2. Background
We (Alan’s) have gathered 200,000 separate emails from our 10 various
locations in the Metro Atlanta area
We have also purchased a mailing list of local brides from the Great Bridal Expo
All of the emails have already been separated based on the locations from
which they were collected
I have been assigned to determine which email service provider to go with
based on a variety of factors
The two providers that the marketing team have narrowed down are
MailChimp and Constant Contact
The following slides will walk you through how I am going to make the
decision of which provider I will ultimately recommend at the end of the
proposal
3. The Who
Who are we targeting?
Upscale Breakfast/Lunch Crowd
Companies/Offices (catering)
Bakery/Confectionary Consumers
Brides (based on wedding month)
Specialty Desserts Consumers (ex.
anniversaries, birthdays,
graduations)
4. The What
What are our objectives/needs?
Encourage repeat business/stay in touch
with customers
Segment brides based on their wedding
month
Distinctive email sent to specialty dessert
consumers to remind them of their
special event’s anniversary
Easy-to-use interface with appealing
template (for emails)
Comprehensive analytics package (for
insights into the results of the entire email
campaign)
5. The When, Where, and How
What are our strategies for completing
the previous objectives/needs?
Send out emails twice weekly to the lunch
crowd of 200k (keep in touch)
Can include menu specials of day,
catering options for 10+ people, etc.
Send emails to brides segmented by month,
totaling 12 emails for the campaign (ex.
One email for the April 2017 brides)
Send one email per month to those who
have purchased a specialty cake or dessert
to remind them of their annual anniversary
Ensure that Alan’s has them covered
Use email service provider with easiest/best
interface system and analytics package
7. Segmentation
MailChimp
1) Segmentation feature is easy-to-
use and built-in
2) Segments subscribers within a
specific geographical radius
3) Can send special emails to most
engaged subscribers
4) Can segment by date added to
send new subscribers welcome
emails
5) Can further segment by group
once subscriber joins
Constant Contact
1) Segmentation feature is not
obvious and may require manual
input
2) Manually segment list by
geographical radius
3) Cannot send special
emails/feature was not reported
4) Can automatically send new
subscribers welcome emails
5) Can automatically group contacts
by tags
*Bolded item indicates better option of the two
8. Pricing
MailChimp
1) Base Price-Per-Month for 200k
subscribers: $875
2) Pro membership Price: $199 per
month
3) No discount for paying in
advance
Constant Contact
1) Base Price-Per-Month for 200k
subscribers: $895
2) Pro membership price: $110+ per
month (insufficient data)
3) Base Price-Per-Month for 200k
subscribers with 10-15% prepay
discount (6-12 months in
advance): $805.5 - 760.75
*Bolded item indicates better option of the two
Note: The $20 difference between the base prices is not significant enough to warrant
MailChimp a victory in pricing when Constant Contact has the potential for a discount
9. Reporting
MailChimp
1) Activity reports available: open
rate, click rate, bounce rate,
unopened, unsubscribed,
complained
2) Revenue report with built in
analytics module using own
website traffic tools
3) Other special reports like:
industry comparison with other
MailChimp users and click maps
Constant Contact
1) Activity reports available: open
rate, click rate, bounce rate
2) Standard revenue report
3) Only other special report includes
a mobile open rate vs. desktop
open rate
*Bolded item indicates better option of the two
10. Interface
MailChimp
1) Easier to use with less
templates/customization options
2) Mobile-friendly with social media
integration
Constant Contact
1) Less easy to use with more
templates/customization options
2) Mobile-friendly with social media
integration
*Bolded item indicates better option of the two
Note: MailChimp wins here based solely on the fact that they have the easier-to-use
interface. Considering this was a prime factor in determining our choice of email service
provider, it was easy to pick the winner in this category.
11. Support
MailChimp
1) Support Options: email, self-help
database, forums
Constant Contact
1) Support Options: phone, live chat,
twitter, email, forums, video
tutorials, seminars
*Bolded item indicates better option of the two
Note: Constant Contact wins this one by having tremendously more support options
while still maintaining the quality of those options
12. Other Features
MailChimp
1) Image Storage: Unlimited, free
2) Third Party Integrations:
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn,
CRM’s (ex. Insightly)
3) A/B Testing: automatic and split
into subject lines and segments
4) Pro Version Features:
Autoresponders, Predicted
Demographics, Multivariate
Testing, Advanced Segmentation
Constant Contact
1) Image Storage: Free for up to 5
files
2) Third Party Integrations: Facebook,
Twitter, CRM’s (ex. Salesforce)
3) A/B Testing: manually split into two
lists
4) Pro Version Features:
Autoresponders, In-house
surveys/poll, Coupons, In-house
event marketing
*Bolded item indicates better option of the two
14. Comparison Summary
Overall, MailChimp won 4-2 versus Constant Contact in the comparison of
features. Their segmentation was much more thorough, their reports were
much more robust and detailed, their interface was the easiest to use, and
their additional features were slightly better than Constant Contact’s. The fact
that MailChimp also came out best in the two categories that Alan’s needed
most, easy/appealing interface and comprehensive reporting, really put them
ahead of the curve. While Constant Contact may have bested MailChimp in
pricing and customer support, the differences were not significant enough to
contend with MailChimp’s paramount benefits.
