High Fives All Around: MailChimp Brand Review
Sending emails gets kinda boring after a while. Sending thousands of emails gets really boring, really quickly.
Thank goodness that whenever you use Mailchimp that you have a little chimp companion to keep you company.
Yep, that’s right, a chimp.
MailChimp is one of the most successful email marketing tools out there on the web today. It is primarily targeted at small businesses, and a large percentage of the user base doesn’t even pay a cent to the company. How, then, has this company survived and thrived for over 18 years?
In short: lots of personality.
When you hear of other well-known email tools such as Constant Contact and Get Response, you don’t get the feeling that you’re going to have any fun. But when you hear the name ‘MailChimp’ your brain does a double-take.
It’s different from the rest. Deliberately different.
You’ve probably received many emails from restaurants, dentists, bookstores, artists, and other small businesses that use the platform to keep connected to their customers. The small Mailchimp ad at the bottom of the email allows them to use the service for free, and grow their lists over time.
MailChimp has always bet on delivering a great service, along with an easy point of entry. And it works: over 14,000 people per day sign up for the service and the company has reported revenue of over $500 Million in 2017. The company was even named Inc’s Company of the Year for 2017.
But what about that chimp?
As a long-time MailChimp user (both free and paid) I can attest to the fact that every time I login to create an email campaign, I crack a little smile.
MailChimp has not only delivered an excellent service for many years, they’ve delivered a masterclass in memorable marketing.
Here are three ways that MailChimp have managed to stand out from their competitors.
Develop an Avatar
One of the standout features of MailChimp is the way they use the winking chimp, named Freddie. Originally inspired by the Founder’s parent’s pet monkey, it has evolved to be a mascot and a friendly companion during arduous email campaigns.
Freddie even has his own style guide, which explains:
“Freddie is our mascot. We don’t use him in combination with our logo. Freddie always faces right, and he always winks.”
This simple, fun and friendly icon separate the brand immediately.
Obviously, not every brand can have a mascot, but it’s surprising how a simple icon or friendly face can make a brand much more relatable.
Use Easy Language
No other website is as friendly or relatable as MailChimp. When you read the words on their page it feels like a person speaking to you. Again, this is deliberate. The MailChimp team have developed a style guide that they freely share with the world, that outlines their philosophy.
“MailChimp’s voice is human. It’s familiar, friendly, and straightforward. Our priority is explaining our products and helping our users get their work done so they can get on with their lives. We want to educate people without patronizing or confusing them.”
MailChimp isn’t afraid to use humor and honesty or to encourage their customers to do better. They feel like your buddy sitting next to you, encouraging you to think bigger.
This human factor is a big part of many successful brands today, such as Netflix and Slack. It is easy to forget to be a person, but MailChimp shows how to do it with style.
Add in Small Surprises
This may be my favorite part of MailChimp: after a grueling email campaign setup, and hours of obsessing over the details, Mailchimp gives you a little fun just before you send.
When you’re ready to hit the send button, you get a little sweaty monkey hand hovering over a big red button.
And once you send, you get a little monkey-paw high-five. Woot.
(It still makes me smile, every time.)
These are examples of how MailChimp adds in small surprises to an otherwise routine task. And it makes you feel good about what you’re doing.
Along with this, they have fun games and a ton of helpful resources to make your work life easier. I have found myself saying out loud ‘well that was easy’ after sending a campaign via MailChimp.
Overall, the feeling you get when using MailChimp is that they care about your business. They have grown from a small company with no funding into an 800+ employee company. But they know that their target market is still the business owners who want to grow their own success.
This focus on fun, relatability, and constant improvement are the reasons that MailChimp has risen to such lofty heights.
If you are looking to change the personality of your brand or feel like your marketing could use a refresh, then reach out to us to help ignite your potential.
