Over two years earlier, I read one of my favored e-mail newsletters when I scrolled to the bottom of the email and saw the beehiiv logo design for the very first time. I clicked it and immediately began destroying Beehiiv Vs Customer.io.
I had not been sure why I felt so psychological.
Being a full time developer is difficult. I’m often getting pitched different devices and services that don’t appear to be worth my time.
I think I was emotional because I invested the last 6 months trying out different email and newsletter platforms to aid build my e-newsletter. And to be fair, there are some fantastic alternatives for writing e-newsletters. However I couldn’t find one that made me provide a definite “yes”.
The problem with lots of existing newsletter platforms is that they don’t feel creator-centered. I desire an e-newsletter system that lets me completely tailor my e-newsletter designs, makes it incredibly simple to compose and send out e-mails, and gives me devices that help me assess metrics and get more customers.
I believe I have actually lastly found the ideal tool.
However, I know beehiiv might not be for everybody. 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 newsletters. It’s a creator-friendly e-newsletter system that makes it very easy to design, write, send out, advertise, generate income from, and track the ROI of your e-newsletter.
Produced by former employees at the popular newsletter firm Morning Brew, beehiiv aims to assist makers launch and monetize their very own e-newsletter– taking great deals of growth concepts from taking Morning Brew to over 4M customers.
In this article, I’m mosting likely to discuss my individual experience with beehiiv, the things I enjoy (and hate) concerning it, all of it’s features, and why I decided to finally choose it as my newsletter system of choice.
My individual experience with beehiiv
A couple of months ago, I inadvertently stumbled across beehiiv. The amusing tale is that I’ve been on the lookout for a modern-day newsletter system for quite a long time currently. I have actually postponed hard when it came to ultimately launching my newsletter.
First, I attempted Mailchimp. Then, a few various other indie platforms. Then, Substack. And lastly, I ended up utilizing beehiiv.
I’m sure several newsletter designers appreciate preferred e-newsletters with countless clients– I know I do. The Morning Brew e-newsletter is one I respected a great deal. They have terrific content, tons of subscribers, and a clever referral program that enables them to get back at a lot more clients.
So, I went on a hunt to identify how these big e-newsletters set up their logistics. What system do they make use of? How do they track the ROI of their e-newsletters? How do they obtain more subscribers? How do they create a newsletter style that remains on-brand?
When I discovered beehiiv for the first time, it appeared to respond to every one of my concerns. I thought to myself, “damn individuals that built this device actually comprehend newsletter creation and development.” I questioned who these developers of beehiiv were.
So I mosted likely to LinkedIn, and saw that the co-founders were a few of the very first marketing and development staff members at Morning Brew– my brain exploded.
I knew this was going to be a various e-newsletter platform. One that’s concentrated on creator growth.
Due to the fact that, any designer understands, you need growth to be able to make a living off of an e-newsletter. And discovering the best newsletter stack (that scales) usually implies using numerous various tools to assist accomplish one objective– one system for your newsletter, one platform to generate income from, and one system to establish referrals. It can get expensive.
So when I learnt beehiiv did every one of these points in one system, and it was cost-free to start using, it was a no-brainer to give it a try.
Who is beehiiv for?
beehiiv is for the lean web content maker that wants a system that enables them to send out customized e-newsletters with or without needing to have an internet site.
One of the most successful newsletters have the right devices to build and scale their e-newsletters. beehiiv targets at giving you those tools.
If you’re an independent author, media firm, start-up, or material maker, you need to seriously considering trying out beehiiv. It’s completely complimentary to get going and you only pay when you reach over 2,500 customers on your list.
If you actually wind up having to spend for beehiiv it’s most likely an excellent indicator that individuals love reviewing your stuff.
beehiiv vs Substack
You could be asking, “isn’t there already a platform for writers called Substack?”.
Yes, yes there is. Substack is a great system used by thousands of independent writers. With Substack you get your very own internet site and make use of the platform as your all-in-one option for sending e-mails (while producing an archive of previous concerns).
What collections beehiiv apart is it’s dedication to growth. beehiiv allows you do to all things Substack can do, with the benefit of much better analytics, even more layout flexibilty, and a referral program to motivate your existing clients to obtain words out.
beehiiv additionally gives you an internet site similar to Substack. However, if you have your own internet site already, you can likewise make use of beehiiv’s sign-up embeds (that’s what I use) to send your internet site subscribers straight to your beehiiv e-mail checklist. On the very same token, you can incorporate beehiiv with a device like Revue to permit people to subscribe to your newsletter straight from Twitter.
This gives you the flexibility to utilize different marketing channels to obtain your newsletter out into the globe, making beehiiv a wonderful Substack option.
How to start using beehiiv email marketing software program.
Enroll in a free plan
The initial step is to register for a free plan. You can do this by clicking the “Begin trial” button on beehiiv’s web site.
