In Canada, Cyberimpact or Mailchimp?

I could give you my best used car salesman pitch. “Cyberimpact is the most user-friendly solution on the market,” “more bang for your buck”, “why not support a Canadian based company?” But I’m not here to do that.

I do however want to shed some light on some very crucial details about doing email marketing in Canada you may not be aware of. Although Mailchimp is the industry leader, and a great product, if you are a business owner in Canada and you are using mailchimp, you may want to rethink your choice. Email marketing is a very powerful tool when used correctly. Done wrong, it could make you lose contact with some very important people. Your clients.

Here’s why: If you’re using a platform that is designed to comply with laws other than the Canadian Anti-Spam Law (CASL) you may be at risk. And it goes even further than being in compliance with the CASL, and being legally liable for your campaigns. There are other factors to consider, some that will affect your results, maybe even hinder your success with email marketing. And who wants to spend money and energy on something that is not giving them the best results? No one.

If you’re doing email marketing in Canada, there are so many reasons to choose Cyberimpact over Mailchimp:

Canadian Anti-Spam Law compliance

The main difference is that the U.S. has adopted an opt-out law, which doesn’t require the use of consents. Since Mailchimp is based in the States, naturally they don’t offer a tool to keep track of consents. Cyberimpact on the other hand, has developed a platform fully equipped with consent management, automatic consent expiration reports and alerts, and a smart consent module. CASL will be going through yet another change in July 2017, and Cyberimpact already has wheels in motion to add more features to accommodate. If you ask me, that’s enough of a reason to use a Canadian based platform. But let’s keep going.

Data stored in Canada

It goes without saying that Mailchimp stores their data in the U.S., and use local servers, which means that the US government could have access to your data; they have a different privacy policy than the one we have here in Canada. Some entities such as banks, insurers, government entities, etc. have the obligation to store customer data in Canada; Cyberimpact makes this possible. The emails are also sent from Canadian servers, which may lead to faster and all around better deliverability, which is a huge bonus!

Better deliverability rates

The opt-out law in the US allows more users to send out mass mailings to strangers, which may promote the purchase of lists. Sure on the surface it sounds like our American friends have it made, it sure does sound a lot easier than the opt-in law we have here in Canada. But don’t be fooled, let’s dig a little deeper. There is a  downside to this, as it can affect everyone’s deliverability rate. When someone who is using the same servers you are, gets flagged for spam, or gets too many hard bounce backs because of inactivity or undeliverable mail, it will affect the server’s reputation, and lowers the general delivery rate. Which in turn will cause your emails to start automatically falling into spam. Think of it as everyone getting detention after class, because that one kid was misbehaving. It seems totally unfair, but that’s how it works. Keep in mind that Cyberimpact has very strict policies on keeping their reputation and score up to par.

Guidance

Mailchimp only offers customer support to their paying customers. Sure they have some self-serve tools, but I get frustrated just using self-checkout at the grocery store. Whatever happened to human interaction? If you’re anything like me, you’ll appreciate having a go to person to contact if you get stuck. Cyberimpact offers unlimited support to all its new users for 60 days (by chat, email or phone), which should be enough time to get you started on the right track. It’s also nice to know that you are not being redirected to an offshore call center, but rather exchanging with a dedicated team of Canadian email experts.

Cyberimpact doesn’t just provide support, they are with you every step of the way giving you the tools you need to eventually become self-sufficient. Think of them as your partner, not just an email solution. They facilitate introductory webinars for new users and have an extensive library of articles and webinars always available for your perusal. They understand that before you are able to maneuver the platform on your own, you may need some guidance. After all, you may not be an email marketing expert, and they expect everyone to learn at their own pace.

Pricing

Cyberimpact’s pricing is based on your total number of contacts and you can send unlimited emails. No bells and whistles, it’s clear and straight to the point. Plus it’s in Canadian dollars. Sure, MailChimp allows you to use their platform for free for up to 2000 contacts. Or does it? If a contact is in 2 different lists, it counts as double, which is not the case with Cyberimpact. Also, many features (such as automation or autoresponders) are not available for free account users. So after all is said and done, your free account is pretty limited. Whereas with Cyberimpact you have access to customer support and core features even on a free account. Also, when you switch to a paid account with Cyberimpact it becomes cheaper than using Mailchimp.

Simplicity

Cyberimpact is a small Canadian business, who specializes in meeting the needs of small businesses in Canada, so they sure do know their clientele. Cyberimpact really understands that simplicity is a winner when it comes to providing an email marketing platform to non-marketers. But don’t take my word for it, see what their clients have to say!

Even though Mailchimp advertises that they are a great solution for businesses of any size, the amount of advanced features they have available makes them the perfect solution for more advanced users with a little more technical knowledge. Which is usually not the case for your regular small business owner.

Bilingual campaigns

If you’re thinking of marketing your business across Canada, a bilingual solution will definitely come in handy. Even though the English language dominates in Canada. Why not maximize your sales by targeting French speaking areas as well. Believe it or not, there are francophones scattered around the country in every province. Not only can you use the platform in the language of your choice, you can also choose to have your campaigns in English or in French. This means that every link your contacts click, or every footer text, by default, will be in your audience’s preferred language.

If you’re a small business owner in Canada, and you’re using Mailchimp, you should reevaluate and give Cyberimpact a try, if not for the CASL compliance, try it for the additional benefits. And the best part is that you’d be supporting a Canadian business. After all, Canadians have to stick together, eh!

Do yourself a favor and make your own comparison.

Comparative Table