One of the newest kids on the block in the world of email marketing software is ConvertKit. This is a powerful email service provider as well as landing page builder that targets podcasters, YouTubers, professional bloggers, and course creators.
The main aim of ConvertKit is to help content creators connect more easily with their fan base while simultaneously earning a living through email marketing.
Upon first inspection, ConvertKit seems to offer a great deal of advanced features such as email automation, a landing page editor, digital products online store, and much more. Some of these features are pretty unique and certainly appeal to target groups.
For instance, the chance to sell digital products and subscriptions is not available with any other email marketing platform.
First introduced as a freemium plan for creators with less than 1,000 subscribers, its cheapest package is aimed at marketers with fewer than 300 subscribers. But, is ConvertKit as promising as it first appears on paper? We decided to find out for ourselves!
ConvertKit has evolved significantly over the last five years or so and many marketers and creators depend on it to run their online businesses. In today’s blog, we will be reviewing ConvertKit and finding out if it’s the right option to help your business grow. We will also discover whether their claim that their system is easier to use than Mailchimp is actually true or not.
So, let’s start this review so you can make an informed decision on whether you should use it for your business or not in the future.
What Is ConvertKit?
As we have already touched upon, ConvertKit is an email marketing tool designed to aid content creators such as writers, professional bloggers, Youtubers, and many more.
These creators can use ConvertKit to help build landing pages for their websites and blogs as well as sell products and services via emails. You can consider it a cross between MailChimp and Infusionsoft but at a more affordable price and with easier useability.
ConvertKit Pros
We will start this review by studying the pros of using ConvertKit and follow this with the cons that come with this software.
Top-quality deliverability – Reviews and personal tests have shown superb deliverability time and time again.
Paid newsletters – Allows you to charge readers if they want a copy of your newsletter. This is another method of adding an additional revenue stream to your business.
A landing page editor – The software lets you create a simple landing page, this is even possible for those who do not own a website. When it comes to social media campaigns, this is truly convenient. You can choose from a wide range of desirable templates and it also allows you to use your own custom domain with the free plan.
User-subscription management is easy to use – You can add and remove subscribers from your workflows with ease and flexibility
ConvertKit Cons
Let’s examine some of the drawbacks of using ConvertKit below:
Quite expensive – Some tools that offer more advanced features, such as SendinBlue, are more affordable.
Poor in-depth reports – Although there are basics on offer such as subscribers, click-through rates, and open rates, other reports are not available like geo-tracking, bounce rates, and click maps.
Lacking design options – There are only three templates currently available to choose from. And, each one is text-based. For better visual results, more design options should be made available.
As you can see, there are obvious pros and cons with ConvertKit. It’s a matter of what matters most to you as a user when considering these in your final decision.
Price Plans
There is a range of price plans available depending on the service you want. However, whichever price plan you opt for, ConvertKit will move your lists into their systems for no additional costs.
Price Plans Available
1000 subscribers – $0 (This free plan does not include automation or reports)
300 subscribers – $15.00 per month (Includes unlimited emails and discounts are also available with the yearly plan)
1,000 subscribers – $29.00 per month (Includes unlimited emails and discounts are also available with the yearly plan)
3,000 subscribers – $49.00 per month (Includes unlimited emails and discounts are also available with the yearly plan)
5,000 subscribers – $79.00 per month (Includes unlimited emails and discounts are also available with the yearly plan)
10,000 subscribers – $119.00 per month (Includes unlimited emails and discounts are also available with the yearly plan)
25,000 subscribers – $199.00 per month (Includes unlimited emails and discounts are also available with the yearly plan)
50,000 subscribers – $379.00 per month (Includes unlimited emails and discounts are also available with the yearly plan)
100,000 subscribers – $679.00 per month (Includes unlimited emails and discounts are also available with the yearly plan)
Ease Of Use
The majority of the features that come with ConvertKit are pretty easy to use. Moreover, navigation through these and in the backend is also quite straightforward.
However, you sometimes need to adjust certain HTML codes when formatting emails which can be quite frustrating.
Creating Newsletters
When you want to edit a newsletter with ConvertKit, you will enjoy how fast and self-explanatory it is. Just like a text editor you use when sending a traditional email, the newsletter editor is extremely basic.
We were hoping for more options to choose from but you are somewhat limited with what you can achieve. You can create regular text, horizontal lines, bullet points and ordered lists, simple images, and file uploads.
Nonetheless, ConvertKit has recently introduced an updated editor to their interface. This includes videos, CTA buttons, and Spotify songs. Although these additional features are more than welcome, we still feel that the visual display could be improved and included additional options for GIF creations/integration, column creation, and/or featured products.
Also available with ConvertKit is If/They/Else Logic. However, this is not as easy to use because it is code-based. But, if you understand this, it will be a great help in your creations. The editor does allow you to change certain email content using conditionals as well. This results in a more personalized experience for readers.
When it comes to the different types of emails available, you can choose from classic newsletters, automation, sequences (autoresponders), landing page creation, and A/B testing. However, A/B testing is only for subject lines.
Email Automation
It is possible to make email sequences as well as workflow-based visual automation with ConvertKit’s basic plan. Although this is the cheapest plan on offer, it may offer enough for some content creators.
Once a user has triggered an event such as making a purchase, you, as the creator, can customize the way you communicate with them. This can be done by adding a tag or subscribing your audience to different sequences.
Template Designs
Unfortunately, the choice of template designs is pretty poor with ConvertKit. Altogether, you have the choice of 3 templates and these are too basic for our liking. For instance, none of the templates allow you to add grouped images to your emails or offer column-based layouts.
Although the templates work well and are responsive, you are simply limited when trying to create visual content with ConvertKit. One highlight is that you can upload HTML codes to make your own templates which we are sure most users will end up doing.
