ConvertKit

Pros

ConvertKit does a great job at making things simple. The UI is easy to navigate, and templates are easy to set up and implement. Automations are also very easy to set up with a visual interface. Ultimately, what ConvertKit does better than any other app I've used is: they make it easy to create and send an email to subscribers.

Cons

What I don't like the most about ConvertKit is the pricing. For small creators who maybe aren't making a living yet, and are not emailing frequently, the cost is heavy if you have a big list of subscribers.

Pros

This is by far the best platform for organizing how you want your email series to be sent out as well as for tagging subscribers according to how they respond to your emails (like if they click on a button in your email to learn more, sign up for something, buy something, etc.).

If you know what you're doing, this is an intuitive platform that allows you to keep track of what your subscribers are doing and then target them with the appropriate marketing.

Cons

I feel like ConvertKit isn't beginner friendly because when you first sign onto there the interface is too overwhelming. The positive is that they give you a lot of options as to what you can do in email marketing and then the negative is that they give you too much options so then, like I said, it just looks overwhelming as a platform to work with.

They do have tutorials though as well as a trial so you can get to know the platform before you jump into the monthly fee that starts at $29.

Pros

I like the features this has - the visual automations are great. It gives you the ability to customize how your subscribers will go through your funnel. The forms are easy to create relatively easy to set up.

Cons

The system is really quirky. I often times get people "stuck" in my funnel where they opt out of a sequence and then are just sitting in an automation. It gets really frustrating trying to troubleshoot all of the scenarios and errors that can happen. Overly complex to deal with. I've noticed that certain things that should just work need special attention... like moving to the next part of an automation sequence when leaving another. Or "rules" you don't remember making end up messing up other tags or segments. There's literally no way to troubleshoot this stuff on your own the information is just not available so you'd have to go through every individual subscriber to see how they got stuck or got sent an email they shouldn't.

If you're looking for support... GOOD LUCK. This is the worst support I've had. They have a chat and you get switched from person to person over the course of multiple days. They sometimes send an email with the support details, and if you reply to that apparently the chat people don't receive it. I've repeated myself over the course of 5 days now and still can't get anyone to understand the issue.... let alone apologize for a mistake that looks like a glitch in their system. I've asked for a manager and the people on the chat just ignore that. There's no phone number to call. It's like talking to a brick wall.

I also don't like that there's very little you can do to customize emails. You really can't design them in any way.

Pros

The most accommodating aspect, in my opinion, is the technical help. The practice exercises are excellent. Furthermore, if I am unable to make something work, I send an email to support expressing my concern/question, and they respond with step-by-step instructions for resolving the issue!!! The response time is really fast, typically within a couple of hours - I believe this is extremely responsive. Furthermore, when you switch from another stage to ConvertKit, they migrate all of your contacts with labels! So you don't need to be very tech savvy; instead, focus on the substance of your message rather than the technology behind it! I changed stages because I needed to create an evergreen 30-day email series that anyone could access at any time.

Cons

The implementation is essential; it continuously resembles a beta delivery. The structures aren't as responsive as they claim; things appear fantastic on their page and then on view, but when distributed, you have to tinker with them to get them to work. When I first needed to contact their help desk, their email module was causing'malware' alerts on my site with Avast, and they were more concerned about removing me from their daily task records than with resolving the issue. This was eventually resolved; I accept that it could have been in Avast's hands, but this issue lasted fourteen days in convertkit's hands. I then got a list of 5 enquiries for which I had received a response.

Pros

ConvertKit is very intuitive to use and hides a lot of functionality behind a straightforward user interface. Tutorial videos for each area of the software help considerably with the learning curve.

The feature-set it really well-thought-out and allows you to be really creative with your email marketing. I particularly like the easy way to send a broadcast email a second time to those who didn't open it the first - it really adds to the value of each email.

Cons

I've found little to criticise before beyond the fact the on-boarding was quite hands-off. Support is very good quality but the responses could, I suppose, be a little quicker.