Virtual Assistant Forums | Work from Home

StephanieP · #1 (**permalink**) 09-29-2009

I know that a lot of people debate the value of one service or program over another all the time, but I wanted this to be a separate post because I'm speaking of these two services specifically. Here's why...

Our non-profit organization is working with a PR/Marketing firm who is helping us to really develop our brand and online presence (Twitter, blogging, articles, newsletters, press releases and even a whole new website...I can't wait to for it to go live. the proofs are AWESOME

). Sorry, back to the topic at hand...

Currently, we use Constant Contact for all of our newsletters and announcements. Our PR firm wants us to switch to MailChimp. Out of curiosity (eventually, I'll be looking into these services for my own business

) I asked him why they want us to switch and which company they want us to go with. He said that our PR firm prefers MailChimp to Constant Contact because they provide more analytics for tracking (it seems like there may have been another small reason but this was the main one I think). He checked out the pricing (we pay monthly) and they cost about the same.

So, have any of you had experience with both of these services? How would you compare the two? Is there another service that you would choose over either one of these? If so, why?

YourLeftHand · #2 (**permalink**) 10-01-2009

Hi Stephanie,

I can't tell you my personal comparison between the two, as I've only used Mail Chimp. But I LOVE Mail Chimp. It does have great analytics. Plus, I have a free account and I have yet to go thru all their free sends since my list is still not that large.

I just did a search and here is a comparison chart of the features. You can take a look and see if that helps. Of course, it would be good to find a non-biased site as well!

http://http://www.mailchimp.com/features/compare_us/

ShelleyH · #3 (**permalink**) 10-01-2009

I have been using Constant Contact, which I really do like. One client I have is a non-profit and they bought a program called 'fundraiser' which has mail integrated into the program. Once all of the data is in, they will be able to use that rather than a mail client...it really is going to be nice because we can extrapolate reports and be very specific as to who is in the mailing list(s).

StephanieP · #4 (**permalink**) 10-02-2009

Hmmm...I'll have to look at that software because I work for a non-profit as well (although we don't really do fundraisers).

ShelleyH · #5 (**permalink**) 10-02-2009

We are keeping track of volunteers, gifts, donors, events, everything. It is tons of work getting it all set up... but will be worth it once things are in place.

virtual writing · #6 (**permalink**) 10-02-2009

Stephanie - I think every email software has its foibles, and it's really a question of what you're used to. I've used both Constant Contact and MailChimp ... I like MailChimp because I can use it in Chrome, which won't work with CC.

Your non-profit should use a sector-specific software, however, as Shelley suggests, soon as you can afford it, if not a little before then!

RebeccaT · #7 (**permalink**) 10-02-2009

Mary,
I went to your site and your tracker info at the bottom is showing...
Also I went to sign up for your newsletter and told me it was not there anymore.

annella · #8 (**permalink**) 10-03-2009

I actually just turned one of my clients onto mail chimp it works well with what they need so we switched everything from 1shoppingcart.com. It's very simple to use.

virtual writing · #9 (**permalink**) 10-03-2009

Oh man, Rebecca, that was bad! THANK YOU SO MUCH for telling me. Got it corrected now, and I hope you'll indulge me by returning to sign up for my newsletter.

So much appreciate the tip ... who knows how long it's been like that? Could be months ....