March 2023

There were 7 posts published in March 2023 (this is page 1 of 1).

Substack

Substack is a popular email newsletter platform that provides writers, journalists, and content creators with the tools and resources they need to build and monetize their audiences.

Pricing: Substack is free to use, but the platform takes a 10% cut of any revenue generated by paid subscriptions. This means that if you charge $5/month for your newsletter, Substack will take 50 cents per subscriber per month.

Pros:

  1. User-friendly interface: Substack has a simple and intuitive interface that makes it easy to create and distribute newsletters.
  2. Monetization options: Substack allows writers to monetize their newsletters through paid subscriptions, sponsorships, and merchandise sales.
  3. Audience building: Substack helps writers build and grow their audience through its discovery features and newsletter archives.
  4. Customization: Substack allows writers to customize their newsletters with their own branding, themes, and design.

Cons:

  1. Limited functionality: Substack is primarily designed for email newsletters, so it may not be suitable for writers who want to create more complex content like podcasts, videos, or courses.
  2. Limited analytics: Substack provides basic analytics like subscriber numbers and open rates, but it doesn’t offer in-depth data analysis.
  3. Revenue sharing: Substack takes a 10% cut of any revenue generated by paid subscriptions, which may be a deal breaker for some writers.

Key Features

  • User-friendly interface: Substack provides a clean, user-friendly interface that makes it easy for writers to create and manage their newsletters.
  • Customizable templates: Substack offers a variety of customizable newsletter templates, allowing writers to design newsletters that reflect their personal brand and style.
  • Subscriber management: Substack provides tools to manage and grow a subscriber base, including the ability to import and export subscriber lists and automate subscription management.
  • Payment processing: Substack enables writers to monetize their newsletters by offering paid subscriptions or accepting donations from their readers. It also provides tools for managing payments and revenue reporting.
  • Community building: Substack allows writers to build communities around their newsletters by enabling comments, discussion forums, and other interactive features.
  • Analytics: Substack provides detailed analytics on subscriber growth, engagement, and revenue, allowing writers to track their performance and optimize their content.
  • Mobile app: Substack has a mobile app that allows writers to manage their newsletters and engage with subscribers on the go.

Best for: Substack is best for writers and publishers who want to create and distribute email newsletters to a loyal subscriber base. It’s ideal for writers who want to monetize their content and build a following.

Alternatives:

  1. Beehiiv:
  2. ConvertKit: ConvertKit is an email marketing platform that’s designed for creators and bloggers. It offers more advanced features like automation and landing pages, but it may be more expensive than Substack.
  3. Patreon: Patreon is a platform that allows creators to monetize their content through subscriptions, merchandise sales, and sponsorships. It’s ideal for creators who want to offer more than just email newsletters, like podcasts, videos, and artwork.

Moosend

Moosend is an email marketing and automation platform that enables businesses to send targeted and personalized email campaigns.

Pricing:

Moosend offers a variety of pricing plans based on the number of subscribers you have and the features you need. Their plans start at $8/month for up to 1,000 subscribers and go up to $3,000/month for up to 500,000 subscribers. They also offer a pay-as-you-go option for users who need to send a large volume of emails occasionally.

Pros:

  1. Easy to use: Moosend has a user-friendly interface that’s easy to navigate, even for beginners.
  2. Personalization: Moosend allows you to personalize your emails based on customer behavior, interests, and preferences.
  3. Automation: Moosend offers advanced automation features like drip campaigns, lead scoring, and segmentation.
  4. Integrations: Moosend integrates with over 1000 apps and tools, including Shopify, Salesforce, and WordPress.

Cons:

  1. Limited customization: Moosend offers limited customization options, which may not be suitable for businesses that require more branding and personalization.
  2. Limited analytics: Moosend provides basic analytics like email opens and clicks, but it doesn’t offer in-depth data analysis.
  3. Limited email template options: Moosend has a limited selection of email templates compared to other email marketing platforms.

Best for: Moosend is best for small to medium-sized businesses that need an affordable and easy-to-use email marketing platform to engage their customers and drive sales. It’s ideal for businesses that want to automate their marketing processes and create targeted campaigns based on customer behavior.

