Mailchimp makes it simple to send messages even on Sundays!
Updated January 07, 2020
Mailchimp makes it simple to send messages even on Sundays!
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Mailchimp
I used Mailchimp to connect with fans. I share my show schedule, announcements, fun facts, and more! It’s very useful for sending one email to hundreds of fans at a time. For example, the past few weeks I had to cancel all my shows for December and beginning of January. Mailchimp was the best way to notify everyone. Yes I posted on social media, but because of the algorithm, it’s just not podcasts for everyone to see posts. Mailchimp on the other hand will directly message all subscribers.
- Reasonable pricing.
- Organization of lists.
- Txt message marketing.
- Layout is easy to navigate.
- I don't like how I need to enter a security code every 2 weeks to log in. It’s super unnecessary to require every 2 weeks. I understand that spammers and hackers might try to use my account, but majority of the time whether it’s me or an assistant logging in, it rather inconvenient and difficult to send them the code in time.
- I don't like that you can't play videos directly on the email. I wish that instead of clicking the video picture in posts, that it could play the video right there instead of exporting to another page. By adding this feature it insures efficiency and helps market to the sad attention span so many have today.
- I wish there were more fonts to choose from. I like the fonts provided, however they’re a bit basic and straight forward for my taste and brand. When I send emails I do my best to sound as genuine as possible and being able to choose a font on brant helps my voice to connect.
- It has helped notify me to resend emails if people haven't opened them. What a powerful way to get the attention of people who are bad at opening emails.
- It gives me a good description of who is reading them and who is not a great contact. The feed back is thoroughly helpful and tells me the habits of readers.
- It gives me great pointers on how to improve communication. After sending an email, mailchimp will often suggest who may not be worth emailing all the time, to help improve engagement.
- That password verification thing really makes the platform less efficient, especially when I hire an assistant. It’s an incredible headache having to enter a passcode after telling the site to remember me every two weeks.
I liked SendinBlue but the limit for Mailchimp is way bigger, and the layout is way better and easy to use. I chose to switch to Mailchimp as a friend who likes it told me that it would be way easier to use, and the limit for the free account is a lot higher. I also like how Mailchimp asks for the location of the contact. SendinBlue does not! That poses a problem for knowing the demographics of my fans. Mailchimp is way more efficient and helpful than the other platforms I have used. The way it helps you customize and isn’t a one size fits all is greatly appreciated. Definitely helps save time, helps organize, and opens up a lot of communicative possibilities for my business.
I used to use another platform, that wasn’t equipped for my area of expertise and wasn’t able to function well for my purposes. My friend had told me about how Mailchimp would be a better fit so I decided to try it out. I was blown away by the layouts, the way it simply integrated links, video, and easy access to socials. I appreciated the cost effective free account if I had a lower amount of emails and fans. I send campaigns out about twice a month, so I didn’t see the point in paying for something expensive when I only use it for sending out thank you emails and show schedules or notices. It turned out to be the perfect fit for my business.
I didn’t even know about the resend feature to non openers. I used to fear that resending or emailing often would push away clientele, but mailchimp showed me that the opposite was true. Some people have to many emails or are bad at keeping up that they often miss the initial message. Knowing that kind of changed everything.
Mailchimp Feature Ratings
Using Mailchimp
I the solo proprietor or business owner primary use mailchimp to help effectively communicate and build relationships with fans. Occasionally I’ll hire an assistant when I’m super busy or gearing up for a press release to help communicate with PR, fans, and other likeminded businesses who might want to know about shows, releases, and news.
2 - As mentioned before, it’s mostly just me handling mailchimp. A few times a year I’ll ask for assistance. The two people I have used in the past have a two different skillsets. I am the solo artist and my skills rely on mostly writing music, perform live with voice and guitar, and creatively communicating with fans on socials on a daily basis. I also send out the emails majority of the time. When I am going to release something, I hire a publicist to take over my mailchimp and create appropriate campaigns that connect me to press outlets.
- Show and news announcements
- Press releases
- Mailchimp has helped me save money and event make money in ways I didn’t know were possible.
- It had helped me reach fans both on email and on social media.
- I have not tried txt message marketing, but I would like to try it out for sure!
- I would like to dive deeper in email conversations with superfans
Evaluating Mailchimp and Competitors
Yes - I used sendinblue. I used it for a while, and it worked great for the moment, but it wasn’t efficient for important new subscribers with zip codes and countries. That option didn’t exist on the site. The layout was also kinda buggy. It did not work well on mobile. The limit for free emailing and contacts was fairly small and I don’t have thousands of subscribers yet, so I didn’t see the purpose or point to keep using the platform.
- Price
- Product Features
- Product Usability
- Product Reputation
- Vendor Reputation
- Positive Sales Experience with the Vendor
- Third-party Reviews
I mostly had a lot of recommendations from word of mouth. That was the primary reason that had me trying jt out as an alternative, but I think given the fact that I’m still a relatively new business, I needed it to be free and I needed the layouts and software helpfulness to be appropriate.
I guess if I wanted to start all over I would have shopped around a bit more and would have likely found mailchimp sooner. If I used it sooner, it would have saved a lot of heachaches and probably would have strengthened more fan connections and maintained those relationships with more positive feedback.
Mailchimp Implementation
- Implemented in-house
Not sure - There wasn’t any change other than needing a better platform to help better import and communicate with fans more effectively. It did all of the implementation on my own with a little help from a friend who helped me set it up and export my contacts from the other platform. After that it wasn’t really anything more complicated.
- Exporting And importing contacts required some fine tuning
- It took some time to learn the layout. It wasn’t confusing, but it wasn’t the most difficult to learn.
Mailchimp Support
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Quick Resolution Good followup Knowledgeable team Problems get solved Kept well informed Immediate help available Support understands my problem Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response | None |
No - Where I am with my business, the budget, doesn’t allow for me to pay for anything extra. This includes support. I’m fairly well trained with software and computer software. I’m pretty good at figuring things out on my own. I could change in the future, but as of right now for my purposes I am not of need of paying for support.
I had some trouble with connecting the contact me form on my website with mailchimp. When I reached out for support they helped me solve the issue quickly. It was a simple fix that didn’t involve too much troubleshooting and the staff did a great job explaining how to solve the problem.
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 campaigns layout was simple and elegant
- The campaign duplication setting is a life savor
- The log in the with code every two weeks is a bit much
- Connecting to Instagram is unnecessary as the emails are too long for the platform