Mailchimp is an email marketing and automation platform that allows businesses and agencies to create, send, and analyze email campaigns from a single place. Founded in 2001, it became one of the most widely used tools in the industry thanks to its accessible interface, segmentation features, and ability to integrate with other platforms. If you’re looking to understand what Mailchimp is and how it can help you improve your email marketing, this guide covers everything you need to know.
What is Mailchimp and what is it used for?
Mailchimp is a digital marketing solution that centralizes contact management, email design, send automation, and results analysis. It doesn’t require advanced technical knowledge, making it a viable option for both businesses just starting out and marketing teams with more complex operations.
The platform goes beyond email: it includes features for landing pages, social media ads, and multichannel automations. However, its core remains email marketing, the area where its most mature features are concentrated.
Mailchimp is useful for very different profiles:
- Small and medium business owners who want to communicate with their customers without relying on a technical team.
- Digital marketing agencies that manage email campaigns for multiple clients.
- E-commerce businesses that need to automate welcome emails, abandoned cart reminders, and post-purchase follow-ups.
- Freelancers looking for a tool with a functional free plan for early-stage projects.
- Content teams that send regular newsletters to their audiences.
Main features of Mailchimp
Email campaign creation
Mailchimp offers a visual drag-and-drop editor. It lets you build emails from scratch or use pre-designed templates. You don’t need to know HTML to create professionally designed pieces. It also has a code editor for users who prefer greater control over the HTML.
Contact management and segmentation
The platform organizes contacts into audiences. Within each audience, you can create dynamic segments based on behavior, demographics, purchase history, or previous interactions with your emails. Precise segmentation improves open rates and reduces subscriber unsubscribes.
Email automation
Mailchimp lets you set up automated workflows (called Customer Journeys) that trigger based on user actions. Some common examples include:
- Welcome email upon subscribing to a list.
- Abandoned cart reminder for online stores.
- Onboarding sequence for new customers.
- Re-engagement email for inactive contacts.
- Birthday or special date notifications.
Campaign analysis and reporting
Every campaign sent generates a report with key metrics. Mailchimp displays real-time data and allows you to compare performance across campaigns.
| Metric | What it measures | Average benchmark (email marketing) |
|---|---|---|
| Open rate | Percentage of recipients who opened the email | 20% – 40% depending on industry |
| Click-through rate (CTR) | Percentage who clicked on a link | 2% – 5% depending on industry |
| Bounce rate | Undelivered emails relative to total sent | Under 2% is acceptable |
| Unsubscribe rate | Contacts who canceled their subscription | Under 0.5% per campaign |
| Revenue generated | Sales attributed to the campaign (with e-commerce connected) | Varies by industry and product |
Integrations with other platforms
Mailchimp connects with more than 300 apps and services. The most widely used integrations include Shopify, WooCommerce, WordPress, Salesforce, Zapier, Google Analytics, and Meta Ads. These connections allow you to sync customer data and trigger automations from external events.
Mailchimp plans: which one fits your needs?
Free plan
Includes up to 500 contacts and 1,000 monthly sends. It has limitations in automation and support, but it’s enough for businesses just starting out or for testing the platform before investing.
Essentials plan
Starting at $13/month. Allows up to 500,000 contacts, removes Mailchimp branding from emails, and enables chat and email support. It’s the entry point for professional use.
Standard plan
Starting at $20/month. Includes advanced automations, predictive segmentation, ad retargeting, and comparative analytics. Recommended for active marketing teams.
Premium plan
Starting at $350/month. Offers advanced segmentation, multi-user access for large teams, and priority support. It’s aimed at companies with large contact bases and high-volume operations.
How to create your first Mailchimp campaign, step by step
- Create a Mailchimp account. Go to mailchimp.com, sign up with your email address, and complete the basic setup for your profile and business.
- Import or create your contact list. Go to the “Audience” section and add contacts manually, via CSV import, or by connecting an integration like Shopify or WordPress.
- Create an audience segment. Define segmentation criteria to send the email only to the contacts most relevant to that campaign.
- Design your campaign. Select “Create Campaign,” choose the “Email” type, and use the drag-and-drop editor to build your visual piece.
