In a Nutshell
pros
- Easy-to-use email creator
- Extensive use of tracking tools
cons
- No phone support
- Free option is limited
Why Choose MailChimp
It’s hard to argue with the Free plan, which lets users send 10,000 emails per month to up to 2,000 accounts. For big-time businesses this probably won’t be enough, but it’s a risk-free way for small business owners to use one of the best email marketing services on the market. MailChimp is easy to use, and walks you step-by-step through the campaign creation process, with an interface (including drag-and-drop templates) suitable for even the most novice user.
It has a variety of campaign options, including: build your brand, connect with contacts, sell more stuff, boost customer loyalty, and bring people back.
All features these guide you with pointers on how to make emails more personalized or clickable, and use extensive tracking to let you know who clicks on your campaigns and how you can improve your results. For online stores, MailChimp can track data on who buys what, to help you target them better down the road.
Standard Features:
- Easy-to-use email editor.
- Integrates well with hundreds of apps, including Ecommerce apps like Shopify, Magento and WooCommerce.
- Advanced segmentation-Extensive marketing automations
- Facebook and Instagram ad campaigns.
- Campaign reports
- Dozens of email templates (80+)
- An easy-to-use app
Templates
Email campaigns on MailChimp are created on a drag-and-drop template interface that’s very easy to use. There are 9 different email layouts available, which utilize 5 intent-based templates and more than 80 themes.
The themes range from events and holidays to stationary and sale announcements. You can also code your own templates to then be used with the email editor. The templates look great on MailChimp’s App and are mobile responsive – meaning you can modify them on your phone or tablet and they’ll look great for readers on all devices.
Pricing
Starts at $299/month
*Prices last updated June 2022
Mailchimp’s pricing plan depends on your project size. Each package provides different features for different amounts of contacts.
When viewing the pricing on Mailchimp's site, you can say how many contacts you have and Mailchimp will adjust the pricing. For example, if you have 500 contacts, the Standard package will start at $17/month. But, if you have 5,000 contacts, the standard package will cost $90/month. The premium plan is more well-suited for extremely large organizations. If you have hundreds of thousands contacts, you can get a custom plan arranged by Mailchimp.
One thing to keep in mind for all the pricing packages is that overages apply. So, if you exceed the campaign send or contact limit, Mailchimp won’t stop the campaign but they will charge you add-on fees.
Ease of Use
Before you get started with MailChimp you need to first answer a few questions. When you set up a new account you’ll be asked for your name and an email and password, followed by the name of your business, website, and other basic details. You can then sign up for a series of emails to walk you through the email setup and design, as well as a helpful newsletter.
Follow the prompt to “create campaign” and the system will guide you through each step. You can easily find a new audience with ads or collect subscribers with a pop-up form.
MailChimp will then walk you through everything you need to know about the targeted email process. Where to put your recipients, how to use the templates, and who to send your emails to. You’ll get pointers on how to write an email or advertisement in a personable way that will get clicks, which is just the sort of insider knowledge that most people doing this for the first time simply don’t have.
The platform will also walk you through all the different data tracking on your campaign, to help you see where it’s hitting the mark or missing it altogether. The templates themselves are very easy to use – it’s a familiar drag-and-drop interface that most of us have used on website builders It’s a piece of cake.
Features
MailChimp’s free option really can’t be overstated as a central feature, simply because it’s a great way to try the product risk-free, while still being able to utilize most of the features. The overall interface and ease of use is another plus and certainly a big factor in the program’s success in recent years.
The automation option is an effective way to set up your emails to automatically send out on a variety of variables that will help you keep yourself on top of things, from follow-ups after purchases to birthday messages to customers.
Segmentation is part of what makes the service intelligent and far more than what any individual could do on their own just sending out mass emails. There’s a science to it, and by utilizing the segmentation tools, you can definitely increase the chances your emails are going to do well.
Some users have stated that the automation and segmentation options are not as extensive as on other platforms. This may not be an issue if you are a small-scale business, but if you’re going bigger—or expect to—this could be a problem down the road.
MailChimp has a number of free Ecommerce features that can help businesses increase revenues and collect data on customers. After integrating your online store with MailChimp, you can plug-in a number of Ecommerce tools such as Magento, Shopify, and WooCommerce.
MailChimp will tweak your emails with product recommendations, promo codes, and customer segments. Ecommerce reports and stats are free on MailChimp, and you can also purchase ads to run on Facebook and Instagram (starting at $5 per day).
MailChimp has a mobile app available on both Android and iOS phones, meaning you can manage your email campaigns and check the data from your emails no matter where you are.
Basic features:
- A free option to get started
- Automated emails to help you stay on top of your customer outreach
- Sophisticated data collection and implementation
- Ecommerce integration that will grow your online business
- A mobile app that will help you stay on top of your account at all times
- Beautiful, engaging templates that customers will want to click on
Customer Support
MailChimp features an extensive and searchable knowledge base on its website, where chances are most of your questions can be answered. In addition, both paid and free users get full access to the support email form online. That said, an email sent by way of the support form was still unanswered hours later.
Free users are only able to use the knowledge base and support email. If you want to use the support live chat, you’ll have to be on one of the paid plans. The support email, it should be noted, also has the option to upload screenshots, so if you can’t explain the nature of the problem you’re running into, you can just send an image.
MailChimp does not have any customer service phone line, in an attempt to keep costs down. It does have a number of resource guides and a blog where you can get information that could help you out of a bind.
Conclusion
MailChimp is a comprehensive email marketing platform that helps businesses create effective, targeted email campaigns, in order to improve their customer interaction, word of mouth, and overall revenue.
It has a number of payment options – including free – and offers a host of features to help optimize email campaigns, inducing extensive automation, segmentation, and use of data to track and optimize email campaigns. It also has an easy-to-use interface, and should be a breeze for any user.
About MailChimp
MailChimp was founded in 2001 and today is an industry leader, with over 14 million active users. Each year more than 246 billion emails are sent by customers, according to company research.
Based out of Atlanta, it is perhaps the most well-known email marketing service, largely due to high-profile ad campaigns in the US—including sponsorship of the popular podcast Serial. MailChimp is a founder-led company with over 700 employees and has earned a reputation as a growing, hot company in the tech world.
