MailChimp performs admirably!
Updated January 07, 2020
MailChimp performs admirably!
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Mailchimp
We use Mailchimp as a ministry to contact and update the parents of our students, as well as our volunteers. MailChimp allows us to easily set up e-mail lists that we can add people to ourselves OR have people sign up for via an easy to use link. The process of segmenting lists and/or having separate lists to send different e-mail to has been an easy way for us to communicate to our different groups. For example we have a list of all the parents who receive our e-mails and within that list we have segments that separate middle school student parents from high school parents, parents of male students from parents of female students, etc. We also have a completely separate list for mailing just our volunteers and that is segmented as well.
We are also able to design and manage a number of different templates depending on the type of e-mail that needs to be sent out. We have templates for general weekly e-mails to parents, e-mails to leaders, special announcement e-mails, as well as a template that we use to announce specific events. Overall, MailChimp is an easy to use and effective communication tool that allows us to quickly contact our leaders and parents with clean, easy to read e-mails.
We are also able to design and manage a number of different templates depending on the type of e-mail that needs to be sent out. We have templates for general weekly e-mails to parents, e-mails to leaders, special announcement e-mails, as well as a template that we use to announce specific events. Overall, MailChimp is an easy to use and effective communication tool that allows us to quickly contact our leaders and parents with clean, easy to read e-mails.
- List management is easy to do and fairly intuitive
- Template design and creation functions solidly and allows you to tailor your e-mails to specific groups
- The tracking metrics allow you to see who's opening your e-mails and how many clicks you get from within them.
- MailChimp sometimes struggles to embed videos well
- Because of the nature of an e-mail from MailChimp, mail often ends up in the "Promotion" folder in Gmail
- Occasionally during template design it can be a struggle to get your template to look EXACTLY how you envision
- I have a number of parents who thank me regularly for the constant communication they receive from us. They are very appreciative of being kept in the loop.
- MailChimp is an easy, efficient way to communicate to new parents and volunteers after the personal touch has been made.
Some of the other ministries in the church use Constant Contact. I feel that MailChimp fills the same gap and is easier for me to train Interns and other staff members in my department on how to use.
One Mailchimp function that we utilize regularly is the ability to post emails and content directly to social media. This allows us to integrate content and a link to more information all in one place rather than posting separately into each social media platform.
Mailchimp has been a steady and consistent way for us to communicate with our parents, students, and volunteers. We receive regular "thank you"s from people for our easy to read and access communication. One big learning for us has been the way in which we create, label, and categorize our lists and segments. Tagging people within lists and having segments has allowed communication to go to the right people at the right times.
Mailchimp Feature Ratings
Using Mailchimp
2 - As far as I know we're the only department in our organization that uses Mailchimp but we use it regularly. We've looked at a number of other options for communication and occasionally use the mail merge that is built into our database. Consistently though we would prefer to use Mailchimp because it is much more styled and clean looking.
We typically do our own support for this program.
- Regular updates and communication
- Special communication for events
- We'll continue to create segments in our lists that allow us to further target specific groups with our communication.
- We will continue to expand our communication in Mailchimp into more of our social media platforms.
Evaluating Mailchimp and Competitors
- Price
- Product Features
- Product Usability
Because of the small group of people we communicate to along with the number of emails we send weekly, we use the free version of Mailchimp which has been great for us. Even without paying, the customization you can do and the ease of use of the program makes it very worthwhile.
At the point we're at now, I suppose if we were looking from scratch we may pay more attention to some of the pay to use features of email marketing clients. When we first started using Mailchimp we weren't in a position to pay for a program. However, even with the free account, our marketing through Mailchimp is top notch.
Mailchimp Implementation
- Implemented in-house
Mailchimp Support
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Quick Resolution Good followup Knowledgeable team Problems get solved Kept well informed No escalation required Support understands my problem Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response | None |
Using Mailchimp
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Technical support not required Well integrated Consistent Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using Familiar | None |
- The campaign editor is a simple drag and drop editor and works so well
- Creating a theme and template are simple to do and managing your library is a breeze.
- Managing your lists can sometimes be confusing if you try for too much differentiation.