What is email marketing?

Email Marketing (also known as email marketing software, email marketing services, email marketing solutions and email marketing programs) is a form of direct marketing which utilizes email as a way of efficiently distributing information and marketing materials such as email newsletters, advertisements, promotions and fundraising materials to prospective customers. Online email marketing services use an online interface to simplify the process of creating and sending emails to contact lists of any size. These online interfaces provide the user with templates, designs and email creation wizards aimed at simplifying the bulk email marketing process from beginning to end. Nearly all email marketing companies also offer an easy way for the user to gather contact information, and the user can generate reports at their discretion to evaluate how their email marketing campaign performed.

Why use email marketing software?

There are numerous advantages to using email marketing software versus any other form of advertisement.

Cost: When compared to other forms of marketing such as direct mail, magazines or printed newsletters, email marketing is less expensive.

Targeting: Save time by organizing your email list to only target specific, potential customers while still enjoying the benefits of having low marketing costs.

Reporting: Email campaigns can be tracked and analyzed. With email marketing the user gains the ability to track customers all the way from when they first open the email, to when they finalize their transaction.

Timing: Email marketing campaigns can be created and delivered in a matter of minutes ensuring your materials will still be relevant.

Accessibility: A mass email marketing service allows you to actively get your message out to your potential customers, instead of having to wait for them to visit your site.

Advanced Functionality: Specific responses can automatically trigger responses such as sending a predetermined email message or updating a customer's profile information.

Email Marketing Software Market Standard:

• 350 Templates
• Professionally designed templates
• WYSIWYG editor
• Email preview
• Autoresponder for initial email
• Imports contacts from CSV, TXT, manual entry, cut & paste
• Ability to host 5 images
• The ability to remove contacts & create do not mail lists
• Form to add to your website, which enables people to sign up for your mailing list
• Automatically remove those who have selected "unsubscribe" from your mailing list
• Reports which display statistics on Sent, Bounces, Spam Reports, Opt-outs, Opens, Clicks & Forwards
• The ability to view reported data in graphical representation
• The ability to export reports
• Phone, live chat & email support
• FAQ section

How to get started with email marketing software:

Email Creation

Typically, email marketing software providers offer several hundred templates across different industry categories, such as business, music, restaurants, real estate, etc. We assessed template quality according to template organization, variance of templates and relevancy to different user types. The number of email templates for each provided we've reviewed range from 4 to 750, with each template set rated relatively to one another. We also awarded points to email marketing compaines who offer a WYSIWYG editor and HTML editor. The ability to create auto-responders, lots of hosted space for images, and free removal of the email marketing provider's brand also contributed to a high score in this category.

To read more about our testing methodology and Email Creation features, please see our review process or read our email marketing reviews.

Contact Management

Most email marketing services will give you the ability to import contacts from a TXT file or CSV file. Some email marketing companies will let you import from an XLS, and a handful of providers will let you import contacts from web-based email accounts (like Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail, etc.) and/or contact management software, such as Salesforce and Highrise. We recommend choosing an email marketing tool that also allows you to cut & paste contacts directly into the system. The email marketing services that offer these features scored higher than those lacking them. We also awarded points to email marketing software who offered automatic list cleanup and segmentation and an easily customizable signup form.

Email Deliverability

On Email-Marketing-Options.com, we refer to deliverability in two ways. First, we use it to refer to any guarantees that an email marketing software service may make. Second, we use it to describe our own deliverability test, which involves testing emails created with different email marketing software options against the spam filters of six of the most common email servers/clients. We also evaluated the length of time it took for email marketing software to automate the delivery of scheduled messages.

Analyzing Reports

The depth and functionality of statistical reporting is a key element when selecting an email marketing company. The standard statistics we looked for were opens, unopens, bounces, click rates, forwards, open dates, and unsubscribes. Email marketing software, which provides in-depth reporting, allows the user the ability to analyze the success rate of email campaigns and compare them with either other recent campaigns or against recent campaigns in your industry. Reports can appear as numerical stats or as graphical representations. While we were reviewing email marketing services, we awarded extra points to those which offered A/B testing as well as integration with Google Analytics.

Customer Support

We looked at the 5 main criteria which affect customer support while reviewing the email marketing software providers. We tested the phone support, email support, live chat, FAQ/tutorial section, and their overall availability. Phone support, live chat, and email support were judged on response time and our overall experience. The FAQ section was judged on whether we were actually able to find the answers we were looking for, and whether there were any tutorial videos.

Pricing

There are two different types of pricing structures used by the various online email marketing vendors. They are contact based pricing and email based pricing. Contact based pricing charges you on a monthly basis and the price is dependent on the number of email contacts you have uploaded to you account. Email based pricing is either pay-as-you-go or monthly based and is determined by the amount of email credits you wish to purchase. Each email credit allows you to send one email regardless of how many contacts you have uploaded to your account. It is important to note that with monthly email based pricing any email credits you may have remaining at the end of the month will be forfeited.

To read more about our testing methodology and Contact Management features, please see our review process or read our email marketing reviews.

Why Use Email Marketing Software Comparison?

Email Marketing Software Comparison was created as a result of the difficulties we encountered when researching different email marketing services. We found a number of different options and features (which sometimes require additional fees) that were created to suit different email marketing needs. We help you to fully understand the differences in pricing systems and other relevant data so you can make an "apples to apples" comparison of the different services and select a provider so you can get back to business. We are committed to providing a quality resource to individuals and small business owners that will save time and alleviate the frustration that we ourselves have experienced.