1. Forever Free

MailChimp’s “Forever Free” account is perfect for new businesses or those just starting out on their email marketing journey.

You get a subscriber list of 2,000 and a monthly send limit of 12,000 emails. For free! It’s easy to set up and offers a low risk introduction to the world of email marketing. If your email list grows beyond this, or you need a higher send limit, you can easily upgrade to one of their paid accounts, but in our experience the free account suits most people’s needs.

To see how easy it is to set up an account, click the link below to watch our free MailChimp tutorial video.

2. Easy Peasy

MailChimp is super user-friendly. And super flexible. We love that it’s been designed for non-technical people, so anyone can send out professional looking emails without needing a marketing degree!

The application was first launched in 2001 and has been going from strength to strength ever since. They’re continually improving the design to make the user interface simpler, clearer and the most user-friendly it can possibly be. You just choose a template and then set your layout and text using their simple drag-and-drop design feature.

3. Feature-rich

MailChimp is packed with useful features to make your life easier. Well, when it comes to email marketing at least – they’re not miracle workers!

These are some of our favourite features:

• Scheduling: this allows you to prepare your emails in advance and schedule them to be sent on particular days at particular times. So you can really get ahead with your marketing and avoid last-minute panics.
• List segmentation: it’s really important to be able to segment your list to ensure your emails are getting to the right audience. The free account allows you to create groups within your list, so your readers can select relevant topics when they sign up. This means you can send more targeted emails to them and they receive the information they actually want.
• Reporting: MailChimp has an extensive reporting tool, even with the free account. You can see exactly who opened your emails and how many times. You can see which links were clicked the most. You can tell what time of day was most popular. And you can even find out where in the world your readers are located. This gives you great insight into how your email marketing is performing and where you might need to improve.
• Integration: MailChimp offers seamless integration with other apps and services, allowing you to get the most out of your marketing. It works well with Customer Relationship Management software (CRMs), WordPress generally, the WordPress Gravity Forms plugin, ecommerce signup forms, and of course social media networks, to name a few.

4. Superb Support

MailChimp’s customer service is unsurpassed. Their staff are super helpful – you can contact them with any query and expect a fantastic, speedy and friendly response. Rather than offering free accounts with no support options as a way to get people to sign up to their paid services, MailChimp has actually made ‘freemium’ a key part of their business model.

Or at least this is the way it used to be. Unfortunately, due to their exponential growth, they can no longer offer unlimited email support for their Forever Free accounts. But this is simply testament to how well they’re doing and how great their product is. And the good news is, you still get 30 days of free email support after setting up your account.

5. The Chimp

And last but not least, there’s the monkey. Or Freddie von Chimpenheimer to be precise.

He’s the guy who helps you along your email marketing journey with helpful hints and funny messages. He gives you High Fives and Chimp Chatter and there’s even a Paper Buddy you can download and cut out to keep you company!

What do you think?

Now you know why we love MailChimp so much, we’d love to hear from you.

Are you a fellow fan or a MailChimp virgin? What are your first impressions of the software after watching our introductory guide? Have you set up your new account yet?