Let’s be realistic, Mailchimp is a juggernaut. As far as email marketing systems go, it is one of the more popular platforms and this is due to a lot of reasons. First, mailchimps free tier was a great way for businesses to get into email marketing and test the waters. Many of my local  business clients use it to this day and have converted to pay customers. The platform is much more flexible compared to lets say, Constant Contact and it integrated with tons of things.

Well low and behold, I log into my Shopify site and I find out that the Shopify App is being removed from Shopify. Find a little digging and you find there has been… lets say.. a disagreement between the companies. Frankly, not my issue, I just want a platform that has deep integration into Shopify to make my email marketing easier. So it begs the question, what do I do now…

So lets talk about some options to continue running your email marketing.

Option 1 (not recommended): Do nothing. Keep using Mailchimp.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Mailchimp and still think its a great platform, but the deeper integration is one of the keys to effectivly using an email marketing platform. So if you want to use something like a pop up maker like sumo or others, then go ahead and use it, just realize that you dont get all bells and whistles

Option 2: Klaviyo & Shopify

SIGN UP FOR KLAVIYO

You might not have heard about Klaviyo before but it has been around for a bit and its an email marketing system designed specifically for the ecommerce market. Here is what I love about Klaviyo and you should consider it. First, it has the obligatory deep integration with Shopify.

Even better it has a free tier. Yep, if you are just starting out, or have less than 250 subscribers, than Klaviyo has a free tier. It gets better from here. Those of you who have Mailchimp and worry about the transition Klaviyo has a one way integration with Mailchimp meaning you install, add your API key and it pulls in all the data and formats it to Klaviyos way of doing things.

KLAVIYO-MAILCHIMP

Once that is done, the platform has a series of flows or automations already set up. The best one, Abandoned Cart. The Shopify plan I am on does not include automated abandoned cart. With Klaviyo you can stay on the lower plan and still get automated functionality. it also included customer thank you, cross sell and others.

Klaviyo is the ultimate platform for ecommerce and I am currently playing with it myself for my Shopify site.

Option 3: ConvertKit & Shopify

SIGN UP FOR CONVERTKIT

Convertkit is the other Email Marketing System I use and there is a ton of benefit to using ConvertKit. In addition to having a robust email automation system, you can easily tag subscribers based on actions they take. So if you are doing a lot of content marketing and then driving them to buy at your store, then Convertkit might be another useful tool.

Also, if you run multiple properties, CK is a tag based system instead of a subscriber based system. One issue I had with Mailchimp is depending on lists you could have subscribers counted twice. Now, I know Mailchimp implemented tagging to solve this but every time Mailchimp did wholesale changes I felt like I had to learn it over and over again.

ConvertKit does not use lists. Instead your subscribers get tags so depending where they sign up, they get tagged in different ways. I think CK is the best for digital and content marketing platforms. In addition, if you want to use a variety of pop up makers, landing pages or welcome mats, ConvertKit probably has the most integrations right now.

My recommendation

If you are lazy and just need to move things quick, then Klaviyo was tailor made for you. Sign up, connect, integrate and finish off where you left from. If you are doing tons of content marketing, then ConvertKit is where you should play at. Either of them are great and will take you a long way towards effective email marketing.

Notes: Frankly any EMS with a direct integration will work. But I am all about the right tool, at the right time, for the right product. Take the time to set them up right and see how email can help grow your business.

Get Our Free Mini Ecommerce Course

Get Our Free Mini Ecommerce Course

Jumpstart building an ecommerce business.

Check your email!