Sneak Peek: 2017 Mass Email Comparison Report
We’ve been working hard to release an updated version of our popular whitepaper “Email Service Providers Comparison Report”. As the email marketing world continues to improve, we’ve added in new insights and updated information. If you’re looking into a new mass email platform that syncs with your CRM, especially Salesforce, we’ve put together a great list of options with lots of valuable insight from how we’ve seen these tools work for our clients.
Whether you’re talking about mass email or marketing automation, there’s no denying the variety of solutions on the market today. With a broad range of features and capabilities, the Email Service Provider (ESP) landscape can be exciting, but challenging to navigate. Only some of the products can be tested prior to purchase, and even with a demo or a free trial, it can be difficult to decide which solution best fits your needs. That’s why we’re here to help.
Let’s take a quick look into how you should go about choosing an ESP and a brief overview on the solutions we’ll suggest in our whitepaper.
1. Ask the right questions
To determine what your company or nonprofit needs from an email tool, it’s important to know the right questions to ask. Here are a few to get the ball rolling:
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- Who will manage your email communications?
- How many emails do you send on a monthly basis?
- How many subscribers do you have?
- Do you need your email solution to integrate with your CRM database? If so, is it a native or non-native integration?
2. Consider the features you need and want
While there are a wide range of options available in the marketplace, there are some key features which are common to almost all ESPs including templates, list management, and reporting tools. Many of these ESPs have also improved their offerings to help you further your strategy. Here are a few key questions to consider:
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- Do you want to A/B test your emails?
- Do you need drip campaign functionality?
- Are you going to want to use variable tags and advanced segmentation? If so, does your database have the correct fields and data tables so you can include that data in your communications?
3. Take it all into consideration
The value in our whitepaper won’t be just a chart comparing pricing. We’ll help break down the pros and cons, plus some history behind the companies, to help you determine which email service provider is right for you. Besides overall cost, we’ll cover our own experiences with our clients using these platforms, key features to look out for, integrations with Salesforce (including if they are Lightning ready), and their AppExchange reviews and ratings. You want the solution that’s going to work for your organization or company, and not just budget-wise.
Here’s who you can expect to learn more about in our updated Email Service Providers whitepaper:
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- Campaign Monitor
- Constant Contact
- Emma
- iContact
- MailChimp
- Predictive Response
- Soapbox Mailer
Email solution providers are getting better every year. And even with the increasing use of other communication channels, email is here to stay for the foreseeable future. While sometimes it’s not possible, we strongly recommend you ‘try before you buy’, and test the functions you’ll use most frequently. Allow time for a thorough analysis either internally or with the help of a consultant, and if you can’t get a free trial or a demo.
And, finally: we’re here to help. At Idealist Consulting we work with organizations like yours every day who are navigating these questions and changing email systems as their organizations grow.
Update: We’ve released the newest version of our Mass Email Comparison Report. You can get the updated version sent straight to your email inbox. Just sign up using the link below.
