The Whitelist

Email Service Providers vs. In-House Email Solutions?

As a value-added reseller of Email Service Providers and email-related services, we at ClickMail Marketing often think about what percentage of email marketers turn to advanced solutions providers to deliver their campaigns, and which firms continue to deliver their email marketing campaigns via in-house tools. A recent MarketingSherpa chart outlines these statistics, following a recent survey of more than 1,000 organizations.

After taking a glance at the chart, I have to say, we weren’t surprised. With the increasingly complex tactical requirements of email marketing, it shouldn’t be surprising that twice as many organizations use an advanced, versus a basic, Web-based solution to fulfill their ever changing and complex email marketing needs. Of the total organizations surveyed, about one-third of these use a full-service outsourced ESP. And B2C channel organizations as well as large organizations are much more likely to use an ESP. This makes sense because in both cases, there is undoubtedly greater scope and complexity of email initiatives, which requires the assistance of outsourced ESPs.

As subscribers become increasingly sophisticated, and the interactivity needs between marketing channels grow, it’s not surprising that there is a greater demand for comprehensive services and email marketing solutions. The evolution of the ESP from a simple emailing platform to a full-fledged, feature-rich offering is only natural given the changing landscape of marketing today. The increasing demand from organizations for these features is a clear validation for increasingly sophisticated tools, such as drip and triggered email streams and the integration of web analytics.

In order to stay on top of your game and ahead of the curve, consider employing the use of an ESP to help you with your email marketing program if you aren’t already doing so. And with over a dozen ESP systems in our portfolio, ClickMail (contact info) offers the nation’s largest selection of ESPs while staying vendor neutral. With a “try before you buy” policy, you’ll be sure to find the right system for your needs. We also provide continuing support and an array of services including email marketing expertise in areas from customization to strategy; integration to email deliverability and optimization. We live for this stuff! ClickMail will help you manage your online reputation and accurately measure your delivery rates, to achieve maximum ROI. We’re also there to give you email marketing expertise, allowing you to keep your campaigns cutting-edge while continuing to improve your overall email marketing strategy. Contact Clickmail today!

Register Today For ExactTarget's Conference Connections 2011!

We are excited to be attending the ExactTarget conference, Connections 2011: Power of One, in Indianapolis, IN from Sept. 13-15. This conference is all about using the power of connection to affect positive change. As email marketers, we all know how one idea can spread through effective email marketing best practices and possibly even grow into a world-changing phenomenon.

This concept is even more accessible today with the “viral” and immediate nature of social network connectivity; including engagement tools like Twitter, Facebook integration, and personalized marketing. As email marketers, you have a significant amount of power through the technology at your fingertips!  Getting your message out effectively, increasing your ROI, and increasing your conversion rates are all a function of successfully connecting to your subscribers, which can only be achieved through implementation of the email marketing best practices we love talking about so much!

We are looking forward to connecting with 3,000 of the world’s top marketing minds to learn, teach, and grow together as we talk about harnessing the power of technology and one-to-one communications to generate truly personalized and relevant messages.

You can also tap into this amazing resource: registration for the conference is still open, and if you come, you’ll have the opportunity to attend the powerful talks by keynote speakers including Aron Ralston (the climber who inspired the Oscar-nominated film based on his real-life story of astounding bravery and determination, 127 Hours), CNN anchor Soledad O’Brian, and the founder of Wikipedia. We’re also looking forward to participating in a session about how to create automated messages that keep your customers coming back.

The Connections 2011 conference promises to be a fantastic resource for all marketers, with ongoing conversations and forums about the tools required to make your messages more powerful, and networking opportunities that will undoubtedly help you grow your business.  For more information, and to register, check out Connections 2011. We look forward to seeing you there!

Compare Email Marketing Vendors With 2011 ESP Guide

“Your guide was useful in terms of keeping us aware of issues that we needed reminding about as we extend our use of email marketing. I must compliment your company on producing such a readable synopsis of the important issues. Many thanks and keep up the good work.”

The praise above comes from a recent user of our 2011 Guide to Choosing an ESP.  They had downloaded the ESP guide to help in their search as they sorted out their needs and possible choices among email marketing vendors.

