If you’re looking for a way to grow your business by building an audience of people who love what you do, ConvertKit is worth checking out.
Email marketing is the best way to engage with your target customers/subscribers and is more personable and more profitable than most social media platforms.
ConvertKit differentiates itself from other email marketing platforms by offering landing pages for lead capture right in the interface much like Leadpages.
It’s targeted to help bloggers, YouTubers, course writers, podcasters, and other creators and entrepreneurs that may rely on marketing automation connect with subscribers.
So let’s review ConvertKit and show you how ConvertKit email marketing can benefit your business.
ConvertKit Review
Overview- How It Works
It’s free to sign up for ConvertKit and you can start setting up your email editor, list of subscribers, and visual automations instantly.
You’ll be able to send emails and get reports on how you’re customer-base is responding to your emails- you’ll get analytics on link click, open rates, and even unsubscribes to your list.
In addition to analytics, ConvertKit has a built-in email editor that’ll help you create customized emails without using any external software.
It’s easy to add images and videos in the body of your emails and it also comes with a library of pre-made templates for different types of content like contests, announcements, and newsletters.
When you email your list, each subscriber can see a different version of your email based on their interests and behaviors.
Rather than cookie-cutter marketing tactics, your emails are like letters to friends that are catered to their preferences.
It’s an easy way to make sure every person who hears from you sees something they’re interested in. The more your emails are catered to subscribers, the more likely they are to join or buy whatever you’re marketing.
ConvertKit Pricing
Like most other email marketing services, the features are based on the number of subscribers you have. As your subscribers increase, so will your pricing.
ConvertKit pricing starts with 3 main options: Free, Creator, and Creator Pro. Each plan comes with a 14-day free trial so you can try it out and decide if ConvertKit is the perfect email marketing tool for you.
The Free plan isn’t simply a limited free trial like some competitors- it’s legit a free plan!
You can sign up and use the free plan as long as you have under 1,000 subscribers. The only catch is that it does have more limited features, which the Creator and Creator Pro plans do have.
Creator is the next step up at an affordable $29/month for up to 300 subscribers, with additional features like free migration from another tool/platform and automated funnels and sequences.
But again, it doesn’t have all the features you may want for your business.
ConvertKit plans do not include A/B testing tools. But if you upgrade your account to Business, it will cost an additional $29/month per user (up to 6 users), which gives you access to A/B tests, landing page tracking, merge tags, forms, and 100 automations.
Features
ConvertKit offers everything you need to get visual automation, email templates, and so much more.
With their marketing automation, you can run a membership site for subscribers, create landing pages and forms, run an email course or viral contest, autoresponders, and marketing campaigns.
ConvertKit also offers some helpful features like:
- Share Reports: You can share your automated reports with other team members to keep everyone in the loop. The option to download a CSV file from ConvertKit’s analytics is also great for marketers who want to use their data as a reference.
- Automated Responses: You can create an autoresponder for people who visit your landing page or sign up to be added to your list. It’s a great way to nurture leads and keep them engaged with your brand.
- Multiple Workflows: Workflows are like rules for your lists; you can set up an automated sequence of emails that get sent when certain actions are performed.
- Email Sequences: You can use email sequences to send prewritten emails, called “blocks” that you create in ConvertKit or upload separately from a CSV file.
- Broadcasts: Broadcasts are just one-way emails that you send to your lists manually.
- Automatic Emails: ConvertKit can trigger emails to be sent when someone subscribes, unsubscribes, sends an email, or even when they don’t open one of your emails.
- Templates: You can choose from hundreds of templates in ConvertKit’s library or upload your own design.
- Google Analytics Integration: If you’re running advanced marketing campaigns with Google Ads and Google Analytics, you can integrate them with ConvertKit so that both platforms are aware of the same data.
Targeted Campaigns/Emails
ConvertKit helps you create targeted campaigns and emails based on any tags or fields you have in your forms.
With a few clicks, you can send an email to the people who signed up for a specific list from one of your forms (like if someone filled out the last name field and joined your “Smith” list).
