ConvertKit Email Marketing Review: Will It Suit Your Business?

ConvertKit in a nutshell

Key features and workflows

Creating emails and campaigns

ConvertKit is a relatively new player to the email marketing scene, having been founded in 2017. It aims to differentiate itself from its competitors by making the email marketing process as simple and streamlined as possible. It has a simple automations builder, and you can have a campaign ready to go in no time.

Emails sent/opened and links clicked

ConvertKit used to have fairly limited reporting, but you’re now able to track full stats on all emails opened and how many customers clicked your links. The analytics even go into how many conversions your campaign is getting so you can better direct your marketing efforts.

Deliverability rates and delivery by time zone

You can track deliverability rates so you know which of your emails are getting through and which aren’t. You can then purge your contact list of defunct email addresses.

However, you won’t be able to deliver by time zone. You can manually segment your customers into different time zones, but don’t have timing options. This feature has been requested by the ConvertKit user base, but has yet to be implemented.

Creating and importing email lists

You can add individual subscribers to any email list, collect information from customers directly and import contacts in bulk via a CSV file. ConvertKit is a tag-based system, meaning every subscriber you import needs to be tagged to one or multiple email lists. You can even set up tags via links in your emails. For example, any customer who clicks on a link for a new product, will be tagged to that product for future campaigns.

Split tests and A/B testing

There are no split or A/B testing options available with ConvertKit. This is a bit of an oversight as this is offered as standard by most email marketing platforms. If you’re running large campaigns that need prior testing, you should look for another product.

Personalization

You can create personalized campaigns based on which tags you have saved on your customers. This lets you send targeted content based on their interests.

Reporting and analysis

ConvertKit’s analytics are a little basic when compared to competitors like MailChimp. While you can certainly get all of the information you need to know to run a basic campaign, such as open rate and conversion rate, you won’t be able to drill down into great depth.

Engagement reports

You’ll get open and click rates for every campaign as well as conversion rates, but your reports won’t get much more detailed than this.

Heat maps

You won’t find detailed heat maps with your ConvertKit package, you’ll need to try another provider if you want these sort of detailed stats.

Campaign comparison report

You can’t compare different campaigns with ConvertKit, only analyze individual ones. The software is designed for bloggers, freelancers, and small businesses that tend not to have multiple ongoing campaigns.

Segmentation

ConvertKit’s tagging system gives you some handy segmentation options. You can create any custom tag you’d like, meaning you can segment your email list into as many topics as you need. However, it might take a bit of manual tweaking to perfect your mailing lists.

Social media tracking

Due to the simple interface, you won’t be able to integrate social media into ConvertKit or use similar features you’d find with other email marketing and CRM tools.

ROI analysis

While you’ll get statistics on conversion rates of your campaigns, ConvertKit doesn’t tell you what your return on investment is. This is something you’ll have to work out based on your package. 

Integrations

They don't have a huge range of integrations, but you’ll find you can easily link your email campaigns to popular eCommerce software, survey plugins, and analytics tools. It has also partnered with several developers where you can get hundreds of different apps at an additional cost.

Google Analytics

You’ll need to find a third-party app that can integrate Google Analytics with ConvertKit. For example, automation service, Zapier, allows you to track subscribers and purchases from your email campaigns via Google Analytics. This feature comes at extra cost, though.

API integrations

You can link ConvertKit to most websites and website builders quite easily.

eCommerce tools

You’ll be able to integrate ConvertKit into the most popular eCommerce tools including PayPal, Shopify, and Stripe. This will give you access to information about product purchases as a result of your email campaigns.

CRM integrations

You’re very limited on choice when it comes to CRM integrations, with only one option to be found on the ConvertKit integrations page. With it, you’ll be able to manage sales pipelines and campaigns.

Social media integrations

If you want social media integration, you’ll have to pay extra for them via one of ConvertKit’s partners. One of the premium options gives you the ability to connect those clicking on your Facebook ads to your subscriber list.

Apps

You won’t find as many apps for ConvertKit as you would with some larger email marketing tools like AWeber and MailChimp, but there are some useful options. Some of the best include adding surveys and quizzes to your email campaigns and lead capturing tools.

Plugins

You’ll find plugins that link ConvertKit easily to web building platforms like WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace.

Automation

ConvertKit has some solid automation options available, and the process is designed to be as streamlined as possible. The interface is set out in a simple ‘Trigger’ and ‘Action’ format. You’ll be given a list of triggers to choose from for each campaign like ‘user clicks a link’ and you can choose what automated action this will instigate, for example ‘Add interested in hiking boots tag’.

This system is really easy to get to grips with and can really add that extra level of customization to your automation. However, things can start to get complicated once you set up multiple automations and your dashboard can start to look a little messy.

Design and ease of use

This is by far one of ConvertKit’s biggest selling points. It’s been designed to be easy to use, so you’ll be able to pick up the basics and get an email campaign started in no time.

Drag and drop interface

ConvertKit doesn’t use a drag and drop interface, and the email editor is a very simple text tool. Unlike other email marketing platforms, you won’t be able to choose from multiple templates and styles and are really only limited to editing your text.

Landing page creator

VoncertKit has a great landing page converter. You don’t need any coding skills and can set one up in around 10 minutes. They even provide advice on how to optimize your landing page to increase conversions.

Email templates

Templates are pretty basic at ConvertKit, and you’ll only get three to choose from; Text Only, Classic and Modern. To be honest, there’s not a huge difference between the three, and your customization options are limited.

ConvertKit pricing

Customer service

On the free plan, you’ll only get access to around 100 help articles and FAQs that cover common issues. On any of the paid plans, you’ll also be able to raise a ticket or schedule a call. ConvertKit promises a response typically within the hour.

Contact Information

help@convertkit.com 

support@convertkit.com

My verdict

ConvertKit is an excellent tool for those running blogs as well as small-scale eCommerce marketers looking to sell a small range of products. It’s incredibly easy to set up, manage your contacts and get a campaign up and running. However, it won’t be for you if you’re looking to run complex email marketing campaigns, or run multiple campaigns at once.

What I liked about ConvertKit

• It’s very easy to use
• Useful tagging system to segment your customers into groups
• Fast customer support
• Easy to set up landing pages
• There are some good apps and integrations

What I didn’t like about ConvertKit

• Its email templates are very limited
• Reporting data could be better
• No A/B testing functionality