If you happen to’re in search of your subsequent e mail advertising platform, and also you’re curious if Package is best for you, properly, you’re in the best place! Right here’s our complete Package evaluate for 2024, which is able to cowl:
- What Is Package?
- Why do I want an e mail service supplier (ESP)?
- The rebrand from ConvertKit to Package
- Package Options
- Package Pricing
- Key Advantages of Package
- Drawbacks of Package
- Package & E-mail Advertising and marketing: Extra Assets to Learn, Pay attention & Be taught
What’s Package?
Package is an e mail service supplier (ESP). Basically, it’s a expertise service that allows you to ship e mail campaigns to an inventory of subscribers. Package is one in every of actually a whole lot of ESPs on the market, and—full disclosure—it occurs to be the one we choose and use at SPI.
Though we’re biased, we will nonetheless be goal! On this publish, we’ll cowl the options, advantages, and drawbacks of Package as we see them, that will help you resolve if it’s the best ESP for what you are promoting.
E-mail advertising technique: Why you want an ESP
If you happen to’re studying this, you may already know what an ESP is and why you want one. However in case you don’t, an ESP is crucial piece of expertise to assist your e mail advertising technique.
E-mail advertising is likely one of the strongest strategies to construct relationships and market your services to your viewers. Let’s speak about why that’s.
In its most elementary type, e mail advertising includes you sending emails to a bunch of people that’ve chosen to listen to from you by “subscribing” to obtain emails from you. You would technically use a easy e mail program like Gmail to perform this—however we don’t suggest it, since you’ll rapidly discover it inadequate (and since your private e mail account will get flagged as spam for those who ship too many emails from it!).
As what you are promoting grows and extra individuals subscribe to get your emails, you’ll need the power to do extra refined issues together with your e mail advertising, like customizing the emails individuals get based on their pursuits, and utilizing studies and analytics to find out what’s working properly or not.
You additionally have to be sure you’re respecting individuals’s privateness and never spamming anybody. An e mail service supplier additionally lets you keep in compliance with authorities laws world wide, such because the CAN-SPAM act in america, the Basic Information Safety Regulation within the European Union (GDPR), and the Canada Anti-Spam Regulation (CASL).
Issues can rapidly get out of hand with out the assistance of a devoted e mail advertising platform. That’s the place an ESP like Package is available in.
Okay, let’s get into the nitty gritty of Package’s options!
Psst… Need to develop your e mail checklist and be taught highly effective segmentation and automation methods that permit what you are promoting to run by itself? Try the E-mail Advertising and marketing Magic course.
Package options
These are the important thing options of Package, organized by the way you’ll use them.
Sending emails
- Autoresponders/drip campaigns (sequences): Ship a sequence of pre-written emails robotically to a selected section of subscribers in your checklist, triggered by a selected occasion or motion, with the purpose of guiding them to take a selected motion.
- Broadcast emails: Ship customary bulletins or one-time emails to your subscribers on a selected date.
- CAN-SPAM, GDPR, and CASL compliance: CAN-SPAM, GDPR, and CASL are legal guidelines that set the principles and necessities for business e mail messages, and provides recipients the best to have you ever cease emailing them—so compliance is essential!
- Dynamic (personalised) e mail content material: Your e mail content material can show completely different textual content or photos, based on your buyer segmentation.
- Responsive e mail templates: Prepared-to-go e mail designs, in addition to the power to create your individual customized templates. Package robotically codecs your touchdown pages for varied units, equivalent to desktop computer systems and cellphones.
- WYSIWYG e mail editor: The built-in e mail editor helps you to see how your e mail will look together with your template’s styling utilized when you’re composing it.
Gathering new subscribers
- Customized responsive touchdown pages: Use the included device to rapidly create a touchdown web page to gather e mail addresses. Package robotically codecs your touchdown pages for varied units, equivalent to desktop computer systems and cellphones.
- Embeddable types: Acquire e mail subscribers anyplace in your web site by dropping in a Javascript or HTML type, or through the use of the WordPress plugin.
- Website builder: Create a web site immediately on Package to publish newsletters, host a digital storefront to gather cost for one-time or subscription merchandise, and construct customized pages. Arrange a touchdown web page and accumulate cost for one-time or subscription merchandise proper inside Package.
