The Whitelist

There’s no such thing as the best email service provider (ESP). But there is such a thing as the best ESP for you. That’s why we as an email marketing vendor resell over a dozen ESPs, to ensure we match our clients with the best choice for their needs.

Below is post 2 in our series of 5 posts on the top ESPs we resell and why…because the best ESP is the one that’s best for you. Maybe it’s ExactTarget…

One of the Best ESPs: ExactTarget
As and email service provider compared to others, ExactTarget has robust APIs and integration capabilities. For us as an email marketing vendor, one of ExactTarget’s differentiators is Salesforce.com integration. They use a different methodology than other ESPs: They are the only ESP that writes into Salesforce.com as the single database of record, for much tighter integration.

As for the APIs, most marketers put their heads in their hands when you mention API calls because that typically means going to the IT department then waiting six to 12 months for something to get done. Not with ExactTarget. Their API calls are so strong–and we know them so well–that we can get system calls working very quickly.

They’ve also built out a technology-based (as opposed to people-based) platform that enables them to support thousands of customers, while most ESPs support hundreds, so you never have to worry about this ESP not scaling to handle the load!

Could ExactTarget be the best ESP for you? Find out.

Why turn to ClickMail to help you choose your ESP? Read the answer here.

There’s no such thing as the best email service provider (ESP). But there is such a thing as the best ESP for you. That’s why we as an email marketing vendor resell over a dozen ESPs, to ensure we match our clients with the best choice for their needs. 

Below is post 1 in our series of 5 posts on the top ESPs we resell and why…because the best ESP is the one that’s best for you. Maybe it’s BlueHornet…

One of the Best ESPs: BlueHornet
Part of BlueHornet’s uniqueness lies in their user interface. It is the most intuitive interface we’ve ever seen among email service providers (ESPs). What does that mean to you? If workflow is a priority and you want to do everything as quickly and efficiently while you’re in the ESP dashboard, BlueHornet might be the best ESP for you.

This kind of easy-to-use interface is also useful when an organization has several people using the ESP, because they can all do so without any worries about level of skill or familiarity. If you are a sophisticated email marketer, you’ll still appreciate the usability because you’ll get everything done faster.

BlueHornet also makes it easy to do the kind of automated drip and triggered emails you know you should for more relevant email marketing…without any integration with a CRM. BlueHornet gives you CRM-like functionality making this ESP one to look at if you’re ready to move into this kind of advanced behavioral marketing.

Why turn to ClickMail to help you choose your ESP? Read the answer here.

Why This Email Marketing Vendor Is Your Source for Other Vendors

Sometimes it’s hard to be different.

Like when you’re unique among email marketing vendors. You get a lot of questions like, “What is ClickMail?” Because we’re different, people can’t easily put us in a category and that can lead to confusion.

What makes us so different? We are vendor agnostic. We are a vendor that resells other email marketing vendors, yes, but we sell more than one. In fact, we resell over a dozen different email service providers (ESPs). That’s what can be confusing, as email marketers are used to other resellers only offering one ESP.

But we’re different like that for a reason, and the reason might surprise you: ClickMail exists because there isn’t a “best” ESP! There are top-tier ESPs, and top-rated ESPs, definitely. But there can’t be a best ESP because email marketing needs of every organization is different. There is a best ESP for you, however. And that’s where ClickMail comes in: We focus on your specific needs, so we can fit you with the ESP right for you, your email marketing program and your company’s current and future goals.

Over the next several blog posts, we’re going to drill down into some of the ESPs we resell:

1. Bluehornet
2. ExactTarget
3. Lyris
4. Silverpop
5. Yesmail

And why those five? Because each of them has unique strengths that set them apart from either ESPs. Together, they enable us as an email marketing vendor to offer our client just the right kind of ESP. If reporting is a priority, we might look at Silverpop. Robust APIs? ExactTarget. Customer acquisition? Yesmail. And so on. You tell us the needs, we’ll tell you which ESP will best meet those needs.

Then the question is, “Why should I buy from ClickMail, rather than the ESP?” Good question, and another we get asked a lot. Essentially buying through ClickMail means you’re working with a smaller company and that can mean more flexible contract and payment terms. It means we can get you set up and resolve issues faster because our relationships with the ESPse gives us a different way into that company. It also means competitive pricing and an extra layer of customer support. And we can help with integration, creative services and even deployment.

But perhaps the two most important reasons are 1) that you’ll have the ESP right for you, and 2) you can take ESPs for a test drive with ClickMail.

Yes, a test drive. ClickMail is unique because we can offer 30-day trials so you can really truly try before you buy.

Next we’re going to delve into the uniqueness of some of the ESPs and why they’re on our roster. Stay tuned…

Don't Gamble With Your Email Marketing ROI! Visit This Email Marketing Vendor in Vegas at Email Summit '11

Is it too soon to talk January? Not if you are thinking ahead to your 2011 email marketing program…and you’d better be.

