SendinBlue Review: affordable email marketing software

My requirements were simple: I was looking for software that is accessible, easy to use, free to test, good at what it does, and software that I can also recommend to my clients.

Competitors quickly dropped out because they were too expensive, complicated or lacked functionality. And since by now I think everyone should know this email marketing software, it was about time to write a proper Sendinblue review.

What is SendinBlue?

Sendinblue is known for its email marketing software, but it has grown to be much more than that. You can think of it as a complete platform that helps you with your marketing and sales because it supports you in three main things:

• Communicating / communication
• Personalize
• Convert

Since I have only used Sendinblue's email marketing software for now, I won't go into the other features. For that, I'd like to refer you to Sendinblue's website.

Key functionalities of SendinBlue

To show you the power of Sendinblue, I want to highlight the most important features. So that you know exactly what it can do and so you can find out if Sendinblue is also what you need.

Because, of course, you don't want to set up the software completely first and then be disappointed because a functionality is missing.

Campaigns

If you use Sendinblue mainly for sending your newsletter, then you'll spend most of your time in 'campaigns'. Here you can set up your email campaigns, create and manage your templates, view statistics and get to work on your settings.

The emails within Sendinblue can be formatted in different ways. For example, you have the handy drag and drop editor where I format all my mailings:

Automation

This is where I've spent the most time so far: setting up my own automation and funnel. Sendinblue allows you to create all kinds of workflows (That's an automated mail based on an action). Think about:

• Birthdays
• Welcome email
• Order
• Leaving shopping baskets
• Viewing a page
• And, of course, customized workflows.

Manage contacts + contact forms

As the name suggests, here you can find everything about your contacts, your mailing lists and more. You can delete people here, import email addresses and perhaps most importantly, segment them.

In addition to managing your contacts, you can also create opt-in forms here that you can then use within your Web site.

Integrations

I use OptinMonster for the opt-in forms on my website, allowing me to create a new form within minutes. Sendinblue and OptinMonster work seamlessly together, but Sendinblue easily integrates with other software like WordPress, Google Analytics, Zapier or Shopify.

Statistics (Real time)

Within Sendinblue, you also have a heading called "Transactional. You'll find several features in here, but the one I like best is the real time feature. Here you can watch your email campaigns live. Is someone requesting your e-book right now? Then you will see this immediately.

A/B testing

Every email marketing program, in my opinion, should feature an a/b test option. So also Sendinblue. Optimizing for a high open-rate and a high click-through-rate is extremely important for everyone.

Indeed, these are the key indicators successful mailings.

SendinBlue pros and cons at a glance

The choice of Sendinblue was made for me within 15 minutes. And the benefits below have contributed to that:

• Sendinblue is incredibly easy to use
• Sendinblue's backend is uncluttered and does not contain unnecessary information / features
• Sendinblue is free to use and is should you need an account, you don't pay much per month
• Sendinblue allows you to set up workflows and thus marketing automation
• The drag and drop builder is very easy to use
• Possibility of text message campaigns
• Does interface with all major tools
• Works well with OptinMonster

So are there any drawbacks? In the time I've been using Sendinblue now, I haven't come across any; there's no functionality missing or anything not quite running smoothly yet.

The only downside I can think of is that you do want the heatmap reporting, so you have to go for the plan called "Essential.

You can read more about the different packages and corresponding prices in a moment.

SendinBlue competitors and alternatives (Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, Mailblue, MailterLite)

By now, the email marketing software market is flooded. There are both small and large players doing everything their own way.

My advice for you? Think carefully:

• What you want
• What you need
• Where you want to grow
• And what you have experience with

Once you have answered these four questions for yourself, then you can start looking at the different providers. In this article, by the way, I'm not going to tell you the pros and cons for each provider, because then it will be far too long a sit.

However, I do want to pass along that you should definitely include the below providers in your consideration:

• Activecampagin / Mailblue
• MailerLite
• MailChimp
• ConvertKit
• Aweber
• Drip
• GetResponse

Watch YouTube videos of these software providers, ask around you who uses what, or put a call on LinkedIn, for example.

And in the end, you just have to test it properly and see what suits you :).

SendinBlue prices and packages

If like me you have made the choice to go with Sendinblue, the next step is to choose the right package. If you followed my advice, at least you already have a Free account.

Go with that and see what you need. Do you need thousands of emails per then right away? Then use the table and information below to figure out the best package for your business.

Conclusion

That I am a big fan of Sendinblue is obvious by now. After all, Sendinblue's email marketing software is affordable, nice to use, clear and contains everything I need.

In short, everything I'm looking for. Since I also like the software better that 95% of its competitors, I must conclude this Sendinblue review with a 9.5/10.