Are you in search of a software solution that can streamline your email marketing efforts? You're not alone. Nowadays, it's common knowledge that in order to generate substantial revenue, companies must take care of their mailing lists. This entails using cutting-edge tools to automate emails at optimal times and in the most effective formats. Luckily, there are many alternatives to select from. Campaign Monitor is a user-friendly web-based platform that enables businesses to collect data into a digital mailing list, oversee it, and distribute HTML newsletters through it.
Pricing Plans
Campaign Monitor may not be the most budget-friendly email marketing option available. It lacks a free tier, and even the most affordable version of the tool, priced at $9, only provides 2,500 emails and 500 subscribers – a limitation that may not be sufficient for many businesses. As the number of subscribers in your package grows, so do the costs. Moreover, unlimited sending and other essential features require at least a middle-tier subscription, costing $29 per month. Consequently, you may end up spending a considerable sum on your marketing strategy with Campaign Monitor, as there is a high likelihood of that happening.
Basic:
The quantity of emails you can send via Campaign Monitor is contingent on the number of subscribers you have. For instance, with 500 contacts, you can send up to 2,500 messages. If your list comprises 30,000 subscribers, the limit would be 250,000, and so forth. Additionally, the “Basic” package offers minimal options for autoresponders, allowing only for standard drip campaigns to be created.
Unlimited:
By subscribing to an unlimited plan, you can eliminate the email cap and leverage more advanced autoresponder features. In addition, you gain access to faster email support, inbox and spam testing options, and the ability to customize your messages through segmentation and scheduling them to be delivered at specific times to reach your customers.
Premium:
In addition to all the features included in the “Unlimited” plan, the Premier plan offers template controls that prevent your team from creating outlandish emails. Additionally, you gain access to advanced link tracking, send-time optimization, and phone support from the Campaign Monitor team. However, it's worth noting that Campaign Monitor is considerably pricier than most of its competitors, with a $29 per month fee to send unlimited emails to only 500 subscribers.
Moreover, Campaign Monitor has no free version available, although there is a demo available that doesn't allow for mass mailouts. On the positive side, Campaign Monitor offers discounts for nonprofits and also provides the option to pay per campaign if you only send emails occasionally, which could be a better fit for some brands.
Campaign Monitor offered features:
With prices that high, one would expect Campaign Monitor to offer some pretty impressive features, right? Well, yes. Although Campaign Monitor doesn't have the widest selection of features in the market, the core functionalities it offers are very well-developed. For example, you can access drag-and-drop templates and HTML designs for your emails, preview features to ensure optimal display on all devices, surveys and forms to gather data from your email campaigns, split campaigns to monitor and optimize performance, analytics and reporting for your team and stakeholders, in-depth autoresponders and automation features, segmentation with the option to upgrade to machine learning capabilities, sign-up forms, landing pages, and an API for developers to create their own integration.
Shall we delve deeper into some of the most prominent features?
Email Builder
Campaign Monitor offers a user-friendly interface for creating and enhancing your email campaigns, making it an excellent email builder tool.
Whether you're sending a one-time email or an email sequence, you'll have access to a plethora of beautiful, high-quality templates that are both clean and eye-catching. While the template library isn't as extensive as that of MailChimp,
Campaign Monitor's templates are designed with a professional touch that's essential for any business.
Moreover, Campaign Monitor stands out from its competitors by providing a decent selection of unique web fonts that can be incorporated into your email campaigns, giving them an extra touch of creativity.
Once your message is ready to go, you can preview it to see how it appears on both desktop and mobile devices, as well as send a test email to ensure everything looks and functions as intended.
Campaign Monitor also offers the option to add checkboxes for tracking permissions to your forms, as well as captchas to your emails, ensuring that your emails comply with regulations and are not sent to bots, ultimately saving you money.
Automation
After mastering the process of creating fantastic emails with Campaign Monitor, the next step is learning how to automate them. This feature is common among email marketing tools, and Campaign Monitor offers autoresponders to help maintain a steady conversation with your audience. These “drip” emails are pre-programmed, so when a user subscribes to your mailing list, they will receive a series of pre-written emails automatically.
Campaign Monitor's autoresponder experience is very straightforward, allowing you to add triggers and steps quickly to specify what happens when a customer completes a specific action. However, adding a new email to an existing campaign requires setting it up separately, which can be a bit clunky.
While Campaign Monitor is a bit behind some of its competitors when it comes to adding subscribers to a drip campaign, its autoresponder feature is exceptional. Multiple journeys for the same campaign can be created to ensure your audience receives the most appropriate messages. In addition to autoresponders, Campaign Monitor offers marketing automation, which uses specific triggers to send emails when a customer visits a specific page on your site, makes a purchase, clicks on a link, or opens a particular email.
Campaign Monitor's visualization features are particularly impressive, with a clear view of your campaign's progress and the kind of emails your audience will receive based on their behavior. Campaigns can also be automated by triggering them through RSS, which is useful for sending newsletters when new products or blog posts are added to your site. Unfortunately, you can't use the same templates you use for regular emails with RSS feeds, which could make your content appear off-brand.
Contact Management and Segmentation
Let's explore how subscriber management works on Campaign Monitor.
Personalized emails are incredibly valuable, as they can result in six times higher transaction rates than average messages. Fortunately, Campaign Monitor offers fantastic flexibility when it comes to data segmentation.
Sending messages to multiple lists or segments simultaneously is effortless with Campaign Monitor, which is not always possible with other email marketing solutions. Additionally, the tool's ability to exclude lists or segments from mailouts is excellent.
If your business requires complex data segmentation, you'll appreciate Campaign Monitor's system of lists and segments. Lists are groups of subscribers loaded into the marketing software, while segments are individual groups based on unique factors.
