I have actually utilized a great deal of various e-mail list systems throughout the years. In the last couple of years, I’ve been a substantial supporter of digital sovereignty and owning your very own system. For that reason (and the remarkable features), I have been using Beehiiv Advertising.
So, it is certainly a weird move for me to make a decision to use BeeHiiv. Besides, it is a hosted application and I am paying month-to-month for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv testimonial, I intend to go over why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I wish to deal with the problem of digital sovereignty while utilizing the platform and I would certainly additionally such as to address why I picked to utilize it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Constructed For Newsletters
In Concern # 435 of my newsletter called My Leisure activity + A Large Shift In Method, I talked about just how and why I made a decision to transform my motor home blog into largely a newsletter. I decided that was business version I wished to go after with that residential property.
However, to purposefully pursue it as a newsletter, I desired a system that was purpose-built for that. I was making use of FluentCRM for the e-mail checklist for Happily motor home, but FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter platform. It is built to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, truthfully, using it for newsletters is a little bit of a waste. Much more on that in a little bit.
As I said in that issue of the newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a platform with tools developed right into it details to my function. Points such as:
- Ability to publish (to the blog site) and send the e-mail at the same time without having it be two different activities.
- Built in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would require a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Integrated capability to do cross-promotions with other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are primarily one-click registration web links. Great for promo in other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, though, so there are ways to do that.
- Capacity to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your e-newsletter.
- Built-in ad network, if I select to monetize with advertisements in the newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in capacity to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and basically run a premium newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Basically, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter authors with features focused on growth. The platform was essentially constructed by the people who developed the technology for Early morning Brew. They understand what they’re doing.
That is the factor right here. BeeHiiv is built from scratch for the purpose of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a various function.
And I finished off with this:.
I might undoubtedly be moving The Edge over to BeeHiiv as well. At the very least, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. As a matter of fact, I just went for it. And actually, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Morning WP, set off as it’s own property to make sure that I can grow it extra deliberately too.
The goal is that each newsletter has the capability to be branded as it’s very own media entity and expanded independently. Happily motor home was young, so simple to transition. However, The Early morning WP (formerly The Side) was hidden in a sea of things right here at the Blog Site Marketing Academy. By separating it off, I can do what I can to expand it on it’s very own. It will certainly constantly be carefully connected with the Blog Marketing Academy, however doesn’t need to belong of it.
I switched to BeeHiiv because it was developed for this purpose. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Simply A Regular Email Listing
There’s a distinction in between a newsletter system and just an email listing.
You can hold your email list anyplace you desire and there are a number of them available, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted alternatives like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the difference?
The main difference is that, with an e-newsletter system, the act of publishing means that it is going to your website and to your e-mail customers simultaneously.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have an internet site. You are publishing to that site. Yet, you are also sending off to all subscribers at the same time. The site and it’s customers are done in one. This makes administration of the system much less complex.
With the majority of email systems, any kind of newsletter you set up is done as an e-mail campaign. It is constructed entirely independently from your site. So, as an example, you may publish a write-up to WordPress yet then you would certainly require to independently build and send out an email to your list to send it to subscribers. These are after that two separate collections of archives and two separate actions because blog posts and your emails are not inherently connected.
The closest point that turns WordPress right into a true e-newsletter system is Newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name because it pretty much “glues” your newsletter to your WordPress blog posts and allows them to be the very same thing. Definitely, something like E-newsletter Glue would certainly be a strong option if I intended to continue to self-host whatever. Nonetheless, you would certainly lose the growth devices that come with a system like BeeHiiv.
Publishing a newsletter inherently features a various collection of demands than a normal e-mail listing.
You do not generally require much marketing automation. You don’t normally require autoresponder sequences, event monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO requirement, though, is one smooth publishing experience and development tools to aid you develop your subscriber base that specify to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I introduced to my subscribers that I was mosting likely to switch over the e-newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many individuals ask me why I was selecting it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the fact that I selected to choose BeeHiiv, that does not suggest I believe Substack draws. In fact, because Substack has been about much longer, it is more mature and has even more features.
Despite the fact that BeeHiiv is younger, there are a couple things that originally got my interest:.
- BeeHiiv is especially tailored to newsletter authors. As a matter of fact, it is actually developed by the same people who developed the modern technology behind Early morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real life, doesn’t matter. However, the noticeable positioning of BeeHiiv toward newsletter growth called me out over the even more generic positioning of being a “maker”. Development is what I want below.
- That branding and differentiation additionally means that BeeHiiv has some rather big brand names and huge magazines utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is aimed even more at solo creators. Once again, it simply informs me the client avatar difference between the two business.
Sending our my newsletter using FluentCRM really did not precisely suck. The only reason I would consider shaking things up is if I assumed I might GROW the listing quicker. And BeeHiiv talked precisely to that objective.
