As the holidays approach, small businesses are preparing for the busiest time of the year. Recognizing this, Intuit has unveiled enhancements to its Mailchimp platform specifically designed to help retailers optimize their marketing strategies and drive revenue growth. A recent Mailchimp report found that 43% of shoppers engage in holiday shopping as early as October. These tools come at a critical time.
Among the standout features of this update is improved integration with Shopify, which now boasts deeper behavioral insights. Retailers can leverage new triggers, such as product views and payment history, to create customized marketing campaigns that resonate with potential customers. These improvements aim to maximize sales potential by allowing businesses to personalize offers at scale through features such as single-use discount codes.
Diana Williams, Vice President of Product Management at Intuit Mailchimp, highlights the importance of these developments. “These improvements allow companies to move faster, personalize more accurately, and measure the real business impact of every omnichannel campaign.” For many small business owners, having the ability to deliver personalized content can make a significant difference in conversion rates, especially during times when consumer spending is surging.
This update also introduces global SMS functionality, allowing marketers to reach customers in multiple countries while maintaining personalized communications. QuickBooks research shows that 65% of consumers plan to shop using their phones this holiday season, representing a significant opportunity for retailers to meet customers on their preferred platforms.
In addition to SMS, Mailchimp’s new Unified Performance Dashboard unifies data across email and SMS campaigns, allowing small businesses to spot trends and seamlessly track the effectiveness of their marketing efforts. “Highly strategic, Shopify-specific campaigns built on Mailchimp help us confidently convert every customer we legitimately can,” says Connor Swegle, co-founder and CMO of Priority Bicycles. The ability to track revenue growth associated with specific campaigns allows small businesses to iterate on strategies quickly.
Small businesses may also find value in the advanced analytics introduced by Mailchimp, which helps retailers measure campaign ROI in real time. For example, improved audience analytics can help companies better track the performance of customer segments, while conversion insights provide detailed insight into user behavior that can drive conversions.
The holiday-ready email templates and automated journeys included in the update drive faster brand campaign creation, which is essential for standing out in the crowd of festive shopping. Key shopping days like Black Friday and Christmas see up to 74% of propensity to spend, so having a comprehensive and engaging marketing strategy can have a huge impact on your small business’s bottom line.
But while these improvements present exciting opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses, there are also practical considerations. Integrating advanced analytics with SMS can require a learning curve for those unfamiliar with these technologies. Effectively managing multiple audience segments also requires a thoughtful approach to ensure messages are personalized rather than overwhelming.
Additionally, new features come with associated costs, especially for SMS campaigns that are offered as add-ons to paid plans. Small business owners need to weigh these costs against the potential revenue benefits that can be achieved through more effective marketing.
Intuit’s update to Mailchimp represents a joint effort to give small retailers powerful tools to maximize their marketing effectiveness during the holiday season. “When marketers can quickly and accurately turn data into action, they can discover new ways to serve existing customers and acquire new ones,” Williams explains succinctly.
For small business owners this holiday shopping season, these enhanced Mailchimp features can lead to better customer engagement, increased sales, and improved overall marketing performance. For a full look at these recent improvements, visit the original announcement on the Intuit platform. here.
