Item: Mailchimp
Rating: 10
Author: Alon Keren

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I acted as a growth consultant for a small business that offers entertainment magic shows for young children. Our target audience was the parents. We used Facebook ads to generate leads, which we integrated with an API to Pipedrive CRM. I used Zapier to integrate MailChimp and Pipedrive to create an email marketing campaign based on the steps each lead was in the funnel. We used it on a daily basis, as every lead that got into the system was inserted into the email funnel.

Pros and Cons

Super easy integration to Pipedrive via Zapier, and I'm guessing it integrates seamlessly with hundreds of other CRMs.
Intuitive UI when designing the email templates, you don't have to be a designer to use the templates that Mailchimp provides (although using a graphic designer to create newsletters etc. is always a good idea IMO...)
Simple functionality when it comes to creating an email marketing funnel - no redundant complications that make your life harder when building the funnel

Hebrew support and RTL functionality [need] improvement. The system isn't 100% friendly to RTL emails.

Return on Investment

With Mailchimp we were able to communicate with our leads automatically with drip campaigns that allowed us to increase our conversion rate drastically. Since we were a small team with little analytics dashboard I don't have exact numbers to share.

Alternatives Considered

ActiveTrail

Better UX, functionality is a lot clearer, the whole process of creating drip campaigns was a lot more intuitive with Mailchimp. However, RTL functionality was better with ActiveTrail since the system supports Hebrew... Even though I still managed to make Mailchimp work and it was a better experience.

Usability

It's just my go-to email marketing tool. I love how seamlessly it integrates with CRMs and how Mailchimp and Zapier have tons of functionalities that go hand in hand, and I love Zapier so this is a huge advantage for me. But basically, I love it for the same reason I love Pipedrive - it's simple. I'm a solopreneur consultant, I don't work at a large company so I'm not familiar with enterprise needs, so all I can say is that for me as someone who works alone, this tool was 100% intuitive, easy to understand, and easy to use.

All-in-One Marketing Platform

I actually didn't use Mailchimp for anything else other than email marketing. So I can't answer this question.

Lessons for Success

If you run PPC ads and you don't have an email campaign going hand in hand with those ads, you're missing out. I've neglected this portion in my marketing funnel but when I started integrating email marketing into the funnel I noticed how the conversion rates grew, the customers felt that the business they're talking with is more legit, it's run by real people that want to communicate. It was very easy to send specific emails based on which step the lead was in, in the funnel - Lead in, Choosing a package, Payment, Recommendation etc...

Key Insights

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

Likelihood to Recommend

I act as a solopreneur and I always use Pipedrive as my CRM where all the leads are at. If you need a simple email marketing tool that integrates seamlessly with your CRM, and you're not SUPER avid with building email marketing templates, Mailchimp is a great option. If you're using it for RTL campaigns you might need a different system, depending on how far MailChimp has come since I've used them.

Mailchimp is awesome for solopreneurs and SMB marketing consultants

Software Version

Overall Satisfaction with Mailchimp