I have made use of a lot of various e-mail list systems over the years. In the last couple of years, I have actually been a huge supporter of digital sovereignty and possessing your own platform. Because of that (and the remarkable features), I have actually been using How To Use Beehiiv.
So, it is certainly a weird move for me to make a decision to utilize BeeHiiv. Besides, it is a held application and I am paying regular monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv review, I wish to discuss why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I wish to deal with the problem of digital sovereignty while making use of the platform and I would certainly likewise such as to attend to why I selected to utilize it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Developed For E-newsletters
In Concern # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Leisure activity + A Big Change In Technique, I discussed exactly how and why I decided to turn my RV blog right into primarily an e-newsletter. I chose that was the business version I wanted to go after keeping that building.
However, to deliberately pursue it as a newsletter, I wanted a system that was purpose-built for that. I was using FluentCRM for the e-mail checklist for Happily recreational vehicle, yet FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter platform. It is constructed to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, honestly, using it for e-newsletters is a bit of a waste. More on that particular in a little bit.
As I stated in that issue of the e-newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a platform with tools built into it specific to my function. Things such as:
- Ability to release (to the blog) and send out the email concurrently without having it be two separate actions.
- Built in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would certainly require a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Integrated ability to do cross-promotions with various other newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Links”, which are primarily one-click subscription links. Great for promo in other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, however, so there are methods to do that.
- Ability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your newsletter.
- Integrated advertisement network, if I choose to monetize with advertisements in the newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated ability to run a paid newsletter upgrade and generally run a premium newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Generally, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter publishers with features targeted at growth. The system was actually developed by the people who built up the modern technology for Early morning Brew. They understand what they’re doing.
That is the point here. BeeHiiv is built from the ground up for the purpose of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a different purpose.
And I finished off with this:.
I may certainly be relocating The Edge over to BeeHiiv too. At least, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. As a matter of fact, I simply went all out. And in fact, The side was re-branded over to The Morning WP, set off as it’s very own residential or commercial property to make sure that I can grow it a lot more deliberately as well.
The objective is that each newsletter has the capability to be branded as it’s very own media entity and expanded individually. Gladly RV was young, so very easy to transition. Yet, The Morning WP (formerly The Side) was buried in a sea of stuff right here at the Blog Marketing Academy. By separating it off, I can do what I can to expand it on it’s very own. It will obviously constantly be very closely tied with the Blog Marketing Academy, but does not need to belong of it.
I changed to BeeHiiv since it was developed for this function. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Simply A Regular Email Checklist
There’s a distinction in between an e-newsletter platform and simply an email list.
You can host your email listing everywhere you want and there are a number of them available, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted options like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the distinction?
The main difference is that, with an e-newsletter platform, the act of posting suggests that it is mosting likely to your website and to your email clients simultaneously.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a site. You are publishing to that internet site. However, you are likewise sending off to all customers at the same time. The internet site and it’s subscribers are all in one. This makes management of the system much easier.
With a lot of email platforms, any newsletter you established is done as an e-mail campaign. It is constructed entirely separately from your website. So, for example, you could publish a short article to WordPress however then you would certainly require to individually build and send out an e-mail to your list to send it to clients. These are after that two different sets of archives and two separate actions since post and your emails are not inherently connected.
The closest point that transforms WordPress right into a real newsletter platform is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name since it practically “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress articles and permits them to be the exact same thing. Certainly, something like Newsletter Glue would be a solid alternative if I wished to continue to self-host everything. Nonetheless, you would certainly lose the growth tools that feature a platform like BeeHiiv.
Posting a newsletter naturally features a various set of needs than a regular email list.
You don’t typically require much marketing automation. You do not generally need autoresponder sequences, occasion monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO demand, however, is one smooth publishing experience and development devices to assist you build your customer base that specify to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my customers that I was mosting likely to switch the e-newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had lots of people ask me why I was choosing it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the reality that I chose to opt for BeeHiiv, that doesn’t imply I think Substack draws. In fact, because Substack has been around much longer, it is elder and has even more features.
Even though BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a couple points that originally obtained my interest:.
- BeeHiiv is especially tailored to newsletter publishers. In fact, it is literally built by the same folks that developed the technology behind Morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real life, doesn’t matter. Yet, the evident positioning of BeeHiiv towards e-newsletter growth called me out over the more generic positioning of being a “creator”. Growth is what I want here.
- That branding and differentiation likewise suggests that BeeHiiv has some relatively big brands and big publications utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is intended more at solo designers. Once more, it just informs me the consumer character difference between both business.
Sending our my newsletter through FluentCRM didn’t precisely draw. The only reason I would certainly ponder trembling things up is if I thought I might GROW the checklist quicker. And BeeHiiv spoke specifically to that objective.
As a result of the targeting, I in fact don’t watch BeeHiiv and Substack as direct rivals. I believe BeeHiiv is targeting a various type of customer. As a matter of fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being a lot more direct rivals.
