When it comes to email marketing for your business, choosing the right platform can be a game-changer. Many entrepreneurs have found themselves in a dilemma when choosing between Mailchimp vs Klaviyo. Klaviyo email is known for its advanced analytics and segmentation possibilities. On the other hand, Mailchimp is a user-friendly platform and offers a range of automation options. The two platforms suit different business models and requirements, and this blog will delve into the comparison to help you make an informed decision.
Mailchimp vs Klaviyo At A Glance
Email marketing is a powerful tool that allows businesses to communicate directly with their target audience. It enables companies to send personalized messages, promotions, and updates to their customers, helping to build a relationships and drive engagement. By giving businesses the ability to reach their audience directly where they already spend time online, email marketing is an essential component of any well-rounded marketing strategy.
Klaviyo and Mailchimp: Introducing Two Popular Email Marketing Platforms
Klaviyo and Mailchimp are two well-known email marketing platforms used by businesses worldwide. Both platforms offer more advanced features than just basic email marketing, such as marketing automation, A/B testing, and the ability to create landing pages. For e-commerce businesses, these platforms offer tools like dynamic product recommendations and transactional email capabilities, making them ideal choices for businesses looking to create targeted and personalized email campaigns. While they share some similar features, they are not identical and each platform has its own strengths and weaknesses that can make them a better fit for different businesses.
I want to highlight two of the most essential ways that Klaviyo and Mailchimp differ in what features they offer: Customer Relationship Management (CRM) capabilities and customer service. While Mailchimp possesses a broader CRM suite than Klaviyo, only Mailchimp has one. With these tools, you can also produce interactive reports for internal analysis or marketing. Though not exclusive, Mailchimp's customer service is far more developed than Klaviyo's. With 24/7 chat and email support and a comprehensive library of support documentation, Mailchimp's customer service is a significant asset.
Exclusive Features of Klaviyo
Klaviyo, on the other hand, boasts a few features that Mailchimp does not. A standout feature is Klaviyo's use of data science and analytics to enhance your email marketing efficacy. One exclusive feature available only with Klaviyo is their predictive analytics, which can analyze customer behaviour from their first engagement with your site to forecast their purchase patterns. This is just one example of the intricate data analysis you can engage in with Klaviyo.
Mailsplash - All-in-one Email Solution
Mailsplash is an AI-powered tool for crafting eye-catching email templates that convert. Design and create appealing/converting emails (campaigns, flows, all of it) in minutes. Send with any email service provider (Mailchimp, Klaviyo, etc.). We enable freelancers, brands, and agencies to quickly generate personalized, converting email campaigns at a lower cost than traditional marketing agencies, from email copywriting to personalized branded email template design.
In the world of email marketing, ease of use is a critical factor to consider. Klaviyo is a powerful tool with many features, but it can be challenging to navigate due to a steep learning curve. Fortunately, Klaviyo provides detailed documentation and tutorials, helping users master the platform more quickly.
On the other hand, Mailchimp is the preferred choice for users seeking simplicity right from the start. Its modern design and intuitive user interface make it easy for beginners to grasp. The platform offers a seamless transition between drag-and-drop features and custom HTML code, adding flexibility and accessibility to its user experience.
Klaviyo vs Mailchimp: Campaigns
When it comes to campaign building, Klaviyo and Mailchimp share similar features. Both platforms offer visual campaign builders with drag-and-drop blocks. One standout feature on both platforms is the product block, but they differ in functionality.
In Klaviyo, users can either utilize a product feed or select specific products from their store. This platform allows for dynamic population of product blocks based on user-defined criteria, a feature that proves superior to Mailchimp's more limited product display options.
Mailchimp vs Klaviyo: Automation
While Mailchimp excels in user-friendliness, Klaviyo boasts more robust automation capabilities. Despite Mailchimp's recent investments in this area, Klaviyo maintains a lead, offering extensive premade automation flows, real-time data activation, and the freedom to create any automation based on available data.
Mailchimp vs Klaviyo: Integration
Both Klaviyo and Mailchimp support over 300 integrations, simplifying the process of connecting e-commerce stores, social channels, and additional apps. Users can leverage direct or third-party integrations, such as those offered in Zapier’s library, to enhance their marketing efforts on both platforms.
