Mailchimp for Email Marketing: Is it Worth the Hype?
When it comes to any decision or investment you make for your business, you’ve gotta weigh the pros and cons. Especially when it comes to choosing the right tools and platforms.
We like to think of choosing the right tools for your biz like dating. Everything might look really good (and cute) on the surface, but you can’t let that blind you from the red flags that are flying underneath.
As your (Launch) BFF, we might not be able to rate potential dating partners for you, but can rate potential email marketing platforms for your all your future launches and offers. Today’s match-making profile? Mailchimp.
Bright, fun, and yes – even cute on the outside (we like the monkey, okay?), but…we have some things we want to sit down and talk to you about before you make up your mind.
What is Mailchimp?
Mailchimp is a popular platform widely known for its email marketing services. It’s come a long way since its debut in the early 2000s when it started out as an alternative option for small businesses. Now, it’s self-described as an all-in-one marketing solution for everything from emails to social ads to online shop management.
With a super easy-to-use template editor and more than 300 app integrations, Mailchimp comes out swinging as a strong contender for a leading email marketing tool. But is it really up to the hype?
Pros of using Mailchimp for email marketing
Because Mailchimp started as an email marketing platform, it has many strengths in this area. The one that we love the most? Super thorough reporting plus a Google Analytics integration. Data is crucial to any email strategy, and we love that Mailchimp is totally on board.
We also really like Mailchimp’s template editor, which is really clean and simple to use, but much more powerful than it lets on. With this, you can create your website, email campaigns, landing pages, social ads, an online store, and more. Plus, they have various template options, so you don’t feel as limited (more on that later, though).
Here’s what else we like about Mailchimp:
- Appointment scheduling software to automate and manage bookings
- Online store builder (but this is only available in Beta for our BFFs in the US and UK)
- A/B testing for emails – another great tactic to grow your lists
- Social ads creator
- Expert guidance and support when you work with a Mailchimp partner
Cons of Mailchimp
Remember when we said we had some things to talk to you about re: your potential future with Mailchimp? Yeah, this is where we talk about the not-so-great things about this platform and how it fairs as an email marketing tool for you.
Full stop: The number one red flag we need to raise about Mailchimp is that it prohibits affiliate marketing. So, if you have an affiliate program or have plans to create one in the future, you should jump ship from this article right now. Seriously, we won’t blame you.
Next, even though you can send literally 10,000 (!) emails to 2,000 subscribers each month, Mailchimp limits the number of lists you can create for your contacts. Segmentation is one of the best ways to grow and nurture your lists, so the fact that it’s harder to do that within Mailchimp leaves a bad taste in our mouths.
Here are some additional features we don’t particularly care for:
- Creating opt-ins is difficult due to confusing menus
- Many emails sent through Mailchimp are categorized as ‘Promotions’ within Gmail
- Mailchimp’s classic templates aren’t responsive
- Many of its basic email templates look outdated design-wise
- The interface can be challenging to navigate because all of your tools are hidden
Finally, if you’re on the free plan, you likely won’t get much customer support. Mailchimp is backed by Intuit, so if you’ve ever used the free version of Turbo Tax, you know exactly what we mean.
The final Mailchimp verdict: Pass.
Even though Mailchimp presents a strong case for a leading email marketing tool, we simply can’t get over the fact that it stands in the way of two amazing tactics: affiliate marketing and segmentation. And in our opinion, that’s enough to rule it out completely. The pros just don’t outweigh the cons for us!
If you’re still up for trying Mailchimp yourself, you can easily sign up for a free account to see what it’s all about!
But if you’re ready to swipe left, we have even more email marketing platforms for you to learn about, including Drip, ConvertKit, and ActiveCampaign. We give a breakdown of each (just like we did here), to help you decide which one’s right for you and your biz!