Over two years ago, I read one of my favored email e-newsletters when I scrolled to the bottom of the e-mail and saw the beehiiv logo for the very first time. I clicked it and instantly began destroying Beehiiv Local Newsletter Summit.
I wasn’t certain why I really felt so psychological.
Being a full time maker is difficult. I’m usually obtaining pitched different devices and solutions that do not appear to be worth my time.
I guess I was emotional because I invested the last 6 months trying out various e-mail and e-newsletter systems to help construct my e-newsletter. And to be reasonable, there are some great alternatives for writing newsletters. But I couldn’t find one that made me offer a guaranteed “yes”.
The issue with numerous existing newsletter platforms is that they don’t really feel creator-centered. I want a newsletter platform that lets me completely tailor my newsletter layouts, makes it incredibly simple to write and send emails, and provides me devices that help me evaluate metrics and get even more subscribers.
I think I have actually ultimately found the ideal tool.
But, I know beehiiv might not be for everyone. So let’s dive deep and see if it’s really best for you.
What is beehiiv?
beehiiv is an all-in-one platform for e-newsletters. It’s a creator-friendly e-newsletter system that makes it very easy to style, write, send, promote, generate income from, and track the ROI of your e-newsletter.
Created by former workers at the popular newsletter company Morning Brew, beehiiv intends to assist developers launch and monetize their own newsletter– taking lots of development principles from taking Morning Brew to over 4M customers.
In this post, I’m going to explain my personal experience with beehiiv, the things I enjoy (and hate) concerning it, all of it’s features, and why I chose to lastly select it as my newsletter system of option.
My individual experience with beehiiv
A few months back, I inadvertently came across beehiiv. The amusing tale is that I’ve watched for a modern e-newsletter system for fairly a long time now. I’ve put things off hard when it pertained to ultimately releasing my e-newsletter.
Initially, I tried Mailchimp. After that, a couple of other indie systems. Then, Substack. And ultimately, I wound up utilizing beehiiv.
I make certain numerous newsletter makers admire popular e-newsletters with numerous clients– I know I do. The Morning Brew e-newsletter is one I looked up to a whole lot. They have wonderful content, lots of clients, and a smart referral program that permits them to get even a lot more customers.
So, I went on a quest to determine just how these huge newsletters set up their logistics. What system do they make use of? How do they track the ROI of their newsletters? How do they obtain even more subscribers? How do they develop an e-newsletter style that remains on-brand?
When I discovered beehiiv for the first time, it seemed to respond to every one of my inquiries. I thought to myself, “damn individuals that constructed this device really comprehend e-newsletter production and growth.” I examined who these makers of beehiiv were.
So I went to LinkedIn, and saw that the co-founders were some of the initial marketing and growth employees at Morning Brew– my brain blew up.
I recognized this was going to be a various newsletter system. One that’s focused on maker growth.
Because, any designer understands, you require development to be able to earn a living off of a newsletter. And finding the right e-newsletter stack (that scales) often implies making use of several various tools to assist attain one objective– one system for your newsletter, one platform to monetize, and one system to establish recommendations. It can obtain pricey.
So when I figured out beehiiv did every one of these points in one system, and it was totally free to start utilizing, it was a no-brainer to give it a try.
Who is beehiiv for?
beehiiv is for the lean content designer that wants a system that enables them to send out customized newsletters with or without requiring to have a web site.
One of the most effective newsletters have the right devices to construct and scale their newsletters. beehiiv focuses on providing you those devices.
If you’re an independent writer, media company, startup, or content creator, you should seriously considering trying out beehiiv. It’s totally cost-free to start and you just pay when you get to over 2,500 subscribers on your list.
If you actually end up needing to pay for beehiiv it’s probably a great indicator that individuals love reading your stuff.
beehiiv vs Substack
You may be asking, “isn’t there currently a system for authors called Substack?”.
Yes, yes there is. Substack is a fantastic system made use of by hundreds of independent authors. With Substack you get your very own site and use the system as your all-in-one service for sending e-mails (while producing an archive of previous issues).
What sets beehiiv apart is it’s dedication to development. beehiiv allows you do to all the important things Substack can do, with the benefit of far better analytics, more design flexibilty, and a referral program to encourage your existing clients to obtain words out.
beehiiv additionally offers you an internet site comparable to Substack. But, if you have your very own internet site currently, you can likewise utilize beehiiv’s sign-up embeds (that’s what I use) to send your internet site subscribers right to your beehiiv email list. On the same token, you can incorporate beehiiv with a tool like Performance to allow people to subscribe to your e-newsletter straight from Twitter.
This gives you the flexibility to take advantage of different marketing networks to obtain your newsletter out right into the world, making beehiiv a wonderful Substack choice.
Just how to begin making use of beehiiv email marketing software program.
Sign up for a free plan
The primary step is to register for a free plan. You can do this by clicking the “Start trial” button on beehiiv’s website.