Mailchimp vs Klaviyo: Segmentation
Mailchimp's segmentation is list-based, limiting user segmentation to specific lists. In contrast, Klaviyo offers global account-based segmentation, enabling users to create segments based on data across the platform, regardless of list affiliation. This robust segmentation feature gives Klaviyo users the freedom to create tailored segments based on available customer information.
Klaviyo Analytics and Reporting
Klaviyo delivers comprehensive reporting and analytics features to users, offering detailed customer profiles, predictive analytics for lifetime value estimations, customizable dashboards, and extensive metrics monitoring. Users can compare campaign performance to industry benchmarks, create custom reports, and export data in various visual formats for easy interpretation.
Opt-In Forms
Mailchimp's opt-in forms are list-dependent, requiring the creation of a new list for each form. In contrast, Klaviyo's opt-in forms offer more flexibility, allowing users to create multiple forms for a single list or customize forms based on specific needs. With drag-and-drop form builders, Klaviyo's form-building capabilities excel in comparison to Mailchimp's offerings.
Klaviyo vs. Mailchimp: Customer Support
In terms of customer support, Klaviyo provides access to a help center, academy courses, live training, and community forums. Users can seek assistance through virtual assistants or email support, although support availability may vary. On the other hand, Mailchimp offers 24/7 support to paid plan users, with contact options including phone, email, and live chat. The help center is packed with useful guides and articles, ensuring that users receive timely assistance whenever needed.
Mailchimp vs Klaviyo: Pricing
Mailchimp Pricing Plans
Mailchimp offers a tiered pricing system, meaning you will have plenty of options to choose from to suit your business’s needs. The great benefit of this tier system is that you will get access to the features in the lower tiers, too, if you decide to upgrade. Not sure about which feature you need yet? Well, Mailchimp offers a free tier that allows you to try out the basic features, and from there, you can figure out which paid tier would meet your needs best.
Free Package
The free package gives you basic templates, automation features, and a cap of 2,000 subscribers to your mailing list.
Beyond the free tier, you get many more features, including A/B testing and custom templates. The most affordable package costs $9.99 a month. On the other hand, the most expensive costs $299 a month. In total, you will pay between $120 - $3,600 per year with Mailchimp.
Pay as You Go
Mailchimp also offers pay-as-you-go options. These credits expire after 12 months and can cost between $150 and $1,500 for 5,000 and 75,000 emails, respectively.
While this may seem like an excellent deal, Mailchimp comes with several hidden fees that increase the price. You have a contact limit with Mailchimp. If you exceed this limit, you will have to pay an extra fee. While the limit is generous (with the Essentials plan, you will only have to pay if you send more than 500,000 emails), this can increase your costs significantly if you have a busy month.
While Mailchimp may appear cheaper on the surface, it may not be the case in practice.
Klaviyo Pricing Plans
Klaviyo's pricing system is different from Mailchimp's. Rather than offering distinct packages, Klaviyo charges you based on the number of emails you send to your contact list (your first 500 emails are free). Klaviyo is more customizable, meaning you won't have to pay for emails and contacts you won't use.
Klaviyo even has a tool that allows you to check how much you will likely pay monthly for a certain number of email contacts.
While this customizability is fantastic, Klaviyo is, on average, more expensive per email than Mailchimp. For example, with Mailchimp, you can send emails to 2,000 email contacts on the free plan. With Klaviyo, you would have to pay $60 monthly for the same number of subscribers.
MailChimp vs Klaviyo: Pros and Cons
Mailchimp Pros
Mailchimp is easy to use and extremely flexible. It is likely to be the best option for you if you’re looking for a straightforward email marketing platform with plenty of integration options and a convenient backend. Mailchimp boasts some excellent features such as:
Straightforward backend
Endless integration and add-on options
AI enhancements to help you build campaigns
Fantastic thorough reporting options
Excellent templates and designs
Extra features for website building and advertising strategies.
The simplicity and flexibility of Mailchimp make it a popular choice for many businesses, especially those who are new to email marketing.
