Chart of the Day: How many email platforms are you using (Sending) - Part 6 of 6
This week is the final post in our series, and we will be looking at the number of email platforms that are currently being used to send segmented, triggered, and
transactional emails? (Catch-up on previous episodes.)
Why have more than one email platform? Doesn't that sound a bit dodgy?
Email Service Providers (ESP) have had a reputation of being simple send engines. Some may have had slightly different functionality but if you wanted something more, you had to pay for it. But what would be a legitimate reason to have more than one email platform?
Cost: prices increased with the number of email contacts in your database. So to keep costs down, many would split their lists and join another ESP.
Multiple…
A concise list of the most popular email marketing systems
With a multitude of email marketing systems readily available, it can be hard to find the right one. Your email system needs to benefit your goals!
5 steps to selecting a new email marketing service:
Review your current situation
Know your requirements for a new vendor
Research the market
Test/ request demos for your shortlisted vendors
Make a decision and start the migration process
Before switching you need to determine your requirements. Have you outgrown your current provider? Do you need extra features that they do not provide? When choosing a new vendor you need to make sure their features will help you achieve your business needs, now and in the future. Do you need more robust reporting and analytics? Integrate SMS messaging into your content strategy? Or, do you need greater capabilities in segmentation and personalization? When choosing a new vendor, think about :
Integration
Functionality
Usability
…
The benefits of choosing a local email marketing service provider
While looking for the right email marketing service agency, try giving priority to those based in your local area since this will let you easily quickly communicate with the agency. For example, you can visit the office when you like, although the fact is, many business owners, even through working with a local email marketing service can take a great amount of time as well as resources. Whatever the issues are, always make an effort to find the right email marketing service provider.
I would like to share 5 issues to consider as you search for the perfect email marketing service, along with the benefits of choosing a local agency:
Issue 1: Consider the 'Industry' factor
Give priority to those email marketing service providers that have served in the same industry that you are in. For example, if you are in the business of selling key chains…
From business case to budgets: How to choose the best email marketing tool
Email marketing automation has had such a significant impact in sectors such as financial services, hospitality and retail, that when Forrester outlined the mega-trends that were shaping the market, the growth of automation tools was one of the top contributors.
'If you want to launch a sophisticated acquisition and retention email marketing campaign, you have to have good trigger-based programmes to keep engaging the users - and that has given rise to the entire field of email marketing automation,' says Forrester analyst JitenderMiglani.
But with well over 100 different email marketing vendors in the UK alone, finding a vendor isn’t the challenge – it’s choosing the right one.
Where to begin with choosing an email marketing vendor?
'Before you even start your search for the perfect vendor, it’s essential to assess where your current…
Assessing an ESP should be based on more than functionality
There is a bewildering range of email marketing solutions platforms to choose from. While it's common to select a solution based on its features, it's also important to consider the level of local support for the system you will have in your country. Since most email services are cloud-based and you can access them from anywhere, deciding on whether you have adequate support in your country is an important issue in selecting a system.
In this post, Andrew Mann of UK-based ESP Smart Messages shares his thoughts on why it's important to have local support from an email supplier.
Four reasons why local vendor support is best
1. Time zone
Personal contact remains a fundamental part of business even in the digital world. If you need help, it’s better to have a supplier in your own…
9 Questions to ask when choosing a behavioural email provider
The benefits of using behavioural email marketing to engage with existing contacts are well established. If you've decided to take the plunge, it’s important you find the right service for your business. Knowing what to ask a potential provider will help identify whether the service they provide is the one you need. However, before you start talking to any third-party about what they do, first ensure you are 100% clear on what it is you want.
Behavioural email? Remarketing ? Operational & transactional triggers?
There is often confusion between true behavioural email and other simpler forms of triggered email. A detailed description can be found in a white paper from 2 years ago that I think still holds weight; but in simple terms an operational or transaction email responds to an action with a general communication; remarketing targets users based on actions…
5 actions to minimise the impact of an address change
In my last post I summarized 9 common headaches to watch for when you change email service provider. This time I'm drilling down into the first of these, guidance to manage changing your from email address.
This guidance is valid too for other occasions when you change your from email address. Such as a change in branding, company mergers and acquisitions, moving transaction emails from your eCommerce system to your marketing system, or simply sorting out some historical oddities in your identity.
Your from email details are made up of the from display name and from address, such as 'Acme Offer <
[email protected]>'. The display name is 'Acme Offer' and from email address
[email protected].
In this post I'm concentrating on deliverability issues connected with change of email address, rather than consideration of what makes effective from email information, as this is a subject…
By
January 5, 2012
6 personal resolutions that apply to all online marketers
Just before the New Year, I had the pleasure of participating in a Focus.com webinar with Andrew Kordek of Trendline Interactive and Stefan Eyram of ClickMail, regarding email marketing trends for 2012. Below are five resolutions for the coming year which either came directly from that webinar or were inspired by it. Thanks to Stefan and Andrew for the insight and inspiration for this post!
1 Stop talking like a rocket scientist
We keep telling people social media marketing isn’t rocket science and then we use words like “integration” which sounds exactly like what a rocket scientist would say! It’s not that the words or terms are inherently bad, it’s just that we assume people actually know what they mean.
What we should be focusing on is putting online marketing (regardless of the channel) into context for people. This means using a little more…
The key issues to consider when you switch email service provider
Email marketing is at the core of many transactional businesses and drives substantial amounts of revenue. The email marketing solution is quite simply a mission critical system and a break in operation can’t be afforded. Yet it's fairly common to move between Email service providers (ESPs) to gain a better deal, features or service. If you do this, there are a lot of potential issues to consider, so Dave Chaffey and I thought it would be helpful to cover these in case you're considering a change. We've called them headaches, since they may well be, particularly if they aren't considered.
Any contemplated move to a new ESP needs to be planned and executed with the mission critical nature of the system taken into account, as any false moves will directly impact revenue.
When moving to a new ESP there are many moving…
Our interview with Jordie van Rijn of Email Vendor Selection
When I’m running training courses on email marketing, there are almost always marketers on the course who are dissatisfied with their current email provider or are just looking to move up from using Outlook to send emails.
I’m always happy to give recommendations on email services and encourage others on the course to share suppliers they’re happy with. The problem with just basing your decision on recommendations is, of course, that every business has different needs according to their size and how they want to use Email marketing. So the question becomes “how do we decide on the right email service provider for us?” As independent email marketing consultant and founder of the Email Vendor Selection, I thought Jordie van Rijn would be an excellent person to help answer this question.
Jordie specializes in email marketing and event-driven campaigns and his company…
