Help for authors timid about technology
Constant Contact is the most popular solution for author newsletters. But is it the best? Here are 7 reasons why I prefer Mail Chimp to Constant Contact:
1. MailChimp is free(er) than Constant Contact
Constant Contact costs a minimum of $15 a month. If you have 500 names or less MailChimp is free. After the 500th subscriber the prices are (currently) the same.
If you are just starting your email list, you probably don’t have many names. It takes many authors years to build a good-sized list. Why pay $15 a month for the first slow months when you can start using MailChimp for free?
If it takes you a year to get to 500 addresses, you will save $180 by using MailChimp. That’s like a free iPod.
2. MailChimp integrates with Twitter
Mail Chimp lets your readers share your newsletter with their Twitter followers with one click. Even if you don’t use Twitter this can be a big platform builder.
3. MailChimp integrates with your blog.
MailChimp can take your blog posts from any blog and turn them into email newsletters automatically. This is called “RSS to Email” and it is a must-have in any email solution, in my opinion. iContact & FeedBlitz also provide RSS -> Email services. Constant Contact does not.
MailChimp also has widgets premade for WordPress, Typepad, Joomla and Drupal. Constant Contact has no official plugins; although there are some third-party plugins available.
4. MailChimp has cleaner embed code.
Constant Contact allows you to embed a subscribe form in your site but the code is bad code. It sometimes breaks other parts of the design and is generally difficult to use. MailChimp, on the other hand, uses relatively clean CSS instead of invisible tables used by Constant Contact. MailChimp is still not standards-compliant but it is, at least, a step in the right direction.
5. MailChimp has an easier interface.
This is a matter of opinion, but I think MailChimp is easier to use. MailChimp has a monkey at the top of every page that gives tips on how to use the site. Who can compete with that? This is in addition to the video guides, webcasts and intuitive interface.
6. MailChimp keeps you out of the spam box.
The worst thing that can happen to your newsletter is for someone to mark it as spam. When they do that your newsletter can get spammed for your other subscribers as well. When MailChimp sees that someone marked you as spam, it automatically unsubscribes that person from the list. Both MailChimp and Constant Contact provide easy unsubscribe features. I’m not sure if they auto-unsubscribe when you get spammed though.
7. MailChimp plays nice with others
Whether you are putting together an event on EventBrite, a survey on SurveyGizmo or want to see Google Analytics reports from your email surveys MailChimp will integrate with those services.
So let’s say you wanted to schedule an event to speak about your book. You could create the event in EventBrite which would kick the info to MailChimp for the invitations. You could then create a speaker evaluation with SurveyGizmo and then MailChimp will do the rest.
Constant Contact does not integrate with much. It is almost like they got lazy a couple of years ago when they got dominant market share and stopped innovating. As a result they feel like a Web 1.0 company trying to compete in a Web 2.0 world.
What do you think?
- What newsletter solution do you use?
- Are you happy with it?
- What do you like/dislike about Constant Contact?
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Constant Contact does unsubscribe all spam complaints. It also hides their identities from the user as best they can to protect the identity and privacy of the reporter.
Constant Contact has a better list management than Mailchimp.. Of we could integrate Mailchimp with some CRMs (as SalasForce) it would be great. Mailchimp gives better Analytics than CC..
I totally agree with all the above..
MailChimp works with SalesForce. I just switched from Constant Contact to MailChimp and I'm so glad I did. Thanks for this post, Thomas!
Constant Contact has better list management? Not really. Mailchimp is a breeze to use and it fully supports all kinds of list segmentation, including targeting, such as a message to everyone in a certain state. To do targeted segmentation in CC, you have to export ALL your contacts, manually sort and filter the contacts in a spreadsheet, create a new list, and then import the target contacts as new list. You have to export and import your own data! And you'd have to do that for every message you send, since it's a manual user hack.
Also, MailChimp already has Salesforce.com integration, you can send a list from SF to MC, and MC will send message metrics back to SF.
I've been looking for the right way to start my newsletter. I have quite a few people that signed up as I was getting started, but couldn't decide which to use. I'm excited to try Mail Chimp now. Thank you for solving my dilemma.
My recent post
Hi Thomas. This is very helpful. What do you think of ‘get response’ which was recommended to me? Liz
Hey Liz,
I haven't heard of Get Response but it looks pretty good. MailChimp just added deep Facebook integration which is a nice plus. If you have 500 subscribers or less I would definitely go with MailChimp since its free.
Thanks for these insights. I have been using C.C. for years. I'm going to play around with mailchimp now. My wife has been using it and she also likes it.
I believe the reason Constant Contact does not integrate with 3rd party event management tools is because they have their own products that serve the same purpose. They also do automatically unsubscribe anyone that marks an email as spam and have tools to allow subscribers to share the email with their social networks(I.E. Twitter, Facebook, Etc).
yeah, I'm totally off Constant Contact. They make it so hard to build an email if you have photos and stuff and it even then, it's all about getting more money from you. Pass on them. There's definitely better!
Mailchimp won't even allow me to pay to use their service because I am in the mortgage business. Even if i double opt in my database they will not allow it….and it even says in their terms of service agreement no mortgage content is allowed to be sent through Mailchimp. Nice! I can't risk signing up with Mailchimp and have them shut me down after i have built a solid database.
