Email marketing service MailChimp has
made its suite of marketing automation features free for all users, highlighting the benefits of automation for email marketers.
MailChimp’s email automation service was previously only
available to paying members of MailChimp’s subscription service, but on Tuesday was released complimentary to all 15 million users.
“No matter what type of plan you’re on
— Forever Free, Monthly, Pro, or Pay As You Go — you can now send personalized automations at no extra cost,” writes Maggie Blaha, a junior writer for MailChimp, in a blog post announcing the news.
Automation simplifies email marketing by allowing users to send campaigns
triggered by a particular event, such as a birthday, or action, like an abandoned shopping cart. Marketing becomes more effective when once repetitive, manual tasks are automated -- enabling business
owners to continue to grow their business even when they are away from their computer.
Trigger-based email campaigns are helpful for any marketer, but perhaps especially so for marketers
with limited resource like small- to-medium-sized business owners. For example, MailChimp claims that its customers that leverage abandoned cart automated campaigns earn an average of $619 more per
month.
MailChimp offers a host of trigger-based email templates for its customers to use, including abandoned cart campaigns, welcome series, re-engagement campaigns, order
notifications, and happy birthday messages.
Birthday emails have a 481% higher transaction rate when compared to promotional emails, according to a 2014 Experian report. Birthday emails also boost revenue per email by 342% and
unique click rates by 179%, according to the study.