The free plan will enable you to have up to 2,500 clients, provide you access to site hosting, a newsletter CMS, breakthrough customization, analytics, outside embed types, and more. It’s a very generous offering for those just starting out (or for those looking for a new system to migrate to).
Onboarding Beehiiv Vs Customer.io
After producing an account, you’ll undergo an onboarding process that will ask things like, “is this your initial newsletter?”, “what various other systems have you made use of?”, “do you have any type of paying clients?”, and extra.
You’ll after that develop a name and link for your newsletter’s internet site. On the free plan, your newsletter will certainly live on a beehiiv subdomain. So if your e-newsletter is called “Cooking Cakes,” your internet site URL might be something like “baking-cakes. beehiiv.com”.
Throughout the onboarding procedure, you’ll additionally choose your brand name design and colors to make certain your newsletter template looks right.
Browsing your dashboard
As soon as you reach your primary dashboard, you’ll see all of your analytics and setups.
You will certainly have outlined details on the amount of sign-ups you’re getting and from where.
In the sidebar, you’ll see choices for “Start writing,” “Blog posts,” “Audience,” “Expand,” “Monetize,” “Layout,” and” Analyze.” And at the very bottom you’ll see the settings alternative.
Dashboard is your primary control center (screenshot over), Start composing is where you create and publish newsletters, Blog posts is where you can see all of your previous newsletter editions, Audience is where you can see who your customers are (and damage them down right into sections), Grow is where you have accessibility to a referral program (and development tutorials) and boosts to run ads, Monetize is where you can access the beehiiv ad network and monetize your newsletter with advertisements, Style is where you make your newsletter landing page and blog post template, Analyze is where you can see all your analytics, and Setups is where you can manage every one of your admin stuff.
Composing your e-newsletter
beehiiv makes it simple to begin creating, with little to no rubbing. If you’re just starting, and have a concept you wish to write about, I advise just going to the “Create” section in the navbar and clicking on “Start composing”.
You can fine-tune your template and designing later on– focus on the material first.
As you can see, beehiiv’s editor uses a tidy and straightforward interface for composing.
As soon as you begin composing, you can optimize headings, include web links, and design your material exactly how you like.
beehiiv gives you lots of choices for different types of web content like videos, links, pictures, and a lot more.
The group at beehiiv is likewise regularly launching item feature and updates so I make certain there will certainly be a whole lot extra content features depending on when you read this.
Maximizing your settings and templates
As soon as you have a newsletter that prepares to send out, it’s time to design your email template and adjust some settings.
Below, you can update the name of your e-newsletter, provide it a summary, include your logo, turn on or off a welcome email to very first time customers, and a lot more.
Next, you can head over to the “Email Template” tab to make your layout.
You can edit history shades, borders, spacing, font styles, image formats, and a lot more. I’m not going to experience ever single point you can maximize with your email template since it’s a lot. Just try out the platform for free and see it on your own!
Essential beehiiv features
beehiiv has tons of incredible features that make it a terrific publishing platform for any type of e-newsletter creator.
Here are some of the vital features you can find with beehiiv:.
Newsletter builder
At its core, beehiiv is a newsletter posting platform. It makes it super simple to write and send emails. I mentioned above several of the important things you can do with your setups and email design so I’ll save you some added analysis.
The important things to keep in mind with beehiiv’s newsletter builder is that it has an actually modern and minimalistic feel. It’s certainly one of the much better email editors I’ve ever before written in.
Site hosting
When you create a beehiiv e-newsletter, every one of your newsletters (if you desire) survive on a site. Think about it as a site for your e-newsletter that’s a home to every one of your previous problems of your newsletter, and an area where individuals can subscribe to your e-newsletter.
If you recognize with Substack, it’s pretty much comparable to that.
All plans, consisting of the complimentary one, give you an internet site. Nonetheless, the free plan places your site on a beehiiv subdomain so if you want to add a custom-made domain to get rid of all the beehiiv branding you’ll require to update to a paid plan.
Subscribe forms
Getting subscribers is very important. Nevertheless, that’s why you have a newsletter right?
With beehiiv, individuals can register for your newsletter right from your beehiiv website or via embed kinds.
If you currently have an internet site, and desire people to register for your e-newsletter from your existing site, you’ll have to use an embed kind. This is what I utilize on this web site (you can see the sign-up installed on the right hand column of this article if you scroll up).
With embed kinds, you have 3 different choices– a full size, a dealt with width, and a slim installed. I personally utilize the slim embed.
You can find the code fragment for these embeds in the “Subscribe Types” tab in your settings.
There’s also a choice for acknowledgment monitoring if you intend to onward UTM criteria for tracking purposes– rather cool.
However, there are a few features I wish beehiiv had when it pertained to subscribe features. I make sure the team is dealing with updates for these, however I stated a few concerns I had in the benefits and drawbacks area below.