However, let’s dive much deeper than just the placing here.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Generally, BeeHiiv appears like it was built by individuals that recognizing e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems a lot more geared towards designers.
For instance, BeeHiiv offers personalized fields on subscribers. Now, it isn’t as created as something like FluentCRM. Yet, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv supplies Automations. In fact, it is an aesthetic automation builder that functions a great deal like what we have within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation functionality is still early-phase. It is still quite limited in triggers and the only action is the capability to send an e-mail. Nonetheless, enhancements are coming. Quickly sufficient, automations will certainly have new triggers in addition to brand-new activities, such as customizing custom areas, sending webhooks, etc. I’ve currently seen improvements to their automations simply given that I started making use of the platform. As an example:
- Capacity to cause automations based on which particular embed kind they came in on.
- Capability to instantly do re-engagement (and take care of people based on opens and non-opens).
- Ability to do fundamental conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations such as this. Likely, it never ever will. Substack just can not do this because the target market of Substack simply wouldn’t think to approach this like an email marketer.
When it pertains to creating your e-newsletters, the composing user interface of BeeHiiv is just a lot more geared towards e-newsletters. In fact, it really has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in just how it functions. I find it to be extra user-friendly, directly.
Substack’s composing user interface behaves and clean, but it would be a lot more comparable to the traditional editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This difference is more than simply type. As an example, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Section” and afterwards placed anything you want in it. After that, you can put Presence options on that section to reveal it only to paid clients, hide it from e-mail, hide from customers, show just to subscribers, etc. Substack uses absolutely nothing similar to this.
And when/if the time comes that I start a premium membership model, BeeHiiv does not take any earnings. In fact, you actually link up to your very own Stripe account and it bills straight to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your income. Depending on how many subscribers you obtain, that 10% can be a fair bit more money than the monthly cost of BeeHiiv.
Lastly, BeeHiiv has an API. This may appear nerdy, yet what it implies is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can actually make BeeHiiv deal with the outside making use of tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack essentially has … nothing. No integrations at all.
In general, I just seemed like BeeHiiv was more built towards actual email marketing. It was built by people that “get it”. Also the opt-in kinds and the landing page creates seem better built for conversions. Development is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Although there are still features I wish to see BeeHiiv add, I such as the direction it is going greater than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have stated, Substack settings itself towards “makers” more than e-mail marketing experts and e-newsletter owners. Because of that, you see some points tailored a lot more toward people that just think in terms of web content creation.
For example, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Likewise, while BeeHiiv does support several publications, they are dealt with quite individually. Whereas Substack does have the capacity to cross-post to numerous publications at the same time. This isn’t something I need, however … cool for people that may require it.
Substack likewise has more social performance built-in. For instance, it has a conversation function to host talks with subscribers. It also has a “Notes” feature which functions sort of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share things from other “Stacks” you’re reading. Intriguing. On the whole, Substack is set up to be a lot more like a social media network which supports long-form material.
On the whole, Substack is also more … minimalist. You either look after that or don’t. Directly, I do not. However, if the goal is simplicity of interface and, truthfully, features … Substack functions pretty well.
However, I’ll be clear here …
When it comes to actual marketing, I do not assume there’s much question that BeeHiiv is better matched. I tried to find more points that make Substack far better than BeeHiiv, however truthfully … I have a difficult time finding them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are often via to be the closest competitors, I in fact see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer rivals. Both are pursuing the exact same target audience and have comparable capacities.
ConvertKit is additionally placed at designers (like Substack), however it is far more strongly catering to people that do it for organization. ConvertKit has good aesthetic automation building, it’s very own business platform, and extra. ConvertKit is a truly wonderful system.
I’m not mosting likely to birthed you with a full feature-by-feature failure below. ConvertKit is popular currently. But, below’s just how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Points ConvertKit Is Better At …
Currently, ConvertKit has more versatility when it concerns it’s automations. I will additionally state that I locate ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit a lot more intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports labeling. This is simply a fundamental feature of e-mail listings that makes it possible for segmentation in an even more versatile way than BeeHiiv currently does. I expect BeeHiiv to support labeling at some point soon, truthfully. It seems like an oversight that it is missing out on How To Use Beehiiv.
ConvertKit does currently offer the ability to market things using their own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that is necessary to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, however, I would constantly choose a much more straight option anyway. For me, I like to utilize my very own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been around much longer and because of that has way much more integration options. Tons of web-based devices and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their own WordPress plugin that is fairly powerful. For instance, their plugin now also sustains member-gated material in addition to auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your site. In essence, this extra very closely puts ConvertKit into straight competitors by having you be able to publish to your site and your e-mail list at the same time.