Mailchimp Cons
Mailchimp does have some limitations. For example, it has an extremely limited free plan, some issues with customer support, and no A/B testing on some packages. While Mailchimp is great for beginners, it might not offer the depth of features that more experienced email marketers are looking for. If you are looking to experiment with your campaigns and analyze data more thoroughly, you may find that Mailchimp has some limitations.
Klaviyo Pros
Klaviyo is likely the best choice for you if you’re looking for:
Advanced email marketing solutions with lots of customization options
It is a robust platform that offers a lot of customization options for campaigns
On the flip side, Klaviyo does have its drawbacks. It can have slow customer support at times, a steep learning curve for beginners, and is relatively expensive. If you have a higher budget, Klaviyo can give you access to more insights and support when it comes to connecting with your audience and generating sales. If you are new to email marketing or have a limited budget, Klaviyo might not be the best choice for you.
Complete Step-by-Step Guide On How To Use Mailsplash’s All-in-one AI Email Solution
Getting Started: Uploading Brands and Products
Before you can generate an email, you’ll need to upload a brand and product.
Navigate to the “Brands” tab and select “Add a Brand”. Once you’ve defined the brand’s name, logo(s), font(s), and color(s), you can upload your product(s).
You can do so by simply pasting in the product link, which will auto-populate the product description, name, and images, as seen below. Now you’re ready to design and write stunning emails with Mailsplash.
Design & Write Emails with Mailsplash: A Guide
Generate with AI
Not sure where to start? From your dashboard, click “Generate with AI” to get to ideating. Simply select the brand(s) and product(s) you’ve uploaded and describe the email you’re looking for (e.g. an email campaign promoting new pants on sale for 25% off). You can even define the design style you’re looking for!
If you’re feeling like a pro, click “Advanced Setup” to get more detailed access to other parameters such as your target audience, the type of email, and so on. Once you’re happy, click generate and watch the magic happen! In 30 seconds or less, you’ll have a email custom-tailored to your input.
Start from Template
Already know what kind of email you’re looking to create? You can then click “Start from Template” and browse through our gallery of templates, curated for the most common use cases. We currently support 21 templates for 7 different categories, but will be continuing to update this based on your feedback! Once you select an email type, you’ll be prompted to select a brand and product and be taken straight to the builder.
Sending Emails: Integrate with Any ESP
When exporting your email generation, you’ll be able to integrate with Klaviyo by inputting your API key. It’s as simple as that. We’re working on adding support for other major ESPs!
Now you should be well-equipped to save time and money on your email marketing.
Still confused? Have feedback? Let us know by sending us an email.
Mailchimp vs Klaviyo: Deciding On Which ESP Is Right For Your Business
Both MailChimp and Klaviyo offer fantastic experiences to their users. Most email marketing experts recommend Klaviyo as the top option for companies in search of an advanced, feature-rich platform with excellent analytics tools, sophisticated marketing automation, and amazing customization options.
Alternatively, MailChimp is recommended for businesses or teams looking for something simple, straightforward, and flexible. MailChimp can be an ideal low-cost tool for marketing, with plenty of integrations to choose from and a wonderfully easy-to-use backend.
Create Fully-Built Stunning Email Templates That Convert With Mailsplash
Mailsplash is a game-changing tool designed to simplify and enhance the email marketing process. With Mailsplash, users can effortlessly create stunning email templates that convert in just a few minutes. This AI-powered platform allows freelancers, brands, and agencies to generate personalized and converting email campaigns at a lower cost compared to traditional marketing agencies. From email copywriting to branded email template design, Mailsplash provides a comprehensive email marketing solution for businesses of all sizes. By using Mailsplash, marketers can easily craft compelling email campaigns and flows and send them using any email service provider, including Mailchimp and Klaviyo.
Try Mailsplash for free today and experience the power of personalized, converting email campaigns.
Hi! I'm Dan Kwon, a growth hacker and digital innovator who first gained social proof by hitting a million social media followers at 17. I founded an AI writing tool startup, propelling it to $1M ARR and over a million users in just 3 months, leading to a successful exit. My specialty lies in creating viral brand identities and understanding Gen Z’s digital marketing landscape. I'm always ready to share practical, real-world insights in digital marketing.