Google Optimize vs. Intuit Mailchimp vs. Wishpond Propel IQ

Google Optimize is well suited for testing small changes on the browser pages. You have the option of changing designs, texts, and some small features on the page. The audience can be divided using a long list of factors, so it makes it quite easy to set up the test. It is not well suited for complicated feature tests where you need to monitor the user over a long period or where the user is likely to use multiple sessions across multiple devices or browsers

Incentivized

It allows you to reach out to our customer base and discuss updates, sales, education, and much more. I am grateful to have reached out to them and to have gained brand loyalty in the process. It helps us truly connect, not just sell. I can segment my audiences and decide who I want to send communications to.

Incentivized

I would never recommend Wishpond to anyone. They provide a fancy marketing plan that is promptly ignored. You're far better off managing everything yourself as the things which are done are done against your instructions, or so badly it takes more time to fix them than just do them yourself. You'll have to ask for any reporting and when it is given it will be worthless as all campaigns are combined (across all advertising channels). You'll never be told what tweaks are made, keywords you specifically say not to use will be used, you won't be told how to check anything, and will have to chase up anything that is meant to be delivered. The first meeting was rescheduled, but I wasn't told, and things didn't improve from there. After 2 months I still had not received much and wasn't getting replies so had to take things up the chain. Things were then put in place, but no one ever checked if they solved anything. They didn't. One of my big problems is the only meeting times offered were between 3 and 4am my time. When the customer support person finally got in touch they also only offered between 3 and 4 am on a Sat morning. Nothing had been paid attention to at any stage. My manager's manager who is meant to solve problems has not replied to my emails from a week ago. The contract also auto renews, but there is no information on how to get out of it. I don't trust that the folks I have told I don't want to renew will pass that information on and will soon be looking into doing chargebacks on my card due to not being supplied with the services promised.

• Easy test implementation. You're up and running once you've pinned down your hypothesis.
• Goals and conversion points can be easily mapped to any test.
• Customization of goals in case you don't have one setup.
• Integrated with Google Analytics so you can correlate with other metrics under behavior and e-commerce data.

Incentivized

• Mailchimp allows you to manage your mailing list really well. You can subscribe people, unsubscribe people manage the mailing list directly into segments, and what not.
• Mailchimp has features where you can create campaigns based on your mailing lists and send out newsletters to your subscribers based on a multitude of parameters that you can setup. Such as send email daily, weekly, monthly and they also have event based mails that you can send out.
• Mailchimp also has a feature where you can design your emails. The look and aesthetics are very important when sending emails to your subscribers and all those needs are addressed here.

Incentivized

• Very small learning curve, thanks to wonderful real-time tutorials and help, and drag-and-drop editors.
• Easy to navigate - there are only 3 main sections of the site (content, lists, and emails).
• Excellent customer service. I've always gotten prompt answers to any questions I've had.

Incentivized

• Track site performance with each test version; see if the resource timing of each test has anything to do with conversion rates.

Incentivized

• The pricing tiers do scale quickly so if you have a free newsletter it may get expensive
• The pricing is based on total emails so if you have users who you only email rarely it might not make sense to use Intuit Mailchimp
• Customer support can be a bit lacking at times and their docs aren't always the best

• The marketing tool is still not very intuitive
• We still don’t know how to use the contest feature
• We wish we could have more elements to add to our landing pages

Incentivized

We love the product. One thing we haven't mentioned yet is the human element. Recently, MailChimp re-structured their plans/pricing based on the feedback they had received. They listened to a pain their users were experiencing, then strategized a solution, and implemented it fairly. The updated pricing strategy was intended to save subscribers money, and they did a great job of communicating it to their users. I would be surprised if anyone reacted negatively to the change.

Google has always been known to make easy-to-use products. The Google Optimize interface is intuitive and easy to follow for anyone.

