Mailerlite finally came out with the announcement we’ve been hearing rumours about for quite some time now. They’re changing the platform and just like last year when Apple announced their privacy policy and everyone’s heads started pounding, this change will make us better emailers. Regardless of what platform you use to send emails.
When one service provider ups their game, all of the other service providers are forced to examine their offer. AND when we pay more for a service we love, we are forced to examine how we use it, how often we use it and use it more efficiently.
I equate it to my nearly dead gym membership. Every month when $50 comes out of my account I am reminded of how very little I actually went to the gym and dive into the gym schedule to book a bunch of classes… that if life is crazy like it is right now, I will inevitably cancel the morning of…but that’s a ‘me’ problem. But I use that membership more efficiently.
Once I have a chance to dive in and review the new upgrades, I’ll come back with a fulsome review, but for now, I’ll try to answer a question I get asked at least once a week.
Should I stay with Mailerlite and what’s the difference between it and ConvertKit?
I get asked for a comparison between these two because they’re the platforms I use weekly, talk about the most, and I think they have the most to offer email marketers today.
Let’s focus on a few specific areas of interest for this purpose. Cost, Automation, User Interface, Customer Service, Deliverability, and an abstract theme of ‘Gut Feeling’.
Here we go.
User Interface:
Mailerlite – User interface is a term you’ll hear a lot when Mailerlite is talking about their new upgraded system. It’s the main reason people love Mailerlite. It’s a simple system that doesn’t have a huge learning curve when it comes to using it, and it’s user-friendly no matter what you’re trying to do. They can’t afford to mess with this and in their announcement, they promised the user interface will remain true to their brand and adopt all of the same principles of simplicity. It’s my favourite thing about Mailerlite and I hope their promise remains.
ConvertKit – ConvertKit cannot boast the same. ConvertKit has a learning curve that’s nearly straight up. There’s no way to make that not true. They don’t offer an easy way to style your branded emails (although they have added many new block templates to help with this) and they are based on the user being able to integrate HTML and other code should they want something that’s a little more elevated than the straight forward text-heavy emails. I happen to prefer those types of emails, but many prefer the templates and style Mailerlite can give them.
Automation:
Mailerlite – Mailerlite offers great automation that is visual in nature (many automation offerings are linear which can make it more difficult to see the flow of your workflows). Mailerlite’s automation options are vast and once mastered, have many possibilities as far as giving you the option to customize your subscriber’s experience within your brand. However, there are a few things missing and they are part of the big reason I use ConvertKit for this side of my business. You cannot have multiple triggers inside one automation. (Spoiler alert – this is part of their new update!) You cannot insert limitless rules to keep track of what subscribers are up to inside the automation at any given time, and for those in direct sales, they’re not able to integrate seamlessly with a lot of e-commerce offerings. Not so much a big deal today…but I’m willing to bet direct sales will continue to grow as a part of our revenue stream in the near future.
ConvertKit – Automation is what ConvertKit is known for. I have automations that feel infinite they have so many triggers. Instead of having to duplicate and run a zillion workflows for different bonus materials, ConvertKit can have them all inside one workflow. Simplifies my dashboard and saves time. I can also make actions inside automations do many wonderful things and move people in and out of sequences with ease and finally, that moving of subscribers into new sequences can be done inside the same automation. To sum it up because their power is vast you can get more bang for your buck inside of one single automation than you can at Mailerlite and since I firmly believe customized workflows are where we should all be moving to, this is important to me.
Cost:
Mailerlite – So up until the big announcement, Mailerlite was seen as a cost-effective method to send great emails to your readers. I still think it is. Not too much is changing price-wise with Mailerlite, other than it’s creating service tiers, which are common over at ConvertKit. Click here to view the new pricing plan. Also note, as it stands today, Mailerlite will allow you to remain at the Classic payment level. For how long? Who knows? Mailerlite is certainly competitive in this space, however, there are definitely less-expensive options out there.
ConvertKit – ConvertKit is definitely more expensive than most offerings out there today. But there are reasons for that. I’ll try to lay them out as best I can. No matter what level you’re at, you will get included live chat support (this is changing over at Mailerlite – live chat will only be available at the higher tier). You have a highly deliverable, if not one of the most deliverable systems. You can integrate with almost any other platform. And if you sell direct, it’s a marketers’ dream.
Bells and whistles: These are most likely more than most authors need, however, if you’re ready for these features, I think there’s revenue to be had by using them.
- Internal payment processing – you can write a serial, have a bajillion automations working to upgrade your readers to bonus material and process their monthly payments all inside of one email. Makes things easier.
- Tip jar – you can include a button inside your emails asking for ‘tips’ to support your business. Might feel odd to you, but don’t knock it. Many creators see a nice little income to support their marketing from their readers.
- Rewards program – you can offer your subscribers a rewards program with ConvertKit’s partnership with SparkLoop inside of this tier. Imagine readers earning free content and books when they tell their friends about your newsletter. Such a cool way to grow your list. This feature typically costs $99/month with Sparkloop direct but is included in the ConvertKit cost.
So to me, cost isn’t the factor, but instead, I ask can I use this product to earn more revenue so that the costs are covered? That’s how I always look at business expenses. Are they revenue-generating expenses?
Customer Service:
Up until the announcement, I would have said Mailerlite and ConvertKit are even on the customer service front. You have no idea how valuable live chat support is until you need it. And it’s the most used feature for both programs for me. If I have a question, no matter what time of the day, I ask it and a clear answer is always given.
But with Mailerlite’s new upgrade, live chat will only be available for their Advanced level, which means you’ll be paying for it, so I guess, in a way, the two offerings are still neck and neck, since ConvertKit costs more to begin with. Mailerlite will just be more in line with that cost.
Setting that aside, having a live agent to help you work out the kinks, and let me tell you, the kinks come no matter how skilled you are at email marketing, is a major time saver when it’s release day and all hell is breaking loose LOL.
Deliverability:
There isn’t a clear winner in this category either because they’re both highly deliverable service providers. They trade places at the top all the time. Both can have their moments, but they’re rarely found to be problematic. If ever. Mailerlite has had its trouble in the past, but that’s behind them. They clearly are making massive investments in their back end to ensure this remains. And ConvertKit has always been synonymous with deliverability.
So I’m left with my gut feelings. For authors, I think it’s worth it for you to sit and make a classic list of things you need from your email service provider. What is important to you? Because what’s important to me, isn’t the same as what’s important to you. I believe that the Mailerlite changes are incredibly positive. They’ll be able to offer an app, a better automation suite, dark mode for those who love that but most of all, the ability for you to create a better experience from you for your subscribers.
I’ll be adding all the new Mailerlite content in April to Mailerlite For Authors, which was getting an overhaul anyway, so that’s cool for me!
Got questions? I’m only a comment away,
Holly
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