MailChimp Review (2023): Mail For the Masses?

Pros

• Great template editor

  MailChimp sports a clean interface and a simple, but powerful editor.

• Thorough reporting

  Basically everything you need to know, including clients, geo-tracking, social media and Google Analytics integration.

• Endless Integration Options

  Mailchimp offers over 500 integrations and add-ons. Therefore you can easily incorporate any marketing tools that you are already using and discover new tools for your business.

• Extra features

  Mailchimp continue to expand their feature set, the most recent additions being appointment scheduling software and the online store builder (the latter is currently only available in beta in the US and UK). And more recently, their GPT-powered AI email creator.

Cons

• High-cost subscription plans

  Due to the significantly low monthly email sends and subscriber limit within the free plan, marketers will need to move onto the paid plans sooner, and the prices get steep pretty quickly.

• Unfavorable way to count subscribers

  Mailchimp is one of the few email marketing services that will charge you even for unsubscribed and inactive contacts in your database.

• No email scheduling on free plan

  Mailchimp recently removed this feature from its free forever plan, which makes it far less desirable. You’ll also only have access to support for the first 30 days.

• Integrations are important to you

  If you run an ecommerce store, blog, nonprofit, small business, or restaurant, and need your newsletter tool to integrate with other software, Mailchimp is a good option. It offers hundreds of integrations to both popular and niche applications (such as Zapier, Shopify, WordPress, and OpenTable).

• You need an all-in-one solution for inbound campaigns and a CRM

  MailChimp have always emphasized the importance of running opt-in based lead capture campaigns. They make it easy to do so with features such as forms, landing pages and automated drip campaigns. With the introduction of their in-built CRM, you can now set up customer profiles and assign customers a lifetime value (Standard plan and upwards).

• You offer online or in-person services

  Mailchimp’s new appointment booking feature means that you can add a service listing page with your availability to your website. You can even take online payments.

• You want native commerce features in your email marketing tool

  There’s an advantage to having everything you need in one tool. Those who want to manage their email marketing and sell products online all under one roof will be interested to hear that this is possible with Mailchimp.

• You’re an affiliate marketer

  MailChimp has a strict policy prohibiting affiliate marketing under its Terms of Use. The rules are a bit murky, but severe penalties apply (including account cancellation), so if you’re in this industry it’s best to steer clear.

• You need access to support, but don't have much of a budget

  Mailchimp’s free plan is generous in some ways, but one thing that really frustrates users is the fact that there is no email or live chat support available. Support is available on the Essentials plan and higher.

• You're not very organized

  Because of the limitations, Mailchimp puts on the number of lists you can create, you’ll need to be very organized in how you manage your contacts. The same goes for sending out your emails on the free plan, as there is no scheduling option.