Individuals, SMBs, and enterprises execute successful email marketing campaigns. Flodesk and Mailchimp are both well-known email marketing software solutions that use common email marketing software features like an email builder, A/B testing, drip campaigns, marketing automation, and data integration and storage.
We describe below how each tool differentiates based on similar features, the unique features each solution provides, and how each performs for SMBs.
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What is Flodesk?
Flodesk was founded in 2019 by Martha Bitar and Rebecca Shostak. Today it has over 30,000 users. Its mission is to help beginners and experts design emails people love to open. Overall, Flodesk is advantageous for those who want to focus on the design of their emails and email campaigns.
In terms of pricing, Flodesk offers a flat fee of $38 per month. This plan includes unlimited emails and subscribers. Overall, Flodesk is slightly more expensive than its competitors. .
What is Mailchimp?
Mailchimp was founded by Ben Chestnut and Mark Armstrong in 2001. It is currently used by over 14 million users. Its mission is to empower millions of customers around the world to start and grow their businesses with their smart marketing technology, award-winning support and inspiring content. Compared to Flodesk, Mailchimp’s platform is more all-in-one and slightly more robust.
Mailchimp’s pricing ranges from $9.99 per month to $420 per month. Mailchimp offers a free plan and three paid plans. Mailchimp’s free plan offers up to 2,000 contacts and 10,000 email sends a month and 2000 email sends daily.
Features shared by Flodesk and Mailchimp
Flodesk and Mailchimp share common email marketing software features, but differ in terms of quality. Let’s dive deeper and take a look at how they differentiate in terms of similar features.
Email editor
Flodesk and Mailchimp both offer an email editor that lets users customize and create professional emails. Both include drag-and-drop editors and pre-made email templates. Overall, Flodesk is better for design if a user does not prefer to code.
In terms of mechanics though, Flodesk and Mailchimp are similar in that you can upload your logo, adjust the font, and insert premade template blocks into emails. However, Mailchimp offers a library that can store previously used content, which saves time because designers do not have to manually input elements.
Marketing automation
Flodesk and Mailchimp both let users create drip campaigns that can send a series of automated messages to contacts and customers. Drip campaigns are usually triggered by an action performed by a customer, and can include branches that further target specific customer sets.
Both Flodesk and Mailchimp let marketers perform automation actions like sending an email, and set automations based on rules like if/else, wait, and delay. However, Mailchimp offers several more prebuilt workflows including:
- Buying a specific product
- Clicking specific link in email
- Opening email
- Recurring date
- Sign ups
- Time since last purchase
Analytics
Both Flodesk and Mailchimp offer tools that track performance, improve deliverability, and provide actionable insights to grow one’s business. However, Flodesk and Mailchimp differ in terms of the metrics each solution tracks.
Flodesk:
- Number of bounced emails
- Number of sendees who unsubscribed
- Number of sent emails that were marked spam
- Opened on mobile or desktop
Mailchimp:
- Open rate (your average vs. industry average)
- Click rate (your average vs. industry average)
- Subscribers with the most opens
- Social media performance (tweets, Facebook likes, etc.)
- Geographical regions with the most opens
Unique features of Flodesk and Mailchimp
While Flodesk and Mailchimp share many similar email marketing software features, they also offer features of their own. Flodesk’s platform is more design focused and has a better Shopify integration than Mailchimp. Mailchimp on the other hand offers more email marketing features than Flodesk, like A/B testing and post card creator.
Flodesk design
The most noticeable difference between Flodesk and Mailchimp is that Flodesk’s templates and overall designs are much more stylish and modern. Flodesk also offers a wider range of font choices. Mailchimp’s templates are more generic looking, as shown below.
Flodesk Shopify integration
Flodesk offers a seamless integration with Shopify. This differs from Mailchimp who needs a third party integration with an application like Zapier. With this integration, Flodesk users can directly connect with their online store.
Mailchimp A/B Testing
Unlike Flodesk, Mailchimp offers an A/B testing tool that let’s users optimize your emails and subject lines. They can create multiple versions of their email, and the system automatically sends each version to a portion of their customers. Below is a chart of the components of Mailchimp’s A/B testing tool:
| Variables | Email content, from name, send time, subject line |
| Email Variations | Up to 3 versions |
| Testing Pool Size | 1% to 100% of the list |
| Testing Length Period | Virtually Unlimited |
| Winning Metrics | Click rate, open rate, total revenue |
Mailchimp post card creator
Mailchimp offers a postcard creator that lets users print, stamp, and mail customizable postcards. It costs $0.75 to $0.99 to send a postcard within the U.S., and $0.82 to $1.58 to send a postcard outside of the U.S.
How to Use Flodesk and Mailchimp for Your Small Business
How one uses these platforms depends on the needs of their small business. For example, individuals and small businesses who need an email marketing tool that offers modern and stylish design features without the need for code would better benefit from Flodesk.
However, individuals, SMBs, and enterprises who need a robust, all-in-one tool with key email marketing features like A/B testing would better benefit from Mailchimp. This platform is especially useful for those with a lower marketing budget because Mailchimp offers a free plan.
Check out these 125 DIY Email Marketing Tips to improve your email marketing strategy at Small Business Computing.
