Which Email Marketing Service Providers to Choose

Studies over the last few years have resulted in determining that email marketing is much more effective than regular mailing. Ecommerce is the future; snail mail is the past. Research reported that in 2001, $1.1 billion in email marketing was sent out. This has increased 10 fold over the past decade and the future is electronic marketing. When choosing email marketing software it is advised that you research the many emailing services by determining your budget, email marketing needs, and the amount of time you want to spend emailing marketing materials.

Email marketing service providers can be categorized in three main areas and these include off-the-shelf, mid-range, and high-end emailing solutions. Research and evaluate each of these categories to determine what best suits your business.

Off-the-shelf services can be online and there are many companies that specialize in email marketing. This type of service can be advantageous for small businesses that do not have large email lists and advertising materials. Features used in this type of software and email solutions include sending personalized HTML emails, listing management, basic tracking and reporting, and customer service.

Generally off-the-shelf products can send 500,000 emails per month. The price range can be as low as $30 to $350 per month. The control of lists, reporting and data tracking belong to the product owner, however and you are at their mercy for information. They can also use your email lists for their own marketing campaigns.
Mid-range solutions provide businesses with customized solutions that include strategy formulation, tracking, analysis, and maintenance. What you need will depend on your business marketing budget. This type of service can send 1,000 to 1,000,000 emails per month and will cost about $400-$3000 per months. If your online business is generating more than ½ that amount, this might be a cost effective way to use your email marketing budget.

High end solutions tend to be very expensive and are used for larger companies with millions of email customers. They will also include offline marketing strategies if needed and provide an advertising department that will help you design your marketing campaigns. Data analysis including historical patterns, email management, and total marketing management can be yours for $20,000 to $30,000 for most promotions. There are generally campaign costs ranging from $6,000-$60,000 per marketing campaign and these costs go up depending on your needs.

Email marketing has evolved to offer different solutions for different situations. If you are a small business with a small budget, you may not want to invest in set email marketing services. Email marketing services can be found online and you will need to list all possible vendors that will suit your needs. Identify which service will give you the best working solutions for your budget. It is a good tactic to remember that cheaper is not always a sacrifice in quality, but more expensive may be too costly.

Large organizations realize that email marketing is so unique that they need to use an expensive service. Their budgets will allow for the return that comes back on email campaigns. Check all services out and remember that email campaigns can give great monetary returns.