Beginning the search for your perfect Email Service Provider

Embarking on finding your ideal Email Service Provider can be daunting so you need to ask yourselves a number of questions. By covering off the following you should be equipped to help in your choice of Email Service Providers. What does email marketing mean to your organisation?

• What are you trying to achieve from your email marketing?
• How will your email marketing compliment your existing strategy?
• Will your Email Service Provider integrate seamlessly with your other digital suppliers such as web analytics?
• How many emails will you expect your Email Service Provider to send and how often?
• Are you looking for different designs or one consistent template?
• Who needs to be involved in the decision making process of finding your Email Service Provider and who will be using the system?
• What is your Email Service Provider budget?
• When are you hoping to launch your email marketing programme?

By answering these key questions you’ll be in a much better position to begin your search for your ideal Email Service Provider.

Narrowing the shortlist of Email Service Providers

If you’re new to email marketing, then choosing an Email Service Provider can seem daunting. Whatever type of Email Service Provider you choose, for the majority of marketers, an outsourced ASP (Application Service Provider) solution can be the most sensible option.  Here are a few pointers to consider when choosing your Email Service Provider:

• Type of solution offered by Email Service Provider: Does the Email Service Provider offer end-to-end services such as broadcast technology, lead generation, email list rental etc?
• Type of services offered by Email Service Provider: List provision, data management, data security, data cleansing, real-time reporting, full campaign management, segmentation, triggered messaging etc
• Does the Email Service Provider have a commitment to deliverability? How do they ensure they don’t appear on blacklists? Does the Email Service Provider have a dedicated deliverability team and a relationship with all major ISPs?
• Email Service Provider Features & Functionality: Consider multi-channel capabilities; split testing; integration; compliance functionality; reporting capabilities etc
• Training by your Email Service Provider: Will your Email Service Provider give you full training and support?

Choosing your Email Service Provider

Once you’ve completed your Email Service Provider research, you are in a much better position to make your final decision. Here are a few final pointers to consider:

• Are you switching from one Email Service Provider to another?
• Do you have management buy-in and are they endorsing your Email Service Provider shortlist?
• Have you spoken to your Email Service Provider’s clients to see what they think?
• Have you met the team at the Email Service Provider and do you like the people you’ll be working with on a daily basis?
• Are the support team of the Email Service Provider based in the UK so you can receive real-time support when you need it?