Unfortunately, Campaign Monitor lacks the option to add tags to keep track of subscribers who have made specific purchases in the past or complained about the service.
However, various rules can be applied to a single segment, such as creating lists of people in a particular area who have purchased a product in the last six months. While Campaign Monitor's segmentation options are excellent, they are not as comprehensive as those available from other companies like ActiveCampaign.
One significant advantage of Campaign Monitor is the availability of “OR” statements in segments. This means that campaigns can be sent to subscribers with a particular job title or those based in a head office for a company located in a specific area, allowing for more in-depth campaigns.
Split Testing
Campaign Monitor's split testing feature falls behind other competitors like ActiveCampaign in terms of functionality.
With Campaign Monitor, you can perform A/B tests on two versions of a campaign, focusing on aspects such as the subject line, from name, and email content. However, unlike ActiveCampaign, you can't perform split testing on your entire drip sequence.
While Campaign Monitor's A/B testing management is straightforward and suitable for those with less experience, only being able to test three parts of your message is disappointing. In contrast, premium plans from MailChimp allow up to 8 A/B testing variants, and GetResponse enables up to 5 variants.
Campaign Monitor's split-testing feature is not as advanced as those offered by other email marketing tools, which is worth considering when choosing a provider. While Campaign Monitor does provide split testing, there is room for improvement in this area.
Reporting and Analytics
Campaign Monitor's split testing feature is not as advanced as its competitors, such as ActiveCampaign. While you can perform A/B tests on two versions of a campaign in Campaign Monitor, focusing on elements like the subject line, from name, and email content, you cannot split test your entire drip sequence.
While the A/B testing management in Campaign Monitor is easy to use and suitable for those with less experience, the fact that you can only test three parts of your message is disappointing.
In comparison, MailChimp's premium plans allow for up to 8 A/B testing variants, and GetResponse permits up to 5.
When selecting an email marketing provider, it's essential to consider Campaign Monitor's split-testing feature's limitations compared to other tools.
However, Campaign Monitor's reporting and analytics are beginner-friendly and easy to use, making them accessible to anyone. Furthermore, the platform recently updated its analytics offerings to provide users with deeper insights into their email list's subscriber health, engagement, and acquisition trends.
If you need to share these insights with shareholders and company leaders, you can export them in PDF format, making Campaign Monitor's analytics offerings even more versatile.
Data Import and Export
The role of data is increasingly important in email marketing strategies. Thankfully, importing and exporting data with Campaign Monitor is a simple process. For importing basic customer information and contact lists, the tool supports the most common database formats, such as compressed files, CSV files, TXT files, and XLS. Additionally, users can copy and paste file contents into the Campaign Monitor UI, and the tool automatically separates and maps the required fields.
There are a few limitations to importing data, as is standard with most software solutions. For instance, you cannot import rented or purchased databases, long inactive lists, or data related to specific products, like pharmaceuticals or gambling. However, exporting data is easy. If you need to obtain vital information for stakeholders or move your lists to another platform, you can export your entire list or segment in CSV format with a simple download.
Integrations
Campaign Monitor was previously lacking in terms of integrations and add-ons, which are often crucial in a world where everyone has their own idea of what the perfect email marketing tool looks like.
However, there have been recent changes to the Campaign Monitor strategy. They now offer hundreds of integrations, including popular tools such as Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, Magento, WordPress, Google Analytics, Slack, Unbounce, and Facebook.
Moreover, Campaign Monitor provides an API for developers who want to build their own apps.
Usability
It's a fact that almost every email marketing tool available today boasts about being easy to use, and Campaign Monitor is no exception. Although I wouldn't describe it as “radically easy,” I did find it quite straightforward to use in my tests.
The interface is clean and simple, and the email building tool is easy to use with its drag-and-drop editor. I was able to create an email within a few minutes that I would have felt comfortable sending to clients.
Campaign Monitor also offers helpful text boxes and guidelines throughout the process, and features like email previews ensure that your emails will look great. However, there are a few things missing from the overall experience.
For example, spam testing features are only available on higher-tier plans, which is uncommon compared to other email marketing software options. Additionally, some parts of the tool can be clunky, such as having to navigate away from your autoresponder page to add a new contact to your campaign.
Overall, Campaign Monitor is a good tool for beginners, but it's not without its limitations.
Customer Support
When it comes to support, Campaign Monitor's options for guidance may not be as extensive as some other marketing tools. Getting help can be difficult, particularly if you're on a less expensive plan.
While phone support is only available for higher-level plans, you can send an email to the team or browse the Campaign Monitor knowledge base for self-service support. However, if you're dealing with a campaign emergency that could be affecting your business, relying solely on these options may not be ideal.
That being said, the Campaign Monitor help center is comprehensive, with guides and videos that can assist customers. While it may not offer as many support options as other tools, Campaign Monitor does provide helpful resources for those in need of assistance.
Conclusion
Campaign Monitor provides an easy-to-use interface, convenient autoresponder functionality, and impressive templates that can be easily customized, including the ability to add custom fonts. It offers useful features like audience segmentation and analytics for campaign performance monitoring. However, it lacks some advanced capabilities, such as contact tags and advanced split testing. Additionally, phone support is only available for higher-tier plans.
If you're looking for high-quality email templates, straightforward segmentation, and excellent integrations, Campaign Monitor may be a good option. You can check out the demo to learn more. However, if you're not sold on Campaign Monitor, there are other alternatives worth considering. GetResponse offers webinar functionality, a CRM for managing customers, and stronger segmentation. ActiveCampaign provides one of the most advanced autoresponder builders available. Klaviyo features advanced analytics and in-depth reporting for more insights. Check out our top list of Email Marketing to help you choose the right email marketing services for your business.
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