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80% of small and mid-level business owners agree that email marketing is the most important tool for retaining customers. So, if you are a small business owner or even a beginner in the realm of e-commerce, you might be looking for affordable email marketing solutions. In this case, both Shopify and Mailchimp are the right options. But is it really?
in this detailed article on Shopify Email vs Mailchimp, you’ll find out which platform is right for you in 2024.
Why Do You Need Email Marketing?
There are 4.48 Billion Email users around the world. With a number that huge, imagine the customer reach you can gain through email marketing alone. According to Forbes, 64% of small business owners use Email marketing.
Email marketing remains one of the easiest and most effective ways to retain and engage with your customers. Unlike social media Marketing, where you have to depend on the algorithm to do the marketing, you can send direct emails to your customers. Not to mention, email marketing has proven return on investments(ROI).
So, as much as Email marketing is crucial and easier as a marketing channel, it’s also important to determine the right platform for yourself.
Can I use Mailchimp with Shopify?
Yes, you can use Mailchimp with Shopify. By integrating the two platforms, you can sync your customer data, automate marketing campaigns, and create targeted email lists.
Overview: Shopify Email vs Mailchimp
Shopify Email
Shopify launched its email marketing tool in 2019. Allowing Shopify store owners to seamlessly integrate their email marketing campaigns without having to worry about using third party services.
Shopify is primarily known as an all-in-one ecommerce platform that enables businesses to build and manage their online stores. Beyond its core ecommerce functionalities, Shopify also offers Shopify Email—a built-in email marketing solution designed to help merchants reach their customers with targeted campaigns.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp, on the other hand, is a service that is dedicated to Email marketing. Unlike Shopify email, Mailchimp supports a wide range of businesses, not just those in ecommerce. Starting in 2001, Mailchimp has built itself as a high authority in marketing automation and email marketing platform.
It has powerful automation features and a good selection of advanced features that enable brands to create, send, and track email campaigns efficiently.
Shopify Email vs Mailchimp: Email Builder
Both Shopify Email and Mailchimp offer built-in email builders with simple drag-and-drop features.
Shopify’s email builder is directly integrated with Shopify, which makes it easier for Shopify ecommerce store owners to build emails.
on the other hand, Mailchimp has a wide variety of tools with a lot of customization options to build your emails from
let’s talk about the features that both platforms, Email Builder, have.
Email templates:
Shopify offers basic email templates that you can customize for free. Shopify also has branded email templates, which allow you to use your brand logo completely for free.
Mailchimp, however, only offers a few customizations in email templates in their free or essential plan.
So, Shopify wins when it comes to Email templates, as they provide branded templates for free.
Content Blocks
Shopify email offers a set of pre-designed content blocks specifically for your ecommerce store in mind. As it is integrated with your ecommerce store, it automatically adds your product information directly from your store.
Its content blocks are also designed in a way that makes sure your email templates matches your store’s branding. You can also add gift card and discount codes from the content blocks.
Mailchimp on the other hand, offers more thorough customizable options in the content blocks. It also has the option to add product recommendation based on the subscribers data, this can be really helpful for targeted email campaign.
You can target different audience with a single email by enabling dynamic content block. It shows personalized product recommendations based on your customers past purchases.
In summary, Shopify Email focuses on ecommerce integration with its content blocks, while Mailchimp provides more advanced customization options and efficiency, showing personalized recommendations to different customers and campaign needs.
Email Listing
Shopify email listing
Shopify offers a third-party app named Shopify Forms App integrated to list emails, create forms, and build landing pages called the Shopify Forms app.
Shopify Email integrates directly with your Shopify store, making it easier to collect and manage customer email address. You can’t really create highly customizable and engaging Email sign up forms with Shopify Forms App though.
Mailchimp Email Listing
Mailchimp, on the other hand, offers a built-in landing page builder, providing businesses with the ability to create customizable and engaging landing pages . The landing page builder in Mailchimp allows users to design pages with various templates, ensuring versatility and creativity that caters to brand-specific aesthetics.
Besides having templates to create landing pages effortlessly, Mailchimp also offers analytics to assess the performance of your landing page.
In conclusion, Shopify’s email listing strategy is deeply aligned with e-commerce needs, focusing on simplifying list acquisition through existing customer interactions. Mailchimp, however, offers broader customization and integration features, giving businesses more flexibility in how they gather and manage their email lists.