As a result of the targeting, I actually don’t watch BeeHiiv and Substack as straight competitors. I believe BeeHiiv is targeting a different kind of consumer. As a matter of fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being much more straight competitors.
But, allow’s dive much deeper than simply the positioning below.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Generally, BeeHiiv looks like it was built by individuals that understanding e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears much more tailored toward designers.
For example, BeeHiiv uses personalized areas on subscribers. Now, it isn’t as established as something like FluentCRM. Yet, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv offers Automations. As a matter of fact, it is an aesthetic automation builder that works a lot like what we have within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation performance is still early-phase. It is still quite minimal in triggers and the only activity is the ability to send an e-mail. Nevertheless, enhancements are coming. Soon sufficient, automations will certainly have new triggers along with new actions, such as changing customized fields, sending webhooks, etc. I have actually currently seen enhancements to their automations just considering that I started utilizing the platform. For example:
- Capacity to activate automations based upon which particular embed type they was available in on.
- Ability to immediately do re-engagement (and take care of people based on opens and non-opens).
- Capacity to do basic conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations such as this. Likely, it never will. Substack simply can’t do this due to the fact that the target market of Substack simply would not believe to approach this like an e-mail marketer.
When it pertains to creating your newsletters, the creating interface of BeeHiiv is just extra tailored towards e-newsletters. In fact, it actually has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in how it functions. I locate it to be extra instinctive, directly.
Substack’s composing interface is nice and tidy, however it would certainly be a lot more equivalent to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This difference is more than just form. For instance, with BeeHiiv you can place a “Area” and afterwards placed anything you want in it. After that, you can put Presence alternatives on that section to reveal it only to paid clients, conceal it from email, conceal from clients, reveal just to customers, etc. Substack provides absolutely nothing similar to this.
And when/if the time comes that I start a premium membership version, BeeHiiv does not take any revenue. Actually, you literally connect approximately your own Stripe account and it charges straight to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your revenue. Depending upon how many clients you get, that 10% can be a fair bit more money than the regular monthly expense of BeeHiiv.
Last but not least, BeeHiiv has an API. This might seem nerdy, but what it means is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can actually make BeeHiiv work with the outdoors making use of devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack actually has … nothing. No integrations at all.
Overall, I simply seemed like BeeHiiv was a lot more built towards actual e-mail marketing. It was developed by individuals that “get it”. Also the opt-in forms and the landing page creates appear far better developed for conversions. Growth is the name of the game 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 actually stated, Substack placements itself towards “makers” greater than email marketing professionals and newsletter proprietors. Therefore, you see some points geared much more towards individuals who just believe in terms of content production.
For instance, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Likewise, while BeeHiiv does sustain several magazines, they are treated fairly separately. Whereas Substack does have the capacity to cross-post to numerous magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I call for, however … awesome for individuals that may require it.
Substack likewise has even more social functionality built-in. For instance, it has a conversation function to host talks with subscribers. It additionally has a “Notes” feature which works type of like a social media newsfeed where you can share things from other “Stacks” you’re reading. Intriguing. Generally, Substack is set up to be much more like a social network which sustains long-form material.
In general, Substack is also more … minimalist. You either take care of that or do not. Personally, I do not. Nonetheless, if the objective is simpleness of user interface and, frankly, features … Substack functions pretty well.
However, I’ll be clear here …
When it pertains to actual marketing, I don’t assume there’s much doubt that BeeHiiv is much better matched. I looked for even more factors that make Substack better than BeeHiiv, however truthfully … I have a tough time discovering them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are usually through to be the closest rivals, I really see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer competitors. Both are pursuing the exact same target audience and have similar capacities.
ConvertKit is additionally positioned at creators (like Substack), but it is much more highly catering to people who do it for organization. ConvertKit has good visual automation structure, it’s own commerce system, and a lot more. ConvertKit is a truly great system.
I’m not mosting likely to birthed you with a complete feature-by-feature failure below. ConvertKit is popular currently. But, right here’s exactly how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Things ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
As of now, ConvertKit has more flexibility when it pertains to it’s automations. I will certainly likewise claim that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit extra intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains identifying. This is just a basic function of e-mail lists that enables division in a much more adaptable method than BeeHiiv presently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to sustain marking at some point soon, honestly. It seems like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv Advertising.
ConvertKit does now supply the capacity to market things through their very own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that is essential to you, it may be a big deal for you. For me, nevertheless, I would constantly select a much more direct option anyhow. For me, I favor to utilize my very own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been about much longer and for that reason has way a lot more integration choices. Lots 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 currently even sustains member-gated material in addition to auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your website. Basically, this a lot more carefully puts ConvertKit into direct competitors by having you have the ability to release to your site and your email listing at the same time.
