Campaign Monitor

What is Campaign Monitor?

Campaign Monitor (now part of Marigold) provides email marketing focused on beautiful design and brand consistency. The platform offers drag-and-drop email builders, automation capabilities, and analytics—with particular strength in creating visually stunning emails that maintain brand standards.

For marketing teams prioritizing email design quality and brand control, Campaign Monitor delivers templates and tools that produce consistently beautiful communications. Since its founding in 2004 in Sydney, Australia, Campaign Monitor has helped over 250,000 businesses worldwide craft compelling email campaigns that drive engagement and conversions.

Key Features

Email Builder

Drag-and-drop builder creates professional emails without coding. Templates designed by email experts ensure mobile responsiveness. Brand-locked elements maintain visual consistency across team members. The intuitive interface allows marketers to create stunning emails in minutes, with real-time previews showing exactly how messages will appear on desktop and mobile devices.

Template Management

Create branded templates that teams reuse. Lock design elements while allowing content editing. Ensure every email meets brand standards regardless of who creates it. Template locking is particularly valuable for agencies managing multiple clients or enterprises with distributed marketing teams who need consistent branding without design expertise.

Marketing Automation

Build automated email journeys based on subscriber behavior. Welcome series, abandoned cart recovery, and re-engagement campaigns run automatically. Visual journey builders make complex automation workflows accessible to non-technical users. Set triggers based on subscriber actions, time delays, and conditional logic to deliver the right message at the perfect moment.

Personalization

Dynamic content changes based on subscriber data. Personalized subject lines, content blocks, and recommendations improve engagement. Use merge tags to insert subscriber names, purchase history, and custom fields. Create conditional content blocks that display different images, offers, or messages based on subscriber segments.

Analytics and Reporting

Track opens, clicks, conversions, and revenue. Understand what content resonates. Heat maps show exactly where subscribers click. Worldview maps display geographic engagement patterns. Compare campaign performance over time with trend analysis. Export detailed reports for stakeholder presentations and strategic planning.

List Management and Segmentation

Segment subscribers based on behavior, preferences, and data. Targeted sends improve relevance and reduce unsubscribes. Create dynamic segments that automatically update as subscriber behavior changes. Import contacts from CRMs, e-commerce platforms, and spreadsheets with intelligent field mapping.

A/B Testing

Test subject lines, send times, content variations, and from names to optimize campaign performance. Campaign Monitor automatically sends the winning version to remaining subscribers after your test period concludes. Data-driven decisions replace guesswork for continuously improving results.

Integrations

Connect Campaign Monitor with over 250 integrations including Shopify, WordPress, Salesforce, Zapier, and more. Sync customer data automatically between platforms. Trigger emails based on e-commerce events like purchases, cart abandonment, and product views.

Use Cases

E-commerce Businesses

Online retailers leverage Campaign Monitor to drive sales through targeted email campaigns. Product recommendation emails showcase items based on browsing history and past purchases. Abandoned cart sequences recover lost revenue by reminding shoppers of items left behind. Post-purchase follow-ups encourage reviews, repeat purchases, and customer loyalty program enrollment. Seasonal campaigns and flash sale announcements create urgency and boost conversions during peak shopping periods.

Marketing Agencies

Agencies choose Campaign Monitor for its multi-client management capabilities and white-label options. Template locking ensures client brand guidelines are maintained even when junior team members create campaigns. Separate billing and reporting for each client simplifies account management. The platform's design quality impresses clients while the automation features reduce manual work for agency teams managing dozens of accounts.

Nonprofits and Charities

Nonprofit organizations use Campaign Monitor to maintain donor relationships and drive fundraising campaigns. Welcome series introduce new supporters to the organization's mission and impact. Donation receipts and thank-you emails build ongoing engagement. Appeal campaigns with compelling storytelling and clear calls-to-action increase giving rates. Event promotion emails fill seats at galas, volunteer opportunities, and community gatherings.

Media and Publishing

Publishers and media companies rely on Campaign Monitor for newsletter delivery at scale. RSS-to-email features automatically distribute new content to subscribers. Subscriber preferences let readers choose topics of interest for personalized digests. Advertising-supported newsletters benefit from clean templates that showcase both content and sponsor messages effectively.

Professional Services

Law firms, accounting practices, and consultancies use Campaign Monitor to nurture client relationships. Educational newsletters establish thought leadership and keep firms top-of-mind. Client onboarding sequences deliver important information and set expectations. Referral campaigns encourage satisfied clients to recommend services to their networks.

