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There are hundreds – if not thousands – of email marketing providers. Options range from off-the-shelf (purchase & install locally) to hosted (self-service, full-service, hybrid) to build your own. For the purposes of this coures, we will focus on hosted (software as a service) vendors often called Email Service Providers, or ESPs.
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Choosing the ESP that best fits your needs can be a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. Before you purchase a vendor guide or type “email marketing provider” in your search engine of choice, consider the following questions:
How large is your email list?
How many emails do you anticipate sending per month? Per year?
Is email marketing a strategic component of your business?
How will you measure success?
Will you or your team be creating and sending all emails or would you like the vendor to manage your campaigns?
What is your budget for email marketing?
Is it important to have an email marketing advisor or do you have in-house expertise?
Do you require 24/7 support?
What level of customization and personalization is required?
Are you brand new to email marketing? An intermediate user? A seasoned veteran?
Will you be integrating with a 3rd party and/or analytics provider?
It’s also important to note that, like any vendor, don’t expect the ESP you choose to be perfect. All vendors are different and offer features, functions, support, and best practice advice that is not ideal for every situation or all email marketers. The key is to pick an ESP that is the best fit for the majority of your needs and requirement.
Below is a partial list of ESPs categorized by small market, mid-market, and enterprise. As mentioned above, there are hundreds/thousands of providers and the landscape changes frequently. Be sure to visit each companies website for the most up-to-date pricing, feature set, and services offered. Also, a quick Internet search will return countless results of “Top X” lists of ESPs. Treat these, as well as the list below, with a grain of salt as they are rarely comprehensive and often have some type of bias, intentional or not.
SMALL MARKET
Small market ESPs are typically targeted those who are new to email marketing, have very tight budgets, and are looking for a solution that is easy to use and has basic features & functionality. Prices can range from $20-30 to a few hundred per month and free trials are offered on their website. Many entry level providers offer pricing based on the size of your email list (unlimited sends) versus the number of emails sent. Some even have “free” options for really small list sizes. Most providers at this level require online payment by credit card and charge on a monthly basis (no contracts). Sales and support tend to be online, via email, chat or phone/call center. Account managers or client service managers rarely exist for individualized best practice advice. Clients typically share a range of IP addresses instead of having their own, dedicated IP. These options are a good for those who are just getting started with email marketing.
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Email marketing is one of the most overlooked concepts to draw traffic to a blog. The best way to keep traffic interested in your blog is communicating with your readers. The link between you and your readers is an email list.
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One of the first things a person does every day is check their email. Email alerts go to phones or pop up in the corner of your computer screen any time a person gets a new message. People are more likely to see an email before they visit your blog. Creating an email list will not only reach out to your readers, but draw them to your blog.
It’s important to fill your email newsletter with a variety of useful information. Include links to your blog as well as fresh content available only to email subscribers. You can even use an email list to make money selling ad space or partnering with other blogs to build traffic.
The first step in creating a successful email list is choosing the best email marketing service that fits your needs.
Constant Contact
The best part about Constant Contact is that you can try the service before you commit. For 60 days you can toy around with templates and complete services to see if they offer everything you want. Pre-made templates are available that require you to simply choose colors, photos, fonts and fill with your original content. The customer service is great as well.
Mail Chimp
Mail Chimp can be a completely free service, depending on the size of your email list. Each month the free service offers 12,000 emails to 2,000 contacts. If your list grows larger, you can upgrade to a paid account that charges you monthly. As of 2011, you can expect to pay between $10 and $240. Mail Chimp also provides pre-designed templates or you can upload your own from InDesign.
iContact
The future of email marketing lies with iContact. Unlike other services, you must pay to use iContact. However, the services provided with this company stretch further than Constant Contact or Mail Chimp. Currently iContact is developing software that allows you to share your newsletter with your email contacts, but also through social networks like Twitter and Facebook.
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Melissa Warner is a freelance writer and music junkie from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It’s not uncommon to find her traveling across the country to see her favorite bands or reporting the latest news on independe… View profile
The Best Email Marketing Campaign Software
Email marketing campaign software ranges from simple to complex.
Selecting the best email marketing campaign software can be a challenge when you’re just starting out with email. You need to identify the software that will best fit your current needs, and will be useful to your organization as your customer base grows. You also need something that is easy to use for you and any staff who will be helping with your email campaigns.
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Types
Email marketing campaign software comes in a variety of forms. Although most products are Software-as-a-Service, SaaS, cloud-based offerings, some platforms are self-hosted; that is, instead of logging in online to use your email service, you install the software on your own computers. In addition, email campaign management software ranges from simple programs — with a basic ability to choose from standard layout and basic metrics reports — to other platforms that are more robust and have many features. These extra features range from integrated surveying tools, to social media integration and custom template development for an additional fee.
Factors in Choosing Email Campaign Software
Cost, needs and staff skills are the top three factors in choosing the best email campaign software. Although costs for many services are normally based on the number of emails you wish to send, having additional features also plays a role in costs. Feature-rich platforms tend to be more pricey, and it’s often not possible to reduce the number of set features to reduce the overall price. Companies need to determine what features are essential to its marketing programs, and seek a vendor whose product has all those features. For instance, if social media is central to a company’s marketing plans then email campaign software with integrated social media features is vital. In addition, companies should consider the skills of the staff who will be managing the campaigns. If staff are familiar with a particular vendor, it may be best to stick with those products.
