Selecting the Right Email Marketing Tool

Email marketing has been around for a long time, but it wasn’t until more recently and the creation of online email marketing platforms that it became a real option for small businesses. Now you can do it yourself without a large investment. However, you still want to make sure that you are doing the right things using the right tools that will have the biggest benefit for your company. The first step in this process is choosing the right email marketing platform for your company.

Here are some things to consider before you decide which email marketing platform is right for you.

• Your List – How big is your list? How big do you think your list will become over time? You don’t want to choose a platform based solely on what you list looks like today. You want to have a good idea of what your costs will look like as your list grows.
• Frequency – How often do you think you will want to send emails? Many platforms have limits to the number of emails you can send. You want to know these limits up front to avoid issues down the road.
• Ease of Use – Is the platform easy for you to use if you’re not a graphic designer? You want to make sure that the system that you’re picking won’t put a huge drain on your time because it is too complicated.
• Segmentation – Can you split your master list into group? You may not always want to send the same thing to everyone. But sometimes you may want to. You need to know ahead of time if that flexibility is there. Knowing this will also drive how you set up things in the platform you choose to use.
• Website Integration – Can the platform your considering be easily integrated to your website. You want responses to your calls to action on your website to link directly to your email marketing allowing you to respond automatically. Make sure the platform your considering can do this.
• White Label – Does the platform your considering and have a white legal option now? White label options allow you to remove the platforms branding from your emails and only include your own branding. While this is probably cost prohibitive in the beginning it is a great feature to have in the long term. White labeling can reduce unsubscribes. It eliminates any link between your brand and the platform’s brand. And it just seems more personal to the recipient.

Once you have reviewed these things you will be in a better position to choose the right email marketing platform that will work for your company now and in the future. Next, it is time to begin designing your email marketing campaigns. But that is for another post. So, check back tomorrow.