MailChimp continues to be one of the most popular platforms for businesses to try out email marketing on. However, there are a number of powerful Mailchimp competitors you can choose from when you’re ready for a more sophisticated but definitely more powerful campaign.
In this article, we’re going to cover a couple of options that you might go for, to step up your eCommerce game. If you’re looking for ways to improve your customer buying journeys, funnels and brand, then you should check these out.
1. Omnisend
Omnisend takes email marketing to a whole new level because it takes into consideration the entire user experience from the first visit to your website all the way to actually becoming a loyal customer. It provides fully customizable signup form templates with detailed targeting options. Some of their most engaging templates include the Wheel of Fortune and the Gift Box.
Additionally, Omnisend has a number of predefined setup options to automatically tackle typical e-commerce situations like Cart Recovery, Customer Reactivation, Order Confirmation, and Order Follow-up.
But perhaps the most remarkable feature of Omnisend is its seamless integration of various channels (ex. Facebook custom audiences, Google remarketing lists, and SMS messaging), allowing marketers to reach their audiences in a variety of contexts.
Omnisend offers a free version that allows up to 15,000 emails a month. Their paid plans start at $16 per month (on a 1-year plan) with a 14-day free trial.
2. Robly
Robly has the typical features of a powerful email marketing tool but what it boasts is its invention of its patent-pending RoblyAI, which determines the best time to send emails to each user in order to maximize open rates.
Known for its ease of use and incredible customer support, Robly acts like a veritable MailChimp alternative. However, it’s pretty limited in terms of templates and designs. If you prefer to keep it simple anyway, this might be a pretty good choice.
Another downside is that Robly doesn’t offer a free version so if you want to try it, you’re limited to the 14-day free trial. After that, the lowest plan is $15 per month (billed annually), which accommodates up to 500 subscribers.
3. AWeber
For a time, AWeber was the go-to app for email marketing because of its simple interface, seamless integration with WordPress, and reliable customer service. For marketers that are less than tech-savvy, AWeber is the perfect interface because of its drag-and-drop campaign builder.
With AWeber’s feature list, there’s no question why it has been among the most favored email marketing apps around for over two decades. However, it has begun to fall short on some automation features compared to its newer rivals. Their templates also need updating.
While AWeber doesn’t have a free tier, its free trial lasts up to 30 days. After that, the lowest tier will cost $19 a month and accommodates up to 500 subscribers.
4. AutoPilot
AutoPilot has an incredibly long list of premium features covering not just email marketing but also marketing automation, lead management, and multi-channel marketing. It also has a remarkably intuitive AI that’s especially helpful in developing customer journeys.
While the best thing about AutoPilot is that it’s extremely powerful, that’s also its biggest disadvantage. The interface itself could be intimidating and thinking of everything you could possibly do with it could get overwhelming. It’s definitely best for the more experienced marketers.
AutoPilot’s plans are fully customizable with the lowest costing only $1 per month for up to 500 subscribers. They also offer a 30-day free plan. Once subscribed, you can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel any time.
5. Drip
Although Drip has plenty of other features, its automation features are incredibly powerful because it has 34 different rules triggers and actions to choose from, to power up your eCommerce store. It also has an easy to use drag-and-drop interface that makes campaign planning and management simple, all without having to build or design anything on your own.
One complaint users have about Drip is that their custom email templates aren’t fully customizable. Templates can be customized in the header, body, and footer. However, the body won’t allow for several editable sections, which you can do with other platforms.
For pricing, Drip doesn’t have a free tier but offers a 2-week full-featured free trial. After that, the lowest option costs $49 per month and accommodates unlimited emails to up to 2,500 subscribers.
6. WishPond
WishPond’s main advantage is in the lead generation aspect of email marketing. It offers a wide variety of tools and templates to easily build whatever you need to gain subscribers – landing pages, signup forms, contests, etc. It also has pretty impressive segmentation and automation features.
While it does offer a great number of templates for almost anything you need, a common complaint is that it’s difficult to customize those templates. That might be important when your business requires a specific look or layout to match your branding. Otherwise, the available options might be enough.
WishPond offers a 14-day free trial. After that, getting their lowest package will cost $49 a month and will accommodate up to 1,000 subscribers.
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MailChimp was founded in 2001 and, since then, has been a trusted platform for email marketing.
However, many other MailChimp competitors have popped up with more advanced features to build email lists, implement campaigns, and communicate with audiences across the entire customer journey. It might be best to take a look at each one to determine which can help you implement the most powerful strategy with the least effort possible.
