Email marketing is not dead! There's even a website devoted to the topic. If you're not doing email marketing, or have stopped doing it, you are missing a very important spoke in your marketing hub. I've been doing email marketing for a few years now and am very happy with our email marketing provider. As a result, I'd like to share 7 reasons why I love Mailchimp.
1. Design Templates
In my opinion, Mailchimp does a great job of balancing email template design for novices and advanced users alike. If you are a novice they offer a good number of pre-designed templates for your use. If you feel a little comfortable with HTML and design they offer a feature called Design Genius which allows you to select a header, change colors, and choose a suitable layout. If you're more advanced, Mailchimp allows you access to tools in which you have very specific control over your template design.
2. List Segmentation
I love the fact that Mailchimp allows you to send emails to a segment of your email list. For example, if you have a middle school open house approach you can send an invitation to only those prospective students applying for middle school. How about that for targeted marketing?!? I realize that other email marketing providers offer this feature but Mailchimp's implementation is clean, intuitive, and easy for the novice user.
3. Reporting
Using email marketing without determining outcomes is similar to sending out an invitation to a party, requesting an RSVP, and then not caring about the RSVP. Mailchimp has you covered though. They offer a very robust set of reporting tools including:
- Who Opened
- How Many Emails Bounced
- How Many Emails Were Unopened
- Clickrate
- A Visual Clickmap
- Performance Advice
- Social Stats
You also have the ability to compare metrics against your industry category to see how you compare in an apple to apple comparison.
4. Social Pro
Social Pro layers your mailing list with publicly available data so you can literally see what your mailing list subscribers look like through an application called Faces. It also allows you to see what subscribers are on social networks which allows you to further connect and market directly to them.
5. iPhone App
If you've read my I Love recommendations before, you'll remember that I Love web applications that also offer an iPhone App. Mailchimp offers a free iPhone App that allows you to view your lists, reports, as well as additional members to lists while you're on the go.
6. Autoresponders
Mailchimp has the ability to create autoresponder campaigns for all of your lists. What is an autoresponder? According to Wikipedia, “Autoresponders are often used as e-mail marketing tools, to immediately provide information to their prospective customers and then follow-up with them at preset time intervals.” In other words, autoresponders allow you to send email messages to a specific list at specific intervals that you select. For example, you can send a welcome email 1 day after a person signs up for your list and then send another email introducing them to your Facebook page 5 days after signup.
7. Cost
I saved the best for last. Mailchimp is free if your subscriber lists total no more than 2,000 people combined. In this current economy anyway to save money is a bonus and the fact that you don't have to sacrifice features to save money is awesome.
While there are a number of other well-known email marketing providers out there including- Aweber, Constant Contact, and Blue Sky Factory, I've found the feature set, ease of use, and cost are what set Mailchimp apart. If you have any other thoughts about Mailchimp or one of the other companies listed above, please use the comments section below. I would love your feedback.
