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Mailchimp: User friendly, but potentially at the cost of customization
Updated January 07, 2020

Mailchimp: User friendly, but potentially at the cost of customization

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Mailchimp

We utilize Mailchimp as our weekly marketing and industry news newsletter platform. We have an emailing list of about 15,000 and Mailchimp offers a very user-friendly interface to crank out a newsletter each week to them. Each version of Mailchimp becomes more and more user-friendly, specifically with improvements in making timely updates to our templates and increased ability to dive into analytics so that we can better understand our audience's needs and interaction level.
  • Provides a near 'drag-and-drop' user-friendly interface.
  • Improved photo-editing abilities within the platform, rather than having to rely on Photoshop to polish an image before importing into the piece.
  • Tracks analytics and provides digestible reports on activity.
  • Although the photo editing abilities are better than they were, there is still room for improvement here.
  • The 'widgets' are nice and very user-friendly, but I'd love to see some additional options so that layouts can become even more customizable.
  • Mobile design: Currently, you can preview how a design will look on mobile, but one must first design within a 'laptop' formatted layout. It would be great to have the ability to design either mobile-first or even as a side-by-side comparison so you can see how the layout is affected in both environments as you go.
  • Positive: Built-in analytics allows us to zero in on audience behaviors so we can adjust each week and try different tactics. As a result, our ROI has improved considering the number of participants and how many articles they read.
  • Neutral: While we have been able to maintain and at times, slightly improve our readership, our ROI, for the most part, has been the status quo. Obviously, the content has much to do with that, but I'm still looking into how many people immediately recognize a 'Mailchimp' template and assume it is advertising or SPAM.
This is the first software of its kind that I have interacted with at this level. Previously, it was proprietary-built emails so I don't have an apples-to-apples comparison to provide. That said, we have also utilized Hubspot to send out emails directly to clients with great success. The nice thing about Hubspot it the integration with landing pages (which Mailchimp now also offers — I just have not yet used that function).
Each update allows the UI to be more user friendly, straight forward and tightened up, so to speak. It's clear how to set up a template and then send the email based on pre-determined criteria. I would have considered a 9 or even a 10 rating if not for the fact that it remains muddy how to add and remove users from a mail list ...
See: previous response that highlights our use of Hubspot. As a result, we have yet to utilize more functions within Mailchimp beyond the occasional email template.
The built in analytics are a huge plus. We've been able to easily track our audiences' behavior and effectively A/B test changes that we've made to our weekly newsletter layout and content approach.
Free version: Smaller startups, personal accounts with small lists and/or infrequent sends.
Paid versions: Larger companies with large mail lists and/or frequent sends.
My personal experience has been with drip campaigns and newsletters. Both are easily designed and maintained within this platform. However, if one were looking for something that could accommodate more multimedia, Mailchimp appears to be improving, but there might be better options available.

Mailchimp Feature Ratings

6.8
WYSIWYG email editor
7
Dynamic content
5
Ability to test dynamic content
6
Landing pages
Not Rated
A/B testing
7
Mobile optimization
5
Email deliverability reporting
9
List management
8
Triggered drip sequences
7
Lead Management ()
Not Rated
Campaign Management ()
Not Rated
Social Media Marketing ()
Not Rated
7.0
Standard reports
7
Platform & Infrastructure ()
Not Rated

Using Mailchimp

4 - General Awareness Marketing
B to B
4 - Our IT Dept assists, but Mailchimp is easily supported by the users — those within the marketing team.
  • Newsletter - weekly
  • One off emails to clients
  • Publish thought provoking stats in a weekly Newsletter format and then gauge interest using the analytics
  • Landing pages
User friendliness + price point = win!

Evaluating Mailchimp and Competitors

Yes - Replaced some of the Hubspot and Sales Force functions we used to use.
  • Price
  • Product Features
  • Product Usability
  • Product Reputation
  • Analyst Reports
I don't believe we would. Been very happy with the product and decision to integrate it.

Mailchimp Implementation

As with any new software, be patient and willing to invest the time into learning the software. Most questions I've had over the years were easily solved by reading their tutorials (or even utilizing YouTube for other users who had the same question).
  • Implemented in-house
Change management was minimal
  • Buy-in for a new product (common)

Mailchimp Support

ProsCons
Quick Resolution
Good followup
Knowledgeable team
Problems get solved
Kept well informed
No escalation required
Immediate help available
Support understands my problem
Support cares about my success
None
No - Budget
We had some bugs with sending out a particular email and Mailchimp support team was available when needed to help answer questions and trouble shoot the issue.

Using Mailchimp

ProsCons
Like to use
Relatively simple
Easy to use
Technical support not required
Well integrated
Consistent
Convenient
Feel confident using
None
  • Creating a mail list
  • Customizing a template
  • Editing an existing mail list
Yes - Seamless