In this article, I will address some of the issues to consider when utilizing a third party for your email marketing says, William D King.
1) What is their approach?
– A good company should have a scientific and systematic way of getting you in front of more people, with the intent to convert them into customers. They should be using all the tools available within the internet marketing world, such as SEO, PPC, blogging, etc. To do otherwise would be like changing your car oil every few months instead of every 3,000 miles – sure it works eventually but not nearly as well or as efficiently as if you did it right from the start!
2) What experience do they have?
– This is hand in hand with #1 (above), if they are using the same approach over and over again, they should be able to show you great results.
3) Do they stay ahead of the curve?
– You need to make sure your partners in crime don’t get left behind when it comes to new advances in internet marketing (and technology in general). One example is email providers dropping old-school HTML email in favor of plain text only; this means certain approaches that may have worked before will no longer work today. William D King says if this happens then their system needs to be built so it can overcome these types of obstacles or your efforts will come up short. Or, another one is mobile email usage increasing at a huge rate – being able to post content for both mobile users and desktop users at the same time will save huge headaches and extra costs in QA.
4) Can they provide references?
– Any company you work with should be able to provide some form of references, if not from their own email list then from clients they have worked with within the past. I wouldn’t base your decisions on what they may say, but more on what other people who actually hired them had to say about the results. What did others experience when using this company? If you can get access to past paying customers (make sure you get permission first!) do so! Ask questions such as: How long did it take for your lists to start growing? How much of a budget did you allocate toward their service and how much did you see in return? What was the most effective marketing approach for this company, and why do you think that was the case?
5) Do they have their own list?
– There is nothing more powerful than having your own list. I’m sure plenty of third-party emailers can provide great results, but keep in mind that somewhere down the road their interests may conflict with yours (ie: “We recommend using this PR6 link over our competitors; it has worked very well for us.”). Plus, if they don’t actually have an established following of their own then how will you ever know what kind of results to expect from them?
If you are not interested in growing your own list at first then there are some very good email marketing companies out there that can provide great service, such as High-Performance Email. These types of services will usually ask you to send a portion of your traffic over to their servers (in exchange for the service), and they convert those visitors into leads on your behalf.
These are some points I consider when choosing an email marketing provider; I’m sure there are more but this list should serve as a great starting point for anyone thinking about who they wish to work with in the future explains William D King. This is by no means a complete list and is nowhere near conclusive. It’s merely my opinions wrapping up into one article!
Here are some FAQs recently asked in the comments:
Q: Is it safe to send my campaigns through a third party?
A: Yes, if that company is a good one. Just keep in mind that some companies have been to put a poor sender’s email address on an email blacklist. So be careful and only work with trusted email providers.
Q: How do you know when your emails are being read or opened by recipients?
A: Nowadays there are plenty of ways you can tell when your audience opens up your emails, such as click tracking images so you can see who is clicking what links within an email (and which ones they aren’t). Plus, most providers offer reports with percentages on open rate and click rates; these will give you more detailed reports than ever before.
Q: What are your favorite email marketing providers?
A: I can’t really name just one, because it will depend on what you’re looking for (flavors of ice cream?). It depends on the size of your list and budget; which ones offer the best rates and services based upon those variables? However, William D King says there are some universally great providers; High-Performance Email is one to consider if you want to take advantage of other’s people traffic! Also, consider The Newsletter Guru, they do an excellent job with our lists as well.
Conclusion:
Before you choose who to go with making sure they are reputable, have plenty of experience, and can provide references. Working with an email provider is like hiring someone to raise your child; you want them to do their best job or else things will end up badly for everyone involved!