What's the Best Newsletter Platform for Financial Advisors?
Email newsletters remain one of the highest ROI marketing tools available to financial advisors. While social media algorithms change constantly, your email list is one of the few marketing assets you truly own.
The challenge isn't deciding whether to send a newsletter.
It's deciding which platform to use.
Three of the most common options advisors consider today are:
Mailchimp
Constant Contact
Levitate
Each has strengths. Each has drawbacks. The best choice depends on your firm's size, marketing strategy, compliance requirements, and growth goals.
Let's compare them.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp has evolved from a simple newsletter platform into a full marketing automation system. It includes email campaigns, customer journeys, landing pages, audience segmentation, analytics, and AI-powered content tools.
Pros
Excellent automation
Mailchimp offers sophisticated automation workflows.
Examples include:
Welcome email sequences
Educational drip campaigns
Birthday emails
Prospect nurturing
Client onboarding sequences
For advisors trying to automate portions of their marketing, this is a significant advantage.
Strong analytics
Mailchimp provides detailed reporting, including:
Open rates
Click rates
Geographic engagement
Audience segmentation
Comparative campaign reporting
If your firm enjoys measuring marketing performance, Mailchimp provides more data than most competitors.
Large integration library
Mailchimp integrates with hundreds of CRM systems, websites, scheduling tools, and marketing platforms.
Lower entry cost
Smaller firms often appreciate Mailchimp's lower starting price and free tier for very small lists.
Cons
Learning curve
As Mailchimp has expanded, it has become more complex.
Many advisors use only a small fraction of its capabilities.
Customer support
Support varies depending on your subscription level. Phone support is generally reserved for higher-tier plans, which can frustrate smaller firms needing immediate assistance.
Compliance still requires planning
Mailchimp is an email platform, not a financial services compliance solution. Advisors still need appropriate archiving, review, and record-retention processes to satisfy SEC or FINRA requirements.
Constant Contact
Constant Contact has been serving small businesses for decades and remains one of the easiest newsletter platforms to learn.
Its biggest strength is simplicity.
Pros
Extremely user friendly
Most advisors can create a professional newsletter within minutes.
The drag-and-drop editor requires little technical knowledge.
Excellent customer support
Constant Contact has long been recognized for responsive customer service, particularly for users who prefer speaking with a live representative.
Easy list management
Segmenting contacts by interests, engagement, or demographics is straightforward.
Good for firms that send monthly newsletters
If your marketing primarily consists of one or two newsletters each month, Constant Contact provides everything many advisory firms need without overwhelming complexity.
Cons
Limited automation
Compared to Mailchimp, automation capabilities are less sophisticated.
If your long-term strategy involves automated prospect nurturing, Mailchimp offers considerably more flexibility.
Reporting isn't as advanced
Most firms receive sufficient reporting, but marketing-focused RIAs may find themselves wanting more detailed analytics.
Pricing increases with larger databases
As subscriber counts grow, pricing can become less competitive.
Levitate
Levitate approaches advisor communication differently.
Instead of focusing primarily on mass email campaigns, it emphasizes relationship marketing.
It combines:
Email
Personal email reminders
Text messaging
Review generation
Social media scheduling
Client follow-up reminders
Handwritten card campaigns
Relationship intelligence
Many wealth management firms appreciate that broader approach.
Pros
Built specifically around relationships
Financial advisors rarely win clients through one newsletter.
They win through relationships.
Levitate helps advisors stay in touch consistently through multiple communication channels rather than relying solely on email blasts.
Personal outreach reminders
One of Levitate's most unique features is reminding advisors when clients haven't been contacted recently.
This encourages authentic one-to-one communication instead of only sending mass newsletters.
Additional communication channels
Besides newsletters, advisors can manage:
Text messages
Holiday greetings
Birthday reminders
Google review requests
Social content
This reduces the need for multiple software subscriptions.
Industry adoption
Levitate has gained significant traction among RIAs, insurance agencies, accounting firms, and professional service businesses that prioritize client relationships over high-volume digital marketing.
Cons
Higher price
Levitate generally costs substantially more than Mailchimp or Constant Contact.
For solo advisors, the investment may be difficult to justify unless they're using many of its additional relationship tools.
Less marketing automation
If you're building sophisticated marketing funnels with multiple branching automations, Mailchimp generally provides greater flexibility.
Which Platform Is Best for Financial Advisors?
The answer depends on your firm's goals.
Choose Mailchimp if:
You enjoy marketing technology.
You want advanced automation.
You create lead magnets and nurture campaigns.
You analyze campaign performance regularly.
Your marketing strategy extends beyond newsletters.
Choose Constant Contact if:
You simply want to send attractive newsletters.
Your team prefers simplicity.
You value strong customer support.
You don't need complex automation.
Choose Levitate if:
Relationship marketing drives your growth.
Referrals are your primary business development strategy.
You want reminders to stay connected with clients.
You prefer one platform for email, texting, reviews, and ongoing communication.
You're willing to invest more for an advisor-focused relationship platform.
Don't Forget Compliance
Regardless of which platform you choose, registered investment advisors should ensure their email marketing complies with applicable SEC or FINRA recordkeeping requirements. Many firms use separate email archiving or compliance solutions alongside their marketing platform to satisfy those obligations. The marketing software alone is typically not sufficient.
Our Recommendation
If we were advising most RIAs in 2026, we'd generally recommend:
Mailchimp for firms building a sophisticated marketing engine with automation and lead generation.
Constant Contact for advisors who want an easy-to-use newsletter with beautiful design abilities platform without unnecessary complexity.
Levitate for firms that view relationship marketing and client retention as their primary growth strategy rather than relying heavily on automated digital marketing.
Ultimately, the platform matters less than consistency. The firms that see the strongest results are the ones that communicate regularly with valuable, educational content instead of only reaching out when markets become volatile or when they're asking for referrals.
At Select Advisors Institute (SAI), we've found that the most successful advisory firms don't choose software first. They develop a communication strategy, referral process, and content calendar first, then select the technology that best supports those objectives. The right platform should make it easier to execute your marketing strategy, not become the strategy itself.
Looking to enhance your leadership ? Seeking support and coaching for some of the professionals on your team? Select Advisors works with financial and legal firms across the world, supporting them through coaching, training and retreats so they can be equipped with better leadership skills.