Most people who know anything about email marketing will have heard of Mailchimp. It is a successful and user-friendly email marketing application that can be accessed for free, then scaled up according to the needs of your business. HubSpot, another powerful email marketing tool, is often held up as a direct comparison to Mailchimp. While there is some overlap between the two programmes, this comparison isn’t strictly fair, as both platforms were designed to achieve different things.
In this article we will discuss how Mailchimp and HubSpot can both be used, and how to select the most appropriate tool for email marketing.
Mailchimp
A Mailchimp account can be set up in a matter of minutes and permanently accessed without charge under their ‘Forever Free’ plan. This allows users to upload a contact database of up to 2,000 contacts and send up to 12,000 emails every month. This is more than sufficient for most B2B companies and small to medium sized e-commerce businesses
To send an email, you divide your subscribers into one or more lists, then set up your campaign through the intuitive campaign generator. There are a range of basic templates you can use, although we recommend creating your own HTML email template and uploading this if possible, as the native templates are quite limited.
Campaigns can be scheduled for a time of your choosing, and then analysed in terms of successful deliveries, opens, clicks and so on. Subscribers who unsubscribe are automatically removed from your contact database.
There is more to Mailchimp but these are the basics. It is easy, intuitive and fast to learn, which is why it’s so popular. However, many users find it lacking in advanced features – and in many ways it hasn’t changed much since it was first launched in 2001. Workflow and campaign management isn’t always very intuitive, and it isn’t always easy to integrate your email marketing through Mailchimp with other marketing applications you use.
HubSpot
Enter HubSpot… We have to be clear that HubSpot is not an email marketing platform per se. Rather, it is a marketing automation and business growth platform that includes email marketing tools. HubSpot’s open, modular architecture also includes tools for blogging, sales tracking, lead scoring, landing pages, and PPC management – you name it.
As an email marketing tool, HubSpot allows you to tailor campaigns based on behavioural triggers, which is a real advantage. You can, for example, set up auto-responder emails to send an email when a subscriber clicks on a certain page of your website, or for B2C businesses, when a customer abandons a shopping cart. HubSpot allows you to go into far more detail than Mailchimp, establishing specific buyer profiles for each of your customer types and creating unique content trees of email content that is sent under specific circumstances.
This allows you to nurture and develop each contact, and measure the results, in a way that you can’t do in Mailchimp. On the back-office side, HubSpot allows seamless email marketing campaign management. You can use the platform to design mobile-responsive HTML emails, starting from scratch or modifying one of HubSpot’s own email templates. Regular emails can be scheduled up to 12 months in advance, and each user can have up to 10 ‘trigger’ emails attached.
Graduating From Mail Chimp To HubSpot
Mailchimp is a fantastic application that we strongly recommend for any business new to email marketing. It is free, easy-to-use and can be picked up straightaway. However, HubSpot is the better application for companies taking an integrated approach to marketing and sales – which is the best means of achieving lasting, consistent growth results. This is why many Mailchimp users graduate to HubSpot after using the package for a while. Sooner or later you reach a point where you’ve achieved all you can with Mailchimp on its own, and additional tools are needed to maximise your results. Some users continue to use both HubSpot and Mailchimp, although in our opinion this isn’t necessary, as HubSpot has an excellent email marketing module.
Using HubSpot With An Agency
Adopting HubSpot does require an investment and the right knowledge to use the platform properly. Many businesses find they get a better ROI from HubSpot if they use it in conjunction with a HubSpot partner agency, such as JDR. To find out more about our services and the benefits of working with one of the leading HubSpot partners in the UK, please get in touch today by phone or email.