The free plan will allow you to have up to 2,500 subscribers, offer you access to site hosting, a newsletter CMS, advancement modification, analytics, external embed kinds, and a lot more. It’s a really charitable offering for those just starting out (or for those seeking a new system to move to).
Onboarding Beehiiv Local Newsletter Summit
After developing an account, you’ll undergo an onboarding process that will ask things like, “is this your very first newsletter?”, “what various other systems have you utilized?”, “do you have any kind of paying customers?”, and much more.
You’ll then create a name and link for your newsletter’s site. On the free plan, your newsletter will survive a beehiiv subdomain. So if your newsletter is called “Baking Cakes,” your internet site URL might be something like “baking-cakes. beehiiv.com”.
Throughout the onboarding process, you’ll also select your brand name design and colors to ensure your e-newsletter template looks right.
Navigating your dashboard
When you reach your primary dashboard, you’ll see all of your analytics and setups.
You will have outlined info on the number of sign-ups you’re obtaining and from where.
In the sidebar, you’ll see choices for “Start composing,” “Blog posts,” “Audience,” “Grow,” “Generate income from,” “Design,” and” Examine.” And at the extremely lower you’ll see the settings alternative.
Control panel is your major nerve center (screenshot above), Begin creating is where you develop and release e-newsletters, Blog posts is where you can see every one of your previous newsletter editions, Target market is where you can see who your clients are (and damage them down right into sections), Grow is where you have accessibility to a referral program (and growth tutorials) and boosts to run advertisements, Monetize is where you can access the beehiiv ad network and monetize your e-newsletter with advertisements, Design is where you design your e-newsletter landing page and post template, Evaluate is where you can see all your analytics, and Settings is where you can take care of all of your admin things.
Composing your e-newsletter
beehiiv makes it simple to start creating, with little to no rubbing. If you’re simply starting out, and have an idea you wish to cover, I recommend simply mosting likely to the “Compose” area in the navbar and clicking on “Beginning composing”.
You can fine-tune your template and designing later– concentrate on the material first.
As you can see, beehiiv’s editor uses a clean and user-friendly user interface for composing.
When you begin writing, you can optimize headings, add web links, and design your web content exactly how you like.
beehiiv provides you tons of options for various sorts of material like videos, web links, pictures, and much more.
The team at beehiiv is also continuously launching product feature and updates so I make certain there will certainly be a great deal much more material features depending on when you read this.
Enhancing your setups and templates
As soon as you have a newsletter that’s ready to send, it’s time to design your e-mail template and adjust some setups.
Here, you can upgrade the name of your e-newsletter, give it a summary, add your logo design, activate or off a welcome e-mail to first time clients, and more.
Next off, you can head over to the “Email Template” tab to make your design.
You can modify history colors, borders, spacing, fonts, photo styles, and extra. I’m not going to go through ever single point you can optimize with your email template since it’s a lot. Just experiment with the system absolutely free and see it on your own!
Crucial beehiiv features
beehiiv has tons of incredible features that make it a fantastic publishing system for any kind of newsletter developer.
Here are several of the crucial features you can discover with beehiiv:.
Newsletter builder
At its core, beehiiv is an e-newsletter publishing platform. It makes it extremely easy to create and send out emails. I mentioned over several of things you can do with your setups and email layout so I’ll spare you some additional reading.
The important things to keep in mind with beehiiv’s e-newsletter builder is that it has a truly contemporary and minimalistic feeling. It’s absolutely among the far better e-mail editors I have actually ever written in.
Internet site hosting
When you produce a beehiiv newsletter, all of your e-newsletters (if you desire) live on a web site. Think of it as an internet site for your newsletter that’s a home to every one of your previous concerns of your e-newsletter, and an area where people can register for your newsletter.
If you’re familiar with Substack, it’s practically comparable to that.
All plans, consisting of the cost-free one, give you a web site. Nonetheless, the free plan places your web site on a beehiiv subdomain so if you wish to add a custom-made domain name to eliminate all the beehiiv branding you’ll require to update to a paid plan.
Subscribe forms
Getting customers is essential. Nevertheless, that’s why you have a newsletter right?
With beehiiv, people can subscribe to your e-newsletter right from your beehiiv website or through embed forms.
If you already have a website, and want individuals to subscribe to your newsletter from your existing website, you’ll need to utilize an embed type. This is what I utilize on this internet site (you can see the sign-up embed on the right hand column of this article if you scroll up).
With embed types, you have 3 different options– a complete size, a dealt with width, and a slim embed. I personally utilize the slim embed.
You can find the code bit for these embeds in the “Subscribe Forms” tab in your setups.
There’s likewise an option for acknowledgment monitoring if you intend to onward UTM specifications for tracking functions– quite neat.
Nevertheless, there are a couple of features I wish beehiiv had when it concerned subscribe features. I’m sure the team is servicing updates for these, however I pointed out a couple of issues I had in the benefits and drawbacks section listed below.
