I read one of my preferred email e-newsletters when I scrolled to the bottom of the e-mail and saw the beehiiv logo for the first time. I clicked on it and instantaneously began wrecking. Matt Mcgarry Newsletter…
Being a full-time developer is difficult. I’m usually getting pitched various tools and solutions that do not appear to be worth my time.
I think I was emotional since I spent the last 6 months trying out different e-mail and newsletter platforms to help construct my e-newsletter. And to be fair, there are some great options for writing newsletters. Yet I couldn’t find one that made me provide a certain “yes”.
The issue with several existing newsletter platforms is that they don’t really feel creator-centered. I want a newsletter platform that lets me completely customize my newsletter layouts, makes it extremely easy to write and send emails, and gives me tools that help me assess metrics and obtain more customers.
I think I have actually ultimately found the ideal tool.
Yet, I understand beehiiv might not be for everybody. So let’s dive deep and see if it’s actually appropriate for you.
What is beehiiv?
beehiiv is an all-in-one system for e-newsletters. It’s a creator-friendly e-newsletter system that makes it simple to layout, create, send, promote, generate income from, and track the ROI of your newsletter.
Created by previous workers at the popular e-newsletter company Morning Brew, beehiiv aims to aid makers launch and monetize their own e-newsletter– taking great deals of development concepts from taking Morning Brew to over 4M clients.
In this article, I’m going to discuss my personal experience with beehiiv, things I enjoy (and hate) regarding it, all of it’s features, and why I chose to finally select it as my e-newsletter system of choice.
My individual experience with beehiiv
A few months earlier, I unintentionally came across beehiiv. The funny tale is that I have actually been on the lookout for a contemporary newsletter system for rather a long time currently. I’ve postponed hard when it involved finally introducing my newsletter.
First, I tried Mailchimp. After that, a few other indie platforms. After that, Substack. And ultimately, I ended up making use of beehiiv.
I make certain several e-newsletter makers admire popular e-newsletters with numerous clients– I understand I do. The Morning Brew newsletter is one I admired a great deal. They have terrific content, tons of customers, and a brilliant referral program that permits them to get back at a lot more subscribers.
So, I took place a quest to figure out how these large newsletters established their logistics. What platform do they use? How do they track the ROI of their e-newsletters? How do they get more subscribers? How do they create a newsletter layout that stays on-brand?
When I uncovered beehiiv for the very first time, it appeared to address every one of my questions. I thought to myself, “damn individuals that constructed this tool actually comprehend newsletter production and development.” I examined who these developers of beehiiv were.
So I mosted likely to LinkedIn, and saw that the founders were several of the very first marketing and growth staff members at Morning Brew– my mind took off.
I understood this was going to be a various newsletter system. One that’s focused on maker growth.
Because, any type of developer knows, you require development to be able to earn a living off of a newsletter. And discovering the best e-newsletter pile (that scales) usually indicates making use of multiple different tools to help achieve one objective– one system for your newsletter, one system to monetize, and one system to establish recommendations. It can get costly.
So when I found out beehiiv did all of these things in one platform, and it was cost-free to begin making use of, it was a no-brainer to give it a try.
beehiiv vs Substack
You may be asking, “isn’t there already a system for writers called Substack?”.
Yes, of course there is. Substack is a great system used by hundreds of independent writers. With Substack you obtain your own site and utilize the platform as your all-in-one option for sending out emails (while developing an archive of previous issues).
What sets beehiiv apart is it’s devotion to development. beehiiv enables 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 subscribers to get words out.
beehiiv additionally gives you a web site comparable to Substack. Yet, if you have your own site currently, you can likewise make use of beehiiv’s sign-up embeds (that’s what I utilize) to send your internet site customers directly to your beehiiv e-mail list. On the very same token, you can incorporate beehiiv with a device like Performance to allow individuals to register for your e-newsletter straight from Twitter.
This provides you the adaptability to leverage various marketing channels to obtain your newsletter out right into the world, making beehiiv a terrific Substack alternative.
Exactly how to start making use of beehiiv e-mail marketing software program.
Who is beehiiv for?
beehiiv is for the lean material developer that wants a system that permits them to send out custom-made e-newsletters with or without requiring to have a website.
One of the most successful newsletters have the right devices to develop and scale their newsletters. beehiiv focuses on giving you those devices.
If you’re an independent writer, media firm, startup, or web content developer, you should seriously considering trying out beehiiv. It’s entirely free to begin and you only pay when you reach over 2,500 customers on your listing.
If you really end up needing to spend for beehiiv it’s most likely a good indicator that people like reviewing your things.
Register for a free plan
The very first step is to sign up for a free plan. You can do this by clicking the “Start trial” switch on beehiiv’s internet site.