Key Features

  1. Email Campaigns: Moosend allows users to create and send email campaigns easily, with a drag-and-drop email editor, customizable templates, and a variety of targeting options.
  2. Marketing Automation: Moosend provides advanced automation tools that enable users to create automated workflows based on specific triggers, such as a subscriber’s behavior or demographics.
  3. Landing Pages: Moosend includes a landing page builder that allows users to create custom landing pages for their email campaigns and promotions.
  4. Segmentation and Personalization: Moosend enables users to segment their email lists and personalize their messages based on various criteria, such as location, behavior, and preferences.
  5. Reporting and Analytics: Moosend provides real-time reporting and analytics that enable users to track and analyze the performance of their email campaigns, landing pages, and automation workflows.
  6. Integrations: Moosend integrates with a variety of third-party tools, such as CRM systems, e-commerce platforms, and social media channels, to help users streamline their marketing efforts.
  7. A/B Testing: Moosend allows users to test different versions of their email campaigns, landing pages, and automation workflows to optimize performance and increase conversions.

Alternatives:

  1. ActiveCampaign: ActiveCampaign is a more comprehensive marketing automation platform that offers advanced features like CRM, lead scoring, and attribution reporting. However, it can be more expensive than Moosend.
  2. Sendinblue: Sendinblue is a similar email marketing platform to Moosend that offers advanced features like A/B testing, marketing automation, and landing pages. However, it can be more expensive than Moosend.
  3. Mailchimp: a popular email marketing platform that offers basic marketing automation features and is easy to use. However, it may not be as powerful or comprehensive as Moosend.

Mailjet

Mailjet is an email delivery and marketing automation platform that enables businesses to send marketing and transactional emails, as well as track email performance. Here’s my review of Mailjet based on its pricing, pros and cons, what it’s best for, and its alternatives.

Pricing: Mailjet offers a variety of pricing plans based on the number of emails sent per month and the features you need. Their plans start at $9.65/month for up to 30,000 emails and go up to $20.95/month for up to 900,000 emails. They also offer a pay-as-you-go option for users who need to send a large volume of emails occasionally.

Pros:

  1. Easy to use: Mailjet has a simple setup process and an easy-to-use interface that even beginners can navigate.
  2. Personalization: Mailjet allows you to personalize your emails based on customer behavior, interests, and preferences.
  3. Deliverability: Mailjet ensures high deliverability rates with its powerful email delivery infrastructure and anti-spam measures.
  4. Integrations: Mailjet integrates easily with popular email platforms like Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook.

Cons:

  1. Limited customization: Mailjet offers limited customization options, which may not be suitable for businesses that require more branding and personalization.
  2. Limited analytics: Mailjet provides basic analytics like email opens and clicks, but it doesn’t offer in-depth data analysis.
  3. Limited automation features: Mailjet’s automation features are not as advanced as some other email marketing platforms.

Best for: Mailjet is best for small to medium-sized businesses that need a reliable and affordable email delivery service for their applications and devices. It’s also ideal for businesses that send a high volume of transactional emails, such as password resets, order confirmations, and receipts.

Key Features

  1. Flexible Architecture: Mailet provides a flexible architecture that allows developers to build complex email processing workflows using a set of reusable components called “mailets”.
  2. Easy Integration: Mailet is designed to be easily integrated with other Java-based applications and frameworks, such as Apache James, Spring, and Camel.
  3. Extensibility: Mailet provides a modular architecture that enables developers to extend and customize the functionality of the framework by implementing their own mailets.
  4. Mail Filtering and Routing: Mailet provides built-in support for filtering and routing incoming email messages based on various criteria, such as sender, recipient, subject, and content.
  5. Email Transformation: Mailet provides tools for transforming and manipulating email messages, including adding and removing headers, changing the content type, and modifying attachments.
  6. Error Handling: Mailet provides a robust error-handling mechanism that enables developers to handle errors and exceptions gracefully, including retrying failed mail deliveries and logging error messages.
  7. Scalability: Mailet is designed to be highly scalable, with support for distributed processing and clustering.

Alternatives:

  1. Sendinblue: Sendinblue offers similar features to Mailjet, including email marketing, transactional emails, and SMS marketing. However, Sendinblue also provides more advanced features like A/B testing, marketing automation, and landing pages.
  2. Mailchimp: Mailchimp is a popular email marketing platform that offers basic marketing automation features and is easy to use. However, it may not be as powerful or comprehensive as Mailjet.

ActiveCampaign Review

ActiveCampaign is an all-in-one marketing automation platform that helps businesses of all sizes create targeted campaigns, automate their marketing processes, and grow their customer base. Here’s my review of ActiveCampaign based on its pricing, pros and cons, what it’s best for, and its alternatives.

Pricing: ActiveCampaign offers four pricing plans based on the number of contacts you have and the features you need. Their plans start at $9/month for up to 500 contacts and go up to $229/month for up to 50,000 contacts. They also offer a custom enterprise plan for businesses with more than 50,000 contacts.

