Signs It's Time to Switch Email Service Providers - Alyssa Avant and Company

Today we are beginning a new series for the month of May. Since we did spring cleaning in April we’re going to follow this up and create A Fresh Start for Our Email Marketing. The way that we’re gonna do this is with an email marketing reset. We will clean up, level up and connect better to your subscribers.

Today we’re going to talk about the signs that it’s time to switch email service providers and how to know your current platform isn’t serving you anymore. We will also talk about some common pain points such as costs, features and deliverability, along with what to look for in a new service provider.

Recently, I’ve had several clients switch from one email platform to another. One particular client switched from MailChimp to what used to be ConvertKit, now called Kit. This is what kind of prompted this podcast episode and series.

What’s Happening

Mailchimp has made some recent changes to their free marketing plan. Limiting it to 500 contacts and a thousand monthly sends. Additionally, their new free accounts no longer have access to classic automations. Those previously using the workaround will have their automations paused. One of the main reasons that we all want to have an email list is so we can automate it. You don’t want to have to ask someone if they want your freebie and then have to manually send it to them.

The whole point is so that you will be able to automate it. Say they want to get your freebie at one in the morning, you don’t have to do anything. It is automatically delivered via your email service provider. MailChimp is basically trying to force you to pay for their service now instead of having the free version. If you are currently on MailChimp, you will need to decide if you would like to pay or try something else.

Another popular email service provider is ActiveCampaign. They have made several recent changes. These include updates to their pricing model, some automation actions, and some AI powered features. Now obviously price changes are what affects us the most and ActiveCampaign has adjusted its prices with a focus on bundling features and offering more flexibility. However, this was a pretty substantial change in pricing.

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Since June of 2024, ActiveCampaign has increased its pricing by 40%. It’s has also replaced its Like Plan with a Starter Plan and introduced add-ons instead of bundled sales and marketing features. These changes have also involved smaller jumps in contact limits and a reduction in the number of users per plan. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing to me. I still have ActiveCampaign, it is still my favorite. If you’ve ever listened to my podcast in the past, you know that I talk a lot about the different levels of email service providers, and ActiveCampaign is honestly the Cadillac of email service providers.

Role of An Email Service Provider

An email service provider is a tool. What does that tool do for the growth of your business? It helps you to facilitate effective communication, build relationships, and drive sales through your targeted email campaigns.

Many times these email service providers offer features that help you to streamline your email marketing process. They enable your business to create professional looking emails and manage your subscriber list. They can also help to automate your workflows, track your results, and ultimately boost engagement. That’s what you want to focus on when you’re looking for the correct tool to use for your email service provider. The wrong tool can lead to frustration, wasted money, and missed connections.

Five Signs That It’s Time to Switch

You’re paying for features you don’t use: A lot of times the bigger, more robust email service providers offer a ton of features that you might not be using. Take a look and make sure you are utilizing what is being provided.
You’re missing features you need: For example, I talked about MailChimp and the fact that they are doing away with automations on their free plan. If you’re on the free plan, you may be missing out on automations that you need to do even the simplest task. You may need to be able to tag people and use the different tags to know what your audience is engaging with. Maybe you want to integrate your email service provider with another tool that you’re using. Those are some examples of features that you may need that not every email service provider will be able meet.
Low deliverability or all of your emails going to spam: This can be a huge issue for you. If your emails aren’t getting where they need to go, then you definitely want to think about switching.
Your email list has grown and your provider doesn’t scale very well: Maybe it’s costing you more, or maybe you are losing out on the features that you need.
Poor user interface or customer support: Obviously you want to have the support that you need when a problem arises with your email service provider. If you can’t find the answers quickly and easily, it might be time to switch.

My Favorite Platforms

I want to share with you my favorite platforms for different specific needs. For a low level of need or for beginners I would recommend Mailerlite. I would recommend Kit for creators. It is a wonderful kind of middle-of-the-road email service provider. Finally the one I love the most is ActiveCampaign. It has all the bells and whistles and allows me to do all the different tracking and segmenting.

Before You Switch

Finally, before you decide to switch, you’ll want to ask yourself some questions.

Those questions include:

What do I want my email marketing to do for me?
What is it that you’re looking for? This will help you to decide which email service provider is best for you.
What kind of emails do you want to send: newsletters, automations, promotions?
What is your budget and your list size? Many times the email service provider’s pricing is based on your list size or how many emails you plan to send.
Do I need integration with other tools? Do you want it to work along with your website or with a course that you’re wanting to offer? Those are two very important pieces if you’re wanting your email service provider to deliver the course and it doesn’t integrate with the tool that you use.

Looking Ahead

Next week we’re going to be talking about how to make a smooth transition without losing your audience. If you decide to switch email service providers, I will be offering a freebie next week: a step-by-step checklist for moving to a new email service provider. Be sure to come back next week and I will tell you how to grab that.

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