Mailchimp vs. PFL Direct Mail Platform

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Mailchimp
Score 7.9 out of 10
N/A
Mailchimp is the email marketing and marketing automation platform. Most email marketing platforms tell you how your campaigns perform, but Mailchimp goes a step beyond and tells you why by analyzing the data from half a billion emails sent through the platform every day to offer personalized recommendations for improving content, targeting, automations, and driving revenue using emails
$0
per month
PFL Direct Mail Platform
Score 9.3 out of 10
N/A
PFL helps businesses deliver authentic moments by creating impactful direct mail that is data-driven, bringing measurement, personalization, and predictability from digital to direct mail. PFL offers direct mail that is... Simplified: PFL simplifies direct mail execution by managing the entire process under one roof from strategy and production to delivery and measurement. Engaging: Supports engagement that results in action by paring digital tactics with memorable…
$40,000
per year
Pricing
MailchimpPFL Direct Mail Platform
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
MailchimpPFL Direct Mail Platform
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup fee$10,000
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Features
MailchimpPFL Direct Mail Platform
Email & Online Marketing
Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of Product A and Product B
Mailchimp
8.0
475 Ratings
3% above category average
PFL Direct Mail Platform
-
Ratings
WYSIWYG email editor8.1440 Ratings00 Ratings
Dynamic content7.8423 Ratings00 Ratings
Ability to test dynamic content7.9404 Ratings00 Ratings
Landing pages7.5327 Ratings00 Ratings
A/B testing8.0358 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile optimization8.1434 Ratings00 Ratings
Email deliverability reporting8.5462 Ratings00 Ratings
List management8.1462 Ratings00 Ratings
Triggered drip sequences7.7319 Ratings00 Ratings
Lead Management
Comparison of Lead Management features of Product A and Product B
Mailchimp
9.1
2 Ratings
16% above category average
PFL Direct Mail Platform
-
Ratings
Lead nurturing automation6.22 Ratings00 Ratings
Lead scoring and grading10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Data quality management10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Automated sales alerts and tasks10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Campaign Management
Comparison of Campaign Management features of Product A and Product B
Mailchimp
8.1
50 Ratings
6% above category average
PFL Direct Mail Platform
-
Ratings
Calendaring8.445 Ratings00 Ratings
Event/webinar marketing7.836 Ratings00 Ratings
Social Media Marketing
Comparison of Social Media Marketing features of Product A and Product B
Mailchimp
8.2
44 Ratings
9% above category average
PFL Direct Mail Platform
-
Ratings
Social sharing and campaigns8.342 Ratings00 Ratings
Social profile integration8.135 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Mailchimp
7.6
460 Ratings
1% above category average
PFL Direct Mail Platform
-
Ratings
Dashboards7.7123 Ratings00 Ratings
Standard reports8.0458 Ratings00 Ratings
Custom reports7.250 Ratings00 Ratings
Platform & Infrastructure
Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Product A and Product B
Mailchimp
7.4
44 Ratings
2% below category average
PFL Direct Mail Platform
-
Ratings
API7.833 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-based workflow & approvals6.57 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizability5.62 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with Salesforce.com8.421 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM7.618 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with SugarCRM8.12 Ratings00 Ratings
Third-party software integrations7.639 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
MailchimpPFL Direct Mail Platform
Small Businesses
Vbout
Vbout
Score 9.5 out of 10
Iterable
Iterable
Score 8.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
PFL Direct Mail Platform
PFL Direct Mail Platform
Score 9.3 out of 10
Iterable
Iterable
Score 8.5 out of 10
Enterprises
PFL Direct Mail Platform
PFL Direct Mail Platform
Score 9.3 out of 10
Alyce by Sendoso
Alyce by Sendoso
Score 9.1 out of 10
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User Ratings
MailchimpPFL Direct Mail Platform
Likelihood to Recommend
8.0
(499 ratings)
9.3
(33 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.5
(51 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Usability
8.4
(373 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Availability
9.5
(6 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(7 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
7.9
(15 ratings)
9.4
(3 ratings)
Implementation Rating
7.5
(22 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
10.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
8.0
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.5
(6 ratings)
9.9
(3 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
10.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
10.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
MailchimpPFL Direct Mail Platform
Likelihood to Recommend
Mailchimp
With Mailchimp we are able to revive and enhance our personal connect with the customers. The easy-to-use tools allows us to personalize the email content, segregate and target important leads & send relevant messages. Also, it offers interactive analysis on the performance of a particular campaign. We can judge the effectiveness of our mailers in real time.
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PFL
The reason it's not a seven or above is purely because of the timing of a solution we had requested originally back in August 2023. It's now February 2024, and we're waiting for a wow-factor pitch deck. Previously, we only received a demo recording and an order form quote. These truthfully aren't helpful enough to convince and sway our senior leaders into spending the $35k+ investment into the PMC.
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Pros
Mailchimp
  • 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.
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PFL
  • Personalization: It allows us to create highly personalized direct mail pieces tailored to individual recipients. For instance, we can include the recipient's name, relevant product recommendations, or even custom images that resonate with their preferences.
  • Multi-Channel Integration: The platform seamlessly integrates with our existing digital marketing tools and CRM systems. It enables us to orchestrate cohesive campaigns that combine email, social media, and direct mail to reach our target audience through multiple touchpoints.
  • Automated Workflows: PFL offers robust automation capabilities, streamlining the entire direct mail process. We can set triggers, such as website visits or email engagement, to automatically trigger the sending of personalized direct mail pieces, ensuring timely and relevant outreach.
  • Variable Data Printing: The platform simplifies variable data printing, enabling us to print custom content for each recipient efficiently. This is particularly useful for A/B testing different messaging or designs within a single campaign.
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Cons
Mailchimp