Integration
Another key factor for many companies is integration with other major marketing platforms, such as the company’s Customer Relationship Management, CRM, software. Often, the determining factor in deciding which email campaign software is the best is whether it works with other existing systems.
Comparison Shopping
Selecting the best email marketing software can be dizzying, given the large number of vendors. It’s best to select a few top vendors that are popular in a specific industry, and list in a chart the features of each one, along with the exact price for the volume of emails sent. Such a chart makes comparisons simpler and speeds the process of choosing the best product for a companys’ needs.
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Gregg Murray is a web marketing strategist and Google SEO expert who heads up Website Blueprint, a firm that helps small businesses design and improve their presence on the web. Below, he offers tips on choosing the right email marketing service and implementing an effective strategy.
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Why should small business owners be interested in email marketing?
Murray: Having an effective and easy-to-use email marketing service is a critical element for nearly every small business website. Incorporating email marketing into your site provides an opportunity to turn website visitors into subscribers and prospect and eventually into customers. The problem for business owners is how to choose the right email marketing provider, how to maximize its effectiveness, and how to integrate email marketing into today’s social media platforms.
How do you get started with email marketing?
Murray: The process of email marketing begins with having a form, or a prominent image link to a form, on every page of your website. This allows your website visitors to signup for you eNewsletter or eTips. Once someone fills out that form, they are added to your email database. Then, anytime in the future, you can send out a mass email to all your subscribers at one time.
Which are the major email marketing providers, and how do you choose?
Murray: I’ve used Aweber for years and have been completely happy with them. Their service is simple enough that you can do-it-yourself and they have helpful phone support, which is very important for small business owner. Another reason I like Aweber is that your blog posts can be emailed to your subscribers automatically, often referred to as “RSS-to-Email.” That’s a great feature, because you don’t have to do the work twice by creating the blog post, then sending out the eBlast.
Another very popular option is Constant Contact. They have the same benefits of Aweber, but they do not have the blog-to-email option right now. However, Constant Contact does offer many other options to take advantage of as your business grows and many people use it. That means there is a large community of users that you can communicate with via their forum.
Another option being used by small businesses is Mail Chimp. Many people like its ease-of-use and deliverability rates, which measure how well they get through SPAM filters. And like Aweber and Constant Contact, Mail Chimp also has very good video tutorials.
A few other industry leaders you may want to consider are Benchmark , Bronto , and Vertical Response.
What other decision criteria are important for selecting a provider?
Murray: Base your decision not only on price, but also ease-of-use and support that is offered. Pricing of email marketing services are an on-going monthly subscription. There is no reason why you should need to pay more than $25 a month for your email marketing service.
Before you make a final decision, visit the websites of the providers you are considering and also pick up the phone and ask them some questions. It’s a good idea to get a feel for their quality of service.
Once you have a provider, what are some best practices?
Murray:You need a persuasive invitation. Rarely does just having a form on your Web site that says: Sign-up for our e-Newsletter produce maximum subscribers, or as I call them, potential customers. You need to offer something of value in exchange for a visitor to give you their email address, and that usually means a special report or article relevant to your business with helpful information they would like to read. Another helpful giveaway is a coupon or special offer.
Another important rule is: Don’t abuse your relationship with subscribers. Once a potential customer has filled out your web form and given you their email address, pay attention to how often you’re seen in their inbox. I recommend one or twice per month. Anything more may get them thinking about unsubscribing or clicking their spam button. Either way, you’ve lost a potential customer.
Also, don’t oversell — be helpful. It is appropriate to inform your subscribers about an upcoming promotion or sales event; it’s even more important to provide special tips and advice that makes your business a source of helpful information. You can opt for one sales pitch and one tip each month, or you can include both the sales pitch and a special tip in each of your eblasts. Just make sure you never send two sales-only emails in a row.
It’s really important to understand CAN-SPAM rules and regulations. Don’t use false or misleading header information, no deceptive subject lines and remind recipients how to opt-out of receiving future emails from you. Be sure to get a copy of all the rules and regulations. There’s a link to the complete “CAN-SPAM Compliance Guide” at our site.
You also want to extend your brand to your email messages.The look, feel and content of your email messages should complement the rest of your business and marketing persona. When subscribers receive an email from you, be sure that your brand is recognized in an inbox, just as it is on your Web site or your traditional marketing.
Finally, grab your subscribers’ attention in your subject line, otherwise your chance of them opening and reading your email drops dramatically. Avoid hype, and opt for creative or straight-forward subject lines that not only grab attention, but also describe what they can expect from your message.
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While telemarketing is the primary way we generate your initial leads, our full service marketing program is the only one available that offers you a full suite of services so that your sales and marketing program is completely handled by professionals, so you can focus on the successful closing of more transactions as your main path to increase sales.
