Is Campaign Monitor really worth it?
The Campaign Monitor is an email marketing platform that's been recognized for its advanced features and ease of use. It is an online email marketing tool that enables businesses to develop email campaigns easily with automations, deliver those campaigns using A/B testing, monitor using analytics and reporting dashboard, but many users are concerned about the high price plans of the platform.
The high pricing plans are one of the main problems with Campaign Monitor. Campaign Monitor's plans are significantly more expensive than those of some of its competitors. Mailchimp, for instance, offers a free plan for businesses with less than 2,000 subscribers, and its paid plans start at $9.99 per month. Similarly, Constant Contact's subscription rates start at $20 per month which is significantly less than the basic plan of Campaign Monitor.
In spite of its excellent user interface, some users reported that Campaign Monitor can be quiet hard to use. It might be difficult for the users to use the sophisticated automation features of this platform, and may need some time to adjust to its working process and create campaigns.
On top of that there is no free trial of Campaign Monitor available – the best that you’ll get is a so-called ‘free account’ which allows you to try out everything the system can do except, importantly, send any mass mail outs (you can only send emails to 5 people using the free account).
Updates in Campaign Monitor pricing
The Campaign Monitoring Plan is divided into three types: Basic, Unlimited and Premier. The price is based on a combination of the number of subscribers and the features offered to you. With Unlimited or Premier plans, you can send all your emails in one go. The cheapest is the basic plan, billed at $9/month, for 500 subscribers with a limit of 2500 emails. A "pay per campaign" plan, which costs $5 per campaign and 1 cent per recipient, is also available.
As a matter of fact, if you first think that these prices are too high, they are!
The Basic plan costs $9 per month for 500 contacts and includes basic email marketing features such as email design tools, basic automation workflows, and reporting. The Unlimited plan costs $29 per month for 500 contacts and includes all the features of the Basic plan, along with additional features such as unlimited emails and advanced automation workflows.
The Premier plan costs $149 per month for 500 contacts and includes all the features of the Unlimited plan, along with advanced features such as email previews, A/B testing, and advanced reporting. Finally, the Custom plan is designed for businesses with specific needs and requires a custom quote.
Verdict
While Campaign Monitor has its advantages, for many small businesses, such advanced automation features and detailed reports may not be worth the extra costs associated with a Platform's high pricing plans or limited feature set for its basic plan. In addition, some users may have a problem with the difficult user interface of this platform and its lack of flexibility in terms of refund policy.Apart from this, the tool offers two pricing structures: contact-based pricing and pay-per-campaign pricing.
Campaign Monitor’s key strength lies in the quality, flexibility and robustness of its templates. But the product is extremely expensive by comparison to its key competitors in the marketing.
Before committing to the plan, businesses must make careful consideration of their email marketing needs and examine whether Campaign Monitor is comparable with competitors.