Pricing

Lite — From $11/month (500 contacts). 2,500 emails/month limit, core email features, basic templates.

Essentials — From $26/month (500 contacts). Unlimited emails, 100+ templates, design testing, advanced tracking.

Premier — From $149/month (500 contacts). Advanced automation, send-time optimization, pre-built engagement segments, phone support.

Pricing scales with subscriber count. Annual billing saves 10%. Free plan available with limited features. Custom enterprise pricing available for high-volume senders with dedicated support requirements.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Exceptional Design Quality: Industry-leading templates and drag-and-drop builder produce genuinely beautiful emails that reflect well on your brand.

Brand Control: Template locking ensures consistency across team members without requiring design oversight on every send.

User-Friendly Interface: Clean, intuitive platform that marketing teams can master quickly without extensive training.

Reliable Deliverability: Strong sender reputation and deliverability tools help emails reach inboxes rather than spam folders.

Quality Support: Responsive customer service with helpful resources and documentation for self-service troubleshooting.

Cons

Limited Free Tier: Unlike some competitors, Campaign Monitor's free plan is quite restricted, making it less suitable for very small businesses or those just starting.

Higher Pricing: Premium positioning means costs can exceed alternatives like Mailchimp or Sendinblue, especially at higher subscriber counts.

Basic CRM Features: Focuses primarily on email rather than broader marketing automation, requiring additional tools for comprehensive customer relationship management.

Limited Landing Pages: Landing page capabilities are basic compared to dedicated landing page builders or all-in-one marketing platforms.

Tips for Success

Leverage Template Locking: If you manage a team, invest time upfront creating locked templates with your brand elements. This prevents brand inconsistency and speeds up campaign creation for everyone.

Use Segmentation Strategically: Move beyond basic list segmentation. Create engagement-based segments to identify your most active subscribers for VIP treatment and re-engagement campaigns for inactive contacts.

A/B Test Consistently: Make testing a habit, not an occasional experiment. Even small improvements in open rates compound over time into significant engagement gains.

Optimize Send Times: Premier plan users should enable send-time optimization to automatically deliver emails when each subscriber is most likely to engage based on their historical behavior.

Monitor Deliverability: Regularly check spam score feedback and maintain list hygiene by removing bounces and unengaged subscribers to protect your sender reputation.

Campaign Monitor vs Competitors

Campaign Monitor vs Mailchimp

Mailchimp offers broader features and free tier. Campaign Monitor focuses on email excellence and design. Mailchimp for all-in-one; Campaign Monitor for email-focused quality.

Campaign Monitor vs Klaviyo

Klaviyo dominates e-commerce email with deep integrations. Campaign Monitor serves broader use cases with stronger design focus. Klaviyo for e-commerce; Campaign Monitor for brand-focused email.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Campaign Monitor good for beginners?

Yes, Campaign Monitor is excellent for beginners thanks to its intuitive drag-and-drop interface and professionally designed templates. New users can create beautiful emails within minutes of signing up without any technical or design experience.

Does Campaign Monitor offer a free plan?

Campaign Monitor offers a limited free plan that allows you to explore the platform and send to a small number of contacts. For serious email marketing, you'll need a paid plan starting at $11/month.

Can I import my email list from another provider?

Absolutely. Campaign Monitor supports CSV imports and offers direct migration tools for popular platforms. The system automatically maps common fields and helps you clean your list during import.

Is Campaign Monitor GDPR compliant?

Yes, Campaign Monitor provides GDPR-compliant features including consent tracking, unsubscribe management, and data export capabilities. The platform helps users maintain compliance with international privacy regulations.

What integrations does Campaign Monitor support?

Campaign Monitor integrates with over 250 platforms including Shopify, WooCommerce, WordPress, Salesforce, HubSpot, Zapier, and many more. API access allows custom integrations for specific business needs.

How does Campaign Monitor compare to other email platforms?

Campaign Monitor excels in design quality and brand consistency but may lack some advanced features found in all-in-one marketing platforms. It's ideal for businesses prioritizing beautiful, on-brand emails over broader marketing automation needs.

Final Verdict

Campaign Monitor excels at beautiful, brand-consistent email marketing. For organizations where email design quality matters, the platform delivers excellent templates and tools. The template locking feature is particularly valuable for agencies and enterprises maintaining brand standards across teams. While pricing sits higher than some alternatives, businesses that prioritize email design quality and deliverability find Campaign Monitor's premium positioning justified by results.

Rating: 4.3/5