Why I Switched to Convertkit: (Convertkit vs Mailchimp) -The Insider’s Scoop

Tell me what role does email marketing play in your business?

I am sure you must have thought about why you need to send emails to your subscribers.

For my previous blog website (yes, this is my second blog), I was using MailChimp for the very obvious reason that it is free.

I had an opt-in which was converting well. Once someone had subscribed, they used to get the freebie. 

Next, they would hear from me when I had a new blog post on the site.

That’s it.

I was getting some encouraging responses, some opens, some clicks, and some unsubscribe as well.

It seemed okay until I knew I was making a mistake.

See, here’s the thing.

An average office worker receives 121 emails per day. 

If you’re sending them an email after 7 days from the day they subscribed to your freebie, do you REALLY think they will remember you?

If you’re serious about email marketing for your business then here are some important factors that you CANNOT ignore. 

From choosing your email service provider (like Convertkit or MailChimp etc) to how you’re signing out your emails everything matters.

Here’s a complete guide on how to do the email marketing- the right way.

Let’s start from scratch.

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. If you decide to purchase any of these resources, I earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. For more info, read my disclosure policy here.

What is Convertkit or MailChimp?

Convertkit is an email service provider that helps businesses and bloggers automate their email marketing. 

This tool has become really popular for its automation capabilities at an affordable cost. 

Earlier Infusionsoft was considered to be a go-to platform for businesses to seamlessly automate their email marketing campaigns. 

But, Convertkit emerged as a good alternative to Infusionsoft by offering similar automation, with a better interface and at an affordable price. 

Convertkit quickly won hearts. It is now quite a popular tool amongst businesses and bloggers.

MailChimp used to be an email service provider like Convertkit but has now emerged as an automated marketing service provider.

Convertkit vs MailChimp (Is Convertkit better than MailChimp?) 

As I said, with my last blog, I was kind of okay with MailChimp at that point. 

But, for my new blog, I chose to invest in Convertkit from the very beginning. 

I knew MailChimp will not cut it this time. 

Here’s what went inside my head while comparing Convertkit vs MailChimp.

Is MailChimp really free?

I had learned many lessons from my last blog. 

So, when I started this blog, I had a solid content strategy set for this blog from the very start. 

I knew I have to engage with my subscribers by educating and entertaining them. 

From being an unknown visitor to an engaged subscriber- Email marketing for me was filling a void in my strategy. 

Unlike my last blog, my new site has multiple opt-ins. Many of my subscribers have opted for more than two content upgrades. 

With MailChimp, if you subscribe to two of my opt-ins you would be counted as two subscribers.

Within no time I would have reached the limit of 2000 free subscribers with MailChimp.

This is a big caveat, for me.

I have no problem in paying for good service, but truly speaking the problem is bigger than what it seems. I will explain it soon in this article.

Email Sequences in MailChimp- What’s That?

Publishing your article and notifying your subscribers with an email IS NOT email marketing.

The free plan of MailChimp allows you for only one-step automation. For example, if someone subscribes for your freebie she will receive the freebie in the mailbox. That’s it. 

But, that’s NOT all you want.

If you’re doing this, it’s like sitting in a coffee shop with your ideal customer and still keeping mum.

For an effective email marketing campaign, you should have a welcome email.

It’s your golden chance to strike a conversation, introduce yourself and your business to them.

In fact, you don’t need just a welcome email, you need a welcome email sequence. A welcome email sequence is a series of 5/7 emails that are sent over the next 5/7 days or 1/ 2 week (spaced out according to your niche and personal choice).

For this, you need a multistep automation workflow.

In MailChimp, multistep automation workflows are not available in the Essentials plan ($9.90 For 500 users). You’ll have to go for the Standard plan which costs $14.40

Even the Standard plan has some limits like you can support maximum 5 lists at any point in time. I am already having more than 5 lists in Convertkit, and I have just started. 

So, this is not something you can leave for the future. 

If you’re serious about email marketing you would need this feature right away.  

Having said that, I would not say that MailChimp is worthless. 

In fact, I liked a few things and it worked for me for the last log since I wasn’t having many categories and multiple freebies. 

While I was getting amazing engagement on my post notifications as well, I wish I knew how email marketing can turn around the things. 

Without ado, I opted for Convetkit for my next blog.

Here are some reasons why I liked Convertkit.

Convertkit Features I Really Like

1- Email Deliverability is important

Shhh!

This is the number one reason I opted for this service. 

Because it is a game-changer.

You don’t want your emails to land in the Promotions or Spam tab of the subscriber’s mailbox.

Covertkit has better chances of landing your emails in the primary inbox of your subscriber.

Don’t quote me on this because only using Convertkit won’t cut it.

It’s much more technical than that, and also involves other strategies.  