Managing Lists
This is a highlight of ConvertKit. The tagging system is easy to use and wonderfully flexible when you want to add or remove certain users from different campaigns and/or email sequences. Therefore, it is a lot easier to segment different subscribers if you need to.
Languages
ConvertKit is currently only available in English and there is no sign of this changing any time soon. If you want to use email marketing software in a foreign country in another language, we recommend looking elsewhere.
Registration Forms
Another impressive feature of ConvertKit is the ability to create embedded landing pages. You can also create pop-up and slide-in forms for your landing pages to make them more appealing for users.
The forms included in the software are very easy to edit with the visual editor and, unlike the templates, there are some attractive designs to choose from.
Analysis And Reports
ConvertKit is quite basic with its reports and analysis. It comes with clicks, subscribers, and open rates. Don’t go looking for a heatmap but this is not included as well as eCommerce conversion tracking and social media reports.
Rather surprisingly to us, Google analytics is also not included. Even more odd is the lack of a bounce rate. Maybe these will be integrated into the next ConvertKit software but you should expect them to be included in current systems such as this.
Features
Bounce Management
ConvertKit supports bounce management with hard bounces being flagged so no further emails are sent to them. As for soft bounces, this will eventually be classed as hard bounces but only when the email address cannot be reached after numerous attempts.
Design And Spam Testing
Spam testing is not supported by ConvertKit but emails are tested in the software’s background. If necessary, these are then flagged.
Unfortunately, there is no design testing either. However, you can use an external device if required.
Blacklist
Blacklist is not available with ConvertKit but there are rumors that it could be implemented in the next software release.
Storage
There is an unlimited amount of storage for you to store data and images. However, the software lets itself down again by not including a media database. Therefore, it is not as easy to manage your data and files.
Domain
It is possible to customize the domain to something more appropriate for your business. These domains can be changed to suit your landing pages and contact forms. However, this does not include tracking URLs within your emails.
Authentication
ConvertKit supports SPF and DKIM. It should be noted that this software used external mail servers such as MailGun. While this is pretty uncommon within the email marketing software industry, it all works perfectly fine.
Account Access
There are a few levels of account access. For instance, you can invite admins and team members to join your account but you will have to pay extra for this service with the Creator Pro Plan.
Landing Page Editor
This is one of the standout features associated with ConvertKit. This provides you with a large selection of stylish, modern templates. Best of all, there is an unlimited number of templates to choose from. A welcome feature after the low amount of template designs overall.
The only drawback is the limited options to modify these designs if you desire. Also, the usability of these landing page templates is pretty poor. If you use the landing page editor of competitive software such as MailerLite or GetResponse, then you will understand how disappointing ConvertKit’s user experience is.
Nonetheless, the option to add your own domain, even with the free plan, is a great bonus.
Integrations
There are approximately 90 integrations included with ConvertKit. Some examples include WooCommerce, SumoMe, ConvertPlug, and Shopify. Just bear in mind that a number of integrations that are advertised on the ConvertKit website must be set up manually at first.
This is done by copying and pasting HTML code. This can be a bit of a frustrating process for many.
Help And Support
We have been extremely impressed by the support ConvertKit offers. It’s always been fast with easy-to-understand explanations on any issues.
Contact methods are via tickets (email) or live chat. As well as this, ConvertKit also offers very insightful and helpful tutorials. While these could be improved to be more detailed, we appreciate that they are included in the first place.
Switching From MailChimp To ConvertKit
If you’re making the switch from MailChimp to ConvertKit, you will need to complete the following process:
Firstly, you will need to export your various email lists from MailChimp. Next, you need to upload these to ConvertKit.
The next step is to copy any text and images from your autoresponder and as well as any other campaigns into a ConvertKit sequence.
Another method is to connect to MailChimp’s API and then sync your subscribers from one email account to another provider.
Why Use ConvertKit?
There are several reasons why you should use ConvertKit. But, here are the main reasons we use this software and the services it provides:
Helps you grow an email list
Allows you to promote blog posts
Provides you with basic email marketing tools
Delivers content upgrades to help your landing pages stand out
Can customize landing pages to suit your business and persona
Offers email autoresponders when you have messages from subscribers and customers
Offers advanced marketing automation
Allows you to sell your services and products to a wider audience
Is ConvertKit Worth The Money?
ConvertKit’s monthly price can be a little too expensive for some users. However, there is the option to try the software out at first with a free plan. Then, if you decide the software is right for you, you can decide to move your list over.
If your list is somewhat modest and you are content with selling just a few products and services, then you should be able to cover the cost of your subscription through the use of email marketing.
As for the most advanced plan, ConvertKit Creator pro, we only recommend this to those who have large lists of over 10,000 or if advanced analytics are required.
In Summary
ConvertKit impressed us in several areas. For instance, support is friendly, quick, and very effective. Furthermore, managing subscribers via the software’s tagging system is very flexible and easy to understand.
If you are a blogger or digital marketer, ConvertKit can be a great tool to help you target your communications to your audience.
The landing page editor allows you to collect potential subscribers and all without a website of your own. For social media campaigns, this is a great feature. You can also sell digital products and subscriptions via its brand new and unique commerce feature which we love.
Yes, ConvertKit is a little expensive and certain aspects are hard to get your head around. Therefore, we suggest trying out some other alternative first before settling on a final email marketing system. Only then can you compare and contrast each platform and understand what works best for you.
Hi, my name is Mark Matthews, and I help to run several businesses through managing their mailing services.
I have a clear and good understanding of what a company or person should consider when choosing between options. I also have a lot of experience when it comes to managing businesses in general, from the best organizational and scheduling apps to use, to teaching owners how to create engaging emails.