We begin by providing you with a perfect list of prospects based on our knowledge and experience and your submitted requests. Your marketing success depends on a target list of prospects that we telemarket to and email to and continue to follow up on until they become your clients and you see the increased sales you desire. Your target list is crucial and we begin to clean the data from the first day our telemarketers begin marketing for you. B2B telemarketing is a fantastic way to generate leads that are anywhere from cold, but open to learning, all the way to hot leads that want a call from you immediately. Marketing with SalesDouble is a complete sales and marketing system designed to capture leads of any interest, continue marketing to them, nurturing leads until they come to fruition and help you increase sales.
Once the list is generated for you and a telemarketer selected, we”ll write your script and begin testing it for marketing success and its ability to generate appointments for you.
B2B sales leads that we generate will be a mix of longer term leads with minor interest to very excited leads. If the lead is ready to talk now then you are up to bat. If the lead is just at the looking stage and not ready to talk, then our marketing team will place them on an email campaign based on the lead’s interest level. With sales B2B one must realize that each lead generated is valuable and our statistics prove that over one third of our clients closed leads were leads that started out with very little interest and were nurtured by us over time before handing the lead or appointment off to our client. Marketing done right with the sole intent of increased sales is a complex and time consuming process that when outsourced to us gets handled to perfection leaving you in charge of quoting and closing. We seek and find the prospects and you handle the appointment.
Marketing with a full suite of tools such as this is the single most profitable way for you to increase b2b sales and generate leads for your b2b services and products.
Part of the sales and marketing program we provide, for just $119 per week to telemarket to over 5000 businesses per year, also includes a custom email marketing program where we generate b2b email marketing items, place them into a cohesive and effective campaign so they are distributed to the prospect over time and even have a telemarketer call at various times to make sure they are received and re-gauge the prospects interest level to see how close they are to setting an appointment with you, our client. The email marketing items even have tracking in them so that you can view what marketing items have been received by your b2b lead and strike when the iron is hot meaning right when they are ready for an appointment with you.
Unlimited follow up by us is also included in each of the programs and a key to overall marketing success and your increasing your sales.
We know everyone in your target list is going to need your product or service some day, the question is will you be in front of them at just the right time? With the SalesDouble b2b marketing system you will and your marketing success is assured. Whether your goal is a phone appointment or an in person appointment, we”ll continue to pursue the lead we generate for you until they either buy from you, or tell us to go away. When you look at the unique sales and marketing program that SalesDouble offers and the low price point we provide the service at, you”ll agree there is nothing in marketing that compares. Our goal is to put money in your pockets, to help you increase sales, and we know if we do not do that then we get fired and no one wins. From list, to leads that want an appointment with you, to unlimited follow up, SalesDouble handles the whole process.
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Have you moved on from Direct Mail?
Let’s face it, direct mail doesn’t have the best of images. The mediarefer to it as junk, the New Marketeersdismiss itas “snail mail” and alongside email and SMS marketing it can look out-dated and expensive. But let’s not throw out the babywith the bathwater.
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Email and SMS marketing -text messages – are relatively cheap and, to be fair, both have their applications.With just a couple of clicks yourmessage can be sent simultaneously tothousands of inboxes.Great for keeping in touch with your customers, great if you genuinely have something new and informative to tell them.
So why hasn’t direct mail died a death? Hereare a couple ofreasons.
Firstly, direct mail is uniquely suited to testing.Most direct mail campaigns will look forresponse rates of around 2% or 3%. You can try out your ideasby mailingtoa couple ofhundred carefully targeted prospects, perhaps for as little as 100 and usually for muchless than the cost of setting up an email campaign. If the reponse rates are good, you can roll out the campaign;if you find you’ve beenbarking up the wrong tree,regroup, rethink,give it a tweak and test again.
Secondly,the amount of direct mail being received is going down. The less people get the more likely it is to be read.At the same time the volume of email is increasing exponentially. Around 78% of all emails don’t evenget opened. Some are just deleted but many are sent toa junk folder; their senders blocked forever.
There are many other reasons why direct mail is making a comeback. If you’d liketo have a chat about it give Karen Clarke acall on 01736 366244 or email karen@brgdirect.co.uk
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Prospect Ally is a leading UK B2B Telemarketing company and provider of outbound Telemarketing and B2B Lead Generation services.
We have a dedicated team of mature, experienced, sales people who can engage with prospects, open and nurture relationships, and deliver valuable sales leads to your business.
Outbound telemarketing is the most direct, effective and powerful media for reaching prospects and gaining their attention, provided it is done properly.
At some stage in every Business to Business Lead Generation campaign it is necessary to talk to people, to qualify leads and form relationships, and it is inevitably time consuming, and requires skills and confidence that not everyone possesses
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Prospect Ally has designed its services to reflect the impact that digital marketing, social media and web analytics has had on B2B lead generation. The aim is to generate better results for less cost.
We believe very strongly that people buy people, and that Telemarketing is vital in B2B Lead Generation to qualify leads and build relationships .
However to be genuinely cost-effective, telemarketing needs to be integrated into a multi-channel campaign the utilises advertising, email , social media and web analytics to leverage impact.
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