Incentivized

It's very easy to use - I could quickly explain how to use Mailchimp to someone not in marketing and feel confident they'd be able to use basic skills to figure it out. Plus, we use it beyond just email marketing now for subscriber welcomes, forms, and nurture sequences.

Incentivized

I have, in the 4+ years that I've used Mailchimp, never seen an issue that restricted the use of their software/tools. I don't know of a single time when they're system crashed or went down. I could be wrong, but I honestly haven't experienced any issues with outages, errors or unplanned downtime

Incentivized

I haven't noticed any slow speeds from Mailchimp or their tools. I think the landing pages load quickly and look nice. The email reports and editing operates smoothly and doesn't take time to load. Additionally, when I use Mailchimp in conjunction with Zapier + Hubspot I don't notice any drag between any of these tools

Incentivized

Google has well-documented resources and unlimited use cases that can be found online. Plus, their support is always helpful and available.

Incentivized

Any time we needed their help or support they responded promptly, friendly, and straightforwardly. It's a great feature to have multi-language support as we are a diverse team, and anyone can reach out to receive help. We've always solved our inquires

Incentivized

There is no support at Wishpond. I contacted my project manager's manager over a week ago without a reply. When I responded to the automated 'How is your experience' email saying how awful it was there was no follow-up. When I had trouble and had to escalate things it resulted in some new procedures being put in place that changed nothing and they never checked in to see if things were fixed.

I am little satisfied with the MailChimp implementation process, since although it has been a bit complicated and we have had various complications that tried to affect our performance, with a little general effort, we take full advantage and currently It is out main marketing and advertising campaign platform.

Incentivized

We switched from Google Optimize to AB Tasty which is a paid platform. AB Tasty provides much better capabilities and support, although this is with a cost implication which Google Optimize didn’t have. Google Optimize was useful as an introductory platform prior to getting a full programme running but this has now sunset so is no longer available.

Incentivized

I used Intuit Mailchimp, and I would say other software I used is equally good and competes with Intuit Mailchimp. Well, Intuit Mailchimp's reporting is better, and ActiveCampaign has more affordable pricing, so in the end, it all comes to what you need. What we needed was available in cheaper price in other software as well. But I would definitely say Intuit Mailchimp has its own advantages too.

Incentivized

I actually ended up using AgoraPulse AFTER Wishpond because my company was looking for ways to cut down our marketing budget and Agora had the contest capabilities, lead management, along with social media platform scheduling and management. I ended up loving Agora more and not only using it while at Clarion UX/Urban Expositions but bringing it over when I worked at Yale University as well.

Incentivized

Mailchimp over the years I've used it has grown in leaps and bounds. They have added so many additional features than were previously available. They are truly an all-in-one marketing platform now. If you're a small operation and just want to add email to your marketing efforts, they're there for you. If you're a larger operation and want to start sending postcard advertisements, they can do that. If you'd good with that and want to kick up your marketing by going social, you can do that on their platform. They are truly able to be as small as you need, but also get quite large in whatever it is you'd like to do through their system.

Incentivized

• Useful with clients on a budget who need to see ROI without another paid platform to install.
• Setting up Google Optimize helps as an additional value add when bidding on projects.
• Nothing negative unless a larger client needs a more robust package; then, there is always Google Optimize 360 as well as platforms from other vendors.

Incentivized

• One of my retail web store clients was sending out email specials and notices about once a month. After clicking the send button, we would watch Google Analytics and the current site users would light up immediately. Often, the current site visitors would pop up to 20, 30 or more after the email was sent. On a normal day, seeing 1 or 2 online users would be OK.
• Pretty much in all cases, we could see an uptick in positive activity after sending out a Intuit Mailchimp email to a list.

Incentivized

• Negative google ROI.
• A few conversions in September on paid social then none - negative ROI.
• Between ad spend and Wishpond fees every month is negative ROI. Can’t wait until I can get out of this contract.
• Emails don’t perform as well as my own for open rates or clicks.