If you’ve been here a while, it’s no secret my least favourite email service provider is Mailchimp. I have my reasons and one day I’ll write a blog post about them. But today, I thought I’d go in a positive direction because there are a few reasons why Mailchimp makes sense for some authors.
(Pssst, there are way better options at way better price points…but let’s get back to the task on hand, shall we?)
Here, in no particular order, are my five favourite reasons to use Mailchimp.
#1 Their FREE price point.
Granted, Mailerlite has a FREE price point with way more functionality, but Mailchimp does offer a limited version of their services free for up to 2,000 subscribers. So, if you’re looking for some straight-up, just the emails ma’am kind of service provider and want to grow your list to around 2K, Mailchimp can totally be your place.
#2 They accept non-verified domain email addresses.
Not quite ready to spring for a verified email address? Mailchimp will give you sending capabilities with just a Gmail or similar email address. Getting a verified email address does cost money and takes some tech know-how, so this is a tech and budget-friendly option.
(Side note: They’re probably the only email service provider who offers this and there’s a reason most don’t. It hurts your deliverability when you send without a verified email address.)
#3 Their integrations
There’s no denying, Mailchimp is the big player in the email marketing space and that’s because they’ve spent years building up their brand recognition. That brand recognition has also been gained through powerful exclusive integration agreements.
Most website templates have a direct integration with Mailchimp which makes it really easy to use them to build your list and serve your readers.
Once you’re in the e-commerce space, their integrations make the shopping experience easy to enhance with their funnels.
And finally, they do offer a social media integration that allows you to create social content directly from your email into your favourite social media platform.
Super easy and time-saving for sure!
#4 Automation
On their free plan, you have the opportunity to create a single email automated welcome response. Even though these welcome sequences should be at least three emails long, this gives you a chance on their free plan to increase your sales through automated emails. Once you are on their paid plan, you’ll be able to create journeys (their term for an automation workflow), however, they are gated with fees based on how many actions you want to take on the reader’s journey.
#5 GDPR and CASL marketing integrations
It’s always in your best interest to be legally compliant with your email marketing, even if you’re sending from a country that doesn’t have strict controls. In fact, the laws apply to where the reader of your emails IS LOCATED WHEN THEY OPEN YOUR EMAIL, not where you send the email from.
It’s also just a simple best practice to always offer transparency when it comes to email marketing and Mailchimp does offer simple methods to include GDPR (General Data Protection Rules for the EU) and CASL (Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation) alerts along with opt-ins that align with the US’s CAN-SPAM legislation. It’s as simple as ticking a box to include the transparency piece for your readers as they opt-in to your list.
So there you have it. If you’re going to use Mailchimp for the above five reasons, it’s a good option, especially if you’re looking for simple integration. However, know that a little research will often find you better options that cost the same, if not less than Mailchimp’s paid plans, and give you so much more!
I think Mailchimp is a great starting point for a lot of authors but, plan for migration over to another provider once you decide you need to do more for less with your list.