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I’ll admit when I switched to ConvertKit I was confused. Like, “I signed up, now what?” There were all these new features and terms that I wasn’t familiar with, so instead of leaving you in the dark, I thought I would break it down for you! So here is my beginner’s guide to ConvertKit.
ConvertKit is an email service provider built specifically for bloggers. It helps you keep track of the activities and statistics on your site, it follows through with all your email marketing and it helps you grow your email list.
No matter which plan you choose, you get the same amazing features. The amount you pay is based on the number of subscribers you have and unlike many other email service providers, you aren’t charged for the same subscriber twice.
Table of Contents
Home Screen
Now, let’s do a walk through on each of the features that ConvertKit offers and how you can take advantage of them. After you have signed up and logged in, you will be taken to your homepage where the first thing you see is sort of like a graph under subscribers.
This tells you how many subscribers you’ve gotten within a specific day, how many total in a week, in a month and since you’ve started using ConvertKit.
Each bar on the graph has different colors. If you hover over each, you will be able to see how many subscribers opted into that content upgrade or lead magnet that day. Off the bat, this is already so helpful! When I was on MailChimp it was so hard to track who was joining each list.
Forms
On the upper left corner of the homepage and below the subscribers section, you can make forms and see all the forms you have made. Forms can be embedded anywhere on your website and this is where someone visiting your website can type in their email to either subscribe to your newsletter, receive a content upgrade, get a coupon code, etc.
You can customize each form’s colors and styles to match your brand. You can also program it to do specific actions once that person hits that button.
Sequences
The next tab above is Sequences. This is where you can start making the email sequences for these forms and landing pages. You can program these sequences to send out emails all throughout a specific period of time starting from when a person signed up and subscribed.
These emails are automatically sent out and each is highly customizable. You can specify what date, what time and even leave out some subscribers you don’t want that email to be sent to.
Think of the sequences as every action has a reaction. If a person fills out a form, you can set it up so that will be a trigger for another sequence of emails to be sent that is related to that first form. A subscriber can also be tagged for another sequence of emails if they download a certain link or fill out another form. The options are endless!
Sequences are an amazing way to continually make contact with your reader without having to constantly be writing newsletters. This builds a rapport with your reader and allows them to get to know you and your blog without additional effort on your end.
Broadcasts
In addition to Sequences, there are Broadcasts. This is an email blast that you can choose to send to all your subscribers or to a specific list of people that you are targeting. Like sequences, you can schedule this to be sent out on a certain time and date as well. You can also specifically design these broadcasts’ colors, styles, and format.
Subscribers
After broadcasts is the subscriber’s tab. The subscribers tab is a rundown of your entire email list and their specific groups. These groups are defined by tags. Tagging certain subscribers can automatically triggers ConvertKit to send them a certain sequence of emails that they would most likely be interested in or can save them in a tag (group) of people you know are interested in a certain product or type of content.
When you make a sequence, you can specify which tags, meaning which people, will receive that series of emails. One subscriber can have more than one tag that is manually assigned by you or automatically assigned based on their activity.
Automations
The last tab in ConvertKit is Automations. Automations are certain rules that you apply to your email sequences. When an event or a trigger happens, like if someone subscribes, gets tagged, clicks on a link, etc, an action happens in return. The set up is really easy to understand and you are basically planning the cause and effect. Each automation is also customizable.
These automation features are seriously GOLD! This is what sold me on switching to ConvertKit. I knew that I could supply my email subscribers with much more targeted information if I took advantage of this.
My favorite automation is adding someone to a tag or sequence when the click on a link. That way in an email you can ask what they are interested in and based on which link they click you can automatically subscribe them to a relevant sequence of emails.
Another way to use the automation feature is when you are promoting your own products or affiliate products. You can add an automation so when someone clicks on the link to your product (or affiliate product) they are added to an “interested” list.
Because they clicked they expressed at least some level of interest in the product so you can send them through a follow-up sequence about that topic or a funnel for your product. So cool, right?!
Need To Get Your Hands On These Dreamy Features?
I feel you. The automation section had me drooling. Here’s how to get started!
- Click here to head to the ConvertKit homepage
- Click “Get Started”
- Choose your list size
- Enter your information to finish setting up your account
Adding Subscribers From MailChimp To ConvertKit
If you are on MailChimp and want to switch (like I was) here are the steps you need to follow to switch over. I thought it would be super hard, but it really isn’t too bad.
1. Import your MailChimp lists to a CSV file
a. Log in to MailChimp and click on the “Lists” tab
b. Click on the list you want to export
c. Click “Export List
2. Go to the Subscribers tab in ConvertKit and click “Import Subscribers”
3. Select what tag or form your want the new subscribers to be added to
4. Upload your CSV file and click “Import Subscribers” again.
Your subscribers are now added to your ConvertKit account!
Don’t forget to switch out your MailChimp opt-in forms for your new ConvertKit ones!
Just grab the code from each of your ConvertKit forms and replace that code where your MailChimp code used to be. Easy-peasy!
ConvertKit makes it so easy for you to do email marketing on your own. It an essential tool for bloggers. It is literally a tool that pays for itself because it is so much more effective than the other email marketing services out there.
Which ConvertKit feature are you going to try first?
