Flodesk VS Mailchimp - what’s the difference?
We’ve been testing the Flodesk email builder as an alternative programme to Mailchimp. We’ve done the legwork for you, and here’s what we found out.
Flodesk itself has incredible branding. Where Mailchimp is a bit ‘Email Marketing for Dummies’ with a chimp for a brand mascot (wow), Flodesk feels like it’s with you in the 21st century. A clean aesthetic gives a professional and sophisticated interface - and guess what. It is. Read on to find out more.
- Templates -
Flodesk has a selection of email templates. It’s actually a well numbered selection - there are enough that you feel you are getting a good range but not so many that you just do not know which one to pick. The templates are divided into what they can be used for, from a Welcome email to a Sales email.
These templates have all the design, graphics, fonts, sizes etc already done for you. So your email already has great built-in aesthetics and excellent UX (User Experience). In addition, their copy is so good that you can use it as inspiration to write your emails. Ideal for busy people that don’t have copywriting experience.
- Email Changes -
If you prefer to create things in your own way you can! If you choose to, you can design an email that is totally unique to you and your business. Creating an email from scratch is easy in Flodesk. You can upload images and change around blocks as you like to build your own email.
The ability to change your email is very sophisticated within Flodesk. The range of fonts you get in comparison to Mailchimp is excellent. You can really make it as individual as you really want it to be.
Unfortunately with Flodesk you can’t easily edit your images within the programme. It does allow you to create an overlay but you can’t easily crop an image - a hugely useful tool I use in Mailchimp all the time.
That said, Flodesk is used by professionals who will probably use great, free software to edit their images anyway (did anyone say Canva?) so it isn’t necessary to edit the image within Flodesk. If the edit function was built in, it would just save time from chopping and changing between two programmes.
- Audience -
Flodesk offers you 3 options when sending your email out - you can upload a list; send to a segment or send to an individual. This is an overly simplistic approach to sending out emails to customers. A high-end e-commerce store needs far more segmentation when emailing their audience.
Email marketing is one of the most low cost, high ROI channels that an e-commerce business can use. Therefore they need to get their email strategy right and that means good segmentation of data lists. Flodesk is not the best option for this - it does have segments of a list but that’s it. If you’re looking for a sophisticated email list management system, then you should look to Klaviyo - but that’s for another blog.
- Workflow -
The Workflow product is the saviour of Flodesk. When a subscriber joins or is added to a different segment, a workflow kicks in. This is a pre-organised and pre-designed number of emails that will be sent out to your customer without you having to hit a button.
Let’s recap that: you create your emails (for example a Welcome Email, and a Sales email).
Once a subscriber is added to a particular segment, that email address will automatically receive the emails that are lined up for it - i.e. the Welcome email and the Sales email. You can even set up two Sales emails, and if the recipient opens the first one, the second one won’t be sent. So there’s a level of control there that you need for sophisticated marketing.
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Overall the experience with Flodesk was a positive one. The segmentation needs finessing but with the fantastic templates and Workflow options, it’s an impressive email management system. For free!
Take a look at Flodesk.com and let us know your thoughts. Did it save you time and give you inspiration or was it frustrating and plain? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