- Visible automations: Package permits you to create rule-based paths utilizing if-then logic, in order that when a subscriber takes a selected motion, you possibly can ship them pre-defined emails or add them to a section.
Studying about your subscribers
- A/B testing: Package helps you to check completely different topic strains on your emails, and robotically determines the winner primarily based on their respective open charges.
- Reporting/analytics/ROI monitoring: Learn the way typically your subscribers open your emails, click on on hyperlinks, and full varied actions.
- Segmentation/tagging: Segmenting your subscribers into completely different classes (just like however extra highly effective than different packages’ “lists”) permits you to ship them emails which can be higher tailor-made to their wants and pursuits.
- Polls. Add polls on to emails to interact with and accumulate details about subscribers, which you’ll then use to construct segments.
Rising your earnings
- In 2022, Package Commerce was added to the platform, permitting customers to attempt promoting digital merchandise to their subscribers by creating custom-made product pages that may be embedded in your emails, together with automated gross sales funnels.
- The present iteration of Package additionally includes a web site builder. You possibly can create a web site immediately on Package to publish newsletters, host a digital storefront to gather cost for one-time or subscription merchandise, and construct customized pages.
Connecting with and supporting different creators: The Creator Community
- In 2023, Package launched the Creator Community, which helps customers information their viewers members to find different creators and get found in flip.
- You can even receives a commission for Creator Community suggestions you make by way of the aptly named Paid Suggestions.
Increasing the platform’s capabilities: App retailer
- As a part of the 2024 rebrand, in addition they launched an app retailer, the place you will discover customized apps to do extra with Package. The app retailer will launch with 5 apps: KitBoard (add CRM to your account), Wordsmith (flip YouTube movies into newsletters, SavvyCal (add reserving widgets to emails), Mighty (join your Mighty group and content material with Package), and SegMetrics (study the way you acquire, interact, and convert subscribers).
- Package additionally gives a self-service app builder to create your individual add-ons. (As of this writing, the service is at the moment in beta.)
Begin your Package account — free on your first 10,000 subscribers!
That is an affiliate hyperlink
From “ConvertKit” to “Package”: Behind the rebrand
In summer time 2024, the corporate beforehand referred to as ConvertKit formally turned Package. The brand new identify was introduced in July through the Craft + Commerce Creator Convention and went stay in October. (That they had beforehand rebranded to Seva in 2018, however appreciable unfavorable suggestions to the brand new identify brought about them to revert to ConvertKit till this yr.)
The change to Package was greater than a reputation change, although, as a result of the corporate launched a number of huge new capabilities to their platform as properly. We lined a few of the new options within the part above, however listed here are the highlights:
- An app retailer the place builders can create add-ons to enhance Package’s capabilities
- A central information hub with enhanced reporting
- An expanded Creator Community to assist customers discover new collaboration companions
Package additionally made some extent of rebranding in public by sharing details about the rebranding course of by means of weblog updates, live-streamed design periods, and a four-part YouTube mini-documentary. This transparency offers an fascinating perception into the corporate’s pondering. And we predict it’s a sensible transfer given how their earlier rebrand went.
With that out of the way in which, let’s speak about pricing.
Package pricing
For a very long time, Package solely provided paid plans. However in December 2019, the corporate introduced a brand new free tier you probably have fewer than 1,000 subscribers. They just lately expanded the free tier to incorporate creators with as much as 10,000 subscribers.