Pros:

  1. All-in-one platform: ActiveCampaign offers a complete suite of marketing automation tools, including email marketing, CRM, marketing automation, and messaging.
  2. User-friendly interface: ActiveCampaign has a user-friendly interface that’s easy to use, even for beginners.
  3. Personalization: ActiveCampaign allows you to personalize your campaigns based on customer behavior, interests, and preferences.
  4. Integrations: ActiveCampaign integrates with over 800 apps and tools, including Shopify, Salesforce, and WordPress.

Cons:

  1. Pricing: ActiveCampaign’s pricing plans can be costly, especially for businesses with a large number of contacts.
  2. Limited reporting: ActiveCampaign’s reporting features are limited compared to other marketing automation platforms.
  3. Learning curve: ActiveCampaign’s extensive feature set can be overwhelming for new users.

Best for: ActiveCampaign is best for small to medium-sized businesses that need a comprehensive marketing automation platform that can help them personalize their campaigns, engage their customers, and grow their business. It’s ideal for businesses that rely heavily on email marketing and want to automate their marketing processes.

Alternatives:

  1. HubSpot: HubSpot offers a similar set of marketing automation tools to ActiveCampaign, but with more advanced features like lead scoring and attribution reporting. However, it can be more expensive than ActiveCampaign.
  2. Mailchimp: Mailchimp is a popular email marketing platform that also offers basic marketing automation features. It’s best suited for small businesses that need a simple, user-friendly platform to manage their email campaigns. However, it may not be as powerful or comprehensive as ActiveCampaign.

Key Features

  1. Email Marketing: ActiveCampaign provides a powerful email marketing platform that includes drag-and-drop email design, automation workflows, and A/B testing capabilities.
  2. Marketing Automation: ActiveCampaign offers advanced automation tools that enable users to create complex automation workflows based on triggers and actions.
  3. CRM and Sales Automation: ActiveCampaign includes a CRM platform that allows users to manage leads, contacts, deals, and tasks. It also provides sales automation tools that help users automate their sales processes, such as lead scoring and pipeline management.
  4. Messaging and Conversations: ActiveCampaign includes a messaging platform that allows users to engage with customers through email, chat, SMS, and social media.
  5. Personalization: ActiveCampaign offers a range of personalization features, such as dynamic content, conditional messaging, and personalized recommendations.
  6. Analytics and Reporting: ActiveCampaign provides detailed analytics and reporting that enable users to track and analyze the performance of their marketing campaigns, automation workflows, and sales processes.
  7. Integrations: ActiveCampaign integrates with a wide range of third-party tools and platforms, including CRMs, e-commerce platforms, social media channels, and payment gateways.

SMTP2GO review

SMTP2GO is an email delivery service provider that provides a reliable and secure way to send emails from any application or device.

Pricing: SMTP2GO offers a variety of pricing plans based on the number of emails sent per month. Their plans start at $14.95/month for up to 10,000 emails and go up to $1,199.95/month for up to 10 million emails. They also offer a pay-as-you-go option for users who need to send a large volume of emails occasionally.

Pros:

  1. Reliability: SMTP2GO guarantees email delivery with its reliable servers and infrastructure.
  2. Easy to use: SMTP2GO has a simple setup process and an easy-to-use interface that even beginners can navigate.
  3. Security: SMTP2GO ensures secure email delivery by encrypting emails with SSL/TLS encryption and offering two-factor authentication.
  4. Integration: SMTP2GO integrates easily with popular email platforms like Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook.

Cons:

  1. Limited customization: SMTP2GO offers limited customization options, which may not be suitable for businesses that require more branding and personalization.
  2. Limited analytics: SMTP2GO provides basic analytics like email opens and clicks, but it doesn’t offer in-depth data analysis.

Best for: SMTP2GO is best for businesses that need a reliable and secure email delivery service for their applications and devices. It’s also ideal for businesses that send a high volume of transactional emails, such as password resets, order confirmations, and receipts.

Key Features

  1. Easy integration: SMTP2GO can be easily integrated with various email clients, applications, and platforms, including Outlook, Gmail, WordPress, and more.
  2. Comprehensive reporting: SMTP2GO provides detailed reporting and analytics, including email open rates, click-through rates, bounce rates, and more.
  3. Email authentication: SMTP2GO supports various email authentication methods, such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, to ensure that emails are sent securely and are less likely to be marked as spam.
  4. Dedicated IPs: SMTP2GO offers dedicated IP addresses to businesses that send large volumes of emails, helping to improve email deliverability and reputation.
  5. Advanced security: SMTP2GO uses advanced security measures, such as TLS encryption and two-factor authentication, to protect email communication and prevent unauthorized access.

