Is MailChimp right for your business?
Let me start off by answering a question I had. Why are there so few MailChimp reviews around and why do they often get trashed even though the comparisons show that their offer is good?
That reviews are always honest is an illusion. Most reviews are written by people who are affiliated with the companies they review. Meaning they get paid when you buy it. Some of them pay serious amounts of money for a successful recommendation.
MailChimp does not really have that. They offer a tiny commission - not even cash but a small credit to your account. Definitely not the kind of money that would make me write a review.
And they have swags. A swag is your choice of a super cute hat or a few shirts. See some items on the picture. I´ll try to find the affiliate link later and grab a hat if you sign up (;
So basically, they are not paying you to speak about them.
Another factor is that they are peculiar with "Online Marketers".
Is MailChimp right for you?
The single most complaint I keep hearing about MailChimp is that they "hate" affiliate marketers. I am with them for a year now and I can say: No, they don´t.
They hate spammers. So do I and I applaud them for keeping their client list clean because it is the main reason for their high delivery rate. They have one of the best delivery rates of all providers. Even though they have a terrific delivery rate they do not publish exact numbers. They explain that it also depends on the reputation of the sender and the server the emails are being sent through.
So if you´re a spammer - don´t go there. And please leave my blog.
I got in trouble with them once right with my first mailing. I was emailing a link to a site that is legit BUT motivates so many people and spammers to send their links around that they are considered spam.
MailChimp has a blacklist of sites they received loads of spam complaints about. That said, you will not get into trouble if you innocently use a link once or twice that is blacklisted. They´ll stop your mailing (the software is called Omnivore, sounds scary, right?), you talk to them and they either remove the block or explain the problem. And if it´s a link people consider spammy you might want to reconsider if it´s something you really want to push anyway.
That said, I believe that "online business" is the most dangerous area. Many products in that area have thousands and thousands of affiliates. Often they are new to this and spam people without meaning to. This blog is just a side-project and not my business. If I would be an online marketer I would probably consider another provider.
If you use a fake sender address, do not comply with the law or add some shady lists you acquired via the dark web, your account will be closed faster than you can say "what a shame".
But if you are planning on sending links to shady rip off "get rich quick" schemes, pyramid systems etc, I recommend getresponse wholeheartedly. They have a big heart for spammers. You can read about my short, painful episode with them HERE.
When in doubt, you can always ask MailChimp.
MailChimp does not allow you to manually add people who have unsubscribed. I guess it happened to you too that some "online marketer" added you back to his list after you unsubscribed.
If you are a serious marketer who offers value and adds a few links - read on. Also, you can sign up for my newsletter and see for yourself how many great products I recommend (: I even have a list of people who want to be informed about great LOA and Success Coaching programs. To this list I basically only send links.
I will focus on reporting about how they are in a customer-vendor relationship as there are enough feature lists all around the internet and you can get the facts on their SITE.
MailChimp is cool
What I personally love and might or might not appeal to you is the tone. Whether you send a campaign, schedule automation or do something else - all of their messages have a special tone. You can see that the designers (or whoever is responsible for the scripts) love their company.
For instance if you send a campaign you get this (animated, waving) monkey hand:
Some basic info:
MailChimp Features and Automation
Mailchimp offers a "free forever" service for a list of up to 2000 and 12,000 emails per month (no automation).
The prices including automation start at $ 20 for a list of 1000 - 1500. From there on 5 $ increments so that its $35 for 2600. After that you can change to the Pro version. The price is in the middle of the field. They are neither the cheapest nor the most pricey.
A list of all features and prices can be found HERE
Support will get an extra chapter - read on to learn why. It´s also why I decided to write this review.
In the video you can see the list of available integrations:
Pro
- High delivery rate
- Imcredible support
- Rich list of features
- Easy to use
- Forever free option
- Pay monthly or "on demand" (very useful if you send irregularly)
Con
- Pricing and Features could be explained better. I tried to leave them because I misunderstood the pricing and thought I have to buy "pro" right away to get automation
- Automation triggers do not allow to set up a campaign that starts on a certain date. You can schedule single emails though
- No phone support
Customer Service
I wish companies would understand the cost of offering bad customer service and underpaying their call center staff. Why so many people outsource one of the most important sales channels to far away places is a mystery to me. It costs 10 times the money to win a customer than to sell to an existing one.
What are we doing if we don´t get good or, at least, decent support for mission critical things like our sites, our communication? Exactly! We leave and probably never come back. To reacquire a burnt customer is so much more expensive even than acquiring a new one.
I´ll just repurpose my FB post and that is also the answer to the question: Why does she bother to write this review? ...that and obviously I am a nice person (:
RTFM means "read the (word with f I don´t use) manual".
Final Verdict
I guess it´s not nessary to mention that I wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone who is not planning on sending unsolicited email or spam.
So far there was no feature I was missing. The only thing I would like is to be able to schedule a series (and not have to schedule each one separate) of emails to start on a certain date. Other than that they do offer a massive series of triggers.
The most important factor is the delivery rate. I once read that AWeber has an even better one but I cannot say if that´s true or not.
As you can start or use forever free I suggest you check them out HERE.
Something completely different: I am working with Mike Bosworth (the guy who created Solution Selling) and we are offering sales training. If you are planning on creating your own product that will interest you. Have a look if you like: http://www.storyseekers-chicago.com
