Five More Signs It’s Time for a New ESP

If your email marketing program is working well and your company is growing, the next step will be making sure your email marketing capability grows right alongside, continuing to add to the bottom line. That sometimes means a new email service provider.

A while back, we talked about five signs it’s time for a new email service provider (ESP). If you’ve digested and considered those and you’re still not sure if your current ESP is still good enough—or not—here are five more reasons to ponder whether it’s time to switch.

1. You need in-depth reporting: It’s hard to move forward and improve when you can’t really tell what’s working and what’s not. If your email service provider can’t deliver the kind of in-depth reporting you need, it’s time to move on.

2. You need more support: Sometimes ramping up your email marketing program to the next level requires more than your in-house team. Sometimes it requires outside help from an email expert. After all, you’re busy with running the program you already have in place and that’s got your staff maxed. If your ESP can’t meet your support needs, it’s time to move on.

3. You need in-depth testing: Any and all email marketing program requires testing to improve, but not every ESP offers the kind of granular testing you might need. If your ESP’s testing capabilities are limited and your needs for insight are not, it’s time to move on.

4. You need advanced segmentation: Segmentation is critical in order to deliver the kind of personalized, relevant messages people expect today. Are you ready to move beyond ZIP codes into more refined segmentation? Will your current ESP enable that kind of advanced segmentation you’re looking to do? If not, it’s time to move on.

5. You need triggered emails: Yes, your staff is maxed but your company’s email needs are not. Triggered emails can work so you don’t have to, whether it’s an order confirmation or a welcome email message. The only caveat is your ESP must offer that capability. If not, start shopping for a new one.

Keep in mind the best time to switch is before the capacity is needed. You want to be up and running on your new platform, with everything migrated and all training done and the new IP address whitelisted, before you find yourself lacking keep capabilities.

For an easy way to get started on your search for a new email service provider, try our free online tool, the ESPinator. It’s built by email marketing vendor ClickMail to help you jumpstart your search.