Beehiiv is an all-in-one inbound marketing platform designed for small and midsize businesses. The software aims to provide an intuitive, easy-to-use solution to streamline marketing operations.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explain exactly what Beehiiv is, its key features and capabilities, ideal use cases, and how it compares to competitor platforms on the market. Read on for a complete introduction to Beehiiv and its fit in the marketing automation landscape.
Table of Contents
What is Beehiiv? A Summary
Beehiiv is a cloud-based marketing automation tool that combines email marketing, landing pages, CRM, and other capabilities into one solution tailored for SMBs.
Here are the core strengths and features of Beehiiv:
- Email Marketing– Full email creation and automation tools. Send campaigns, create workflows and subscriber lists.
- Landing Pages– Build conversion-optimized pages with the drag and drop editor. Add forms, media, designs, and more.
- Website Popups– Create targeted overlays and banners to boost engagement.
- Forms– Easily build forms to capture leads from landing pages and your website.
- Marketing CRM– Built-in CRM to manage contacts and view customer timelines.
- Drag and Drop Editor– The intuitive editor makes it fast and easy to create emails, pages, forms, popups and more.
- Automations– Set up trigger-based customer journeys and email workflows.
- Analytics– Track email, form, landing page and popup performance.
Beehiiv consolidates these tools into a single, self-serve platform designed for those without technical expertise. It aims to help small marketing teams drive more leads and sales through targeted campaigns with minimal complexity.
Next, let’s explore Beehiiv’s capabilities and features in more detail.
Beehiiv Features and Tools
Beehiiv provides a wide range of features to support complete inbound marketing campaigns:
Email Marketing
Robust email marketing capabilities are at the core of Beehiiv:
- Drag and drop email editor– The intuitive visual editor makes email design and creation easy.
- Professionally designed templates– Start with beautifully pre-made email layouts and themes.
- Email automation– Set up multi-step email workflows based on triggers and schedules.
- List segmentation– Divide contacts into groups to send targeted messages.
- Email analytics– See all key metrics like opens, clicks, unsubscribes, engagement.
- Signup forms– Capture leads directly into your mailing list with integrated forms.
- Spam testing– Check inbox placement and spam potential before sending.
With these email tools, you can design, test and optimize email campaigns to maximize results.
Landing Pages
Creating high-converting landing pages is easy with Beehiiv:
- Templates– Professionally designed page templates for quick creation.
- Drag and drop editor– Easily customize templates or build new pages from scratch.
- Lead capture forms– Integrate contact forms seamlessly into pages.
- Media embedding– Embed images, videos and other media.
- Mobile optimization– Pages are automatically mobile responsive.
- Page analytics– See visitor numbers, conversions, drops offs and more.
These landing page tools make it fast and easy to convert website visitors into leads and customers.
Website Popups
Display targeted popups and overlays to boost engagement:
- Scroll-based popups
- Click-triggered popups
- Exit-intent popups
- Timed popups
- Countdown timers
- Mobile responsive
Create popups with just a few clicks and no coding needed.
Forms
Collect customer data using Beehiiv’s forms:
- Form builder with common fields
- Custom form styling
- Conditional logic for field branching
- Integrated into landing pages
- Lead notifications
- Spam filtering
Easily customize forms to capture any information you need from site visitors.
CRM and Contact Management
Beehiiv provides integrated CRM and customer management:
- Contact database to store leads
- Lead and company profiles
- Activity timeline tracking
- Segments and tags for organization
- Tasks and lead assignment
- Notifications and alerts
The built-in CRM provides the basics to manage customers and prospects from campaigns through conversion.
Analytics and Reporting
Understand your marketing performance through Beehiiv’s reporting:
- Email analytics including opens, clicks and unsubscribes
- Landing page visitor analytics
- Conversion tracking for forms and checkouts
- CRM analytics for contacts and accounts
- Exportable reports
With comprehensive analytics, you can identify high-performing campaigns and continuously optimize performance.
Other Features
Additional Beehiiv capabilities:
- Drag and drop content builder for blogs and articles
- Basic social media publishing
- Surveys and polls
- Multi-language support
- Native integrations with payment platforms like Stripe
- SOAP API for developers
These features round out Beehiiv’s tools for executing complete inbound strategies.
