Our Review of Campaign Monitor Email Marketing

Campaign Monitor has established itself as a solid contender in the email marketing landscape, offering a range of features aimed at businesses of various sizes. Let’s delve into its offerings to see if it stacks up as a valuable tool for your email marketing needs.

Campaign Monitor Email Marketing Functionality

Campaign Monitor structures its offerings into several tiers, each unlocking increasing levels of features and functionality. Here’s a breakdown:

Basic

This entry-level tier provides the essentials for getting started with email marketing. Key features include:

Drag-and-drop email builder: An intuitive interface for creating visually appealing emails without needing coding knowledge. You can easily add text, images, buttons, and other elements.
List management: Tools for importing, segmenting, and managing your subscriber lists. Segmentation allows you to target specific groups based on criteria like demographics or engagement.
Personalisation: The ability to address subscribers by name and use dynamic content to tailor emails. For example, you could show different product recommendations to different customer segments.
Reporting and analytics: Basic insights into email performance, such as open rates, click-through rates, and bounce rates. This helps you understand what’s working and what isn’t.
Automation basics: Simple automated workflows, such as welcome emails for new subscribers.

Unlimited

Stepping up to the Unlimited tier unlocks more advanced features for growing businesses:

Unlimited email sends: Send as many emails as you need without worrying about quotas (subject to fair usage policies).
Advanced segmentation: Create more sophisticated subscriber segments based on a wider range of criteria, including past purchase behaviour and website activity.
Automation journeys: Build complex, multi-step automation workflows to nurture leads, onboard customers, and re-engage inactive subscribers. For instance, you could set up a series of emails triggered by a specific action on your website.
Priority support: Access to faster and more responsive customer support.

Premier

The top-tier offering is designed for sophisticated marketers with demanding needs:

Advanced reporting: In-depth analytics, including engagement heatmaps and deliverability insights.
Premier support: The highest level of support with dedicated account management for larger clients.
Send-time optimisation: Campaign Monitor analyses past engagement data to automatically send emails at the optimal time for each subscriber, maximising open rates.
Transactional emails: The ability to send automated, triggered emails for actions like order confirmations and password resets via their Transact add-on.
Email previews: See how your emails will render across various email clients (e.g., Outlook, Gmail, Apple Mail) and devices before sending.

Take a look at our analysis and comparison of the features of the top ten email marketing platforms.

How Much Does Campaign Monitor Cost (And Is It Worth It?)

Campaign Monitor’s pricing is primarily based on the number of subscribers you have and the chosen tier.

Basic: Plans start from around £7 per month for up to 500 subscribers with a limited number of sends. Prices increase as your subscriber list grows.
Unlimited: Prices for the Unlimited tier typically begin at approximately £23 per month for up to 500 subscribers, offering unlimited sends.
Premier: The Premier tier starts at roughly £199 per month for up to 500 subscribers, including all features and premium support.

It’s important to note that these are starting prices and will scale upwards as your subscriber count increases. They also offer a pay-as-you-go option for users who send infrequently.

Campaign Monitor offers a robust set of features, particularly at the Unlimited and Premier tiers. The drag-and-drop builder is user-friendly, and the automation capabilities are powerful. However, the pricing, especially as your list size grows, can become relatively expensive compared to some other email marketing platforms.

For smaller businesses with basic needs, the Basic plan might offer reasonable value initially. However, as your marketing efforts become more sophisticated and your list expands, the cost can be a significant consideration. The Unlimited tier provides excellent features for the price, offering a good balance for growing businesses that need more advanced automation and unlimited sending. The Premier tier, while feature-rich, is likely only justifiable for larger organisations with complex needs and a higher marketing budget.

Take a look at where Campaign Monitor sits on our ranking of the most cost-effective email marketing platforms.

Campaign Monitor: Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths	Weaknesses
User-friendly drag-and-drop email builder	Can become expensive as subscriber list grows
Powerful automation capabilities (Unlimited+)	Basic reporting in the entry-level tier
Excellent segmentation options (Unlimited+)	Transactional emails require a separate add-on
Good deliverability rates	Some competitors offer more generous free plans
Strong focus on design and aesthetics	Limited built-in CRM functionality
Reliable customer support	Price structure might not suit very small businesses

Our Analysis: What Type of Business is Campaign Monitor Best Suited For?

Campaign Monitor is particularly well suited for:

Small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs): Especially those looking for a user-friendly platform with robust automation and segmentation capabilities as they scale. The Unlimited tier often hits a sweet spot for these businesses.
Marketing agencies: The platform’s client management features and design focus make it a good choice for agencies managing email campaigns for multiple clients.
Businesses that prioritise design and branding: The platform offers excellent tools for creating visually appealing and on-brand emails.
E-commerce businesses: The advanced segmentation and automation features can be leveraged for targeted product recommendations, abandoned cart recovery, and post-purchase follow-ups.

While smaller businesses with very tight budgets might find the entry-level Basic plan sufficient initially, they may outgrow it quickly or find more cost-effective options elsewhere for basic needs. Large enterprises with highly complex CRM requirements might find Campaign Monitor lacks some of the integrated functionality offered by more enterprise-focused platforms.

Conclusion

Campaign Monitor is a capable and well-designed email marketing platform that offers a strong feature set, particularly in its Unlimited and Premier tiers. Its user-friendly interface and powerful automation tools make it a compelling option for businesses looking to elevate their email marketing efforts. However, the cost can be a significant factor, especially as subscriber numbers increase.

Ultimately, the decision of whether Campaign Monitor is the right choice for you will depend on your specific needs, budget, and the scale of your email marketing activities. If you value ease of use, sophisticated automation, and visually appealing emails, and your budget allows for it, Campaign Monitor is certainly a platform worth considering. However, it’s wise to compare its pricing and features against other providers to ensure it aligns perfectly with your business requirements

Campaign Monitor Competitors

Check out our comparison of the best email marketing software, and see where Campaign Monitor sits in the top ten.