Let me first be clear about one thing:
I am not a graphic designer, nor am I an HTML code expert by any stretch of the imagination.
I’m all about content, strategy, best practice. I’ve worked with professional graphic designers for the past 8 years to craft beautiful, effective email campaigns. I’ve learned certain bug-a-boos to be aware of when it comes to email code, but that is a sad sad world to live in and I’m so grateful to the patient professionals I’ve been blessed to troubleshoot with in the past. I’ve been able to see my vision for a gorgeous and compelling email come together with the help of a team of experts.
But now, I’m on a little island, a lonely place called “Solopreneur Isle.” And baby, I’m DIYing it.
If that’s the world you’re living in too, I have good news for you. Today, I was able to build the first email campaign in my upcoming FREE course, ‘Email Essentials 101’ – without any coding skills or graphic design software.
And I did it twice.
I wanted to compare the features and functionality of two popular small business ESPs (email service providers), and today, I’m going to share my experience. Get ready for an epic “building a campaign from scratch” ESP Showdown:
First, a disclaimer. I had built out all my graphics and copy in advance. I wrote the copy in a Google doc, and drew a wireframe it so that I had a good idea of how I wanted the campaign to lay out when all was said and done. I also used Canva to create my course logo and a few image banners to break up all the text. Shout out to Canva* for being (mostly) free!!
*I don’t get paid to talk about Canva, I just really like that it is free and doesn’t suck
So I started with all the text and images ready to go; all I needed to do was hop into my account in each ESP and make an email that looked a thousand trillion times better than this wireframe sketch.
How long did it take?
I created the email in Campaign Monitor first, but due to some standing appointments I ended up doing it in two stints of 15 minutes each. This evening, I was able to sit down for a concentrated 30 minutes to build the same email in MailChimp.
Verdict: TIE
User-friendly/intuitiveness
Here is where I will say that Campaign Monitor pulled away a bit from MailChimp.
To make this a real head to head test, I did not start from a pre-customized template in either case. I used the drag and drop functionality in both systems to pull over modular elements that met my message needs.
Within Campaign Monitor’s user interface, I quickly figured out how to lock in certain fonts, colors and sizes to differentiate headlines, secondary headlines and body text. This made it a breeze to copy/paste my text, apply the appropriate style, and maintain consistency throughout the campaign.
MailChimp made me want to throw my computer across the room when I realized that whatever I was applying in the Style window wasn’t sticking. I was having to set font, size, and color on each piece of content within the content editor and then getting inconsistent results.
And at one point, I saved, returned to the campaign, and half my text was centered instead of left aligned.
Mama was mad.
Images are easier to manager within Campaign Monitor as well. Simply drag your image from your desktop or finder into the image block in your message and whamo!
While MailChimp requires that you upload images to a library and select them first. It’s still pretty quick, but extra clicks add up!
Both systems have Creative Cloud integrated for basic image editing within the platform, which is super handy. But MailChimp didn’t like my high res images and talked a little smack about their size, which was frustrating/confusing.
Campaign Monitor just took it.
In terms of build out/layout, each system had their pros and cons when it comes to the drag and drop modules. MailChimp has a very image/icon based interface, while Campaign Monitor uses the old line+teardrop thing you see in Squarespace to help denote if a particular modular element you were dragging into the campaign was going to be full width or what have you. Once you get used to either, you’re probably smooth sailing.
Verdict:
Campaign Monitor gets the win for letting me set/forget text styles on the front end and minimizing repetitive work + clicks.
Consistency with the design vision
MailChimp and Campaign Monitor offer a different mix of email safe and web-based fonts, with Campaign Monitor getting a firm edge in terms of selection. If you like to have a lot of selection, or if you have a brand standard font that one system doesn’t support, this might be important to you.
In the end, both of my emails look VASTLY better than what I drew for a wireframe. Take a gander.
Pretty consistent, right?
I did like how easy it was to create a boxed text section to help some of my content stand out within MailChimp. + 4 points for the Chimp! But the spacing and fonts available to lock in on the front end within Campaign Monitor made it much easier for me to be consistent with my brand standards overall.
