Email Marketing – Which Solution is Best for your Business?

Jun 09

MikeGeneral Business Practices, Web Industry , 1 Comment

Clients often ask us about the use of email marketing solutions.  While much has been written about the benefits of adopting email marketing strategies, it can be difficult to navigate the wealth of different solutions available to businesses, large or small.

Email marketing can be a great tool for promoting your business, if you get it right that is.  Many companies will adopt it because it offers the potential to instantly increase sales and allows business owners to adopt a marketing strategy which is easily measurable.  There are a number of factors which will govern the success of an email marketing campaign, but one of the most important factors is the email marketing vendor that you chose.

The market for this type of service is huge and in our opinion over saturated.  This means that when it comes to choosing a company to launch your email marketing campaign you will need to pick wisely and according to your needs and business type.  Here are our top four email marketing solutions to help get you started:

  1. Mail Chimp: This is our personal favorite and the one solution we frequently recommend to our clients, especially small businesses.  Designed with a bright and cheerful interface, Mail Chimp offers plenty of features which are designed with simplicity in mind.  While it may lack some advanced reporting features, it makes up with a robust feature set.  Mail Chimp also offers a free service to those businesses that have under 500 subscribers.  This is a pricing advantage that no others can match!
  2. Constant Contact: Constant Contact is a household name for many businesses.  They have done a great job with their corporate branding and advertisements but don’t let this play into your decision.  Pricing starts from just $15 per month and subscribers will find a comprehensive feature set, easy to use wizards and excellent help and support.   Where it does fall short is in the number of reporting features available and free tools on offer such as conversion tracking.
  3. Vertical Response: If you are looking for a solution which does not require a contract or minimum term commitment then give Vertical Response a try.  From just $10 per month you will find plenty of features which will rival those of any of their competitors.   Personally, the best part about Vertical Response is their “pay as you go” pricing option.  Maybe you send quarterly newsletters.  If you know that your business will not be sending emails monthly, why enter into a monthly contract?    Unfortunately, Vertical Response is not the easiest of the bunch to navigate.
  4. iContact: Considered among the best in the business, iContact offers a simple to use solution.   Packed with features, including a custom survey option which allows users to create and send their own surveys, it is easy to use and with subscriptions starting from $14 per month.  Its only flaw is the lack of reporting features available and it doesn’t include conversion tracking or Google Analytics integration.

Businesses of all sizes, give each of these four vendors a look.   Personally, if you’re a small business with under 500 subscribers (email recipients), I’d definitely suggest going with Mail Chimp.  (Mail Chimp is also good for companies of all sizes, see their full pricing options).  If you have more than 500 subscribers and know that you won’t need a vendor each month, I’d suggest either Mail Chimp’s prepaid “pay as you go” plan or Vertical Response’s “pay as you go” plan.