I get asked this question a lot: “Which email marketing service should I use?”
It’s a tough decision, because there are a lot of great services out there, and it’s not easy to know which one is best for your needs. I’ve been researching this question for the past few months, and while there are a lot of great answers out there, I’ve found one source that truly is the gold standard when it comes to providing excellent customer service, and that’s MailChimp.
MailChimp is among the world’s most popular and well-known email marketing platforms, and with good reason. The service is easy to use, has a huge amount of functionality, and offers a lot of flexibility when it comes to the emails you send out. You can do everything from build completely automated email campaigns to send on a scheduled basis, or you can simply use the platform to collect emails at an email capture booth at a trade show, for example, and then use those addresses to send out one-off emails.
Below, I’ll cover why MailChimp is the best choice in email marketing, and why you should use the platform whether you’re a professional marketer or a beginner looking for help getting started.
Why Should You Choose MailChimp For Your Email Marketing Needs?
For starters, if you’re looking for a one-stop-shop for email marketing, MailChimp is a great option. The service offers almost all of the features you’d need from an email marketing platform, and it doesn’t cost a fortune. What’s more, the team at MailChimp is extremely helpful and courteous, and they’re available to provide quick support via email, phone and live chat should you need it.
As a business owner or marketer looking to get started with email marketing, you’ll also want to consider budget. While there are a lot of great free services out there, none of them offer the same level of functionality as a service like MailChimp, which costs $2.95 per month plus expenses. What’s more, the price rises to $5.45 per month if you want to use the service’s premium features.
On the topic of pricing, one of the biggest annoyances I have with a lot of the other free email marketing services is their constant push to get you to upgrade. With MailChimp, the money you put towards the service is what you use. There are no annoying phone calls or text messages trying to guilt you into upgrading. The betterment of your marketing experience with MailChimp is all the more apparent when you consider this.
The Biggest Strength Of MailChimp
One of the biggest reasons why MailChimp is such a popular and well-known service is because of the strength of its automated sending features. The service allows you to build email campaigns that can quickly be launched, and it has various tools to help you target the right audience, optimize the performance of your campaigns and measure the success of your emailing activity. If you’re looking for a simple and affordable way to get started with email marketing, MailChimp is a great option.
Another significant strength of MailChimp is its flexibility. You can use the service to build completely automated email campaigns that will generate and send emails at pre-determined intervals. For example, you could create a campaign that will send your customers an email 30 days after their purchase, thanking them for their business. Alternatively, you can use the service to collect emails at a trade show or convention, and then use those gathered email addresses to send out one-off emails. The list of possibilities is endless, as long as you have an email address to work with.
The ability to quickly and easily create automated email campaigns is a significant time saver. It’s also a great option for those looking for a simple way to keep track of their marketing activity and results, which is extremely helpful. Email marketing is all the more effective when it’s automated and allows for regular sending, so it’s a trade-off of time versus effectiveness to choose either route.
The Indispensable Function Of The Segmentation Tool
The segmentation tool in MailChimp is essential for getting the most out of your email marketing. The tool allows you to create and import different lists of email addresses based on your customer’s purchase or behavior. For example, you can have one list for customers who buy a certain product, and another list for customers who visit a certain web page or register for a certain event. The segmentation tool helps you target your emails to the right audience, and it also allows you to track the effectiveness of your campaigns.
The tool is simple to use and has a lot of functionality. You can use it to great effect to segment your customer base into different groups based on their purchase behavior, web activity or social media presence. You then can use this segmented list of email addresses to send out emails that are tailored to their specific needs. This tool alone makes MailChimp a must-have for every marketer or business owner looking to get started with email marketing.
How To Make Your Campaigns Stand Out
One way to make your emails stand out more is to give them a call to action. The CTA (call to action) is what the recipient of your email is being encouraged to do. Sometimes, you’ll want your readers to click a link in your email or visit a particular page on your website. Other times, you’ll want them to take an action, such as filling out a form or donating to a charity.
MailChimp makes it easy to create a call to action in your email. Simply insert a button or link anywhere in the email, and then choose an action from the dropdown menu. When you’re finished, hit Send and check your email to see if there were any errors in the content. Once you’ve confirmed that the email is correct, you can hit the big green “Send” button to send it out.
The important thing to keep in mind is that you should never, ever send unsolicited email to anyone. This includes spammy emails trying to sell you things or scam you, or even emails that you think are worth a response but they aren’t actually marketing material.
Additional Value Of MailChimp
As a marketer, you’ll want to look for a service that offers a lot of additional value beyond just sending out automated emails. The truth is, no matter what you’ll need eventually, MailChimp likely already has a feature that can help you. Here are a few of the other valuable things you can do.
- Provides analytics on your email activity, allowing you to track the success of your campaigns.
- Offers a full-text search feature, allowing you to search for any word or phrase within the text of your email.
- Creates tracking buttons and links that will track the success of your emailing activity, so you can see what worked and what didn’t.
- Offers email templates that you can use to quickly and easily create emails for your campaigns.
- Offers a free domain for one year with the purchase of a premium account (a $2.95 single domain cost, and you can renew at $12.95 per month plus tax).