Listed here are Package’s pricing choices as of October 2024:
Package E-newsletter Plan
- $0/month for as much as 10,000 subscribers
The E-newsletter plan consists of:
- 1 primary Visible Automation
- 1 e mail Sequence
- 1 person
- Limitless touchdown pages, opt-in types, and e mail broadcasts
- Viewers tagging & segmentation
- Promote digital merchandise
- Run paid newsletters & subscriptions
- E-newsletter feed & web site
- API Entry
- Free Suggestions (required—a minimum of one suggestion slot to develop your checklist by cross-promoting with different creators)
- Sensible Suggestions (auto-recommendation of comparable creators that will help you develop your checklist)
- 24/7 assist
Package Creator Plan
- $9/month for as much as 300 subscribers (paid yearly; $15 if paid month-to-month)
- $25/month for as much as 1,000 subscribers (paid yearly; $29 if paid month-to-month)
- Tiered pricing as much as $1,916/month (paid yearly; $1,916 if paid month-to-month) for as much as 400,000 subscribers
The Creator plan consists of:
- All of the options of the E-newsletter plan
- Limitless Visible Automations
- Limitless e mail Sequences
- 2 customers
- Free migration from one other device
- Free Suggestions
- Paid Suggestions
- Take away Package branding
- Third-party integrations
- RSS campaigns
- Polls
Package Creator Professional Plan
- $25/month for as much as 300 subscribers (paid yearly; $29 if paid month-to-month)
- $50/month for as much as 1,000 subscribers (paid yearly; $59 if paid month-to-month)
- Tiered pricing as much as $2,166/month (paid yearly; $2,599 paid month-to-month) for as much as 400,000 subscribers
The Creator Professional plan consists of:
- All of the options of the Creator plan
- Limitless Visible Automations
- Limitless e mail Sequences
- Limitless customers
- Fb customized audiences
- E-newsletter referral system
- Edit hyperlinks in despatched broadcasts
- Subscriber engagement scoring
- Superior deliverability reporting
- Insights dashboard
- 24/7 Precedence assist
Each the Creator and Creator Professional plans supply a 14-day free trial so you possibly can see if it’s best for you earlier than committing.
We’ll preserve this publish up to date with the newest Package pricing, however it’s also possible to go to the pricing web page on the Package web site.
Let’s get into the explanations we like Package subsequent!
Advantages of Package
We’ve used Package to energy Sensible Passive Revenue’s e mail advertising for a number of years. In that point, we’ve discovered it to be the best ESP for our wants. We additionally assume it’s an ideal resolution for a spread of entrepreneurs and digital creators in search of a sturdy, feature-rich e mail advertising platform.
The perfect e mail service supplier for brand new entrepreneurs.
Simple to be taught, highly effective while you want it.
That is an affiliate hyperlink
From the place we sit, the ability of Package falls into two major classes: person advantages, and viewers advantages.
Package advantages from the person’s standpoint
First, Package has all the things a enterprise proprietor wants to rise up and working rapidly:
- You possibly can accumulate emails.
- You possibly can arrange a easy touchdown web page to gather emails.
- You possibly can promote merchandise (one-time buy or subscription).
These options permit somebody to start out promoting even whereas they’re within the strategy of organising a web site some other place. It additionally makes it simple to execute on one of many major classes in our Sensible From Scratch course: utilizing promoting as a key step within the idea-validation course of.
Second, the Package workforce designed their platform to develop with the sophistication of the person. Whenever you begin, you most likely simply wish to accumulate e mail addresses and ship emails. However as you develop, you’ll wish to begin tailoring your message and segmenting your viewers. At that time you possibly can make the most of issues like automations and dynamic content material. As you and what you are promoting develop into extra superior, the Creator Professional Plan is the next move—you received’t have to change to a special e mail service supplier 5 years down the highway. This units Package other than another ESPs, notably Mailchimp.
Some individuals discover Package a bit daunting (see Drawbacks under), however for those who’re considerably tech-savvy we predict it’s fairly approachable. Particularly, we just like the accessibility of Package’s automation builder, which helps you to create automations in an easy, linear approach.
We tried Infusionsoft for a yr and located its automation builder revolutionary however overwhelming. You needed to already perceive how automations work, in addition to the assorted symbols widespread in automation builders. We discover Package’s automation builder, alternatively, makes it simple to string automations collectively in a sophisticated approach. With a number of templates to select from, organising an automation for the primary time is straightforward for any person.
We additionally like Package’s method to subscriber administration. With Package, all of your subscribers go into one huge pool; there are not any lists. As an alternative, subscribers may be put into segments by assigning them attributes utilizing tags and customized fields. These allow you to deal with your subscribers as distinctive people with completely different wants; not all subscribers are created equal. The opposite advantage of the way in which Package treats subscribers? You’re solely charged as soon as for every distinctive subscriber, not like another ESPs.