Ready to make 2011 your year for the best email marketing ROI ever? Join us in Las Vegas on January 24-26. You’ll get a jumpstart on your year, plus be free to enjoy some of the nightlife and entertainment Las Vegas has to offer! It’s a trip for business and pleasure all rolled up into one!

You can trust MarketingSherpa events to offer real value, not pitches, fluff or same old, same old advice. MarketingSherpa’s Email Summit presenters meet the same high standards and present the same cutting-edge information MarketingSherpa is known for.

Although the reasons for attending the Email Summit are countless, MarketingSherpa highlights four of them:

1. A focus on the continued evolution of email marketing, to keep you up with the constantly changing world of email…particularly important in the age of social media, integration and mobile marketing!
2. Over 20 new case studies with amazing email marketing ROI
3. Both B2B and B2C sessions
4. Relevant, interactive training

And our biggest reason as one of the email marketing vendors? We’re offering an exclusive $700 discount to readers of the ClickMail email marketing blog.

As one of the email marketing vendors exhibiting at the summit, we are able to offer you a huge discount, one that will make your boss smile and your email marketing budget happy.

Reserve your place at Email Summit ‘11 and save $700, courtesy of ClickMail Marketing.

And of course ClickMail Marketing will be one of the ‘Best of the Best’ Email marketing Vendors on the Expo Floor. This year, the summit is allowing even more time for visiting booths between speakers, so be sure to stop by and see us at booth #19 to ask any email marketing best practice or email deliverability questions you might have!

Don’t gamble on your email marketing ROI next year. Head to the Email Summit in Las Vegas, where improving your email marketing program is a safe bet.

Learn from your peers. Learn from the experts. Learn from the case studies. And have a little fun while you save a lot of money too. Register today!

Praise for Email Marketing Vendor ClickMail Marketing: That's What Happens When You Love Your Vendor!

I like to say people are a lot less interested in what you have to say about you than they are in what other people have to say about you. That’s why testimonials work so well: They are neutral, third-party endorsements. They’re not your pitch for what you’re selling. They’re someone else’s pitch for what you’re selling.

So with that in mind, I offer up some very nice words that have recently been posted about us as an email marketing vendor and Platinum Partner Reseller on the ExactTarget website. Go here and click on the Reviews tab to see the testimonials.

ClickMail Marketing is unusual among email marketing vendors in that we are vendor agnostic. We aren’t an email service provider (ESP) but we resell several of the top-tier ESPs like ExactTarget. That helps us do two things for our clients: One, we make sure they are using the best possible ESP for their email marketing goals, and two, companies with smaller lists and smaller needs can still use a top-tier ESP like ExactTarget by buying from us instead of the ESP directly.

Learn more about working with an email marketing vendor like ClickMail.

As ESPs Buy Up Social and Mobile Companies, Will Email Marketing Best Practices Change?

After publishing an article on a similar topic in the Email Experience Council (EEC) blog, it was timely to see this Direct Marketing News article on email service providers (ESPs) buying up social media and mobile marketing companies. 

As ClickMail Marketing CEO Marco Marini said in his EEC blog titled, “Will ESPs Evolve Into Marketing Automation Solutions,” there are still fundamental differences between what an ESP can offer versus what a marketing automation solution can offer, and that’s a good thing for customers as the latter can be overkill for many companies.

But this new buying spree demonstrates that ESPs see a need to integrate and add other services, even if not going down the marketing automation path. Marketing automation might be overkill for many, but social and mobile marketing most definitely are not. The ESPs are smart on the business side to bring these auxiliary services in house so they can integrate and offer complete packages to the customer. On the service side it’s smart as well, because it simplifies and streamlines cross-channel marketing for the customer. If all email, social and mobile marketing can be done from one hub like an ESP, the customer doesn’t have to worry about APIs and integration.

If this keeps up, we might be adding “find an ESP that offers social and mobile too” to our list of email marketing best practices and our ESP selection guide.

Are you shopping for an ESP and blog posts like this only confuse you more? We can help. ClickMail is unique among email marketing vendors as a vendor-agnostic option. We resell a dozen different ESPs so we can help you find the one that fits your budget and email deliverability needs. Just ask.

Email Service Provider vs. Marketing Automation Solution: How to Choose?

Earlier this month at the B2B Marketing Summit, marketing automation seemed to be the topic of choice, as far as this email marketing vendor could tell.

As our CEO Marco Marini recently pondered in an Email Experience Council blog, ESPs are starting to look more like marketing automation companies, but there are still notable differences. One must choose one over the other without some very careful consideration of the costs and benefits of each.

Your first step as an email marketer considering marketing automation software is a step back.