Contact Management and Segmentation
When it comes to contact management and segmentation, Shopify provides a lot of filtering options that allow businesses to categorize their customers effectively. These filters include:
- Amount Spent
- Location
- Customer Account Status
- Customer Added Date
- Customer Email Domain
- Language
- Customer Tags
- Email Events
- Email or SMS Subscription Status
- Last Order Date
- Number of Orders
- Predicted Spend Tier
- Products Purchased
Mailchimp Email Segmentation List
- Demographics: Age, gender, location, and other personal information.
- Behavioral Data: Website activity, past purchasing behavior, and engagement with previous marketing campaigns.
- Psychographics: Interests, lifestyle, and other attitudinal factors that are useful for creating more personalized marketing messages.
- Custom Fields: Custom variables and fields that can be added to the contact list to tailor segmentation to unique business needs.
- Predictive Segmentation: Split audiences based on predicted demographics or purchasing habits, driven by the data Mailchimp gathers and analyzes.
- Engagement Levels: Segments based on how subscribers interact with emails, like opens or clicks, which helps in targeting the most engaged users.
In the case of segmentation, Shopify has a lot more options and filters available than Mailchimp.
Pricing Comparison: Shopify Email vs Mailchimp
| Feature | Shopify Email | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free up to 10,000 emails per month, after that, $1 per 1,000 additional emails | Free plan available, Essentials plan starts at $11 per month, with additional fees based on the number of subscribers and emails sent |
| Email Limit | 10,000 emails per month on free plan; unlimited emails with paid plans | Varies with plan, Essentials allows up to 500 contacts and up to 10,000 sends per month |
| Additional Features | Integrated with Shopify store | Includes CRM, advanced segmentation, and behavioral targeting features |
| Automation | Basic automation features included | Advanced automation with unlimited triggers |
| Support | 24/7 support exclusive to Shopify store owners | 24/7 support depending on the plan tier |
Mailchimp also has the issue of subscribers appearing on multiple audience lists being double-counted, which leads to higher prices.
This table outlines the key differences in pricing between Shopify Email and Mailchimp, allowing businesses to evaluate which platform best suits their email marketing needs.
Email Automation
Email Marketing automation is one of the most important tool of marketing campaign in the era of everything automated . It reduces your manual labor and lets you focus on other important tasks such as product creation.
Shopify’s email automation includes basic features, which includes
- Automation Workflows (Abandoned cart, Abandoned checkout, Welcome subscribers)
Mailchimp, in contrast, provides more comprehensive and advanced automation capabilities. It allows businesses to create complex, multi-step marketing journeys based on a variety of triggers and conditions.
These automations can be initiated by subscriber actions, such as signing up for an email list or clicking a link in a previous email.
In summary, while Shopify Email automation is designed to complement Shopify’s e-commerce functionalities with straightforward automation solutions, Mailchimp offers a more robust, flexible platform ideal for businesses seeking detailed and varied marketing pathways.
Analytics and Reporting
In the realm of analytics and reporting, both Shopify Email and Mailchimp provide tools for tracking and analyzing email campaign performance, although they differ in depth and breadth.
Shopify Email delivers basic analytics that focuses on crucial metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and conversion tracking—offering a straightforward view tailored to e-commerce businesses looking to understand direct impacts on sales.
Mailchimp, however, goes beyond basic metrics to furnish a comprehensive analytics suite. This includes detailed reports on subscriber behavior, comparative campaign performance, and engagement trends over time. Mailchimp’s analytics also integrate with other marketing data, allowing for more granular insights into customer journeys and overall marketing strategy efficacy.
A/B testing tools
one of the standout feature that Mailchimp has is it’s A/B testing tools. You can compare the performance of different types of emails and customers. By doing that, you can analyze the emails that are not performing well, and change them accordingly.
In conclusion, while Shopify Email offers necessary insights and reporting for e-commerce stores, Mailchimp goes beyond and offers competitor benchmarking insights.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Shopify and Mailchimp both offer valuable email marketing solutions, but they cater to distinct needs within the business landscape. Shopify Email is a natural choice for those already operating an e-commerce store on Shopify, as it provides a seamless, integrated experience tailored to that environment. Mailchimp, with its extensive range of features and ability to support a broader scope of business types, is ideal for those who require advanced email marketing capabilities and are willing to integrate with external platforms.
Ultimately, the choice between Shopify and Mailchimp depends on your business objectives, the complexity of your email marketing needs, and whether you prioritize seamless integration within the Shopify ecosystem or require more advanced marketing functionalities. Consider signing up for a free trial or exploring each platform’s offerings to see which aligns best with your business goals.