ConvertKit vs MailChimp.
In today’s #60DaysBloggingChallenge, I’m going to compare two powerful email marketing services, ConvertKit and MailChimp.
Before I start, I would like to highlight that I’ve been using MailChimp (paid account) for over three years before finally moving over to ConvertKit in September 2016.
So, here’s the layout of this article. I’ll be starting off with a brief introduction of ConvertKit and MailChimp, followed by a summary of their advantages and disadvantages. I certainly hope that you find this comparison, ConvertKit vs MailChimp useful and please share this post around on social media.
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BONUS: Like email marketing? Read my latest comparison between MailChimp, ConvertKit, and Drip for 2017! Read more.
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Deal?
Introduction to ConvertKit
My first encounter (basically, discovered) with ConvertKit was when I was listening to a podcast. At that point of time, I didn’t pay attention to what ConvertKit has to offer because I was pretty happy with MailChimp.
What I noticed was Nathan Barry, founder of ConvertKit which has been slowly showing up in most of the podcast episodes I’m subscribed to.
I remembered it was during the podcast on Smart Passive Income, where Pat Flynn was interviewing Nathan Barry on ConvertKit. As a long time follower of Pat, I knew he tested many email marketing solutions such as:
- Infusionsoft
- Aweber
When I heard that he moved from his old email provider to ConvertKit, that was the moment that struck me.
[clickToTweet tweet=”I told myself, ‘I got to check out what ConvertKit is doing!’” quote=”I told myself, ‘I got to check out what ConvertKit is doing!’”]
But here’s a disclaimer, I wasn’t convinced that ConvertKit was better since my support for MailChimp was like rock solid.
I tried out ConvertKit and here’s my quick ConvertKit review.
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Advantages using ConvertKit
‘Email marketing, redefined.’
This is how I would say about ConvertKit. ConvertKit is powerful if you take the time to understand what it is all about.
Among all the email marketing solutions I’ve used, ConvertKit is probably the strictest among all of them. Here’s the reason why.
When you first log into your new account, you’re probably fired up to test the account (I know I felt that). Then, I saw the notification on the top of my screen that I need my account to be verified first before I could send out an email and start growing my email subscribers. The actions required are:
- Create a form
- Create a sequence
- Import my mailing list
Now, I know these features may turn off a whole lot of people but listen to me first. This is a good thing because ConvertKit can weed out bad contacts and protect their IP’s from being flagged. In a long run, it’s going to boost your delivery rates which are a huge plus point for me.
ConvertKit Sequence is probably the single, most powerful automation I’ve seen. Each sequence can be triggered based on an action (or no action) by the receiver. And instead of messing around with the codes and settings, ConvertKit makes it easy by just clicking the enabling or disabling the option.
ConvertKit doesn’t use ‘˜lists’ which is a little challenging for me at first. Instead, there are ‘˜segments‘ and ‘˜tags‘ which you can use to differentiate your email subscribers. It is also great as you want to send the right email to the right person, and it is very possible with both ‘˜segments’ and ‘˜tags.’
Disadvantages of ConvertKit
The single biggest disadvantage of using ConvertKit is the pricing factor. It is higher than most email marketing solution. Here’s a screen grab of the lowest ConvertKit pricing:
The pricing is much more compared to competitors such as Aweber, GetResponse, and MailChimp. In defense for ConvertKit, the pricing is slightly higher because it offers unlimited everything from the forms, courses, landing pages, automation rules, and emails send in a month.
The second disadvantage using ConvertKit is the learning curve. If you are coming from MailChimp like me, you will probably find ConvertKit’s system messy and confusing.
ConvertKit works in a very different way and therefore, it is powerful once you learn how the system works. It took me a day to understand how it works (if you are wondering).
BONUS: Discover powerful email marketing solution with ConvertKit.
Introducing MailChimp
MailChimp and I went down a long, long way together. When I first started blogging, I used MailChimp because it was the best free email marketing solution for beginners.
There is NO place (aside from MailChimp) where you can have 2,000 subscribers and 12,000 email broadcasts in a month at zero cost.
Advantages of MailChimp
Among MailChimp, GetResponse and Aweber, MailChimp has the highest delivery rates simply because they do not allow affiliates links. To be exact, you are not allowed to market an affiliate link which is not related to your niche.
The good thing is that it will protect their IP’s, and you will get a higher delivery rate.
MailChimp is also very affordable as has a free version (2,000 email subscribers and 12,000 emails per month) or a paid version which starts at $9 per month for 500 email subscribers.
What I love about MailChimp is their drag and drop email templates. Designing a custom email template is a tough and time-consuming job. If you are using MailChimp, you can create a perfect email template under 5 minutes.
And that is no joke.
[clickToTweet tweet=”The MailChimp’s drag and drop are extremely intuitive and is the best in the industry.” quote=”The MailChimp’s drag and drop are extremely intuitive and is the best in the industry.”]
If you are using paid MailChimp account, you have the ability to send out email broadcast at the best timing instead of sending to everyone regardless of their location at the same time. This is an important step because it helps increase the open rates.
Disadvantages using MailChimp
If you are an affiliate marketer, you should avoid using MailChimp. For starters, it is one of the worst email marketing solutions for affiliate marketing because of its terms and conditions.
You are only allowed to promote products that you are using or have the right to it. This means that you might get a permanent ban on your account if you promote affiliate links other than those within your niche.
The second disadvantage using MailChimp is the automation rules. There are many system limitations (even when you are having a MailChimp paid account) which can affect your email marketing strategy.
In most cases, advanced settings would require coding and therefore, they are not easily done by any average Joe’s.
For example, you are unable to sort out (properly) subscribers who are inactive and did not open the emails. If you would require doing tagging and segmentation, it is extremely challenging and usually requires some knowledge of coding.
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ConvertKit vs MailChimp – Important Takeaways
If you are new to blogging and would just want to have a simple email marketing solution, you should go for MailChimp (register a free account here). A free account gives you 2,000 email subscribers and 12,000 email broadcast in a month which is awesome.
However, if you are a mid-range blogger and marketer who want to grow your email lists and boost sales, ConvertKit is the best email marketing solution to go with. It’s powerful sequence and automation are years away from what MailChimp can offer. Click here to find out more about ConvertKit.
Now, it is your turn. Does this post help you to help you decide on ConvertKit vs MailChimp? Tell me more in the comments below.