Ideal Use Cases for Beehiiv
Based on its features and capabilities, Beehiiv is designed for the following types of users and uses:
Small Marketing Teams
Beehiiv is perfect for small marketing teams that need to manage campaigns and automations without large technical resources. Its intuitive interface makes it easy to pick up without extensive training. Business owners can also use Beehiiv without relying on a dedicated marketer.
Beginner Marketers
For those new to marketing automation and inbound strategies, Beehiiv provides an easy ramp. Its drag and drop editor and pre-made templates allow beginners to quickly launch campaigns. More advanced platforms often have a steep learning curve.
Service Businesses
Many service businesses like consultants, agencies and freelancers can benefit from Beehiiv. The platform provides all the tools needed to capture leads, nurture prospects, build authority and convert clients.
B2B & B2C Companies
Beehiiv works well for both B2B and B2C companies given its versatility. B2C companies can leverage its email and landing page creation, while B2B companies benefit from its CRM and lead nurturing capabilities.
Mid-Market Businesses
Beehiiv is designed for SMBs and mid-market companies. Large enterprises may require more complex automation and customization. But Beehiiv provides the right scope for businesses generating up to tens of thousands of leads.
Minimal Marketing Budgets
With accessible pricing starting at just $49/month, Beehiiv accommodates businesses without huge marketing budgets. You get an integrated platform without overspending on excess capabilities.
For any small or mid-sized business looking to maximize marketing ROI through targeted campaigns and automation, Beehiiv is an excellent choice worth exploring.
Beehiiv Alternatives and Competitors
While Beehiiv occupies a strong mid-market position for SMB marketing automation, it does face competition from platforms with similar features and target markets.
Below we’ll compare Beehiiv to some of its top competitors to help you evaluate alternatives:
Beehiiv vs ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is likely Beehiiv’s closest competitor offering a similar all-in-one value proposition. Some key differences:
- ActiveCampaign offers more advanced automation with custom logic and filters. Beehiiv workflows are simpler.
- ActiveCampaign has superior email deliverability and list management capabilities.
- Beehiiv provides an easier onboarding experience and more intuitive interface.
- ActiveCampaign integrates with Salesforce, Zendesk and other CRMs. Beehiiv lacks built-in integrations.
- Beehiiv has greater landing page design flexibility. ActiveCampaign is more template-driven.
- ActiveCampaign is better suited for larger lists with more segmentation options.
Overall ActiveCampaign caters to more advanced users but Beehiiv is easier for beginners to pick up.
Beehiiv vs Keap (Infusionsoft)
Like Beehiiv, Keap consolidates sales and marketing into one platform. Key contrasts:
- Keap offers superior email marketing features including advanced segmentation and automation.
- Keap has stronger ecommerce abilities with its Order Forms and shopping cart.
- Beehiiv provides an easier onboarding experience with its intuitive drag and drop editor. Keap has a steeper learning curve.
- Keap integrates with Stripe, PayPal and others for flexible payments. Beehiiv only supports Stripe natively.
- Keap offers superior CRM, sales and reporting functionality compared to Beehiiv.
For advanced sales-focused small businesses, Keap comes out ahead. But Beehiiv wins on simplicity and usability.
Beehiiv vs Ontraport
Ontraport is another integrated platform competing with Beehiiv. Here are some of the key contrasts:
- Ontraport offers a wider range of marketing capabilities like SMS, voice, landing pages and more. Beehiiv has a narrower feature set.
- Beehiiv provides an easier drag and drop editor compared to Ontraport’s more complex interface.
- Ontraport has stronger segmentation, tagging, and email automation power.
- Ontraport integrates with a wider range of CRMs, webinar tools, accounting systems and other software.
- Beehiiv pricing is simpler while Ontraport has multiple add-ons and upsells.
For pure marketing automation power, Ontraport comes out ahead. But Beehiiv remains the easier platform to use.
Beehiiv vs HubSpot
HubSpot is the 800-lb gorilla in the marketing automation space. How does Beehiiv compare?
- HubSpot offers far stronger analytics capabilities including multi-touch attribution. Beehiiv analytics are relatively basic.
- HubSpot provides free CRM software that Beehiiv lacks.
- Beehiiv has simpler pricing while HubSpot’s packages and add-ons can get quite costly.
- HubSpot supports much larger contacts databases into the millions. Beehiiv caps at 10,000 contacts.
- Beehiiv provides an easier onboarding compared to HubSpot’s steep learning curve.