So, basically, email deliverability depends on many factors like-

Your IP address, domain reputation, email content, and your subscriber’s email provider.

When you send an email campaign, your emails are sent through the servers of your email service provider.

Even though you don’t send spam messages if someone else is using the same servers of your email service provider to send spam messages your email deliverability can suffer big time.

What happens when you choose a free email service provider is that there are chances that spammers are also using the free service to send the spam messages.

Here’s a detailed guide on how to land your emails in your subscriber’s Primary inbox.

2) No Tech Required, yay!

My husband calls me a tech-dino. Lol!

So I and Convertkit go well. 

You see it, you click it, fill in the details and you’re done.

Yes, it’s that easy.

It’s super easy to create an opt-in for your site. 

You choose whether you want just a form to get the subscriber’s details or you need a full landing page.

Once you select that, you have beautiful templates to choose for each one of them. 

Play around with images, text, and color and it’s done.

On the top right corner, you can see and copy the embeddable link to your site.

3) I can have one subscriber on multiple lists

You remember we discussed that in MailChimp you can support only one consolidated list. If someone has subscribed for two opt-ins then her name will be captured twice in the list.

Here’s how it is a bigger problem than just reaching the 2000 limit faster.

So when you’ll broadcast an email to your subscribers they will receive two emails. Eww! 

That’s embarrassing.

Convertkit automatically de-duplicates the subscriber. So, those who are on both the lists WILL NOT receive emails from you twice.

Isn’t it a big relief?

4) Segmenting your list- Tags and Triggers

I did not want to repeat the mistake of my last blog.

I wanted a smart solution that can help me send a personalized message.

No, by personalization, I don’t mean name tag in the start or subject line.

I wanted a solution that helps me send the message according to the stage of buyer’s funnel they’re in. 

For example, in Convertkit I can easily tag my subscribers and therefore their actions.

Like, I tag those who downloaded my free planner as ‘interested in content panning’. 

Anyone who bought my products can be tagged as a ‘buyer’. 

Now, I can set the trigger to remove buyers from the rest of the sequences and continue pitching my planner to others.

The beauty of Convertkit is, you can tag anyone- either she subscribed to your course or downloaded a freebie or even took an action within the email (like clicked a link).

This process is super helpful in understanding your audience. Who’s engaging and who’s buying!

5) I can target my subscribers in multiple ways

While you can broadcast an email to your entire list, you have the option to reach out to a small segment of your list. 

Here’s the filter with which you can reach out to people based on-

• What they have subscribed to
• Their Geographical location
• Name
• Email
• Sequences they’re in
• Products they have bought etc

6) Visual Automations 

I’ll be true to you- I didn’t have to take ANY tutorial to understand how Convertkit works.

Everything is self-explanatory.

The backend is simple to understand what is happening.

7) Integrations

It integrates well with Gumroad, WordPress, Stripe, Teachable, Zapier, etc.

If you have a WordPress site you can easily integrate Convertkit by downloading the plugin and punching the API key.

How much is Convertkit Monthly?

Let’s discuss the pricing: Convertkit vs MailChimp

Do you think Convertkit is a premium tool and it charges more?

Here’s the catch!

In Convertkit’s Basic Plan, you’re not limited to anything other than the number of subscribers of up to 1000 (which is pretty decent). It’s priced at $29.

You may say MailChimp’s Basic Plan is free. While it may work for you if you’re not that serious with email marketing. 

But, if you are, then even the Essential plan of MailChimp won’t cut it. Since you can build only 3 lists and you don’t get access to multi-step automation. You will have to take at least the Standard Plan. 

The Standard Plan is $14.4 for 500 users, ie. $29 approx for 1000. But, keep in mind the limitation we discussed with Standard plan like the number of maximum lists that it supports is only 5. 

On the other hand, with Convertkit you can access its numerous forms, landing pages, automation, email sequences, tags triggers, and whatnot.

So do you still think MailChimp is cheaper?

How do I Convert MailChimp to Convertkit?

I hope you have enough substance to compare Convertkit vs MailChimp now.

You may not want to switch to Convertkit for these reasons, but if your ARE planning to switch to Convertkit from MailChimp then this guide can be handy for you.

If you have more than 5000 subscribers, then you can avail their Concierge Migration Service where they help you move all your forms, landing pages to Convertkit.

Use my special link to get your 14-day trial promo.

Wrapping it up:

Choosing a good email service provider is important for your business.

However, none of the above-mentioned tools is good or bad in itself. It heavily depends on the role of email marketing in your business.

If you are clear on whether you’re using emails- 

To send blog post notifications to your subscribers so that they know that you have a new post 

Or

You want to engage with your subscribers after they have opted for your freebie and build relationships…

..then choosing the right email service provider should not give you hives now.

If you still have any trouble making the right decision about Convertkit vs mailChimp, do let me know in comments below.