BeeHiiv is badly lacking in these sort of third-party integrations at the moment. It’ll arrive. Yet, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even hectic taking on the growth tools of BeeHiiv. As an example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Referral Engine where you can not only incentivize people to share your e-newsletter with benefits, however you can likewise pay per lead within the interior advertisement network of BeeHiiv to grow your list. These are really awesome features of BeeHiiv. But …
Did you understand ConvertKit got Sparkloop? Sparkloop is just one of one of the most popular viral promo systems for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the creating on the wall wherefore this means for the platform moving forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … How To Use Beehiiv
BeeHiiv is a lot earlier in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that implies less features and less integrations, which is all-natural for this stage of the cycle. Nevertheless, it also indicates that they are swiftly establishing.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have experienced practically once a week launch of brand-new features right into the platform. And these aren’t weak little features … but huge features that are quite essential. Their speed of growth at this point has actually been impressive.
I likewise quite appreciate just how receptive they are. Actually, one of their item news concerning some layout improvements to the website design features in fact consisted of a little problem with the web content width. I simply responded to that email to tell them. I rapidly got a reply straight from the chief executive officer:.
That very same day, the concern was repaired.
Few days later, I gave them another tip …
Indeed, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the capacity to cause automations based upon the embed kind utilized was included in the system.
That kind of responsiveness and direct involvement of the group is something I actually appreciate.
Another significant factor of differentiation right here is the cost. Both platforms use cost-free plans, nonetheless the BeeHiiv free plan provides more capacity and more customers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
As soon as you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is additionally much more favorable. ConvertKit appears less expensive initially glance because their pricing page reveals reduced numbers, nonetheless the subscriber limitations are much reduced and your cost swiftly boosts as your list grows.
With BeeHiiv, your first level paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid each year), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 customers. That very same size listing is going to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their ideal plan and the one I directly use), you can expand your list as much as 100,000. A list of that size would certainly run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you desire their referral network, also, that puts you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay every year, also. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for just $84/month if you pay yearly.
BeeHiiv remains in a totally various organization when it pertains to pricing (in a great way).
Will BeeHiiv ultimately raise costs? They might as time takes place. But, I’m thinking people like myself that are already in will be locked-in. We’ll see just how points continue.
Points I Would Like BeeHiiv To Add
Among the things you most definitely require to bear in mind is that BeeHiiv is relatively young. They do appear to evolve instead promptly and make new product announcements rather commonly, however there are some standard features I really desire they had that I need to just wait for.
One is that they require to have a setting on registration types where I could pick an automation to run right at the type degree. That would certainly be AWESOME for numerous reasons. Already, membership forms look OK, but there’s really little settings for them to aid in division.
It would be nice to have marking at the customer degree. This would certainly be powerful.
I believe webhooks must belong to automations to make integrated automations much easier and decrease dependence on outdoors tools like Zapier.
There are likewise some small management user interface changes that would be handy. For example:
- Capacity to bulk edit/remove subscribers.
- Capability to mass edit posts (for example, to mark a bunch of them at the same time).
- Having a few basic fields as basic on subscribers (like the name).
- Some even more modification alternatives for the site (such as even more adaptable color choices, headline control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some shortcomings. Points I wish they make with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, but it isn’t excellent and definitely not almost as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other genuine CRM product.
It probably never ever will certainly be, either. As I claimed, the purpose is various so it wouldn’t much a lot of feeling for BeeHiiv to become a complete marketing automation platform. I think you never ever know, though.
Final Ideas On This BeeHiiv Evaluation
I such as BeeHiiv fairly a whole lot. Enough where I decided to change my own e-newsletters over to the platform despite my personal choice for digital sovereignty and having my own platform.
Put simply, for the newsletter publishing design particularly, I saw adequate value in their system to call for the change.
Bear in mind, I do not make use of BeeHiiv as my unique email checklist. I use BeeHiiv for what it is efficient, yet I intentionally have things set up so that I likewise keep my checklist “in home” inside of FluentCRM.
If you use BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the exact same. It is just a good insurance coverage, for one. However, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your list will certainly be of high usage (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will certainly be).
So, the question is … should YOU utilize BeeHiiv?
In my viewpoint, if you are making use of Substack now, I ‘d certainly think about switching over to BeeHiiv. It will just be more business-friendly. It is targeting different capacities and various requirements. And also, BeeHiiv even has import tools for Substack, so the switch needs to be pretty uncomplicated.
If you are on ConvertKit now, I ‘d possibly stay put unless you have a huge e-mail list and are as a result being fleeced with their high month-to-month expense. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, however they are iterating rapidly. There’s also a respectable opportunity you’re not also using some of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you don’t also require them. For that reason, BeeHiiv could quickly be a far better and more budget friendly fit.
Finally, if you plan to be really intentional concerning expanding an e-newsletter, I assume BeeHiiv is THE system to take into consideration and maintain and eye on for you.
If you make use of BeeHiiv with eyes wide open about what it is developed to be, it is among the very best video games in town today. This is the system to enjoy.
BeeHiiv uses a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves looking into on your own. And if you end up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll find the cost-free account to be quite feature abundant.