  • The interface remains a cluttered, non-intuitive mess. That's true from the haphazard way features are organized to the actual email layout.
  • Analytics have never been a priority, and I don't see that changing with Intuit's new ownership. I'm very frustrated over the limited choices for reporting, even when using third-party solutions. If I needed that function, I would not use MailChimp.
  • I would love to develop a workflow screen that lets me focus on the things that I use all the time. Customizing the interface where the content actually goes into the software would help.
  • I never understood why we couldn't import a document into a MC template. At best, we're spending time copying-and-pasting from one app into MC.
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PFL
  • There is no built-in functionality to automate direct mail; this has to be created through triggers in Salesforce.
  • The sales cloud integration didn't give us the syncing or reporting we thought would be available.
  • We would like to see more support from team members in the post-onboarding process.
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Likelihood to Renew
Mailchimp
We've had Mailchimp for about ten years, I want to say. I started with the company about four years ago, and I don't see us ever diverting to another source. It's easy for us to use, and we have all our clients already built into the database. I imagine we'll use them for as long as we have the company.
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PFL
I will continue to use the platform as long as my employer provides access, but I do not have purchasing power myself.
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Usability
Mailchimp
Our team use Mailchimp almost every week. Overall UI is simple for anyone to get started with it. The resource library around using particular features is also there, so we don't have to train our team on this product. We also used a lot of other features as well.
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PFL
The UI is friendly, clear, and accessible, and I access it directly through the interface (Salesforce) that I perform my function in every day. It is intuitive to navigate, and I am able to find most functionalities I need without the need to consult an admin and/or support teams.
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Reliability and Availability
Mailchimp
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
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PFL
No answers on this topic
Performance
Mailchimp
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
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PFL
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Mailchimp
Website tools were easy to use and understand so a novice can easily meet or exceed their client's expectations! Loved that we were able to totally customize so that the e-mail we created conveyed our client's overall messaging consistent with their branding! Client love that we can provide turnkey services to support their sales and marketing teams!
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PFL
Only thing holding me back from a perfect 10 would be the timelines for involving the technical team on occasion. There have been a few times where the PFL technical support team has been booked up for days or more than a week out which can delay our project timelines. This doesn't happen often, let me be clear. But when it does, it's usually at the worst time for our campaigns.
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Implementation Rating
Mailchimp
It's pretty easy to get up and running! There's a slight learning curve on a few things, but once you find where everything is located, you can import your list and send your first email. It really makes our clients feel great to see how quickly they can get that first email out.
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PFL
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is a means to an end and a way to stay within GDPR laws. We may not use it if this wasn't a requirement. Other platforms are better for design or management of contacts, but Mailchimp offers that secure storage of data that is required. I have not tried other bulk mail applications, so am unable to compare these.
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PFL
JourneyMail is one I have evaluated. It did not seem as full featured as PFL Direct Mail Platform, nor did it integrate with the rest of the Salesforce products like PFL Direct Mail Platform (journeymail ONLY integrates to marketing cloud). My customers tend to be cross-cloud and own multiple products and want solutions that can integrate across their stack easily.
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Scalability
Mailchimp
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.
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PFL
It does take a while to launch or re-launch a campaign, which can make it difficult to pivot quickly. However, if you're integrated with Marketo, then PFL is as scalable as your database and marketing strategy! The sky is the limit in terms of creativity. Post launch, the program is hands-off apart from report monitoring and potential optimization tweaks.
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Return on Investment
Mailchimp
  • Mailchimp has allowed us to communicate effectively with thousands of customers with ease.
  • Mailchimp's use during our second year of business helped us expand our list of brands considerably (almost 30% YTD) because of regular interactions that we've launched.
  • Mailchimp ramp-up time is minimal for new users so I can turn things over to junior staff - saving me time and money.
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PFL
  • We've sometimes struggled to maintain a positive ROI due to some issues with packages not arriving, arriving broken, or including the wrong items.
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ScreenShots

Mailchimp Screenshots

Screenshot of Mailchimp's advanced analytics and reporting tools. These are used to monitor trends, track performance, and get actionable insights that help users to create better campaigns and drive customer engagement.Screenshot of Mailchimp's precise audience segmentation. Its AI simplifies the workflow by generating complex customer segments for highly personalized campaigns.Screenshot of omnichannel marketing. Campaigns can be built across multiple channels, and then managed from one convenient place.Screenshot of marketing automations with the Customer Journey Builder. This is used to reach the right people with the right message at exactly the right time, which helps to drive more repeat business, increase customer retention, and see more orders.Screenshot of Mailchimp's SMS marketing. SMS can be integrated into email, automations, and social campaigns.Screenshot of Mailchimp's AI, used to deliver relevant content faster. It can generate professionally written, on-brand marketing emails with the press of a button. The user only needs to review, edit, and send.

PFL Direct Mail Platform Screenshots

Screenshot of Custom kits available for useScreenshot of Entering the sender addressScreenshot of Personalization at scale with custom messaging and signaturesScreenshot of Product selection with product details, template data, and advanced options