That’s because what you need is clarity first. Going down the marketing automation path is a huge commitment of time and resources. Yes, marketing automation software might be able to do more in some areas than your ESP can offer, but at what cost? Implementation is more challenging and adoption by personnel might be slower compared to ramping up with an ESP. And that marketing automation solution might just do a heck of a lot more than you need.

Or it could offer everything you need.

If you’d like an unbiased opinion, ask us. We are a vendor-agnostic email marketing agency representing the best ESPs in the country like ExactTarget and YesMail, but also marketing automation software providers like Marketo and Pardot. We know what it takes to get started with both, and how to determine what you really need to succeed, not what you want.

If marketing automation is the topic of choice in your office these days, make email marketing vendor ClickMail part of the conversation, for a sound decision.

Does Your Vendor Just Stare When You Ask About Multi-Channel Marketing? Find a New Vendor

Walking around the DMA show last week, we were struck by all the social media companies and the marketing companies adding social media capabilities to their offerings.

Now is definitely the time to figure out your social media strategy, before it’s too late. If you’re an email marketer, ask your vendors about their social media integration and offerings. If they don’t have anything yet, ask about their roadmap.

If they give you a blank deer-in-the-headlights stare, find another vendor.

This is something you need to act on. Now. It wasn’t just social media getting all the focus at the DMA show, however. We witnessed plenty of multi-channel interest in offline marketing and SMS as well, which means marketers are being smart about making sure they’re tapping into every possible means of reaching their prospects and customers.

Because it’s not just segmenting and targeting to deliver relevant messages. How you deliver them must be relevant too, meaning the person who prefers email gets email, the one who prefers direct mail gets direct mail, the one who wants text gets that and so on.

We would never say email marketing best practices mean stick to email! Because relevancy is tops among email marketing best practices, and if that means a tweet or a text is going to be more relevant to a prospect, we’re all for it.

If you need help moving your marketing beyond email, let us know.

ClickMail CEO to Focus on Email Marketing Best Practice Advice.

The CEO of our email marketing vendor company ClickMail is now a Focus Expert!

Marco Marini, ClickMail CEO, will soon be posting email marketing and email deliverability expertise articles on the Focus.com website as well as answering email marketing and online marketing related questions.

Focus exists as a resource for professional business people who need one place to go for expertise, whether the topic is customer service, finance, marketing, software or a number of other topics.

Marco’s first two expert articles will be published soon, and we’ll get the word out as soon as they are so you can learn from the email marketing best practices he’ll cover.

As a Focus expert, Marco joins a network of world class business and technology experts who answer questions, offer original research, and support their fellow business people all for free.

As Focus says, “Focus Experts help thousands of businesses with tough decisions every day.”

And now that help will include the email deliverability consulting and email marketing best practices required to maximize email marketing ROI.

Customers Win When They Get Choice of Email Marketing Vendor

As an email marketing vendor that resells dozens of other vendors, ClickMail has always been of the mindset that the customer is first, and the more vendors we represent, the more likely we’ll be to find the best fit for our customers. It’s one reason clients choose ClickMail. They know we won’t force them to use a particular ESP, for example. They trust us to figure out the ESP that will give them the highest email deliverability and the services that best fit with their current and future email marketing goals.

Representing multiple vendors has never, ever been an issue for us. We know the only way we can really serve our clients and help them obtain their maximum email marketing ROI is by being vendor agnostic. We’ve built our entire business on that principle.

So I was surprised to read the comments made by Joe Chernov, Director of Content Marketing at Eloqua, speaking on their breakup with The Pedowitz Group:

“We believe that exclusivity is in the best interest of the customer, because there is no room for opacity in the vendor selection process,” he said. “For the most part, resellers have pre-committed to a vendor before sitting down with a prospect, so to that end, this notion of vendor neutrality doesn’t always hold up in the real world.”

Vendor neutrality is what ClickMail is all about, and has been for 10 years now. I personally think Eloqua’s position is misguided.

I’m not alone. Phil Fernandez, CEO of Marketo,* wrote in response to this attitude: “When independent consultants are knowledgeable about multiple vendors—and conduct themselves in a way that puts the customer first—everyone wins in the long run.” 

In that blog post, he then describes his own company’s sometimes frustration with a partner that recommended another vendor to a client, but says, “in the end, we always made peace with it because we knew that we were on a level playing field and that Jeff was representing the customer and putting the customer’s needs first.”

Granted, the whole reason for Eloqua parting ways with The Pedowitz Group is over intellectual property, and that argument makes business sense for them. But speaking as an advocate for the customer, which all of us are called to be, we at ClickMail believe we are doing the right thing—as an email marketing vendor—to work with a variety of service providers, because our focus is the customer’s success, not our own.

*Disclosure: Marketo is one of the vendors we resell at ClickMail.