One of the things that I’ve been quietly working on in the background here is working on my email marketing across my sites.
I think most people already know that an engaged email list is a great asset for a site owner, but actually getting to that point is the real challenge.
And for some people, just picking which email marketing tool to use stops them before they even get started.
For me, I started out using MailChimp ages ago, and then at some point started using Mailerlite.
Why those two?
Because they are free and I’d heard good things about them from other site owners.
Fast forward to a few years ago and I started hearing more and more good things about this new email marketing platform for creators called ConvertKit.
But it wasn’t until 2021 that I moved my first list from Mailerlite to ConvertKit to give it a try.
After all, they have a free account option as well, so what did I have to lose?
**And as always, I’m an affiliate marketer and this post probably contains affiliate links, meaning I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links
How They Compare
In my experience using both ConvertKit and Mailerlite, they are actually quite similar in terms of functionality and how they work.
With each of them you can sign up for a free account, you can integrate with a variety of tools and plugins, and you can choose from a variety of their pre-made templates.
Both also offer paid accounts that give you access to more features, like automations and being able to sell directly from your email newsletter.
One thing that stood out to me immediately upon switching to ConvertKit – and honestly, caused me a bit of confusion – is that they don’t use the same buzzwords as most email marketing tools.
For instance, instead of sending out a campaign, you send out a broadcast in ConvertKit.
Honestly, this was really the only ‘learning curve’ that I experienced making the switch.
But the most important difference that I noticed was a change in deliverability, but in a good way.
My deliverability improved after moving to ConvertKit, which was unexpected.
This means less of my email blasts end up going to spam than was previously the case.
I think the only real downside to ConvertKit over Mailerlite is that has a higher cost once you get a bigger list and need to upgrade your account.
Of course, this can be managed by regularly removing people from your list who aren’t opening your emails.
But overall I’m finding that ConvertKit is a much more user friendly email marketing tool than Mailerlite (or Mailchimp).
If you do have a large list already, or just want to start out on one of the paid plans for more features, they are offering a special for the month of July where you get the first month for free (as well as some other freebies).
What I Really Like About ConvertKit
One of the things that I really like about ConvertKit is how easy is to build a landing page to collect those email addresses. Sure, you can do this with MailerLite, too, but I both find the process easier with ConvertKit and I honestly think their templates look a bit better.
You can check out the landing page I have for Skipblast here.
I’ve also had success with using ConvertKit to collect emails on niche sites using content upgrades. And that was super easy to do as well.
Plus, they make it so that you can have different content upgrades delivered on different forms, which is perfect for broad sites where you bring in different audiences.
Currently, all of my email lists are on paid ConvertKit accounts (the cheapest account) and one thing that I love across the board is being able to re-send my broadcasts to people that did not open the first email.
I also really like the ability to split test headlines for those emails – but be warned that this process runs over several hours so plan accordingly (I didn’t the first time!).
Are some of these features also in MailerLite? Yes, but my overall user experience has still been better since switching.
Personally, I prefer ConvertKit but the important thing is that you don’t sleep on starting that email list so pick one and get started!
- Sign up for free ConvertKit account
- Or, grab the free month of the paid account at ConvertKit
- Or, sign up for the free MailerLite account
Later in the year I’ll be releasing a course on how I’ve been doing email marketing with success on some of my sites (it doesn’t work well with all sites), so stay tuned for that!
If you’ve outgrown your email marketing system, it’s time for a fresh start. Get a free month of ConvertKit and bonuses to help you get organized and back to growing your business.
Hey, I’m Shawna. I make a living working from my laptop in places like London, Sydney, Dubai, Rome, Oslo, Bangkok, Las Vegas, Barcelona, and Amsterdam. I share how I do some of that on this website.