No Frills Mailchimp Handles the Basics Well
October 19, 2023
No Frills Mailchimp Handles the Basics Well
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Software Version
Legacy Plan
Overall Satisfaction with Mailchimp
We publish two weekly newsletters that we fulfill through MailChimp. The list management functions work perfectly fine. People are to sign up or change their preferences without issue. We never get non-delivery complaints, and that's a big deal.
Mailchimp is a rock-solid performer in the basic functions of getting a newsletter into subscriber email boxes, which is all we use it for, and that's why we haven't really considered alternatives in so long.
Mailchimp is a rock-solid performer in the basic functions of getting a newsletter into subscriber email boxes, which is all we use it for, and that's why we haven't really considered alternatives in so long.
- Basic contact management
- Fulfillment
- Basic, one-click poll functions
- The interface remains a cluttered, non-intuitive mess. That's true from the haphazard way features are organized to the actual email layout.
- Analytics have never been a priority, and I don't see that changing with Intuit's new ownership. I'm very frustrated over the limited choices for reporting, even when using third-party solutions. If I needed that function, I would not use MailChimp.
- I would love to develop a workflow screen that lets me focus on the things that I use all the time. Customizing the interface where the content actually goes into the software would help.
- I never understood why we couldn't import a document into a MC template. At best, we're spending time copying-and-pasting from one app into MC.
- The basics are so well done that we don't have to worry about deliverability or basic list management & that's a huge plus.
- The tagging feature is also well done & has let us personalize newsletters to different cohorts.
- The image editor and similar functions were abysmal. They're still below par, but they're regularly improving, and the positive trend is good to see.
We haven't used anything else except to look over a client's shoulder with their system.
It seems like Constant Contact was in the same space of having a poor interface and analytics, dated templates, and built more for promotional email. I think they're both improving, and for very small clients, I've found that Mailchimp's free tier is nice to have.
It seems like Constant Contact was in the same space of having a poor interface and analytics, dated templates, and built more for promotional email. I think they're both improving, and for very small clients, I've found that Mailchimp's free tier is nice to have.
This is what we do, so we've never needed Mailchimp to create landing pages or a website page. I thought that the experiments with reselling advertising were ill-advised. I'm not a fan of integrated platforms because my experience with them is that the additional products are merely good enough and that the value comes from convenience, not functionality.
Our small clients who use Mailchimp for basic announcements make use of the "good enough" platform with strong deliverability. One of them imports their new customers from QuickBooks (also owned by Intuit) and that process works very well for them. Another sends out a monthly reminder, and Mailchimp is absolutely perfect for them.
Do you think Mailchimp delivers good value for the price?
Yes
Are you happy with Mailchimp's feature set?
No
Did Mailchimp live up to sales and marketing promises?
Yes
Did implementation of Mailchimp go as expected?
Yes
Would you buy Mailchimp again?
Yes