MailerLite

Pluspunten

MailerLite is one of the most affordable email marketing platforms right now with all of the features most people need like automations, a drag and drop builder and embedded signup forms.

Their most useful feature is automations, which lets you send a sequence of emails to subscribers if they join a list, if one of their contact fields gets updated (example: if they go from being a free to a paid member), if they click on a link, etc. You can also create yes/no branches at different points in the automation to send different emails to subscribers after they meet or don't meet a certain criteria.

They also have a decent free plan for those who are starting out or looking to test the platform. The free plan includes automations and most of their key features.

I also use personally use their APIs to automatically add new members to specific automations - they are well documented and easy to follow.

Minpunten

1. Right now, you can only create yes or no branches in automations. So for example, let's say that you want subscribers who already downloaded a lead gen to not receive an email in the automation about it. The only way to do this right now is to create a yes/no branch. If yes, they'll receive the rest of the sequence in the yes branch *without* the specific email. If no, they'll receive the rest of the sequence in the no branch *with* specific email.

But if you want subscribers in both branches to receive the rest of the other emails, you'd have to have duplicate emails in the yes and no branch. It gets time-consuming if you want to add more emails to the automation (you'd have to add them both to the yes and no branch) or if you need to update any of the existing emails (you'd have to update both in the yes and no branch).

It would be easier if you can simply add specific criteria to each email in the automation. So for example, if the subscriber meets the criteria, they'll receive this email in the automation. If not, they skip that email but still receive the next ones (if they match the criteria).

2. They had deliverability issues in the past which they did work really hard to fix. However, based on my experiences and that of what others have reported, overall open rates (with an authenticated domain) tend to be somewhat lower than a few other top platforms.

Pluspunten

- I used Mailerlite to create email newsletters (Which any email marketing software can do) but most importantly I used Mialerlite to create sharable pdf brochures showcasing our past/current projects (My client was an Architecture company). These "brochures" are light size wise as the target platform was Whatsapp.
The images are clickable linking to the projects on our websites, this way when sent to clients/potential clients on WhatsApp they can know more about us without having to go to our website.

- Design Options: I've used MailChimp, Active Campaign, Moosend and pretty much any Email marketing software you can think off, but in terms of design flexibility and templates, Mailerlite has the best design options. My favorite is the "Featured Image" block

- Great Customer Support: Mailerlite is meant for creating email newsletters and not pdf brochures so it was a bit tricky working around that especially since the share to social media button wouldn't work since the newsletter I converted into a brochure wasn't technically an email campaign (I.e it wasn't sent to anyone/mailing list) but remained in my dashboard as a draft. I had a chat with them on how to arrange the elements so my brochure was 3 pages max, and how to reduce the size.

Minpunten

- My emails kept going to the spam folder which was very bothersome, so I contacted support and I was told I'm not the only one having the same problem and that it's an issue they're working on as they were blacklisted (Or something like that)

-As much as I love the featured image element, it renders differently on Outlook desktop app. Instead of appearing as one large image, the images appeared as a grid, with nine images of the same image taking the space instead of one large image. It was a bit disconcerting and there was no way around it.

Pluspunten

1) Highly Optimized And Responsive: MailerLite helps me to design and create newsletters that look amazing on desktops, tablets, and mobiles.

2) Design Capabilities: It's safe to say that the design capabilities that MailerLite gives you are far better than any other similar product in its segment. What I mean to say is, the "little things" that MailerLite allows you to do can add significant value to the way you market! For example, there are a number of templates that can enable you to have "buttons" attached to an image (Perfect CTA's by the way). Also, there are several heading options for my newsletters where I can have my company name and logo or either one at the beginning of them. These, of course, are just a few examples I could think of straight off the bat.

3) Easy Integration: Connection my domain with MailerLite was a lot easier than I expected - with a swift and seamless integration process.

4) No Learning Curve Required: MailerLite is incredibly simple to use and it won't take you long to get the hang of it.

5) Affordability: The title of my review says it all! MailerLite is a blessing for startups on a budget who don't have money to throw around. There are 5 different pricing models that include one "freemium" version as well. However, if you are using it for business purposes, I suggest you use their starter plan that will unlock all features and allow you to send unlimited emails. Remember, looking professional is key!

Minpunten

1) Slightly Laggy: MailerLite can occasionally become laggy and starts freezing when you import a lot of contacts. Now, I don't really know if this is due to my hardware set up (which is quite recent), but I've asked around and I've gotten mixed opinions about this.

2) Customization Options: It would be really great if MailerLite introduces some more Landing Page customization options in the near future. Whatever be the case, it's still the best E-mail Automation software, in my opinion.

Pluspunten

Easy to use
Great customer support
Tons of options
Easy to manage mailing list
Ability to setup intermittent emails

Minpunten

Slow to load the designing tables

Pluspunten

Mailerlite is my software of choice if you plan to step in the newsletter marketing arena. It has all the features you need (and some top-class feature) to get you up and running quickly with an easy learning curve. The Survey and Quizzes function is my favorite one, alongside it's simple automation workflow engine.

Minpunten

Mailerlite it's a pleasure to use, but it's not (yet?) capable as more structured tools like Active Campaign or Sendinblue as far as segmenting and tracking user for marketing purposes. If you need more "power" under the hood you'll have to switch. But you'll miss the ease of use and the marvelous template builder this tool has!