Is it Time to Compare Email Marketing Services?
In this business, we find we’re approached by two different types of clients who shop for an ESP:
1) Those who haven’t used one yet because they’re using an internal solution.
2) Those who have but are looking to switch.
If you’ve been doing email in-house, you might get to a point when you’re ready to move your email marketing program to an email service provider (ESP) instead. Or if you’ve been working with an ESP, you might be ready to move to a different one.
How do you know when it’s time to compare email marketing services for an ESP or new ESP?
If you aren’t using an ESP and you’re wondering if it’s time to find one, you’ll know it’s time when you want to start implementing more sophisticated email marketing best practices, like A/B testing, segmentation or better analytics.
It’s time to compare email marketing services and find a new ESP when you’re scaling up and need more functionality. Sometimes an organization outgrows not only the way they’re doing email marketing, but the platform they’re using as well. Or maybe your upcoming marketing initiative requires add-ons your ESP doesn’t offer, like SMS, marketing automation or social integration. You may outgrow your ESP if you’d like to move to an integrated solution for Salesforce.com or Omniture. Or perhaps you want to start strategizing for social and be able to track the progress and results.
Have you found yourself nodding your head as you read this post and see the signs for knowing it’s time for a new ESP? Then it’s probably time to start shopping. And if it is time, we’re making it easy for you. We have two free, no-obligation tools to help you compare email marketing services and make an informed decision:
* ClickMail Marketing’s 2011 Guide to Choosing an ESP
* The ESPinator – an online ESP selection tool
Both are free for you to use. The guide you can download and the online tool takes just minutes to use. You’ll find them helpful resources as you start to compare email marketing services and choose a new ESP.
P.S. If you’re considering continuing to go it alone by building an in-house solution, read this great article our CEO published on build vs. buy in the Email Experience Council (EEC) blog in May. Definitely read that first.
About the Author: Sharon