Referral program
Among the amazing things regarding beehiiv, that I have yet to see in any other newsletter platform, is a remedy for producing a referral program.
You can motivate existing clients on your listing to forward your emails to pals and associates and if they obtain other individuals to register for your listing, you can reward them. These benefits can be in whatever type you want. I have actually seem lots of e-newsletter firms offer rewards in the form of merch and stickers.
This can seriously turn your subscribers right into a word of mouth development engine for your newsletter– offering you another avenue for growing your email listing.
Nonetheless, to get accessibility to the referral program feature, you’ll have to update to an extra superior plan. I’ll discuss all the plans later on in this write-up.
Costs subscriptions
They say all you require to earn a living online is 1,000 true fans. Subscription income is definitely a monster of its very own. If you’re trying to find a system to monetize your e-newsletter, this is it.
With beehiiv, you can create “premium” concerns of your e-newsletter that are only sent out to paying subscribers. This can be extremely profitable depending on what your newsletter needs to provide. For example, Trends.co is a popular costs e-newsletter that produces millions in profits a year merely by having pay-only e-newsletter web content.
Information analytics
One of the important things I like about beehiiv is just how tidy and easy the analytics are. You obtain real-time date on how your e-newsletter is doing, with open/click prices and customer matter Beehiiv Local Newsletter Summit.
You get access to all the metrics you require to obtain a bird-eye sight on exactly how your e-newsletter is actually doing. Logging right into your dashboard and seeing that subscriber count go up is most definitely a dopamine booster.
beehiiv pricing plans
beehiiv supplies 4 different pricing plans. You can check them out below.
The (complimentary) Launch plan gives you everything you require to begin and grow your newsletter (approximately 2,500 subscribers).
The Scale plan ($ 49/month) offers you everything in the Launch plan with the enhancement the ad network, referral program, personalized domain, polls, and accessibility to costs memberships. This is the plan I am on.
The Max plan ($ 109/month) gives you whatever in the Grow plan with enhancement of top priority support and eliminating the beehiiv branding.
All of these plans are rather generous in my viewpoint.
As an example, if you have 100,000 clients you will certainly pay around $329 each month. In contrast to some competitors, like Kit (formerly ConvertKit), that would charge $679 each month for the same quantity– making beehiiv a terrific Kit choice for numerous customers.
I’m not sure exactly how the system economics deal with this, yet beehiiv is absolutely cheaper (presently) than what it can be.
beehiiv advantages and disadvantages
Of course, with every platform, it has its pros and cons. Below are several of the pros and cons I’ve personally experienced while making use of beehiiv:
Pros of using beehiiv
Below are a few of the pros of using beehiiv as your e-newsletter platform of selection:
Easy to establish and start sending e-newsletters completely free.
Clean and contemporary customer analytics.
Lots of flexibility with email designs.
Referral program feature.
Internet site hosting.
Develop costs alternatives to generate income from.
Surveys.
To be sincere, I haven’t seen another e-newsletter platform that has actually been able to package all of these features with each other so well.
Yet obviously, I do not intend to be biased so I’m going to mention some cons.
Cons of using beehiiv
Right here are a few of the cons I’ve found while making use of beehiiv:.
Limitations around incorporating Webflow and beehiiv.
Limitations around including custom fonts.
I use Webflow as my web site structure system of option (I graduated from WordPress and Squarespace a long period of time ago). I’m not going to enter too much detail why I like Webflow so much yet you can read my Webflow review if you wish to learn more.
Right now, there actually is no other means I can integrate beehiiv with my Webflow web site aside from utilizing an iframe embed. I personally do not like using iframe’s since they tend to decrease my web site a little bit. Every single time a page on my site (with a beehiiv embed) lots, the sign-up embed is the last point to fill on the page. It’s really recognizable when you’re on a slow-moving web link. But I can navigate that.
The main gripe I have is that I can not utilize a regular Webflow type (which I love utilizing). There are means around this by utilizing a device like Zapier but that would certainly simply add additional prices that I don’t need. To be sincere, this is more of a Webflow con over a beehiiv disadvantage but I thought I would mention it.
Besides that, I still believe the pros much exceed the disadvantages here. I’m likewise enthusiastic that Webflow will eventually develop a much better method to integrate with beehiiv.
Conclusion
Generally, beehiiv is an excellent option for any person seeking to study the world of e-mail marketing and e-newsletters.
The capability of this newsletter system far outweighs numerous that are presently on the market. And with a generous free plan, you really have nothing to lose for trying it.
The paid plans are also fairly economical wherefore they are. Paying just $329/month to have 100,000 customers on your checklist is unprecedented. If you were to have a newsletter with 100k subscribers, and all of these features beehiiv has, it could cost you well right into the thousands per month.
Anyways, I don’t write testimonial posts usually. I only do when I really utilize the tool myself and would certainly recommend it to a buddy.
I wish you found some quality on whether beehiiv is an excellent system for you.