- Set the subject line and sender. Write a clear subject line. Use a recognizable sender name to improve open rates.
- Preview and test the email. Mailchimp lets you send a test email before the actual send. Check how it looks on desktop and mobile.
- Schedule or send the campaign. Choose to send immediately or schedule the send for the time with the highest likelihood of opens based on your audience.
- Analyze the results. Review the campaign report 24 to 48 hours after sending. Evaluate open rate, clicks, and unsubscribes to fine-tune your next campaign.
Mailchimp vs. email marketing alternatives
| Criteria | Mailchimp | ActiveCampaign | Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) | HubSpot Email |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ease of use | High | Medium | High | Medium-high |
| Free plan | Yes (500 contacts) | No | Yes (300 sends/day) | Yes (limited) |
| Automations | Intermediate | Advanced | Intermediate | Advanced |
| Built-in CRM | Basic | Full | Basic | Full |
| Integrations | +300 | +870 | +150 | +1,000 |
| Starting price (paid) | From $13/month | From $15/month | From $9/month | From $20/month |
| Ideal for | SMBs and agencies | Complex automation | High send volume | HubSpot ecosystem |
Mailchimp is the most balanced option for those seeking ease of use with solid features. ActiveCampaign outperforms Mailchimp in advanced automations. Brevo is more affordable if send volume is your priority. HubSpot is more powerful, but its cost scales quickly.
Frequently asked questions about Mailchimp
Is Mailchimp free forever?
Mailchimp offers a permanent free plan with up to 500 contacts and 1,000 monthly sends. However, advanced features such as branding removal, complex automations, and priority support are only available on paid plans.
Does Mailchimp work for agencies managing multiple clients?
Yes, Mailchimp has an agency account feature that allows you to manage multiple clients from a centralized access point. However, billing and configuration for each client are usually handled separately, which can create additional operational work.
What’s the difference between an audience and a segment in Mailchimp?
An audience is the complete list of contacts associated with a profile or client. A segment is a filtered subset within that audience, based on specific criteria such as behavior, location, or purchase history. Using segments improves the relevance of each send.
Does Mailchimp comply with privacy regulations like GDPR?
Mailchimp includes tools to help comply with GDPR and other privacy regulations, such as consent forms, unsubscribe management, and contact data export. However, the responsibility for correctly configuring these elements falls on the platform user.
Can I connect Mailchimp with Google Analytics or Meta Ads?
Yes. Mailchimp integrates with Google Analytics to track traffic generated by your email campaigns. It also allows you to connect Facebook and Instagram ads for audience retargeting. These integrations enrich multichannel performance analysis.
Does Mailchimp replace a CRM tool?
Mailchimp includes basic CRM features, such as contact management and interaction tracking. However, it doesn’t replace a full CRM like HubSpot or Salesforce for teams that need advanced sales pipeline management, opportunity tracking, or sales team reporting.
How can Master Metrics complement the use of Mailchimp at an agency?
Mailchimp generates its own email marketing reports, but it doesn’t centralize performance from other channels like Meta Ads, Google Ads, or LinkedIn Ads. Master Metrics lets you unify data from all those sources, including email context, into an automated dashboard for each client. This eliminates the manual work of consolidating reports and provides a complete view of campaign performance without switching between platforms.
Conclusion
Mailchimp is a solid tool for managing email marketing campaigns, especially for teams that value ease of use and speed of getting started. Its free plan makes it accessible, and its automation and segmentation features keep it competitive against market alternatives. For most SMBs, agencies, and freelancers, it covers the essential needs of the email channel without a steep learning curve.
However, email marketing is just one of the channels an agency needs to report on. When Mailchimp data needs to be combined with results from Meta Ads, Google Ads, TikTok Ads, or GA4 campaigns, manually consolidating that information takes time and increases the risk of errors. Master Metrics solves that problem by centralizing all performance data into automated dashboards, available for each client without additional operational work.
If you already use Mailchimp and want a complete view of your clients’ performance across all channels, exploring a centralized reporting solution like Master Metrics can make a real difference in your agency’s efficiency.
