Planning Center Churches: Is It Time to Swap Mailchimp for Clearstream?

Well, maybe not. Here’s why.  

The History: How did we get here?

 Let’s take a second to remind ourselves of how we got here. When Planning Center People came onto the scene, there was only one standout Email Service Provider (ESP)—Mailchimp. At the time, Mailchimp was simple to use, cost-effective, and the right fit for many small businesses, churches, and non-profits. For most, it was a breath of fresh air from the alternatives on the market. It became baked in as the de facto choice, and currently still is, the easiest way to send emails. It’s even required by Planning Center if you want to send to a list of five hundred or more. Partner that with additional tools like landing pages, email journeys, etc., you have a powerful tool. However, as we know with many businesses, in the attempt to extract more value from higher paying customers, Mailchimp raised prices and added ‘Enterprise’ features, adding complexity and slowly making the tool harder for those of us who are not full-time marketers. Queue the entrance of Clearstream.

Over the last ten years, Clearstream has become the preferred choice for churches looking to communicate via text message. Year after year, Clearstream has built out more and more marketing automation features and tools, allowing churches and non-profits to message at scale with minimal effort. Simplicity and an intense focus on building church-centered tools are at the core of what Clearstream looks to provide. At the end of 2023, they released a massive update allowing churches and non-profits to leverage omnichannel marketing (a marketing term for delivering a seamless experience between email, text, in-person, etc.) via email and text messaging.

Navigating the Email Marketing Landscape

So, you may be thinking to yourself. Why not just go all in on Clearstream? We could save money, become more efficient, and keep all communication in one tool. These are all great things to consider, especially with Mailchimp's recent price increases; many are eyeing alternatives like Clearstream Email. If you're contemplating this switch, you're not alone. Let's explore the practicalities and potential trade-offs to see if Clearstream could be your next email marketing platform.

Mailchimp vs. Clearstream: A Comparative Overview 

User Experience: Simplicity vs. Design Flexibility

Clearstream boasts a straightforward email builder. This builder is much easier to use by most standards. It removes the overhead of content blocks, complex styling choices, and advanced customization. It relies on a simple WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) email template interface. And for the most part, this is more than what most churches will ever need. It allows people of all technical competencies to build out most of the emails your church or non-profit will send.

However, if your campaigns rely heavily on intricate designs, this simplicity might come with limitations. Larger organizations with creative teams looking to go all in on creating a brand identity may need more advanced features. This will require designers to build elements in other platforms like Canva or Photoshop to get the aesthetic they imagine. For most, Clearstream is all that you will need.

Integration and Automation: The Technical Side

Mailchimp is the only product of the two that allows you to create an automated email. So, if you want a tool to help you drip content to your people, you only have one option.

FYI, you are missing out if your church is not leveraging an email journey for things like first-time guest follow-up. Please feel free to contact us if you'd like inspiration on how to digitally disciple your congregants or need help getting started with an email drip campaign.

Clearstream will likely add this feature in the future, but the option does not exist right now. 

The Cost Factor: Free vs. Paid Services

Understandably, the appeal of Clearstream's free service is strong, especially when faced with rising costs from Mailchimp. However, it's essential to consider if you can really escape the costs. Mailchimp is still the incumbent when it comes to Planning Center. It’s highly integrated into the Planning Center and allows for automatic syncing via lists. Clearstream’s integrations are almost as simple, but you need to set it up from the Clearstream side versus just pushing a list from Planning Center into Mailchimp. This may or may not be something that matters, but it does make it feel less integrated. However, it’s hard to beat free if you are already a subscriber—a huge win for Clearstream.

Switching Costs

It’s likely that many of you already have templates set up in Mailchimp that you would need to recreate in Clearstream. In addition, time will be required to understand how to leverage all the features in the new Clearstream email tool. All these things should be considered when considering the cost of conversion. Finding ways to reduce the cost of Mailchimp should be heavily weighed. Think about how much more your church could be doing if you could save hundreds or thousands each year by changing your email provider.

Strategic Moves: Optimizing Your Email List

Before leaping into a new platform, consider refining your current Mailchimp strategy. Implementing a 'sunset policy' to archive inactive subscribers can significantly reduce costs while maintaining a focused, engaged audience. We recommend looking at archiving people who have not opened an email in the last six months. This is a good baseline. Before you go and bulk archive this segment, we recommend a three-email campaign to reengage them. That way, you ensure you are not archiving people genuinely interested in what is happening in your church.

Testing the Waters: A Cautious Approach

Rather than a complete migration, why not test a segment of your email marketing on Clearstream? This approach allows you to gauge effectiveness without fully committing. Send a few emails using this new platform and see how you like it if you have any issues creating the standard emails you send. If all is well, then consider going all in. My church has a ton of automated emails. So, Clearstream is a non-starter for us, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be great for your church. Assess your needs and how much you could save if you switched. For some of you, the cost savings alone will be worth the switching cost.

Conclusion: Your Next Steps in Email Marketing

Deciding whether to switch to Clearstream from Mailchimp might be more complicated than first imagined. It requires balancing cost, design needs, integration capabilities, and your unique marketing strategy. If you decide to try Clearstream, share your experiences. Your insights could be invaluable to many in the same boat, seeking the best path in their email marketing journey.

Have you used Clearstream Email? Share your experiences in the comments below and help others make an informed decision!