By: Kendall Ragatz

Table of Contents

Overview & Target Audience

Alan’s Deli/Bakery/Confectionary� 10 locations in the metro Atlanta area� Upscale, but informal ambiance � Breakfast, lunch and catering

options, as well as a cakes and other desserts

� Looking to create an email program to help encourage repeat business

Target Audience:� Downtown Crowd� Suburban Crowd� Brides

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Business ObjectiveTo use email to send out:

� Menu specials of the day/ place orders online � Reminders about catering options for 10+

people � Special emails targeting brides with offers

for wine/cake tasting parties� Invites to VIPS to attend “best customer

events”� Offers to cater office holiday parties, summer

picnics, etc.

In order to construct the most effective email campaigns that will engage both new and current customers, I will determine the best of two email service providers: MailChimp or Constant Contact. I will compare both features and pricing, and ultimately make a recommendation on which one will provide the best services for Alan’s.

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• Send emails out 2x weekly to the lunch crowd

• Segment brides based on wedding month

• Send reminder emails out to people who have purchased before for special occasions

Strategy

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Email Service Provider Comparison

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VS.

InterfaceMailChimp• User-friendly, built with simplicity in

mind• Modern design • Multi-user access • Email Test Preview

• Additional feature that shows exactly how the email will be displayed in specific clients (you can see how the email will look in Gmail, Outlook, etc.)

Constant Contact • Not as user-friendly• Multi-user access• Email design tips• Email Test Preview

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MailChimp• Easy drag & drop design feature• Several pre-designed & customizable templates• Built-in photo editor• Automatic link checker• Abuse detections technology tool

Constant Contact• Easy drag & drop design feature• An abundance of pre-designed & customizable

templates• Image library tool

• allows you upload photos from Facebook into your library

• Able to import PDF documents • Able to upload pre-made client lists • List Building tools (i.e. sign up forms, texts & QR codes)• SPAM check tool

Design Templates & Tools

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SegmentationMailChimp• Can maintain & create multiple lists• Tends to be more complicated • Few pre-built segmenting options on the free plan

engagement, customer behavior & demographic• Subscribers are put into groups

� Ability to segment within these groups� Each list can have up to 60 groups

Constant Contact• Can maintain & create multiple lists• Can import contacts & assign tags to each contact • Easier to manage • Can add tags to your subscribers to keep track of

them

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MailChimp• A paid feature• More advanced automation capabilities • Able to send messages that are tailored

toward each individual • Used for product recommendations• Can manage shopping cart abandonment • Allows for extreme personalization

Constant Contact• Autoresponder: a less advanced

automation tool • Ability to create different series within the

pool of subscribers• Cannot send behavior-targeting emails

because there are not any advanced automation features

Automation

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MailChimp• A/B Testing: easy to split test elements of your campaign • Multivariate Testing: can create & test up to 8 different

campaigns • Very detailed reports that are much easier to read• Can track opens & clicks of your emails• Can track revenue• Interactive graphs. • Can compare performance to industry results• Can track campaign performance each hour to help determine

the best time for certain campaigns

Constant Contact• Lacks A/B Testing function

� very time consuming to split test• Can track opens & clicks of your emails• Can track revenue• Engagement reports• Ability to compare campaigns • Can compare open rates between desktop & mobile

Analytical Reports

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Social Media IntegrationMailChimp• Can pay to have access to social profiles

• Ability to use subscribers’ social data to collect more user information

• Ability to see who the most influential subscribers are

• Ability to send emails to members of certain social networks

• Social Sharing • ability to share emails across social networks• Ability to connect MailChimp to Facebook and

Twitter• Can add sign-up forms to Facebook• Ability to track social network success

Constant Contact• Social sharing buttons within emails • Can add sign-up forms to your Facebook page & website

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MailChimp• Integrates with the most popular CRM

software� i.e. Sugar CRM, Zoho, and SalesForce

• Has official integration platforms with WordPress, Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and Magento

Constant Contact• Fewer integrations• Connects mostly with major CRM software

and social media channels

Third-Party Integration

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MailChimp• All have downloadable links on the website

• MailChimp Mobile: manage your lists, add new subscribers, send campaigns & view your reports

• MailChimp for Apple Watch: on-the-go, shows list updates & campaign stats

• MailChimp Snap: send simple, photo-based emails right from your phone

• MailChimp Subscribe: allows you to collect new subscribers on your tablet when offline

Constant Contact• All have downloadable links on the website

• Constant Contact Mobile: create & send emails, monitor & track success, and keep track of opens & clicks

• Constant Contact List Builder: allows you to sign up new subscribers on your tablet

Apps

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Customer ServiceMailChimp• Website provides more in-depth details &

instructions• Lacks personal customer support• No direct customer service phone number available • No way to contact the company for help with the

free plan� With upgraded plans: decent chat features &

email support• Support Blogs & videos available on website• Design & development advice available online

Constant Contact• Phone number available online

� Hours available are shown online• Video tutorials • Seminars & training • User discussion boards 15

PricingMailChimp• $875 per month for 200,000 subscribers• Free plan:

� Up to 2,000 subscribers & 12,000 emails per month

• Online Pricing Calculator� allows you to see how much you will pay no matter

the size of your subscriber list

Constant Contact• $895 per month for 200,000 subscribers• 60-day free trial:

� Up to 100 subscribers & unlimited emails• Discounts if you prepay for 6 or 12 months • If your list has more than 10,000 subscribers you

need to contact the company for a quote

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Categories

Interface ✔

Design Templates & Tools ✔

Segmentation ✔

Marketing Automation ✔

Analytical Reports ✔

Social Media Integration ✔

Third-Party Integration ✔

Apps ✔

Customer Service ✔

Pricing ✔

Total: =7 =3

Total “Winner” Tally

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MailChimp and Constant Contact provide very similar features. However, when comparing MailChimp vs. Constant Contact in regards to the 10 categories shown on the previous page, I would recommend the use of MailChimp for Alan’s email marketing campaigns. Although Constant Contact has more design templates and tools, a simpler segmentation process, and superior customer service, MailChimp appears to surpass Constant Contact in all other categories. MailChimp has a much more user-friendly interface, advanced automation tools, detailed analytical reports, greater social media and third-party integration, a wider variety of apps, and is more cost-effective. Regardless of the differences between each of these email service providers, Alan’s would benefit more by purchasing the Pro/Plus plans offered by both MailChimp and Constant Contact. These plans allow companies to conduct marketing automation, which in turn yields more accurate reports. The reason MailChimp’s upgraded plan is superior to Constant Contact’s is due to the fact that all pricing can be calculated online without any assistance, via the online calculator, and it is altogether cheaper for what the package includes. MailChimp will greatly assist in Alan’s email marketing efforts and be able to more accurately show increases in sales while encouraging repeat business.

Recommendation:

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https://mailchimp.com

https://www.constantcontact.com/index.jsp

https://www.mailmunch.co/blog/mailchimp-vs-constant-contact/

Sources

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