- HubSpot integrates with a wider range of apps and plugins including Salesforce, Shopify and Slack.
For larger enterprises pursuing advanced inbound strategies, HubSpot is the better pick. But small businesses get more value from Beehiiv.
This summary of key competitors illustrates where Beehiiv excels and where alternatives may be better suited depending on your needs and focus.
Beehiiv occupies a strong mid-market positioning as a comprehensive automation solution tailored for SMBs and simple usability right out of the box.
Beehiiv Features Summary
To recap Beehiiv’s wide range of features and tools:
- Email marketing platform with automation
- Landing page and popup builder
- Forms creation
- Contact management CRM
- Marketing analytics and reporting
- Intuitive drag and drop editor
- Social media publishing
- Surveys and polls
- Blog and articles
- Stock media library
These capabilities make Beehiiv an effective all-in-one marketing platform for small to mid-sized businesses.
Getting Started With Beehiiv
Ready to give Beehiiv a try and experience its marketing automation capabilities? It’s easy to get started:
1. Sign up for a free 14-day trial
Beehiiv offers a completely free 14-day trial with all features unlocked. No credit card required.
2. Pick a pricing plan
Paid plans start at $49/month for up to 500 subscribers. Volume discounts available for more contacts.
3. Start building your first campaign
Use the email designer to create an onboarding email workflow. Then make a matching landing page.
4. Add forms and popups
Enhance landing pages with lead capture forms. Display popups to promote offers.
5. Track performance
Use analytics to see email open rates, landing page conversions, form entries and more.
6. Expand automations
Build drip campaigns and set up triggers to nurture subscribers over time automatically.
Following these steps allows you to quickly start leveraging Beehiiv’s tools with no commitments. See first-hand how it can boost your marketing performance.
Now that you understand Beehiiv’s capabilities and how to get started, let’s answer some common questions about the platform.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Beehiiv offer a free trial or free plan?
Yes, Beehiiv offers a completely free 14-day trial to test the platform. No credit card required. They do not have an ongoing free plan, but the free trial allows you to evaluate the software.
What types of businesses should use Beehiiv?
Beehiiv is designed for small and mid-sized businesses across any industry. Common users include marketing agencies, consultants, services businesses, ecommerce brands, and SaaS companies. It scales from solo entrepreneurs up to companies with around 50 employees typically.
What email marketing features does Beehiiv offer?
Beehiiv provides complete email marketing capabilities including drag and drop creation, automation workflows, A/B testing, analytics, spam testing, lead capture integrations, sender reputation monitoring, and more. Any business can execute professional email campaigns through Beehiiv.
Does Beehiiv offer landing page templates?
Yes, Beehiiv comes equipped with hundreds of professionally designed landing page templates spanning industries and marketing objectives. Users can customize templates or create new landing pages from scratch using the intuitive drag and drop builder.
How does Beehiiv customer support compare to competitors?
Beehiiv offers complete email, live chat, and phone support. According to customer Beehiiv reviews, their customer service is typically very responsive and helpful compared to some competitors. Smaller companies tend to provide more dedicated support.
Is Beehiiv GDPR compliant?
Yes, Beehiiv is GDPR compliant allowing their platform to be used internationally. They provide data management tools and encryption to support GDPR requirements.
Does Beehiiv integrate with Salesforce or HubSpot?
Unfortunately Beehiiv does not offer any native integrations with platforms like Salesforce, HubSpot, or Marketo. This is one area where it lags behind some of its top competitors. The platform does offer developer APIs for some integration.
Conclusion
Beehiiv provides an intuitive all-in-one inbound marketing platform tailored for small and midsize businesses. With its drag and drop editor, comprehensive tools, and easy learning curve, Beehiiv enables any team to execute complete email, landing page, CRM and marketing automation campaigns.
While it lacks some of the enterprise sophistication of higher-end competitors, Beehiiv excels at providing SMBs with an affordable and straightforward way to capture leads, nurture contacts and boost marketing ROI.
If you need advanced customization or integrations, platforms like HubSpot or Marketo may be better suited. But for most small businesses seeking an integrated solution to get started with inbound marketing, Beehiiv deserves strong consideration.
Their free 14-day trial makes it easy and risk-free to experience Beehiiv’s capabilities first-hand. Visit their website today to start building out powerful marketing campaigns and see results.
