Looking for the best email marketing service for your business? Maryland-based ConvertKit should be on your list because it offers an easy-to-use email marketing platform with a visual designer for creating automated strategies.
While it certainly does a little of everything well, also keep in mind that it can be expensive and the email designer isn't among the most flexible. In this ConvertKit email marketing services review, we'll take a look to help you decide if it's the optimal tool for you.
packages and prices
ConvertKit starts with a free tier to manage a little up to 300 email subscribers, on the low side compared to many competitors (even more miserable when we told you there were 500 subscribers). This free plan includes unlimited landing pages and signup forms with unlimited traffic. However, strategy automation with the visual designer and integration with most website builders and eCommerce platforms are missing.
For additional features, you'll need a paid builder plan that adds free migration and automated funnels and sequences. The price then increases according to the number of subscribers you have. Options start at €29/month for 1000 subscribers and increase to €49/month for 3000 subscribers and €79/month for 5000 subscribers, and so on.
Creator Pro is the top tier of the plan, it costs €29/month for up to 300 subscribers, with other options available such as up to 55,000 subscribers for up to €519/month when paid monthly with also the option of a discount when paid. annually. It has all the features of the lower plans and also adds advanced reporting, subscriber rating, newsletter referral system, and Facebook custom audiences.
Features
Although only a few of ConvertKit's features are truly unique, this platform does an admirable job of overall versatility and ease of use.
As a starting point, every ConvertKit user has access to customizable landing pages and registration forms. This platform offers more than 30 templates that can be customized to fit your brand. We also appreciate that there is no limit to the number of custom fields that can be added.
An even more exciting aspect of ConvertKit, only available to paid users, is campaign automation. By accessing a visual designer, you can create logical progressions for campaigns. For example, after someone signs up for your newsletter, you can specify what to follow based on where they signed up or what fields they filled out. These logic trees can be as simple or complicated as you like so you can customize your message for different audiences.
It should be noted that an email designer is also included to keep up with messaging. Emails are written in plain text and are optimized for mobile devices by default. Any field in your subscriber database can be customized to tailor emails to people. A/B testing is also supported, allowing you to save an unlimited number of your email designs for future use.
Install
ConvertKit makes it easy to get started, especially for those who already have a list of email subscribers. Subscribers can be imported from a CSV, and the platform automatically creates custom fields that match their headers. When migrating from another email marketing platform, ConvertKit provides tutorials on how to import data from various other platforms.
The number of custom fields that can be added to your database is truly unlimited. Plus, users get the benefit of tags and segments, even with sub-tags and sub-segments to fully organize your followers.
Performance
Overall, ConvertKit is really easy to use, which is what most business users look for in email marketing software.
For example, when creating a new form, users have a few simple templates to choose from. The designer then allows you to click on any individual element to review the customization options. In a matter of minutes, you can design a branded form and then place it on your website quickly and easily with your choice of WordPress Javascript, HTML, or ConvertKit plugin.
One drawback that the design options could be more varied. There is a limited choice of three formats for the registration forms, with customization options limited to basics like font and color scheme.
With that out of the way, we also found the automation process to be straightforward. The visual designer incorporates a series of triggers and response actions, which can then be customized and connected using a wide palette of logical operators.
Another useful automation feature in ConvertKit is that it can be used to keep your subscriber database organized. Specifically, one possible answer is to add a tag, so you can use automated workflows to tag users for future marketing campaigns.
Security
ConvertKit is fully GDPR compliant, which means you can safely use this email marketing software for your subscribers in Europe. Additionally, this platform allows you to add security to your account by enabling industry-standard two-factor authentication (2FA).
ConvertKit goes one step further to protect your email marketing list through CAPTCHA and double opt-in. CAPTCHA automatically screens users for abnormal behavior in an effort to weed out bots. Operationally, double opt-in means that users receive an email to confirm that they intentionally signed up for your marketing list.
Support
One shortcoming is that ConvertKit offers email-only support (meaning no phone or live chat), but the company's extensive documentation center has pre-made articles to answer most questions. There are step-by-step guides with videos for hundreds of common tasks. Plus, ConvertKit offers weekly live workshops to help you get the most out of your service, like the recent "Podcast Promotions: Best Marketing Tactics in 2022 to Grow Your Listener Audience."
For those who subscribe to a plan with 5.000 subscribers or more, the company assigns a staff member to help you migrate from another platform.
Competition
For those looking for a cheaper alternative to ConvertKit, be sure to check out one of the biggest names in the email marketing space: MailChimp. MailChimp's free tier can handle up to 1500 subscribers. For €299 per month, you can have up to 50,000 subscribers ($316 per month on ConvertKit). Although this platform does not include visual automation workflows, you can still create automations to manage your campaigns.
final verdict
In our review, ConvertKit is a powerful and easy-to-use email marketing platform. Visual automation designer with templates and layouts, comprehensive help center, and the ability to flexibly segment your audience are key features. Furthermore, this platform integrates security with CAPTCHA, two-factor authentication, and GDPR compliance. Our biggest problem with ConvertKit is the price, which is high, especially as the number of subscribers for an email marketing platform increases.