ConvertKit Review: Features and Pricing 2021

ConvertKit in a nutshell

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What is ConvertKit ? 

This is a great email marketing tool that’s intuitive and easy to use. It’s perfect for bloggers and small businesses, as well as those looking to set up larger marketing campaigns. It lacks the wide range of apps of some of its competitors but offers more than enough for most needs.

ConvertKit Pros & Cons

PROS

• Excellent landing pages & forms: ConvertKit helps you build landing pages and forms in approximately 10 minutes due to its intuitive interface. Numerous templates are available, along with advanced features such as incentive emails, the ability to customize content for returning visitors and optimization
• Flexible list management: You can easily tag contacts and add them to one or several lists and workflows. The tagging process can also take place automatically according to clicked links. You can benefit from free list migrationonce you subscribe to a paid plan. 
• Paid newsletter: This platform enables you to charge your subscribers for a copy of your newsletter, which can be a good source of extra income. Moreover, you can optimize your newsletters’ send time to increase readers’ engagement and boost your open rates.
• Good customer support: This platform offers customer support via live chat and emails to all its customers, regardless of the plan they’re on. You can get in touch with their team from Monday-Friday;8 AM -8 PM by clicking on the visible help button. ConvertKit support also means a community where you can get in touch with other users and a vast knowledge base with videos and other training resources.

CONS

• The email editor is rather basic:  ConvertKit’s email editor offers limited design possibilities. Despite its basic functionality, you can fonts, color, button color and background. There is no preview option available, nor spam or spelling check options.
• Limited templates: With ConvertKit, you only get three customizable email templates (text only, classic, or modern). Moreover, they are all text-based and pretty similar, which means that most of your campaigns will have more or less the same look, given the limited customization options.    
• Basic reports: This platform only offers a few campaign metrics such as open rates, click rates, new or total number of subscribers and unsubscribes. While bloggers might do just fine with ConvertKit’s basic reporting, it might not be enough for companies.

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Who Is ConvertKit Good for?  

ConvertKit recommended if: 

• You need advanced list segmentation features: ConvertKit helps you segment your audience by using tags. This is a very flexible system as you can choose from a multitude of tags (for example new subscribers from a particular date). You can use tags both for workflowsor forms and easily add or remove contacts from an automated email sequence based on their tags. 
• You want to build highly targeted campaigns: Besides its rich segmentation tools, ConvertKit features include flexible landing pages and forms that will help you design solid lead segmentation strategies and well-targeted campaigns.  
• You sell digital products: One of this platform’s highlights is that you can selldigital products such as eBooks, images, or courses with its help by creating a custom domain and adding your products. The platform charges little for these transactions.
• You’re a blogger: If you’re looking for an easy-to-use tool to edit and send newsletters while easily tracking your subscribers, ConvertKit is a good option. Plus, you can also benefit from paid newsletters.   
• You’re a beginner, and you’ll likely need help:ConvertKit offers customer support options for all its pricing plans. You can chat with an agent or email the support team instead of wasting time browsing through training documents or FAQs. 

ConvertKit is not recommended for:

• Marketers who want to create visually appealing emails: Since ConvertKit’s basic email builder only allows you to change a few style options, you won’t be able to create emails that have a strong visual impact. There are only three templates you can use. 
• You’re on a limited budget: While ConvertKit pricing isn’t overwhelming, the platform is, however, a bit pricier especially considering its limited email design options. 
• You’re looking for in-depth analysis: ConvertKit’s reporting tools include basic campaign metrics. If you’re looking for advanced reports on campaigns or subscriber behavior, this tool might not be the best choice. 

ConvertKit Deliverability (Rated: 3/5)

ConvertKit’s deliverability was disappointing. There were features to allow you to see which emails were sent and which weren’t, among others, but you are unable to deliver by time zone. I give ConvertKit a score of 3.

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.

ConvertKit pricing (Rated: 5/5)

The pricing is tiered according to the features you have access to, and the free plan already has great access to the system’s features. I give them a score of 5.

ConvertKit’s pricing plans vary based on the entailing features. The free plan is quite generous; it offers unlimited landing pages, forms and tagging options for a list of 1,000 contacts. The next tier costs $29 and also includes premium support, automation, and ConvertKit integration’s package. For up to 8,000 contacts, you’ll pay $99 per month.  

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Key features and workflows

Creating emails and campaigns

ConvertKit is a relatively new player to the email marketing scene. 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.

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. This lets you send targeted content based on their interests.

Reporting and analysis (Rated: 3/5)

The analytics available are basic and covers enough to get a general overview of your performance. However, if you wish to go into more depth, ConvertKit does not have the capability, which earns them a score of 3.

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.

ConvertKit 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. 

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ConvertKit Integrations (Rated: 4/5)

The integration range is limited, but they do cover the popular e-Commerce, analytics and survey plugins. Ultimately, ConvertKit scores a 4.

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 e-Commerce 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.

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Design and ease of use (Rated: 4/5)

Designed to be easy to use, ConvertKit does not disappoint. However, the templates offered are limited, which ultimately earns the system a score of 4.

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

ConvertKit 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 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 Automation (Rated: 4/5)

ConvertKit has some great features, and they are simple enough to use. Multiple integrations do cause some complication, which prevents ConvertKit from receiving a perfect score. I give them a 4.

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.

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Cancellation/refund policy

It’s easy to cancel a free trial account with ConvertKit by accessing the platform’s cancellation page or contacting their support team. For paid accounts, you’ll get support from the customer department if you want to cancel your account. 

If you’re not satisfied with the platform, you can also ask for a refund within 30 days after you’ve purchased a plan. 

ConvertKit Alternatives

MailerLite is an affordable email marketing platform that offers affordable pricing plans and a free plan for up to 1,000 contacts. MailerLite features an intuitive editor, powerful automation features, and professionally designed templates. 

Active Campaign is one of the most renowned players in the email marketing field. It provides more than 100 templates, efficient split testing attribution features, free migration, and powerful automation recipes. 

Sendinblue provides a generous free plan for up to 9,000 emails/month. This platform enables you to easily customize your emails and sign-up forms, use the in-built CRM and numerous segmentation criteria. 

ConvertKit Customer service (Rated: 5/5)

ConvertKit’s support was efficient and extensive, offering various touchpoints to contact agents or their support team. The support is tiered according to the subscription you choose, but whether you are on the free version or a paid subscription, you wouldn’t need to worry about getting the support you need. They receive a score of 5.

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 e-Commerce 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

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