ConvertKit users can A/B test their emails and offers to see what works best.
Subscribers
The whole point of email marketing is reaching your subscribers and keeping them engaged as much as possible. The better your emails, the better your return on investment!
ConvertKit has all the standard features you’d expect from an email marketing platform, as well as a few unique ones worth mentioning.
First off, ConvertKit email editor has a tagging system so you can categorize your subscribers and send them targeted emails based on those categories.
For example, you could have one list for subscribers that are on a product launch list and another for subscribers that opted into a podcast.
The tagging system is great because it means you don’t have to import or link your lists from other providers. You can just add new tags to your readers as they opt-in for different things on your site.
Broadcasts
Broadcasts are similar to MailChimp’s Automated emails.
They’re scheduled, one-off emails that run on a set schedule (daily, weekly, monthly). These can be used for newsletters or product updates if you want to send them with automation.
This feature is great for emailing your list while you’re away from the computer or can’t schedule a full-blown marketing campaign.
Landing Page Editor
ConvertKit is a dynamic landing page builder with an easy-to-use drag and drop editor.
You can build a form in minutes, even if you don’t know how to code. This is great because it means you can get started quickly without hiring a developer or copywriter.
It’s also unique that each subscription form can be customized to match your brand, which ensures subscribers are always entering their information on a familiar-looking page.
Autoresponses
Autoresponders are emails that you send automatically, on a schedule, or in response to an action by the subscriber.
ConvertKit lets you build two types of autoresponses: merge tags and automations.
Merge Tags: Their tagging system makes streamlining your email subscribers easier. You can create groups for different types of subscribers, and target them with different merge tags.
For example, you could create two lists for people that haven’t purchased your product yet (engaged prospects) or are subscribed to your list but have purchase requests (interested leads). You could then send each type of autoresponder specifically targeted at those readers.
Automations: Since ConvertKit has its own Automation system, you can combine forms, autoresponders, and broadcasts to create powerful marketing campaigns.
For example, you could split test an offer to your list by creating one broadcast with two different emails (sending the same email but changing up call-to-action or image placement slightly) then running an automated autoresponder that follows up on the broadcast.
Usability
ConvertKit is designed with marketers in mind, so it’s easy to use and intuitive.
Even if you’ve never used an email service provider before, you can figure out how to create a list, build a form and schedule your first campaign in minutes on ConvertKit.
There are also lots of resources on their site that help you get started quickly, including pre-made templates for marketing emails, landing pages, and sign-up forms.
Workshops
ConvertKit offers workshops to help you navigate their features and minimize the learning curve when you’re not used to the automation ConvertKit offers.
You can also sign up for live webinars or video training that are hosted by their CEO to get more in-depth instructions about using ConvertKit.
These are great if you have zero marketing experience or are looking to level up your skills.
ConvertKit’s team also has a Facebook group full of users that share marketing ideas and discuss how they’re using the platform.
Articles & Guides
Because ConvertKit’s team is so active on social media and their blog, you can find tons of articles and guides to help you with marketing.
But sometimes it’s too much information thrown at you all at once. If you’re new to email marketing, they can be overwhelming.
ConvertKit Creator Community
ConvertKit is developed by its community, so there are lots of active users posting about their experiences with it on social media. It’s worth checking out if you’re not sure how well it’ll work for your list or business.
Customer Support
Their customer support is available via chat and emails throughout the week. Their hours are typically 8 am- 8 pm, Monday through Friday, and a slightly limited service on the weekends.
ConvertKit responds to chat requests within five minutes, which leads to quick answers and you can move on with your day.
We also mentioned it above, but ConvertKit has an active community on social media- you’re always able to post and reach out with questions to other businesses for help and even feedback on your marketing strategies.
ConvertKit Pros & Cons
ConvertKit Pros
ConvertKit has a few pros that stand out the most, but here is a quick list of benefits from using this email marketing tool:
- HIGH deliverability rate – more emails mean more profit in your pocket!