Just a heads up though: MAILCHIMP EMAIL FOOTERS MAKE ME CRINGE.
In fairness, I’m using their free account which means they get to emblazon everything I send with their logo (ADVERTISING, BABY!). Campaign Monitor requires a paid account to send to a list larger than 5 subscribers, so you can’t skate by for freesies while you get your feet wet with email.
Verdict: TIE
SUMMARY
Both systems are solid for any marketer getting their start in this channel, IMO.
Yes, I wanted to strangle the Chimp when I had to reset fonts/sizes/colors repeatedly. But that Chimp has really worked the market and easily integrates with like, all the things (Squarespace, for instance, is advertising for MailChimp every time you build a form in there). And it is FREE for a pretty robust feature set (if you don’t mind having their logo in your email footer) until you have 2500 subscribers. That’s like, really nice.
I have to say that Campaign Monitor made it incredibly easy to build an email that is very tight to my brand with minimal ramp up time. The modules/editor seemed a bit less buggy than MailChimp, too, which is kind of a big deal.
Today’s ESP showdown is strictly dedicated to the features and functionality of building a single message; I’m not diving into platform features or price point. I didn’t get into list management, or going through the process of full quality control, or scheduling and monitoring campaign results. These are all a major part of any email marketer’s world and shouldn’t be taken lightly; for another post, I say.
What about you? What ESPs have you used? What are some non-negotiables when it comes to the editing and user interface?
Thanks for sharing the review comparison, Erica. I’m curious how different sought outcomes for users might create different assessments of which service is better. Meaning, could filtering for different constraints yield different conclusions? For example, would one weigh out higher on the free versions vs. paid for versions? What about if I have a modest amount of coding skills to customize vs. no experience? Or, what if I’m a high volume B2B content marketer vs. a solopreneur blogger? Any other competitors (I’m thinking of ConvertKit/Seva, Infusionsoft, etc.) worth considering?
Hi Dane – thanks for your questions. I focused this post on the ease of creating an email without coding skills or a pre-saved template – but didn’t get that far into price/value, the mechanisms for building out automation, integrations and how those streamline workflows, or even what it looks like to actually manage subscribers, look at reports and gain insights, etc. I started where I did mostly because that was where I was at in my personal business, but also because the functionality in terms of the use-case doesn’t change regardless of your service level (e.g. free vs. paid account). I’d imagine a high-volume B2B content marketer wouldn’t mess with the platforms I explored in this particular show-down, as they’d have access to resources that could fund larger systems that come with greater functionality and the associated price tag that “having a budget” can afford! In terms of competitors to consider, you mention a couple of great ones I don’t have first-hand experience with, and there are a host of others that I didn’t mention or that I wouldn’t recommend (Constant Contact, Vertical Response, Emma, AWeber, and I could go on). Thanks for helping draw out this additional clarification as I’m sure other readers will find it incredibly useful to add context to the post. Keep those questions and thoughtful comments coming!
I’m a Mailchimp user, so I enjoyed seeing the results of this platform to platform battle without having to do it myself! I have to agree with you on the typography issues. It was interesting to see your process to building an email and navigating the platforms. I’m curious if your opinion would change as you create more email and have to manage lists with segmentation. Maybe there’s a future post you can dive in deeper with the platform you chose and some of the special features we wouldn’t see right away.
Hi Courtney – I so appreciate you taking the time to share your questions and perspective here. The user interface for building a campaign is only one of many decision-making factors for marketers considering their email marketing platform options – you mention segmentation, which is huge, but also analyzing reports, integrating data and systems… I realize that this post is woefully inadequate in terms of a comprehensive show-down. I spent about 1 hour today building a 7-message drip campaign in MailChimp and found the user interface to be pretty straightforward on that front… wondering what it would be like to build that same automation program in another system! Something for a future post, perhaps? I’d love to hear from you as to what your favorite feature of MailChimp is, vs. something you wish worked differently and/or better – that could help me dive deeper in a future head-to-head! Thanks again for the questions!