • Up to 5 users

  • Custom templates

  • Custom audience generation

  • Send time optimization 


The Standard Mailchimp plan contains features that most brands require to increase conversion and boost sales. 


3. Mailchimp’s Premium Pricing Plan ($175 Per Month): This plan includes all the Mailchimp features for large businesses or organizations. 


The benefits you get from this Mailchimp plan:


Unlimited Contacts

Unlimited Emails Monthly

Unlimited Live Chat Support

Custom branding

Multirative testing

Unlimited Live Email Support

Comparative Reports

Phone support

Advanced Segmentation Features


Some Distinct Features of the Mailchimp Premium Plan Include:


Delivery by Time Zone: There are times allotted by users to attend to emails, such as during lunch, or early hours of the office time. Therefore, this paid plan lets you set an email delivery time based on the different time zones. This action would lead to the generation of more conversions and interactions.


Multivariate Testing: This is a deep level of split testing, and it works better on large lists.


Demographics: Some of the functionalities in Mailchimp can estimate the age and gender of your subscribers. This segmentation allows you to send more specific and higher-performing emails to users.


For the current updated pricing plans of Mailchimp, please visit the official Mailchimp pricing page.


Mailchimp Customer Support: Mailchimp Support Options


How do you complain to Mailchimp?

Mailchimp Customer Support: Mailchimp Support Options


I have been a Mailchimp user for more than 5 years now and I can confirm that Mailchimp support is top-notch. You get speedy responses, are friendly, and are fast.


However, due to its exponential growth over the years, Mailchimp does not offer unlimited support for free accounts.


Mailchimp incorporated the ‘freemium’ as an integral part of their business model. But with a free account, you have up to 30 days of free email support which isn't bad.


Unlimited support is for subscribers on the paid version.


However, their knowledge base contains several articles, user guides, and video tutorials to help every user out.


Pros of Using Mailchimp for Email Marketing:


What are the advantages and Pros of using Mailchimp for email marketing today?


  • Easy to use, and has all the necessary features

  • Free to start with 

  • A powerful slew of automation options 

  • The free plan is amazing 

  • Easy to import subscribers 

  • A/B and multivariate testing are available


Cons of Using Mailchimp:


What are the disadvantages or Cons of using Mailchimp Email Service Provider?


  • Mailchimp is a generic email marketing software 

  • It can get expensive as your list grows 

  • Signup forms are not too attractive

  • The landing page design is not so responsive or visually appealing.


Final Review on Mailchimp Reviews


Is Mailchimp email marketing software still worth it today?


Email marketing is at the centre of any successful online business, and Mailchimp is a good email marketing service provider that you should consider.


The drag-and-drop email builder is always an exciting software to work with.


Why Should You Use Mailchimp?


Here are Some More Benefits & Pros of Using Mailchimp:


  1. Mailchimp's User Experience is Exceptionally Good

  2. Mailchimp's Forever Free Plan

  3. Custom-Designed Forms

  4. Detailed Reports and Analytics

  5. Mailchimp is Very Easy to Use


From my experience, Mailchimp was designed for businesses, marketers, and brands. Mailchimp would allow non-techie persons, businesses, and marketers to send professional-looking emails.


This service provider was launched in 2001, but I just keep seeing new updates, designs, and better features to make the user interface more friendly and clearer. Now even integrating AI.


What do you think about this Mailchimp review? What email marketing tools do you use or plan to use?


Mailchimp Reviews, Features & Ratings: Mailchimp Pros & Cons 2024

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