BeeHiiv is significantly doing not have in these sort of third-party integrations currently. It’ll get there. But, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also active tackling the development devices of BeeHiiv. As an example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Suggestion Engine where you can not only incentivize individuals to share your newsletter with rewards, yet you can also pay per lead within the inner advertisement network of BeeHiiv to expand your listing. These are truly outstanding features of BeeHiiv. However …
Did you know ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is among one of the most well known viral promotion systems for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the composing on the wall for what this implies for the system moving forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Beehiiv Advertising
BeeHiiv is a lot previously in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that indicates less features and less integrations, which is all-natural for this stage of the cycle. However, it likewise implies that they are quickly establishing.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have seen virtually regular launch of brand-new features right into the platform. And these aren’t weak little features … yet large features that are fairly essential. Their speed of advancement now has been impressive.
I likewise very much value just how receptive they are. Actually, one of their product news concerning some layout enhancements to the web design features actually consisted of a tiny trouble with the material size. I just responded to that e-mail to tell them. I rapidly obtained a reply directly from the chief executive officer:.
That exact same day, the problem was taken care of.
Few days later on, I provided one more recommendation …
Certainly, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the capacity to activate automations based upon the embed type used was added to the system.
That type of responsiveness and direct involvement of the group is something I actually appreciate.
An additional major point of differentiation below is the rate. Both platforms provide cost-free plans, nevertheless the BeeHiiv free plan supplies extra capability and even more customers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
Once you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is likewise even more desirable. ConvertKit seems more affordable in the beginning glimpse due to the fact that their pricing web page shows reduced numbers, nonetheless the customer limitations are FAR lower and your rate promptly increases as your checklist expands.
With BeeHiiv, your first level paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid yearly), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 clients. That exact same dimension list is mosting likely to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you update to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their ideal plan and the one I directly make use of), you can expand your listing approximately 100,000. A list of that size would 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 each year, also. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for just $84/month if you pay annually.
BeeHiiv is in a totally various league when it comes to pricing (in a great way).
Will BeeHiiv ultimately enhance rates? They may as time takes place. However, I’m guessing individuals like myself who are currently in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see how points proceed.
Points I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Include
One of the important things you certainly need to remember is that BeeHiiv is reasonably young. They do appear to progress rather swiftly and make brand-new product news somewhat frequently, yet there are some fundamental features I really wish they had that I require to just wait on.
One is that they need to have a setup on subscription forms where I could select an automation to run right at the type degree. That would certainly be outstanding for a lot of factors. Already, subscription forms look OK, however there’s very little settings for them to assist in segmentation.
It would certainly behave to have labeling at the customer level. This would be powerful.
I think webhooks should become part of automations to make integrated automations much easier and decrease dependence on outside tools like Zapier.
There are additionally some minor management user interface adjustments that would come in handy. For instance:
- Capability to mass edit/remove clients.
- Capability to mass edit messages (for instance, to tag a bunch of them at the same time).
- Having a few basic fields as standard on clients (like the name).
- Some more personalization alternatives for the web site (such as even more flexible color choices, headline control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some drawbacks. Points I hope they make with it in the future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, but it isn’t best and certainly not virtually as created as something like FluentCRM or any other real CRM product.
It possibly never will certainly be, either. As I claimed, the objective is various so it would not a lot a great deal of sense for BeeHiiv to become a complete marketing automation platform. I think you never know, though.
Final Ideas On This BeeHiiv Review
I such as BeeHiiv fairly a lot. Enough where I determined to change my own e-newsletters over to the system regardless of my personal choice for digital sovereignty and having my very own platform.
Simply put, for the newsletter publishing model specifically, I saw enough worth in their system to necessitate the change.
Keep in mind, I do not use BeeHiiv as my unique email list. I utilize BeeHiiv wherefore it is proficient at, however I intentionally have points set up to make sure that I likewise maintain my checklist “in home” inside of FluentCRM.
If you use BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the very same. It is just a great insurance coverage, for one. However, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your list will be of high usage (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will be).
So, the inquiry is … should YOU use BeeHiiv?
In my viewpoint, if you are making use of Substack right now, I ‘d definitely think about changing to BeeHiiv. It will simply be much more business-friendly. It is targeting different abilities and various needs. And also, BeeHiiv even has import devices for Substack, so the button needs to be pretty straightforward.
If you are on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d possibly sit tight unless you have a large email list and are for that reason being fleeced with their high month-to-month costs. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, yet they are repeating quickly. There’s also a pretty good opportunity you’re not also utilizing some of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you don’t even need them. For that reason, BeeHiiv might conveniently be a much better and much more inexpensive fit.
Finally, if you plan to be extremely intentional regarding growing an e-newsletter, I think BeeHiiv is THE system to consider and keep and eye on for you.
If you use BeeHiiv with eyes wide open concerning what it is developed to be, it is one of the very best video games around today. This is the system to enjoy.
BeeHiiv provides a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth having a look at on your own. And if you wind up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll find the cost-free account to be rather feature rich.