Are you trying to decide whether to switch from Mailchimp to Mail Blaze? Or are you new at email marketing and trying to find the right email sending service for you? Whichever stage of the email marketing cycle you are in, we’d love to speak to you and ultimately help you choose the right email sending platform to suit your needs.

To make things simple (and save you valuable time) we go through the main points of difference between Mailchimp and our own platform, Mail Blaze.

Firstly, it’s important to look at what you want out of a platform, so let’s start there.

WHAT DO YOU NEED?

If you’re looking for a full marketing platform that will allow you to manage multiple channels that form part of the marketing cycle, Mailchimp might be a better alternative for you.

If you’re happy with managing your platforms the way you are currently and you need an email marketing platform that is invested in helping you succeed Mail Blaze is definitely the partner for you.

Let’s take a look at other considerations you might have...

PRICING

We know that the current global pandemic has had vast economic implications across multiple industries and that budgets might be tight.

Mailchimp pricing overview:

With Mailchimp pricing is broken up into 3 categories: Essentials, Standard and Premium.

• Based on the plan you choose, you’ll have access to select platform features and support (make sure you choose a plan that includes everything you need).
• Pricing is in US Dollars (which isn’t a pro or con), but you’ll need to factor the fluctuating exchange rate into your budget (especially if you’re based in South Africa).
• Mailchimp does offer flexible contracts as you can pause your account. You are however limited to pausing your account for a max of two months during a year.

Mailchimp does offer a free package that people can use. If we focus on what’s included in the free package that relates to email marketing:

• you’ll be able to send to a list of 2,000 subscribers for free (with a sending limit of 10,000 per month).
• Included in the plan is 30 days of support, thereafter no support is offered on the free plan.
• Limited templates are available to you
• Mailchimp banners will appear in the footer of every email you send
• You can only have 1 user per account

Mail Blaze pricing overview:

With Mail Blaze, there are no extra fees. You can choose to use the platform (with all functionality and features included) on the following basis:

• Pay As You Go packages (where you pay for email credits)
• Monthly subscription packages (where you select the number of contacts you have and pay a monthly fee).

Mail Blaze does not have a free package, but does offer a free 14-day trial. Included in the free trial is:

• Access to all functionality and features
• Access to all templates (100s of templates available)
• Send to a list of 500 subscribers during the trial period (limited to 1000 sends)

PRICING EXAMPLE SUMMARY:

*please note exchange rates come into play on Mailchimp pricing, price correct at time of publication.

Growing with you as you grow, (doesn’t decrease your ROI per customer but helps you increase customer value after acquisition)

PLATFORM FEATURES:

Features vary across the Mailchimp and Mail Blaze platform.

Mailchimp (as a marketing tool) offers features outside the scope of email marketing such as: Landing Pages, Ads, Postcards, Social Media and other features.

Mail Blaze is focussed on helping you succeed in your email marketing campaigns and as such offers you:

• An easy to use drag and drop editor
• Easy Set up of your forms and subscription-related pages
• Excellent guided support
• Access to all templates available, no matter what plan you are on
• Custom fields
• Personalisation
• Transactional emails (Mailchimp has a separate service called Mandrill for this. It's included in your Mail Blaze account)
• Built-in tracking and reporting

TEMPLATES:

With Mailchimp you’ll only have access to certain email templates if you are on the Essential package (or higher). With Mail Blaze, whether you are on a trial, flame, ember or fire package, you’ll have access to all the templates available on our system.

We even allow you to view the templates and play around with our builder before you sign up. Preview our templates page today.

At Mail Blaze, we help our clients move over any existing templates that they may have with another email sending provider (free of charge) and have the ability to design email templates for you if needed through our partner agency, The Yard Effect.

SUPPORT:

Support and client service is often a big point of concern for clients looking to switch or find the right partner for their business to run effective email marketing campaigns. At Mail Blaze we believe that Your Success is our fuel and therefore aim to provide exceptional guided support throughout. Our support is offered via phone, online chat, email or even Zoom for all package sizes.

At Mailchimp you’ll have access to support for the first 30 days on a free package via email only. On higher packages such as the Essential plan you’ll be able to get email support as well as chat support. Phone support is only offered to clients that are on a Mailchimp Premium package. Premium packages start at US $356.43 (or R5 423,38).

EASE OF USE:

At Mail Blaze we don’t believe in complicating things. If you’re looking for an easy, intuitive email marketing solution - we’re the partner for you.

With a myriad of capabilities, Mailchimp can become complicated to use and understand.

OTHER:

Mailchimp is an international company with 100’s of employees across the world. As a smaller, nimble team, Mail Blaze is always looking to enhance our features and bring our clients more of what they need and less of what they don’t. We strive to ensure that our clients can connect, create and cultivate exceptional email marketing experiences in a way that improves not only their own internal workings but adds value to the customers they serve.

If you want to learn more and speak to a sales consultant about how Mail Blaze can make your life easier, email [email protected] or call us on +27 21 486 1870