MailOptin

What it is

MailOptin is a WordPress plugin that combines lead capture forms with email automation and newsletters. The home page sums it up: "Convert website visitors into subscribers and WordPress users, send one-off newsletters, and create automated, event-triggered follow-up emails. All inside WordPress." It runs on your own WordPress site, so forms, campaigns and settings live in the WordPress dashboard rather than in a separate web app. MailOptin is a trademark of Proper Fraction LLC, which also lists ProfilePress, FuseWP and FeedbackWP among its brands.

The plugin has two halves. The lead generation side builds optin forms and decides when and where they appear. The email side sends new post notifications, scheduled digests, one-off newsletters and autoresponder emails, delivered either to your WordPress users or to the list you keep on an email marketing service you already use.

Lead generation and form displays

MailOptin offers six display formats for optin forms. Lightbox popups "appear over the existing webpage to grab people's attention and display targeted messages designed to get people to take action, whether to subscribe or buy." Notification bars attach to the top or bottom of a page and stay visible while visitors scroll; the site calls them "a great alternative to lightbox popups as they never interrupt the viewing experience." Slide-in boxes slide into view based on behavior and triggers such as page scroll.

A dedicated widget places an optin form in any widget-ready area, such as a sidebar or footer. Before, middle and after post placements put a form, banner or message around or inside post and page content, aimed at the most engaged readers. Embedded or inline optins can go anywhere on the site, and the page says that includes "posts, pages, and even your theme template files." Each display format has a demo on the site.

Targeting decides who sees which form. The site lists "AdBlock and referral detection, page-level targeting, new vs. returning visitors, time on site, page views, and even pre-set scroll triggers." Exit intent technology shows a targeted optin "at the exact moment they're about to leave your site," which the site says lowers bounce rate and lifts conversions. The footer also names a click launch trigger, call to action features and user registration, so a form can register WordPress users as well as collect email addresses.

Email automation and newsletters

New Post Notifications automatically inform subscribers or WordPress site users every time you publish. The site lists support for posts and custom post types, restriction by categories, tags and custom taxonomies, segmenting your list for targeted campaigns, sending to all users or specific user roles, and sending through Mailchimp and other email marketing software. It also says you can email customers in WooCommerce, LearnDash, MemberPress, EDD, GiveWP and more.

Post Email Digest campaigns can be scheduled "daily, weekly, or even monthly" to keep interested visitors coming back. They share the same category, tag and taxonomy restrictions, can go to WordPress users or your email list, and come with "several pre-designed templates."

Email Newsletters send one-off updates "to registered users or subscribers on your email marketing service such as Mailchimp, AWeber, MailerLite, Constant Contact, Klaviyo, ActiveCampaign, etc." The site promises you can "Craft emails as easily as writing a blog post" and "Send without leaving your WordPress dashboard." For agencies there is a useful detail: MailOptin lets you "Give clients the ability to send emails from WordPress without giving access to your ESP account." Newsletters can also go to users of WooCommerce, LearnDash, MemberPress, Paid Memberships Pro, Easy Digital Downloads, GiveWP, Restrict Content Pro and Tutor LMS.

The autoresponder handles emails based on where people are in the customer journey. The site's suggested starting point is "sending welcome emails to all new subscribers."

Analytics, testing and performance

Built-in analytics show "how well your optin forms convert" so you can improve weak forms. An A/B testing tool helps you "keep what resonates with people and change what isn't helping your business grow." On performance, the site says MailOptin "is insanely fast and highly optimized to get you as many leads as possible" and "doesn't load many CSS, JavaScript, or image files. So your site's performance is never sacrificed."

Integrations

MailOptin says it "integrates with popular email marketing software, CRMs, analytics & WordPress solutions." The integrations section names Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, HubSpot, Infusionsoft by Keap, AWeber, Campaign Monitor, Salesforce, Constant Contact, Brevo, WooCommerce, Zoho CRM, MailerLite, Klaviyo, User Registration, WPForms and Gravity Forms, with a link to view all integrations.

This shapes how sending works. For your email list, MailOptin sends through the email marketing service you connect, which is why notifications and digests list "Send via Mailchimp & other email marketing software" and "Works with Mailchimp, AWeber and more." The plugin is the control panel inside WordPress; your chosen service holds the list and delivers campaigns to it.

Pricing, support and resources

The home page links to a pricing page but does not print plan prices itself. A pop-up on the site offers "Get MailOptin for Free" and says it is "Available for a limited time." The account area links to documentation, a live demo, a changelog, a support request form, a Facebook community, an affiliate program and a partners page, and the footer links to a GDPR page.

Customer testimonials on the home page speak to setup and support. Dave Warfel, founder of WP Smackdown, says MailOptin works with WordPress "through extensive use of the Customizer" and that "The setup takes only a few minutes." Loïc Renevier of Planete Altruiste writes "Support is reliable and available." Ahmad Awais, a WordPress core contributor, calls Collins, "the founder of MailOptin," "a dependable and good developer."

Who it suits and who it does not

MailOptin suits WordPress site owners who want lead capture and routine email in the place they already work: bloggers who want every new post mailed to subscribers, publishers who want a weekly digest, and stores, membership sites and course creators on WooCommerce, MemberPress, LearnDash or Tutor LMS who want to email those customers from WordPress. Agencies building sites for clients get a way to let clients send newsletters from WordPress without handing over the agency's ESP login.

It is a WordPress tool first. A site on another CMS cannot use it, and for your subscriber list it relies on a connected email marketing service to store contacts and deliver mail, so you still need an account with one of the services it integrates with. Teams that want a single standalone platform holding their list, editor and delivery in one hosted product are looking for something different.