Package’s just lately launched Creator Community can be a giant plus in our eyes, from each a business-building and community-building perspective. It permits you to develop your subscriber base whereas additionally fostering connections with different entrepreneurs and creators.
Final however not least, for those who’re transferring from one other ESP like Mailchimp or AWeber, Package gives a free migration service that may take a few of the headache out of switching.
Package advantages on your viewers
Package offers you the chance to tailor your messaging to your viewers. You possibly can have as many types and touchdown pages as you need. You possibly can have as many tags, customized fields, and segments as you need. You may be as particular in speaking to your viewers as you wish to be.
As you accumulate details about your viewers, you can begin to section subscribers so that you don’t trouble individuals with issues they aren’t excited about. Package makes it simple to gather particulars about your viewers alongside the way in which, and also you aren’t penalized for that by means of increased prices, as you’d be with a list-based e mail platform.
Drawbacks of Package
No resolution is ideal, in fact. Listed here are a few of the drawbacks we and different Package customers have seen.
- Reasonably steep studying curve. The interface could be a little overwhelming for a newbie. Taking full benefit of all of Package’s options—like segmentation, tagging, and automations—requires some studying (and doubtlessly coding). You possibly can shorten this studying curve by following their Getting Began video sequence, in addition to the remainder of the content material on their well-organized assist web site
- No list-based group. Though we like the way in which Package helps you to manage subscribers utilizing tags (and doesn’t cost you for duplicate subscribers, as we talked about above), the shortage of a list-based group system may be complicated for those who’re coming from different platforms. Over time, although, we predict you’ll discover this method extra versatile than managing lists.
- Barebones e mail and touchdown web page templates. Package requires CSS coding to create customized superior e mail templates and touchdown pages past the included choices. Some customers report that the e-mail design device may be buggy.
- Analytics may very well be extra strong. The free and Creator plans don’t supply the identical superior deliverability reporting, subscriber scoring, and analytics options of the Perception characteristic that the Creator Professional plan gives, which is sensible however could also be a trouble to some customers.
Fortunately, one of many earlier drawbacks of Package, that there was no free choice, hasn’t been the case since 2019. This free tier makes Package comparable on the entry stage to different widespread ESP choices like Mailchimp.
Lastly, that is not at all a disadvantage, however as Package continues to increase its choices to incorporate issues just like the Creator Community and Package Commerce to its core e mail advertising capabilities, there’s an opportunity that the platform’s worth might get unfold skinny. To be clear, we don’t assume that is going to occur and have plenty of confidence in Nathan and the Package workforce, but it surely’s value conserving in thoughts.
Our huge takeaway on Package
With the latest updates, Package is coming nearer to being a one-stop store for creators who wish to develop, nurture, and promote to their audiences with a platform that’s largely prepared to make use of and automatable. If you happen to’re in search of your first or subsequent e mail advertising platform, we predict it’s an ideal resolution for rising your viewers and growing your earnings whereas retaining artistic management over what you place out into the world!
Package & e mail advertising: Extra assets to learn, hear & be taught
So there you’ve gotten it—our evaluate of Package’s e mail advertising platform! We’ll depart you with a number of extra assets for those who’re interested in Package, or wish to dig additional into e mail advertising.
Package [Full Disclosure: As an affiliate, we receive compensation if you purchase through this link.]
SPI 825: Behind the Scenes of a Main Rebrand & Classes Discovered After a Laborious Fail—my dialog with Package CEO Nathan Barry about setting his firm’s sights on extra formidable objectives with the rebrand.
What Is E-mail Advertising and marketing? + Greatest Practices: An SPI How-to Information
E-mail Advertising and marketing Magic Course
AP 0712: How Do I Migrate an E-mail Record from AWeber to Package? – Sensible Passive Revenue
Why I Switched from Aweber to Infusionsoft to ConvertKitI hope this publish has been useful in deciding whether or not Package is the best ESP for what you are promoting. No matter e mail advertising platform you select, nothing is extra vital than having the best e mail advertising technique, so be sure you try our important information to e mail advertising and think about the E-mail Advertising and marketing Magic course in order for you extra hands-on assist together with your e mail advertising, obtainable contained in the SPI Group. Good luck!