The free plan will permit you to have up to 2,500 clients, offer you accessibility to web site hosting, an e-newsletter CMS, advancement modification, analytics, outside embed kinds, and extra. It’s a really charitable offering for those just beginning (or for those looking for a brand-new platform to migrate to).
Onboarding
After creating an account, you’ll undergo an onboarding process that will ask points like, “is this your first e-newsletter?”, “what other platforms have you used?”, “do you have any type of paying customers?”, and much more.
You’ll then create a name and link for your e-newsletter’s internet site. On the free plan, your newsletter will live on a beehiiv subdomain. So if your e-newsletter is called “Cooking Cakes,” your site URL might be something like “baking-cakes. beehiiv.com”.
During the onboarding process, you’ll likewise select your brand name design and colors to make certain your e-newsletter template looks right.
Browsing your control panel
As soon as you reach your primary dashboard, you’ll see all of your analytics and setups.
You will have described details on the amount of sign-ups you’re getting and from where.
In the sidebar, you’ll see alternatives for “Start composing”, “Articles”, “Audience”, “Grow”, “Generate income from”, “Design” and” Examine”. And at the really bottom you’ll see the settings option.
Control panel is your main nerve center (screenshot above), Beginning composing is where you create and release newsletters, Messages is where you can see all of your previous e-newsletter editions, Target market is where you can watch who your subscribers are (and break them down into segments), Expand is where you have access to a referral program (and development tutorials) and boosts to run advertisements, Monetize is where you can access the beehiiv ad network and monetize your newsletter with ads, Design is where you design your newsletter landing page and article template, Assess is where you can see all your analytics, and Settings is where you can manage all of your admin stuff.
Creating your e-newsletter
beehiiv makes it very easy to start writing, with little to no friction. If you’re just beginning, and have a concept you wish to write about, I suggest just going to the “Write” area in the navbar and clicking “Beginning creating”.
You can tweak your template and styling later on– focus on the web content first.
As you can see, beehiiv’s editor provides a clean and straightforward interface for composing.
When you begin writing, you can maximize headings, include web links, and style your content just how you like.
beehiiv offers you lots of alternatives for various kinds of material like video clips, web links, images, and much more.
The team at beehiiv is likewise regularly launching product feature and updates so I’m sure there will certainly be a whole lot more material features depending upon when you read this.
Maximizing your setups and templates
Once you have an e-newsletter that prepares to send out, it’s time to develop your email template and readjust some setups.
Here, you can update the name of your e-newsletter, provide it a summary, include your logo, activate or off a welcome e-mail to very first time customers, and much more.
Next, you can head over to the “Email Template” tab to make your style.
You can modify history colors, borders, spacing, font styles, photo layouts, and more. I’m not mosting likely to experience ever before single point you can enhance with your email template due to the fact that it’s a great deal. Just try the platform for free and see it on your own!
Crucial beehiiv features
beehiiv has lots of impressive features that make it an excellent posting system for any e-newsletter designer.
Here are several of the important features you can locate with beehiiv:.
Newsletter builder Matt Mcgarry Newsletter
At its core, beehiiv is a newsletter posting platform. It makes it extremely simple to compose and send emails. I discussed over several of the important things you can do with your setups and e-mail layout so I’ll save you some additional reading.
The important things to note with beehiiv’s newsletter builder is that it has an actually contemporary and minimalistic feel. It’s absolutely one of the much better e-mail editors I have actually ever before written in.
Site hosting
When you develop a beehiiv e-newsletter, every one of your e-newsletters (if you desire) live on a website. Think of it as a web site for your e-newsletter that’s a home to every one of your previous concerns of your newsletter, and a location where people can register for your e-newsletter.
If you know with Substack, it’s basically similar to that.
All plans, consisting of the complimentary one, provide you a site. Nonetheless, the free plan locations your web site on a beehiiv subdomain so if you wish to add a customized domain to remove all the beehiiv branding you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan.
Subscribe forms
Getting subscribers is necessary. Nevertheless, that’s why you have an e-newsletter right?
With beehiiv, individuals can subscribe to your newsletter straight from your beehiiv internet site or with embed types.
If you already have a website, and want people to register for your newsletter from your existing website, you’ll have to utilize an embed type. This is what I make use of on this web site (you can see the sign-up installed on the right hand column of this post if you scroll up).
With embed kinds, you have 3 various alternatives– a full width, a repaired size, and a slim installed. I directly utilize the slim embed.
You can discover the code bit for these embeds in the “Subscribe Types” tab in your settings.
There’s additionally an alternative for attribution tracking if you intend to onward UTM parameters for tracking functions– rather cool.
Nevertheless, there are a couple of features I want beehiiv had when it pertained to subscribe features. I make certain the team is servicing updates for these, yet I stated a couple of issues I had in the advantages and disadvantages section listed below.