We spend hours each year updating this annual ESP guide, ensuring the factors covered are the most timely and relevant for you, the email marketer, when sizing up ESPs and other email marketing vendors. It’s great to get the feedback that tells us we’re doing what we set out to do: creating a definitive resource.

Read more about the ESP guide or simply download it and put it to use. As the user above said in their praise, it is readable and it is a synopsis. In fact, it’s the most comprehensive, vendor neutral guide you’re going to find anywhere. It includes critical information like which factors you should consider when selecting an ESP, why they are important, and what to ask the ESPs. And it’s yours for the asking, no strings attached.

Get the Best of Both Worlds: Try the Top ESPs for Free

Would you use an ESP if it were free? 

That’s a new option for the SMB market now, according to an article in DM News.

Titled “ESPs turn to ‘freemium’ models to help upsell budget-conscious businesses,” the article by Shahnaz Mahmud describes the effort on the part of email service providers to woo small business with free options in the hopes that they’ll later decide it’s worth paying to use the email marketing platform.

Another option for any business, large or small, is ClickMail’s 30-day free trial offer. You can test drive any of the dozen ESPs we resell for 30 days for free. It’s just like the new freemium models…but better. How? Because you still don’t have to shop around. Even if you’re going to try the ESP for free, first you have to find the ones who will offer you a free option. Do you have the time for that? Then you try them out and either like them or not. Just because you’re getting it for free does not mean it’s the best ESP for you!

A smarter choice is working with ClickMail as your email marketing vendor to help you narrow down your search. Then you can test drive for free the ESPs that are a good fit for you.

In email as in anything else, you get what you pay for. Just because it’s free doesn’t mean it’s good. For you, anyway.

Get the best of both worlds: try ESPs for free, but try only those that are going to work for you long term.

There’s no such thing as the best 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 4 in our series of 5 posts on the ESPs we resell and why…because the best ESP is the one that’s best for you. Maybe it’s Silverpop… 

One of the Best ESPs: Silverpop
Silverpop is one of the top five ESPs we offer as an email marketing vendor and Silverpop agency partner in part because their reporting is so good. They provide very actionable data, enabling email marketers to understand online behavior and increase the relevancy of their marketing.

Another strength is their APIs. Silverpop is unusual among ESPs in that you can try out APIs in a test environment. This ESP has also introduced a Send Time Optimization (STO) feature which lets marketers deliver emails at a particular time for a particular user, for timely relevancy in the inbox.

Could Silverpop 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 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 3 in our series of 5 posts on the ESPs we resell and why…because the best ESP is the one that’s best for you. Maybe it’s Lyris…

One of the Best ESPs: Lyris
Lyris is like an all-in-one ESP. We like to call it a unified marketing interface. Because Lyris strategically added capabilities to their offering by acquiring different companies, today it’s the ESP for the email marketer who wants everything in one place. We offer Lyris to the email marketer who wants the functionality of an ESP with built-in clickstream and web analytics, keyword management, plus social media integration and a content management system.

This integration gives you as the email marketer access to everything you’d like to do in one solution, for greater efficiency and time savings.

Could Lyris 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 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.

Email Deliverability Consultant’s Take on ESPs vs. Marketing Automation

For my latest blog for the Email Experience Council, I took off my email deliverability hat to tackle the issue of ESPs vs. marketing automation software. I am seeing that email service providers (ESPs) are moving more and more toward the marketing automation model.

The evolution of the ESP from a simple emailing platform to a full-fledged, feature-rich offering is only natural given the changing landscape of marketing today. And that evolution is beginning to close the gap between the ESP platform and the marketing automation platform.

“The evolution of the ESP is to be expected given the changing marketing landscape and shifting customer expectations. The further we move away from batch-and-blast and move toward one-to-one marketing, the more we have to take into account that one-to-one is not as simple as a really targeted and timely message. It means the platform by which it’s delivered too, for example via mobile or a social networking site.”
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Social media is all the rage. But email is the enabler. In the world of email marketing, email service providers (ESPs) are integrating social media into their platforms, from ExactTarget’s Social Forward to Silverpop’s Engage and Lyris’ HQ.

ESPs aren’t moving away from email. But they are responding to market demands, as our CEO Marco Marini points out in his article just published in DMNews.
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