Alternatives:

  1. Sendinblue: Sendinblue offers similar features to SMTP2GO, including email marketing, transactional emails, and SMS marketing. However, Sendinblue also provides more advanced features like A/B testing, marketing automation, and landing pages.
  2. Mailgun: Mailgun is an email delivery service that offers advanced features like email validation, email parsing, and inbound routing. However, it may not be suitable for businesses that need a user-friendly interface, as it requires some technical knowledge to use.

Mailchimp – More than Just an Email Marketing Platform: A Comprehensive Review

One of the most popular email marketing platforms available today is Mailchimp. Since its launch in 2001, Mailchimp has evolved from being just an email marketing tool to an all-in-one marketing and CRM platform. In this blog post, we will review Mailchimp to help you decide if it’s the right choice for your business.

Pricing

Mailchimp offers a tiered pricing structure, catering to businesses of all sizes:

  1. Free Plan: This plan includes basic email marketing features, 500 contacts, and a monthly sending limit of 1,000 emails. It’s perfect for small businesses or those just starting with email marketing.
  2. Essentials Plan: Starting at $13/month, the Essentials plan increases your contact limit to 5,000 monthly emails and adds features such as A/B testing, custom branding, and 24/7 customer support.
  3. Standard Plan: At $20/month, this plan increases the monthly sending limit to 6,000 and adds advanced segmentation, behavioral targeting, and more automation options.
  4. Premium Plan: For $350/month, the Premium plan offers a 150,000 monthly sending limit, advanced analytics, and priority customer support, catering to large businesses with extensive email marketing needs.

Pros

  • User-friendly interface
  • Powerful automation features
  • Extensive template library and customization options
  • Comprehensive reporting and analytics tools
  • Integration with popular third-party apps and services
  • Free plan available for small businesses

Cons

  • Limited design flexibility in the drag-and-drop editor
  • Higher-tier plans can become expensive for large contact lists
  • Customization options for forms and landing pages could be more robust

Features and Functionality

  1. Email Marketing

Mailchimp’s core feature remains its robust email marketing capabilities. With a wide array of templates and an intuitive drag-and-drop editor, creating professional and eye-catching emails is a breeze. Mailchimp also offers advanced segmentation options, allowing you to target specific groups of subscribers based on demographics, behavior, or other criteria.

  1. Automation

Automation is where Mailchimp truly shines. The platform offers pre-built automation workflows for common marketing tasks such as welcome emails, abandoned cart reminders, and win-back campaigns. You can also create custom workflows to suit your specific business needs. This automation help save time and ensure consistent communication with your audience.

  1. Analytics and Reporting

Mailchimp’s reporting tools allow you to track the performance of your email campaigns in real time. You can easily access open rates, click-through rates, bounce rates, and other metrics that help you make informed decisions about your campaigns. The platform also integrates with Google Analytics, providing a more comprehensive view of your email marketing performance.

  1. CRM and Integrations

Mailchimp’s built-in CRM helps you manage your contacts and track their interactions with your business. You can add custom tags and notes to your contacts, making segmenting and targeting your audience easier. Mailchimp integrates seamlessly with a wide range of third-party apps and services, such as Shopify, WordPress, and Zapier, to further enhance its capabilities.

  1. Landing Pages and Forms

Mailchimp allows you to create visually appealing landing pages and signup forms to grow your subscriber list. You can choose from a variety of templates, customize them to fit your brand, and add your own images and content. The platform also offers tools to help you create pop-up forms, embedded forms, and gated content.

Conclusion

Mailchimp has established itself as a leading email marketing platform thanks to its user-friendly interface, powerful automation, and extensive integration options. The platform’s built-in CRM, analytics, and landing page

Convertkit vs Beehiiv

  1. Ease of Use Beehiiv has an intuitive interface that is easy to navigate. Even if you’re new to email marketing, you’ll find it simple to create and send newsletters using Beehiiv. With ConvertKit, the interface is less user-friendly, and it can be challenging to find the features you need.
  2. Pricing
    Beehiiv: You’ll only pay for the number of subscribers you have, and there are no hidden fees or contracts.
    ConvertKit, on the other hand, can be expensive, with pricing plans that are not as flexible.
  3. Customizable Templates With Beehiiv, you have access to a wide variety of customizable templates, making it easy to create a newsletter that matches your brand. In contrast, ConvertKit’s templates are limited, which can make it difficult to create a unique newsletter.
  4. Advanced Segmentation Beehiiv’s advanced segmentation features allow you to target specific groups of subscribers based on their interests, behavior, and demographics. This ensures that your newsletters are tailored to your audience’s needs and interests. ConvertKit’s segmentation features are not as advanced.

Full Beehiiv review