Referral program
One of the amazing things about beehiiv, that I have yet to see in any other e-newsletter platform, is a service for producing a referral program.
You can urge existing subscribers on your list to ahead your e-mails to close friends and colleagues and if they get other people to sign up for your listing, you can reward them. These benefits can be in whatever type you desire. I have actually seem lots of e-newsletter business give incentives in the form of merch and stickers.
This can seriously transform your subscribers right into a word of mouth growth engine for your e-newsletter– giving you an additional avenue for growing your e-mail listing.
Nevertheless, to obtain accessibility to the referral program feature, you’ll need to update to a much more premium plan. I’ll go over all the plans later on in this write-up.
Costs subscriptions
They state all you need to make a living online is 1,000 true fans. Subscription income is absolutely a beast of its own. If you’re seeking a platform to monetize your newsletter, this is it.
With beehiiv, you can produce “costs” issues of your newsletter that are only sent out to paying clients. This can be extremely rewarding depending upon what your e-newsletter needs to supply. For instance, Trends.co is a popular premium e-newsletter that generates millions in revenue a year simply by having pay-only e-newsletter content.
Information analytics
Among things I love about beehiiv is exactly how clean and easy the analytics are. You get real-time day on just how your newsletter is doing, with open/click rates and subscriber matter.
You obtain accessibility to all the metrics you need to obtain a bird-eye sight on exactly how your e-newsletter is really doing. Logging into your control panel and seeing that client matter go up is most definitely a dopamine booster.
beehiiv pricing plans
beehiiv offers four various pricing plans. You can check them out listed below.
The (complimentary) Launch plan offers you every little thing you need to begin and expand your e-newsletter (approximately 2,500 customers).
The Scale plan ($ 39/month) provides you every little thing in the Launch plan with the enhancement the advertisement network, referral program, customized domain name, polls, and accessibility to costs memberships. This is the plan I am on.
The Max plan ($ 76/month) offers you whatever in the Grow plan with enhancement of concern assistance and eliminating the beehiiv branding.
Every one of these plans are fairly charitable in my point of view.
As an example, if you have 100,000 subscribers you will certainly pay around $329 per month. Instead of some competitors, like Kit (formerly ConvertKit), that would bill $679 per month for the very same amount– making beehiiv a wonderful Kit choice for several users.
I’m not sure how the unit business economics service this, but beehiiv is absolutely cheaper (right now) than what it can be.
beehiiv advantages and disadvantages
Naturally, with every system, it has its pros and cons. Here are some of the advantages and disadvantages I have actually personally experienced while making use of beehiiv:
Pros of using beehiiv
Here are some of the pros of using beehiiv as your e-newsletter platform of choice:
- Easy to set up and begin sending out e-newsletters absolutely free
- Clean and contemporary client analytics
- Lots of flexibility with e-mail layouts.
- Referral program feature Matt Mcgarry Newsletter
- Website hosting
- Create costs options to monetize
- Surveys
To be straightforward, I haven’t seen another e-newsletter system that has actually been able to package all of these features with each other so well.
But naturally, I don’t wish to be biased so I’m going to state some disadvantages.
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 personalized fonts
I utilize Webflow as my internet site structure system of choice (I finished from WordPress and Squarespace a very long time ago). I’m not going to go in way too much detail why I love Webflow so much yet you can read my Webflow review if you want to learn more.
Now, there actually is nothing else way I can incorporate beehiiv with my Webflow website aside from utilizing an iframe embed. I personally do not such as making use of iframe’s due to the fact that they tend to slow down my web site a little bit. Whenever a page on my site (with a beehiiv installed) lots, the sign-up embed is the last thing to pack on the web page. It’s extremely obvious when you’re on a slow internet link. However I can navigate that.
The main complaint I have is that I can not make use of a regular Webflow type (which I enjoy using). There are methods around this by utilizing a tool like Zapier yet that would certainly just include added prices that I don’t require. To be honest, this is more of a Webflow con over a beehiiv con but I assumed I would state it.
Besides that, I still think the pros far exceed the disadvantages here. I’m also enthusiastic that Webflow will at some point produce a far better means to integrate with beehiiv.
Verdict
In general, beehiiv is a wonderful remedy for anyone seeking to study the world of e-mail marketing and newsletters.
The functionality of this newsletter system far surpasses lots of that are currently on the market. And with a generous free plan, you actually have nothing to lose for trying it.
The paid plans are also fairly affordable of what they are. Paying only $329/month to have 100,000 customers on your checklist is unheard of. 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 each month.
Anyways, I don’t create review messages often. I just do when I really use the tool myself and would recommend it to a friend.
I hope you discovered some clarity on whether or not beehiiv is a great system for you.