One reason communications professionals search for a Mailchimp alternative is that they need help emailing unsubscribed contacts.
Why? While Mailchimp is a terrific marketing tool, with e-commerce integrations and solid email marketing features, it’s made for marketers, not communicators. That means it won’t perform functions like sending bulk emails to all contacts (including those who have unsubscribed.)
Communicators often need to email contacts who have unsubscripted from optional information because they have a contractual or regulatory mandate to share essential information with all stakeholders.
Mailchimp doesn’t recognize this use case and does not have tools to help.
Mailchimp is Made for Marketers: Communicators Need Envoke
There’s a reason Mailchimp lacks this functionality. As we mentioned, Mailchimp is made for marketers to generate leads and sell products. Because it’s built for commercial email marketing, it anticipates that users will send commercial email. Makes sense! But commercial email is subject to CAN-SPAM, CASL and other regulations that strictly forbid marketers from sending commercial messages to unsubscribed contacts. Obviously, this is good, useful legislation governing commercial activity. It keeps our inboxes spam-free.
But anti-spam legislation doesn’t apply to communications professionals who are sending non-commercial messages. These emails contain essential information and there are times when organizations such as municipalities, regulators, associations, and post-secondary institutions (to name just a few organizations that send mandatory messages) must send information to all stakeholders, regardless of their subscription status. This is when Mailchimp users often start looking for an alternative that is more suitable for communicators.
Are you ready to try an email marketing platform purpose-built for communicators, which allows you to email your unsubscribed contacts, if you have a regulatory or contractual reason to do so? Check out Envoke!
Try Envoke today: Create a free trial account.
Email for communication, not lead generation.
- Includes ALL Envoke features.
- No credit card needed for trial.
- Free, unlimited support.
- Free coaching call with tech support (not sales).
Despite the fact that an organization may have a legal or contractual obligation to email essential information to its unsubscribe list, Mailchimp does not allow bulk sends to unsubscribed contacts. (Note: Mailchimp will charge you for your unsubscribed contacts, even though it does not allow you to include them in a mass mailing.)
Envoke: A Mailchimp Alternative For Emailing Your Unsubscribe List
How does Envoke’s Mandatory Messaging feature work? Simply contact Envoke’s support team to get started! Once this powerful feature is live, it’s very straightforward to use.
1) Designate contacts as recipients of Mandatory Messaging
Every contact who is subject to your contractual or regulatory requirement to send mandatory emails gets marked as a mandatory content recipient. This is easily done as a group edit function, or individually when a new contact is added.
2) Share your reason for emailing unsubscribed contacts
To use Envoke’s Mandatory Messaging, you must have a legal or contractual reason for emailing your unsubscribe list. Envoke requires you to provide this reason to set up Mandatory Messaging, as well as a link to a document or website that verifies your reason. (Sample documents may include your terms of service or a link to the regulation that requires you to send essential emails to all contacts including those who have unsubscribed.)
To reduce the chances your email is marked as spam and to promote transparent communication, your reason for using Mandatory Messaging and a link to the page that verifies that reason are included in the footer of every mandatory message you send.
3) Mark desired messages as mandatory
With a single click, you can designate any email as mandatory. Every person on your contact list who is subject to your Mandatory Messaging requirement will receive it, even if they have unsubscribed from optional content.
Only contacts who are designated as mandatory message recipients will be sent mandatory emails.
What About the Unsubscribe Link?
Your contacts can’t unsubscribe from Mandatory Messaging as a self-service option, but every mandatory message links to an Email Preferences page where they can request to be removed if they feel they are included on the list in error. Every removal request is reviewed by an admin on your team. Some reasons for removal could include a contact retiring, leaving an association, or moving the jurisdiction. This feature is available only to communication professionals who are required by a contractual or internal obligation to send essential information that all stakeholders are required to receive, which is why unsubscribing is not an option.
What Kind of Information is Essential?
The reasons for sending Mandatory Messaging vary by organization and depend on the specifics of the contract or regulation that requires you to send information to all your stakeholders. Some common use cases include:
- Municipal health and safety news.
- Employee scheduling changes or contract updates.
- Public health bulletins.
- Essential health care updates.
- Product recalls.
Envoke’s Features are Purpose-Built for Communications Professionals
Envoke is built for communicators. We are dedicated to understanding your problems and needs, and our ongoing focus is to deliver a product that surpasses your expectations. In addition to Mandatory Messaging, there are other key features that communications professionals consider essential in a Mailchimp alternative.
Data in Canada: All data, including backups, is stored in Canada on Canadian servers.
Powerful Segmentation and Personalization Tools: Flexible segmentation lets you execute your content plan the way you want to, not the way your software forces you to. Personalize your emails and increase engagement with dynamic content that is delivered only to the segment you choose.
Envoke offers:
- Unlimited custom segments
- Unlimited subscriptions
Human Support: Talk to a knowledgeable, friendly human when you need help. Envoke’s Capterra reviews confirm that our support, from our human technical team in Toronto, is among the best in the industry.
If your organization needs a Mailchimp alternative for emailing unsubscribed contacts, you should know about Envoke. For communications professionals, Envoke is better than Mailchimp because it has the powerful features you need, but isn’t cluttered with ones you don’t.
