{"id":6818,"date":"2017-02-01T12:57:36","date_gmt":"2017-02-01T12:57:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/?p=6818"},"modified":"2018-04-12T21:06:44","modified_gmt":"2018-04-12T21:06:44","slug":"convertkit-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/?p=6818","title":{"rendered":"The Definitive 2017 ConvertKit Email Marketing Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note: This review is over a year old. Since it was published ConvertKit has added several new features, one of which, is a visual workflow editor. Check out the latest on ConvertKit here<\/a>. We’ll be updating this review soon.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

ConvertKit is one of the newest email marketing platforms on the market.<\/p>\n

They are self labeled as “The power of Infusionsoft, but easier to use than MailChimp.”<\/p>\n

But is this true?<\/p>\n

In this comprehensive review I’ll\u00a0give you an unbiased review of ConvertKit and show you what it’s good at and where it falls short.<\/p>\n

[su_quote style=”modern-blue”]Note:<\/strong> Want to know if ConvertKit is the right email service for you? Take this quick assessment and I’ll give you my personal recommendation.\u00a0Click here now.<\/a>[\/su_quote]<\/p>\n

Part 1: What are some of the funnest features of ConvertKit?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s start with the fun stuff. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll get to the geeky stuff in a minute.<\/p>\n

Cool Feature #1: You can personalize an email based on tags.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I first saw Drip doing this a year or so ago. I was blown away by how smart this is and how jealous I was that Infusionsoft (the ESP I use) didn\u2019t do this.<\/p>\n

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This is how it works\u2026<\/p>\n

Imagine you are sending out a broadcast email to your list announcing\u00a0your latest blog post.<\/p>\n

And at the bottom of the list you wanted to tell everyone in a PS line that you are running a sale on your product.<\/p>\n

That might look like this\u2026<\/p>\n

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The problem is that all of your existing customers see that same message. It\u2019s a) annoying to them; and b) a waste of space.<\/p>\n

With the personalized tag feature, you would be able to show different copy in the same email based on the tag on the user’s account.<\/p>\n

Like this\u2026<\/p>\n

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Cool, huh!?<\/p>\n

Cool Feature #2: Show something else if someone has already filled out my form.<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the biggest wastes on your website is your forms.<\/p>\n

50% of the people who see them have already filled them out. So why keep showing them the same thing?<\/p>\n

Answer: Because showing them something else isn\u2019t easy.<\/p>\n

ConvertKit has a cool feature built in that allows you to easily swap out your form with something else when people opt in.<\/p>\n

Check it\u2026<\/p>\n

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Cool Feature #3:\u00a0Easily re-send broadcast messages to people who didn’t open them the first time.<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the easiest things you can do to increase traffic and open rates is to re-send your broadcast emails to people who didn\u2019t open them.<\/p>\n

Just wait 3 to 5 days and resend.<\/p>\n

ConvertKit has a feature built in that makes this super-simple.<\/p>\n

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Cool Feature #4:\u00a0Auto double opt-in with lead magnet\u00a0delivery<\/strong><\/p>\n

Double vs. single opt-in. Everyone argues about it.<\/p>\n

Here’s the deal\u2026<\/p>\n

If you could make it super simple for EVERYONE on your list to double opt-in, you would. But most ESPs make it hard and complicated and the emails they send to double opt-in are annoying.<\/p>\n

ConvertKit has a cool feature that allows someone to double opt-in when they download the lead magnet you send them in their opt-in email.<\/p>\n

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Cool Feature #5:\u00a0Very good model management and design<\/strong><\/p>\n

Almost all major ESPs have some built-in forms you can embed in your site. But almost all of them are ugly. ConvertKit\u2019s are pretty.<\/p>\n

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And they have quite a few settings that allow you to customize them.<\/p>\n

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For more minimalist or beginner users, this negates the need for something like OptinMonster or SumoMe to handle your pop-ups and models.<\/p>\n

Cool Feature #6:\u00a0Scroll-over dashboard to see where subs are coming from<\/strong><\/p>\n

When you first log in to ConvertKit, you see this pretty dashboard of your list growth.<\/p>\n

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One of the coolest parts of this graph is that you can roll over the bar graph for any specific day and see what forms those users opted in from. This allows you to get a good idea of what’s working and what isn’t.<\/p>\n

Cool Feature #7: Form analytics show conversion percentages from each page.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019ll get to this later, but one thing that ConvertKit isn\u2019t great at is reporting. However, on the primary dashboard it keeps a running list of all the forms (landing pages and models) that you have created.<\/p>\n

Along with each form is listed its specific conversion rate and number of opt-ins.<\/p>\n

The way it displays this data is especially helpful because it shows you the the number of times the form has been loaded and the number of conversions.<\/p>\n

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This helps you get an accurate gauge of how individual pages are performing without looking at Google Analytics or any other platform.<\/p>\n

Cool Feature #8: Suggested email sales funnel<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lastly, when you set up a new email sequence (autoresponder) in ConvertKit, it gives you a framework to use.<\/p>\n

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This is pretty handy.<\/p>\n

However, the way it’s implemented is not ideal. Not every email sequence I create is a sales sequence. It would be nice to have a choice of 5 to 10 different types of sequences and then have ConvertKit pre-populate those with suggested frameworks.<\/p>\n

But still, cool feature.<\/p>\n

Part 2: How much does ConvertKit cost?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Here is pricing:<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

There is no onboarding or setup fee for using ConvertKit.<\/p>\n

If you have over 10,000 subscribers you’ll get free concierge onboarding, which basically means ConvertKit will migrate you from your existing service for free.<\/p>\n

Overall, this is decent. Not the cheapest and not the most expensive.<\/p>\n

Part 3: How does it work? Can I get a high-level overview of this thing? <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Here is a long-winded demo video<\/a> on their site.<\/p>\n

TL;DR<\/p>\n

There are 4 building blocks of ConvertKit.<\/p>\n

Building Block #1:<\/strong> User records (Subscribers)<\/p>\n

Each person added to your email list has a record. This is where email addresses and other information are stored.<\/p>\n

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Building<\/b>\u00a0Block #2:<\/strong> Forms<\/p>\n

To get on your list, someone fills out a form. This can be a modal on your site or a landing page.<\/p>\n

When they fill it out, a user record is created and added to your list<\/p>\n

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Building Block #3:<\/strong> Sequences<\/p>\n

Autoresponders, email sequences, whatever you want to call them.<\/p>\n

A series of emails that goes out on a pre-defined schedule.<\/p>\n

You write a series of emails, put them in a specific order and ConvertKit sends them for you.<\/p>\n

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Building Block #4:<\/strong> Automations<\/p>\n

This is where the magic happens.<\/p>\n

Automations allow you to do things without YOU having to do things.<\/p>\n

There is a TRIGGERING event and and ACTION.<\/p>\n

Here is a picture:<\/p>\n

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This allows you to set up systems to do things like,\u00a0“When someone fills out form X, put them in sequence Y.”<\/p>\n

Side note:<\/strong> This really isn’t a building block, but the last thing ConvertKit allows you to do is to send and schedule one-time broadcast emails to your subscribers.\u00a0More on this later.<\/p>\n

Part 4: Will it do the things I need it to do or will I have to hack a bunch of stuff\u00a0together to make it work?<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Now let’s talk specific scenarios. All the fancy features we talked about above are nice, but will ConvertKit actually DO the things you need to do in your business?<\/p>\n

In order to do this, I’m going to run it through a series of 3\u00a0test scenarios and see how ConvertKit handles each.<\/p>\n

Scenario #1:<\/strong> How easy is it to send broadcast emails?<\/p>\n