- Mailchimp’s subtle updates are stacking up to challenge what we expect from SMB software
- Integrations with TikTok, Meta, and Google are finally making Mailchimp marketing feel connected
- Metrics Visualizer offers 40+ variables, but feels like overdue functionality rather than innovation
Mailchimp’s continued transformation from a straightforward email marketing service into a broader business platform seems less like a pivot and more like a quiet evolution.
Over the past year, the company has introduced more than 2,000 updates, most of them small but collectively significant.
These updates aim to simplify customer engagement and automate key marketing workflows, quietly nudging Mailchimp toward becoming a top CRM offering – at least in ambition, if not yet in capability.
Mailchimp expands beyond email marketing
At its recent FWD: London 2025 event, Mailchimp announced a wave of new features aimed at helping small and mid-sized businesses get more from their customer data.
These include direct lead integrations with platforms like Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn, Google, and Snapchat.
Marketers can now bring in social campaign leads more efficiently and feed them into Mailchimp’s upgraded automation flows for hyper-personalized messaging.
This, paired with over 100 new pop-up templates, seems like a step toward making Mailchimp feel less like a glorified newsletter tool and more like a proper pipeline manager.
“Mailchimp is evolving into the essential bridge between advertising and customer relationships for businesses, seamlessly connecting ad campaigns to powerful marketing automation that nurtures leads and drives sales,” said Ken Chestnut, Director of Global Partner Ecosystem, Intuit.
“We’re closing the loop between advertising, marketing automation, and powerful customer insights, giving businesses the tools to engage at the right time and place of the customer journey, from attracting new leads and nurturing relationships to driving conversions and building lasting loyalty.”
Still, it’s hard to ignore that these features look like a patchwork of add-ons rather than a coherent CRM suite, at least for now.
Freya Doggett from Serpentine Galleries acknowledged the improvements but also hinted at the ongoing complexity many users still face.
“It feels like we’re not having to do as much digging or joining the dots as much, which is really nice…Mailchimp really simplifies things that are complicated by nature.” It’s a compliment, but a cautious one.
The new Metrics Visualizer introduces over 40 reporting variables across email and SMS channels.
Marketers can now assemble custom reports with much greater clarity, a welcome step for anyone still juggling data from multiple platforms.
If Mailchimp hopes to contend with true CRM systems or even compete with the best email marketing service options out there, this kind of cross-channel insight will be essential.
What’s still ahead might be more telling than what’s here now. Mailchimp is pushing toward becoming an all-in-one growth platform, but it’s not quite the best website builder, nor a fully mature CRM system, just yet.
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