Great Multi-Faceted Marketing and Database Platform for Small and Mid-sized Companies
November 27, 2021

Great Multi-Faceted Marketing and Database Platform for Small and Mid-sized Companies

Annette Giordano | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 3 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Software Version

Essentials

Overall Satisfaction with Mailchimp

I use Mailchimp with my clients to send out email campaigns, capture leads, and segment their databases. We've used automation and journeys as well, which were both connected to a lead capture form and/or landing page, or not connected at all. The typical database size I worked with inside Mailchimp was 5,000 to 50,000 addresses.
  • Lead forms and landing pages are easy to create and manage.
  • It's possible to customize the email templates within the HTML for a truly custom experience if wanted.
  • The option to use journeys, which is available in most of the larger email platforms like HubSpot or SalesForce Marketing Cloud, is really handy, and much more affordable than using some of the larger platforms.
  • It easily integrates with most other major digital tools.
  • List segmentation is a total pain. The need to use a master list and then assign tags isn't clear to new users.
  • It's not clear when to use an old automation versus a new journey.
  • The difference between groups and segments is not clear. The documentation should be updated to state that a segment is a sub-set of the contact database that's based on subscriber actions. Where groups are options you can set up in your audience settings that can be based on any criteria, and on signup forms, subscribers will also be able to see the available groups.
  • Sometimes, it's really hard to find settings. The layout of settings and options includes nested menus that vary between a left-side vertical rail, and then tabs, and the naming of the settings is pretty different compared to what things are called in most other platforms. All of that makes it hard to find things.
  • It's also frustrating that all emails need to be saved as templates if a user wants to use the email in multiple places. Sometimes, emails are for specific campaigns, and those campaigns might include a blast and a drip option, but in order to use the email in two different streams, it has to be saved as a template, which also makes it more cumbersome to update during the campaign setup process.
  • Given a choice to do no email marketing or some email marketing, Mailchimp has always had some kind of positive impact.
  • Mailchimp did provide the ability to use lead capture forms where the ability might not have otherwise been possible.
Mailchimp offers a lot of customizations and automation in a simple form that is available in larger, more expensive platforms. The email builder is probably the best in Mailchimp out of the other platforms because of the ability to easily customize the templates and also code them so that front-end users can utilize customized options on custom templates without having to go into the code. The pre-provided Mailchimp templates are also beautiful, optimized for mobile in most platforms, and have a lot of module options. However, the database segmentation capabilities in Mailchimp can be very clunky and hard to manage, and if it's not set up to use a master audience and the right segments or groups, then the likelihood of duplicates existing in the system, and you getting charged extra for the duplicates, is high. Also, the location of settings within the tool is not intuitive.
As previously noted, the location of settings within the tool, and the audience setup, as well as the ability to create actual email templates without having to make every individual campaign into a template, makes the tool awkward to use. However, the price, capabilities, customizations, and integrations, are great for an organization or business with a small budget and small database.
Being able to use Mailchimp kept my organizations' tech stacks simple. This not only provided cost savings, but also a lot of efficiencies that otherwise would have been wasted on too many tools to manage that would have each had their own costs.
I've been able to set up lead capture forms and landing pages as well as automated email campaigns for clients who didn't previously have them, and who wouldn't have been able to afford them without Mailchimp's tools.

Do you think Mailchimp delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Mailchimp's feature set?

Yes

Did Mailchimp live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Mailchimp go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Mailchimp again?

Yes

For clients who have a relatively small database (less than 10,000 contacts) and a limited budget, Mailchimp is a great choice. But if more complex automation is needed, or more complex segmentation, I recommend going with HubSpot.

Mailchimp Feature Ratings

WYSIWYG email editor
10
Dynamic content
6
Ability to test dynamic content
6
Landing pages
8
A/B testing
8
Mobile optimization
10
Email deliverability reporting
10
List management
4
Triggered drip sequences
5
Standard reports
6