As eye-popping as the rewards of email are, they can prove to be utterly elusive as well, should you happen to be unaware of the tools necessary to harness its potential to the fullest. Email is a stellar channel of communication, and the go-to medium for businesses, small and big, across the globe, but its merits don’t come readily served on a silver platter. You’ve to put in your fair share of hard yards, and identify the right platforms that will help you get the most out of it. And a discussion that involves tools and platforms dedicated to streamlining email marketing has to be led, of course, by the mention of email service providers (ESPs).
ESPs allow brands to efficiently manage their subscribers, enabling them to foster a 1-on-1 channel of communication with them, which subsequently paves the way for greater interaction, increased engagement, improved brand loyalty, and ultimately, higher conversions. However, with the market being replete with plenty of worthy options, picking an ESP that is right for you can be quite challenging, more so, when you are a small business. As a small business owner, you must select an ESP which while catering to all your unique business objectives should not also stretch your budget pitiably thin. Are you someone who’s sailing in this boat? Worry not; we aim to make your life easier today. In this blog, we will talk about five essential things that every small business must keep in mind while choosing an ESP. Read on to find out more!
User-friendliness
The ESP you choose will be at the core of your email marketing operations. Therefore, it is extremely critical to assess the user-friendliness of an ESP before making it a part of your apparatus. See if you can seamlessly navigate its interface and if all of its features can be accessed without running into any sort of difficulty. Keep in mind that an ESP is a long-term investment; so, even if you harbor the slightest apprehension towards any attribute of any ESP, don’t go for it. When you pick an ESP that aligns with your needs and requirements, you stand to level the playing field, rubbing shoulders with ease with all the established titans in your industry. On the flip side, however, should you choose to settle with an ESP you’re not entirely happy with, you risk reneging on the progress you have already made, leaving your operations in complete disarray.
Scalability
Every organization aspires to grow with time, and I’m sure so do you. Now, it is vital that this aspiration receives solid support from your ESP’s infrastructure. Yes, we are talking about scalability. Always think long-term while selecting an ESP. Sure, at the moment you might have a few hundred or thousand subscribers, but if you have a robust email marketing strategy in place and are meticulously sticking to it, it won’t be long before the number of contacts on your list multiplies multifold. Is the ESP you are looking to lock in cut out for the demands of that scenario? If not, you are probably better off choosing one that is. Changing ESPs as your business transitions from one growth stage to another is simply impractical, and will end up putting a heavy burden on your wallet.
Deliverability
The last thing you’d want for the email campaigns you worked tirelessly on is to end up in your subscribers’ spam, or even worse, not reach them, in the first place. Well, you might end up finding yourself in this deeply unenviable situation if you fail to pay attention to the deliverability rate of your chosen ESP. Higher the deliverability rate, greater are the chances of your emails landing in your recipients’ inboxes, as intended. Now, we understand that the ESPs boasting of the best deliverability rates in the market demand steep prices, and thus, might be far outside your budget. However, ensure that you don’t compromise substantially, eventually ending up picking one that has a sub-par deliverability rate. At the cost of a few bucks saved temporarily, you’ll end up wreaking permanent havoc on your email marketing campaigns.
Template-building Capabilities
As a small business, chances are that you might not have a full-fledged email development team yet. Fret not; you can make up for that with your ESP. At present, there are a lot of ESPs that come equipped with email builders where one can build their desired email templates from scratch with minimal or no knowledge of coding. Sendgrid templates, for instance, come in a lot of variety, allowing its users to utilize the platform’s pre-made templates in diverse situations.
Reporting & Analytics
If you want your email campaigns to continuously outperform those of your competitors, you must religiously monitor the performance. An ESP with a comprehensive analytics dashboard can prove to be invaluable in this regard. With the help of the insights provided, you’ll be able to identify and resolve gaps in your campaigns at the earliest, making sure that nothing gets in the way of your campaigns driving tremendous results.
Wrapping It Up
We hope the insights shared above will help you select an ESP that is best-suited for your business. Further, we recommend consulting with a seasoned expert prior to going ESP-hunting; this will greatly aid in your decision-making.
Author: Kevin George is the head of marketing at Email Uplers, that specializes in crafting Professional Email Templates, PSD to Email conversion, and Mailchimp Templates. Kevin loves gadgets, bikes & jazz, and he breathes email marketing. He enjoys sharing his insights and thoughts on email marketing best practices on email marketing blog.