- Unlimited landing pages
- Free integration with email marketing apps like MailChimp, AWeber, GetResponse, and ActiveCampaign
- Integration with Google analytics (great for us bloggers!)
- Unlimited emails for your subscribers, on every plan
- ConvertKit updates its software, and new features are always being added
Great for Beginners
Whether you’re using ConvertKit for the first time or switching from another email service provider, it’s easy to pick up and get started.
- Landing Pages are easy to use: You can create forms and campaigns for subscribers easily with the Drag and Drop editor.
- Lead Analytics: ConvertKit’s analytics show you how many people have seen your emails, who opened them, and more.
New Free Plan Offering
ConvertKit now offers a free plan for anyone who has under 1,000 subscribers!
It has limited features compared to their other plans, but it would work well for most small businesses and keep their operating/marketing costs low since it’s free to use.
You may still want to consider their other plan offerings, but why not start with the free one and see how you like using ConvertKit?
Landing Page Reports
Landing page reports show you how many people have visited your pages, where they came from, who submitted a form, and more. It’s helpful for anyone who wants to track their marketing campaigns or website traffic.
ConvertKit Cons
Lack of Templates
ConvertKit doesn’t have a huge library of templates that some large companies may be interested in, so another email marketing platform would be your pick.
For us, it hasn’t been lacking, but some people need a better variety of templates.
It’d be nice if they had a few more options to choose from, but you can always design one yourself and upload it for use in your other marketing campaigns.
ConvertKit Pricing
The features are great, but the pricing seems to be geared toward larger businesses.
Convertkit now has a free plan, which makes a big difference, but at $29 and $49 a month, the pricing is a bit steep compared to other email marketing platforms.
Why We Use ConvertKit
If you’re looking to take your blog to the next level, ConvertKit is an affordable and efficient email marketing software.
ConvertKit lets you make beautiful landing pages for your email list with just a click. You also get access to powerful email marketing tools like automated emails and autoresponders so that you can nurture leads and keep them engaged with your brand.
There are tons of templates available in ConvertKit’s library or upload your design so it looks exactly how you want it; we love that we can choose from hundreds of templates or upload our own design in ConvertKit’s library!
The drag & drop email sequence editor is one of our favorite parts of ConvertKit. We also love that it integrates easily with existing email service providers and that we can use their analytics as a reference for our data.
ConvertKit Alternatives
Can’t have a good ConvertKit Review without giving you some competitors to consider!
We picked 3 alternatives to ConvertKit that are also email marketing platforms with great reviews.
Mailchimp
The biggest draw to Mailchimp is that they have so many templates and make attractive marketing campaigns.
They also offer a free plan, so if you’re looking for more diversity, you may be interested in Mailchimp, but their customer service isn’t great.
GetResponse
GetResponse is another automation service that offers automation and landing pages and has a similar success rate on email deliverability to ConvertKit.
While their offerings are similar, GetResponse is only $15 per month for 1,000 subscribers, which is the same amount as the free plan under ConvertKit but has more features.
Drip
Some of our research showed that other bloggers using ConvertKit actually switched from Drip, which we found interesting.
Drip offers great A/B testing, e-commerce management, email automation, and other similar features to ConvertKit.
But for Drip, you pay $19 per month for 500 subscribers, so again ConvertKit offers a free plan with limited features, so it may not be worth paying for another service.
Our ConvertKit Review Wrapup
We also looked up a ConvertKit Review before we decided on using it for our email lists. We were impressed by how many online creators were raving about it and had to give it a shot!
It’s become one of the best blogging resources we’ve added to our arsenal and helps us increase traffic on our blog and of course, increase our income!
In conclusion, ConvertKit is a powerful email service provider that’s great for marketers and business owners who want to grow their mailing list without hiring additional help.
ConvertKit’s email marketing software is a great option for bloggers and marketers who want to build their lists and automated email campaigns quickly, but it isn’t as cheap as some of its competitors.
We say it’s never a bad idea to try something and take the free trial for a spin, so use ConvertKit to see how you like it- and feel free to let us know about your experience with ConvertKit in the comments below!
ConvertKit