My recent post What’s Ahead For California Mortgage Rates- November 29- 2010
I have not used Constant Contact, but MailChimp can just say that you have violated their terms of use (which I didn't) and decide to keep your money. STAY AWAY FROM MAILCHIP
To Tanya and Brad….
Tanya (ladies first) Mailchimp WILL terminate you, as will any other service for violating terms of service. Face it, you DID violate their terms of service. Build a bridge and get over it and don't do it with your next service.
Brad….
Smell the Java….YOU ARE A MORTGAGE service…Mailchimp doesn't allow you to use their service, so…..don't use it…no rocket science there. Gheese…yours has to be the most stupid response I've ever seen. PS…Mortgage Brokers are now rated even lower than attorney's….Now that's a new low.
MailChimp is way better. It integrates perfect with just about everything including BreezingForms (Joomla). Very nice sofware indeed.
My recent post Holiday Parade – Empty Stocking Fund
Dupont, how do you know Tanya DID violate their tos? just curious.
P.S. Judging people by their profession is the lowest you can go.
P.S.S. If a company shuts you down on a single hint of suspicious activity, shows its a start up with 1 employee.
Thomas, thanks for the great article. I just did a similar comparison for our clients and came to a very similar (http://soapbxx.com/blog/40-mailchimp-vs-constantcontact) conclusion. For small biz and NPO marketers, MailChimp really comes out on top.
Thomas,
Great article! I am working with a startup called OnCompare.com and it would be great to get your input. We are building a site where businesses can get help making decisions on which online services to implement into their companies. Think of a Yelp for Software as a Service.
We want to combine experts with hard data research to make for compelling business decisions. It would be great to get your opinions on if you think this type of site would be useful, or even get this communities input on the idea!
What would you like to see in a site like ours?
Check out http://www.oncompare.com or our blog @ blog.oncompare.com or follow us on twitter @oncompare
We want to make this site as valuable to the world as possible, so any input is welcomed!
I'm struggling with WordPress's organic registration with Constant Contact plugin installed. When you register, it uses Constant Contact API but does not send you a password. If you want to log in to WordPress, you have to enter your username or email and select "lost password". At that point, WordPress takes over and emails you a password. Anybody have an answer for that? Does MailChimp have a password signup that integrates with WordPress?
If I were you I would use MailChimp in conjunction with Gravity Forms. Gravity Forms should be able to connect with both MailChimp and WordPress' login interface.
I actually disagree. Constant Contact has much better anti-spam features and is trusted by over 300,000 businesses. MailChimp is much smaller and doesn't have as a good a reputation.
My recent post Constant Contact vs Vertical Response
Thomas,
Since this was written so long ago, I just wanted to check and see if your feelings had changed. Do you still think MailChimp is the best? Thx!
Kellie,
Reason #6 no longer applies (Constant Contact is just as good keeping you out of spam) but other reasons still hold. I still recommend MailChimp to all my clients. MailChimp is improving faster than constant contact and they are freer than they have ever been. They are now free up to 2000 subscribers.
Thanks for this post. I'm new to MailChimp and I love it! It is nice to know that an experienced person such as yourself took the time to share this information.
I discovered the hard way that MailChip prevents you from e-mailing business e-mails. Basically any client address starting with sales@, billing@, support@ etc. gets blocked. I'm not an e-mail marketer, just a software developer sending out free patches to software purchased by businesses. I need a 100%, not 60% delivery rate. 40% of my customers purchase the product through aforementioned kind of addresses.
Yes, I had a very long discussion with support about the issue, and they won't budge.
I am just in the process of switching to MailChimp from Constant Contact – and I can't believe it took me this long. This is exactly what I've been thinking all day as I've been migrating our contacts – "It is almost like they got lazy a couple of years ago when they got dominant market share and stopped innovating."
The design tools are fabulous (they will go grab the palette from your website to create a sign up form for you – nice touch!). Everywhere you look there are tutorials. The interface is very clean and intuitive. I'm so glad I finally swiched!
My recent post Are you showing them what you’re all about?
I am so glad I discovered this post! Using email to potentially reach more readers has been on my mind lately, and I almost blindly went with CC because that's all I was familiar with. Now I'll be giving MC a shot instead. Thanks; I can't wait to see what else I learn here!
I don't know how I came across these comments about MC and CC but I'm happy I did. I am going with MC based on all of the comments. Thanks a lot guys.
Does anyone have trouble using MailChimp to send to .edu and .gov addresses? Thanks!
We are now going to be switching over from C.C to M.C . Thank you for your article, helped out very much.
I use Alpha – http://alpha.76uk.com. Great looking, easy to use and best of all.. it's much cheaper! JR
I am a newby, I have alot of email lists that I have used from my AOL account, but have never installed them into a contact manager.
With MC, am I charged on subscribers? or the number of emails sent out? I plan to send out emails with the hopes to get alot of subscribers from my first month of mailings.
Im using MailChimp for over 2 years now for a 30k list and there are fantastic! i used to use myemma which aren’t bad at all besides the cost.