A cost effective method of engaging with your audience or audiences is through the use of an Email Marketing System (EMS). With proper use, you can ensure you are at front of mind when it comes to your industry.
One of the more well known EMS’s currently available is Mailchimp, which is an appealing low barrier to entry for many businesses.
With a free subscription level, Mailchimp is a great starting point for many businesses looking to leverage their first party data.
So, what’s the downside?
When is Mailchimp the right choice for my business?
What you don’t pay for in subscription fees, you pay for in Mailchimp’s limited, paywalled experience. The majority of functions that are used to make compelling emails are locked behind the higher subscription price points. Some limitations of Mailchimp’s free plan include:
And there are some functions that are flat out not available in Mailchimp, such as being able to send an email to multiple segments/tags.
If you’ve used Mailchimp before, you’ll likely know the frustrations that often come with the so called ‘easy to use, drag drop designer’ that works fine in theory, but not often in practice.
Pricing
All of those features are easy to overlook when you’re paying the low, low price of free.
But be aware: Mailchimp has introduced a few sneaky ways to get you onto a paid plan. One of these includes basing its plans on the amount of email contacts in your database, not active subscribers. This means, you are still having to pay for audiences who have unsubscribed and aren’t receiving your emails.
What’s our point?
If there is anything you take away from this article, let it be this:
Mailchimp is a great free tool for businesses to start growing their database. But, when you start paying for it (and you will have to at some point), pay for something better.
To illustrate this point, here’s a comparison between Mailchimp’s free plan and our CoBright EMS:
What do we recommend?
Depending on your needs or as a first step to implementing email marketing in your business, Mailchimp may be the right choice for you. As your business grows, Mailchimp may not be able to keep up with the demands of a professional email marketing system that you need.
Time to upgrade?
