Adestra vs. Mad Mimi

Small businesses with even smaller marketing budgets and no email marketing experience would be better off selecting a lower-end email marketing provider. However, Adestra will provide a growing company with every email marketing tool along the way.

Incentivized

Mad Mimi is perfect for scheduling remainder emails. For instance, if you need to remind a client about a pending order next week, you can schedule the remainder email today and it will be sent exactly the date and time you want it to even if you are out of office. If you need to contact thousands of people at a time, Mad Mimi can be used to send the emails all at once to all of them, especially for marketing purposes and newsletter purposes.

Incentivized

• Adestra's "dynamic" list allows users to consolidate multiple lists in combination with data filters and exclusion lists. This implements segmentation and is a powerful marketing tool.
• Adestra's MessageFocus API integration provides developer-tools for list, campaign or transactional automated requirements.
• Campaigns can be sorted into project folders. This allows marketers to group campaigns together for management or reporting requirements. Moving or copying campaigns from one project to another is a simple process.
• Data downloads via Reporting is available at every level, from overview to individual KPI.
• Creating "core" tables helps marketers develop lists with similar attributes. Whether a list has many fields or simply the one required email address field, a "core" table helps to quickly map data labels from spreadsheet to online database. Creating data labels on the fly is a simple process, as well. The "core" table also groups similar contacts into one core database.
• Any list can be quickly "emptied" for to manage refreshed data. The contacts within the "emptied" list would still be members of the "core" table and so the process does not negatively impact reporting.
• Unsubscribes can be managed in one list (as a default) or individual lists. Creating individual unsubscribe lists -- dependent on business requirements -- would allow for a preference center, whereby recipients could be given a choice as to which campaigns they receive.
• The Form tool creates signup forms, simple surveys and landing pages. These can be hosted via Adestra or otherwise on the web. The tool provides for branding and proprietary cascading stylesheets, with a number of actions available through a drag-and-drop interface.

Incentivized

• I've been on the free plan for years and it has suited me very well. It's reliable and has all the core features I need at the moment. Considering how all the online tools can add up, this is right for my business.
• Mad Mimi has a super-simple interface, and it's drag and drop, so I don't have to spend a lot of time designing each email. Although you can customize with your logo and colors.
• There are several free add-ons, which allow for a limited amount of automation. I would recommend taking advantage of the RSS feed, webform, and drip campaign features.
• You can segment your list into as many groups as you like, which makes for more effective email marketing.

Incentivized

• As of this writing, there are at least 3 different editors available (a drag-and-drop, a WYSIWYG and HTML). However, only a small template library is available if requested through support. Those expecting to find ready-built templates for re-branding would find them through the third-party EDM Designer drag-and-drop editor.

Incentivized

• The ease on adding links, such as unsubscribe links, is not as easy as it is with other email service providers. Creating simple tags that take the place of a link could help a lot, especially for those not as familiar with HTML.
• Perhaps a way of archiving old emails, or hiding them from the past emails area. It can look a bit cluttered, and can be confusing in some circumstances.
• Providing some learning material, or at least a more thorough overview of email marketing, and the user interface would be of great use to beginners.

Pretty simple, I know I'm getting what I pay for and a little more. Although simple and easy for the new user; a more seasoned marketer can still get the most from MadMimi. Especially if the primary purpose is to generate strong brand loyalty with effective communication that integrates your various outlets: MadMimi makes it easy for your customer to pick-up what the business owner wants to relay.

I have been self-trained on different ESPs for over 10 years, so my experience isn't comparable to most users. However, I've trained people on various email marketing platforms, and with some training, clients have a positive user-experience with Adestra.

Incentivized

I find it very easy to use just like my colleagues too. The learning curve is straight forward.

Incentivized

I have had campaign related issues solved very quickly. When there are technical issues, that involve more than one departmental, it may involve a longer turn-around and management.

Incentivized

My issues are usually quickly resolved and their support staffs are very knowledgeable on the software generally

Incentivized

For medium and large sized businesses, Adestra competes well with dotMailer. While many of the functions are available through either provider, creating campaigns, managing lists and reviewing metrics are somewhat different. As of this writing, dotMailer's drag-and-drop editor dominates that platform and performs well for low-end users with little-to-no HTML experience. Even high-end users will appreciate how quickly campaigns can be built via the drag-and-drop editor. While Adestra utilizes the EDM Designer drag-and-drop, the third-party functionality is not completely cohesive and lack of a template library gives dotMailer a bit of an advantage.

Incentivized

Constant Contact is the Goliath of the industry and to us, it was unnecessarily complex and expensive. We chose Mad Mimi, after looking at several other new offerings and we've been extremely satisfied with our choice of Mad Mimi.

Incentivized

• For companies that focus on goals and analytics, Adestra provides all the necessary tools.

Incentivized

• I've spent 3 years creating blog posts, and it is only now encompassing the breath that allows me to draw upon this pieces as a reusable resource, but now this is happening.
• I preferred the Mad Mimi platform to Mail Chimp, and I suspect it continues to offer advantages. I felt Mad Mimi did themselves a disservice by failing to support their free subscriber service to the same extent that Mail Chimp does. When one's mail list gets sufficiently large, then it does pay to pay them, but not in the context I was using it.
• It seems that Mad Mimi is targeting direct marketing purposes, as this is a use where ROI is more easily measured.

Incentivized