After three years of using Flodesk, it’s about time I shared an honest review of my experience. Clearly, my experience has been positive enough for me to stick with it for so long! But what makes it so compelling, and is it the right choice for everyone? Keep reading to find out.
What is Flodesk?
Flodesk is an email marketing platform that empowers businesses, entrepreneurs, and creatives to create visually stunning and engaging email campaigns. It offers a refreshingly user-friendly interface, a wide range of beautifully designed templates.
Flodesk is a relatively new platform that officially launched in November 2021. I personally jumped on board during their beta period in March 2020. I don’t remember exactly how I came across Flodesk. I just remember that I was suddenly seeing it everywhere and was intrigued enough to check it out, even though it meant paying $19/month* instead of the $0 I was paying for Mailchimp’s free plan.
What makes Flodesk stand out the most among its competitors is its emphasis on aesthetics and design. It provides a diverse collection of professionally designed templates that cater to various industries and brand styles. It’s hardly surprising, therefore, that many creative professionals like myself have flocked to Flodesk.
But Flodesk offers much more than beautiful templates. Without further ado, let’s review the pros and cons of Flodesk.
*Flodesk’s pricing doubled to $38/month after the beta period ended. Fortunately, I was grandfathered into their beta price point.
Flodesk Review: The Pros
Visually Stunning Templates
Flodesk truly understands the importance of aesthetics in email marketing. Their library of beautifully designed templates is a game-changer. No matter what industry you belong to or what your brand identity looks like, Flodesk offers a wide variety of visually appealing templates to choose from. From minimalistic designs to vibrant and bold layouts, there’s something to suit every style. These templates are not just eye-catching, but also customizable, allowing you to effortlessly create stunning emails that reflect your brand’s unique personality.
Intuitive Interface
One of the standout features of Flodesk is its incredibly intuitive interface. Unlike other email marketing platforms that can be overwhelming for beginners, Flodesk’s interface is clean, streamlined, and easy to navigate. Creating email campaigns is a breeze with their drag-and-drop editor, which allows you to customize your templates, add images, and arrange content effortlessly. Even if you’re new to email marketing, you’ll quickly find yourself creating professional and engaging emails with Flodesk.
Automation Made Easy
Flodesk takes the hassle out of setting up and managing email automation. With their user-friendly automation builder, you can create intricate workflows that respond to your subscribers’ actions. Whether it’s sending personalized welcome sequences or targeted follow-ups, Flodesk’s automation features are powerful and versatile. The ability to automate email sequences has saved me countless hours, allowing me to focus on other aspects of my business while maintaining effective communication with my subscribers.
For my business, I use automations to nurture my audience whenever they opt in to one of my free lead magnets, such as my popular brand clarity workbook or SEO masterclass. This is an amazing way to build trust and gradually transform a cold audience into warm leads.
Segmentation and Tagging
Understanding your audience and delivering tailored content is vital for successful email marketing. Flodesk excels in this area with its robust segmentation and tagging capabilities. You can easily create segments based on subscriber behavior, demographics, or custom fields. Additionally, Flodesk’s tagging feature allows you to categorize your subscribers further, enabling you to send highly targeted campaigns that resonate with specific groups within your audience. This level of personalization has significantly improved my email engagement rates.
For example, I discovered over the years that my audience consisted of a mix of small business owners or aspiring entrepreneurs and other brand and web designers. I started to segment my audience with Flodesk so that I could deliver more tailored content to these diverse groups. Segmentation has also come in handy when I started branching out from design into SEO services.
Exceptional Customer Support
Although I haven’t personally needed live support, I’ve heard that Flodesk’s customer support team is exceptional. Their response time is quick, and they genuinely go above and beyond to assist users. Whether it’s a technical issue or a query about a specific feature, their support team is knowledgeable and dedicated to resolving any concerns you may have.
Additionally, Flodesk provides a wealth of resources, including tutorials, webinars, and a comprehensive knowledge base, making it easy to learn and make the most of the platform. I’ve always been able to get my questions answered simply by browsing their available resources.
Affordable Pricing
Flodesk’s pricing model is refreshingly straightforward and affordable. Unlike some other email marketing platforms that charge based on the number of subscribers, Flodesk offers a fixed price of $38/month, allowing you to grow your email list without worrying about increasing costs. This transparency is a breath of fresh air and makes Flodesk an excellent choice for small businesses, entrepreneurs, and creatives on a budget.
FYI: When you sign up with my affiliate link, you’ll get 50% off your first year of Flodesk!
Flodesk Review: The Cons
At this point, you can probably tell that I’m a big fan of Flodesk and intend to continue using it for the foreseeable future. However, that doesn’t mean that Flodesk is flawless. In the next segment of this Flodesk review, we’ll discuss the primary cons that may cause you to think twice before jumping on board.
Limited Integrations
Flodesk’s integration options, while growing, are still relatively limited compared to some other email marketing platforms. While it does integrate with popular tools like Zapier and Shopify, it may not have direct integrations with some niche or industry-specific applications you might be using. However, Flodesk offers a workaround by providing HTML code that can be embedded on your website or landing pages.
Advanced Features
While Flodesk offers a solid set of features, it may lack some of the more advanced functionalities found in other email marketing platforms. For users who require complex automation workflows or advanced reporting and analytics, Flodesk’s feature set might be seen as relatively basic. However, it’s worth noting that Flodesk is continuously evolving and adding new features based on user feedback.
For example, Flodesk just recently released a new analytics dashboard that provides detailed insights into how your email campaigns and opt-in forms are performing. This is an extremely valuable feature and a good sign that the Flodesk team is actively listening to their customers and working on improvements.
Learning Curve for Extensive Customization
While Flodesk’s drag-and-drop editor is intuitive and beginner-friendly, users looking for extensive customization options might find it slightly limited. Customizing templates beyond the provided options might require some HTML or CSS knowledge. While this isn’t a major concern for most users, those with specific design preferences or complex branding requirements may find it less flexible.
Limited A/B Testing
Flodesk’s A/B testing capabilities are relatively limited compared to some other platforms. While you can split test subject lines, you don’t have the option to test different email content or sender details. This may be a drawback for businesses that heavily rely on A/B testing to optimize their email campaigns.
Conclusion: Is Flodesk Worth It?
Flodesk has revolutionized my email marketing experience, providing me with a seamless and visually stunning platform to connect with my audience. Its exceptional templates, user-friendly interface, automation capabilities, segmentation tools, and dedicated customer support make it a standout choice in the market.
Whether you’re a blogger, small business owner, or creative professional like myself, Flodesk empowers you to create stunning email campaigns that engage and captivate your subscribers. Give Flodesk a try, and you won’t be disappointed.
This post contains affiliate links. I only affiliate with services and products that I’ve personally used and genuinely recommend.