Referral program
One of the amazing things concerning beehiiv, that I have yet to see in any other newsletter platform, is a remedy for creating a referral program.
You can urge existing subscribers on your checklist to ahead your emails to close friends and colleagues and if they get other individuals to sign up for your checklist, you can award them. These rewards can be in whatever form you desire. I’ve seem numerous e-newsletter business offer benefits in the form of merch and stickers.
This can seriously transform your subscribers right into a word of mouth development engine for your e-newsletter– giving you another method for expanding your email checklist.
However, to obtain access to the referral program feature, you’ll need to upgrade to a more exceptional plan. I’ll review all the plans later in this post.
Premium registrations
They claim all you need to earn a living online is 1,000 true fans. Registration income is most definitely a monster of its very own. If you’re seeking a platform to monetize your e-newsletter, this is it.
With beehiiv, you can create “costs” concerns of your e-newsletter that are only sent to paying subscribers. This can be extremely lucrative depending on what your newsletter needs to offer. As an example, Trends.co is a prominent costs newsletter that creates millions in revenue a year just by having pay-only e-newsletter content.
Information analytics
Among the things I enjoy regarding beehiiv is just how tidy and easy the analytics are. You obtain real-time date on how your newsletter is doing, with open/click prices and customer matter Beehiiv Vs Customer.io.
You obtain access to all the metrics you need to get a bird-eye view on just how your newsletter is actually doing. Logging into your control panel and seeing that customer count rise is absolutely a dopamine booster.
beehiiv pricing plans
beehiiv uses 4 various pricing plans. You can check them out below.
The (free) Launch plan gives you whatever you require to get going and expand your newsletter (as much as 2,500 clients).
The Scale plan ($ 49/month) provides you every little thing in the Launch plan with the addition the ad network, referral program, customized domain name, surveys, and access to premium registrations. This is the plan I get on.
The Max plan ($ 109/month) provides you every little thing in the Grow plan with enhancement of concern support and removing the beehiiv branding.
All of these plans are quite generous in my viewpoint.
As an example, if you have 100,000 clients you will pay around $329 monthly. In contrast to some rivals, like Kit (formerly ConvertKit), that would certainly bill $679 each month for the same quantity– making beehiiv an excellent Kit choice for numerous individuals.
I’m not exactly sure exactly how the device business economics service this, but beehiiv is absolutely less expensive (right now) than what it can be.
beehiiv pros and cons
Of course, with every platform, it has its pros and cons. Right here are several of the pros and cons I have actually personally experienced while making use of beehiiv:
Pros of using beehiiv
Here are several of the pros of using beehiiv as your e-newsletter system of selection:
Easy to set up and start sending out newsletters free of cost.
Tidy and modern-day customer analytics.
Lots of adaptability with e-mail designs.
Referral program feature.
Web site hosting.
Create costs choices to generate income from.
Polls.
To be straightforward, I have not seen another e-newsletter system that has been able to package every one of these features together so well.
But of course, I do not want to be prejudiced so I’m mosting likely to state some cons.
Disadvantages of using beehiiv
Here are a few of the disadvantages I have actually discovered while making use of beehiiv:.
Limitations around incorporating Webflow and beehiiv.
Limitations around adding personalized fonts.
I use Webflow as my web site structure platform of selection (I graduated from WordPress and Squarespace a very long time ago). I’m not mosting likely to go in way too much detail why I love Webflow a lot but you can review my Webflow testimonial if you ‘d like to discover more.
Today, there really is nothing else way I can incorporate beehiiv with my Webflow internet site aside from making use of an iframe embed. I personally don’t like using iframe’s because they often tend to reduce my web site a bit. Whenever a web page on my website (with a beehiiv installed) tons, the sign-up installed is the last point to pack on the web page. It’s very obvious when you get on a slow web connection. Yet I can get around that.
The major gripe I have is that I can’t use a normal Webflow kind (which I enjoy making use of). There are methods around this by utilizing a device like Zapier but that would certainly just add added prices that I do not need. To be sincere, this is more of a Webflow con over a beehiiv con but I thought I would certainly state it.
Besides that, I still think the pros much outweigh the disadvantages right here. I’m also hopeful that Webflow will eventually produce a much better means to incorporate with beehiiv.
Final Thought
In general, beehiiv is a terrific solution for any person seeking to study the globe of e-mail marketing and newsletters.
The functionality of this e-newsletter platform much exceeds several that are presently on the marketplace. And with a generous free plan, you actually have nothing to lose for trying it.
The paid plans are additionally relatively low-cost for what they are. Paying just $329/month to have 100,000 customers on your list is uncommon. If you were to have an e-newsletter with 100k customers, and all of these features beehiiv has, it might cost you well right into the thousands each month.
Anyways, I don’t compose evaluation posts typically. I only do when I in fact make use of the tool myself and would advise it to a pal.
I wish you located some clearness on whether or not beehiiv is a good system for you.