Whether you're in the market for a new ESP now or want to see how your current one stacks up, you'll find this whitepaper an invaluable resource. This whitepaper will help you take a thoughtful, informed approach to your ESP selection or comparison to your existing solution, so you can compare apples-to-oranges and still make a wise choice.
Choosing the Right
Email Service Provider
The top 20 factors to consider when
shopping for a top tier ESP
A White Paper from ClickMail MarketingFebruary 2009CLickmail Marketing White Paper: Choosing the Right Email Service Provider 2
Contents
Page 3 Email is easy. Or is it? Page 4 Why it's so important to choose the right ESP Page 5 20 Factors to Consider when Choosing a Top Tier ESP (1) Email Automation (Drip And Triggered)
Page 6 (2) Deliverability
Page 7 (3) Authentication Support (4) Usability (5) Integration
Page 8 (6) Segmentation and Targeting (7) Reporting and Analysis
Page 9 (8) Sub Accounts (9) Reliability (10) Ongoing Education (11) Customer Service
Page 10 (12) Scalability (13) Platform Training (14) Security (15) Technical Consulting Services
Page 11 (16) Strategic Consulting Services (17) Scoring Tools (18) Differentiates And Supports Both Marketing And Transactional Emails
Page 12 (19) Pricing (20) Complementary Services
Page 13 How to Evaluate ESPs When to Use an Email Expert like ClickMail Page 14 Conclusion Page 15 ESP Scoring Sheet
Page 16 About ClickMail MarketingCLickmail Marketing White Paper: Choosing the Right Email Service Provider 3
Email is easy. Or is it?
For every dollar Email marketing has become more sophisticated and more challenging. At the same time, it's less trusted than it used to be by recipients, ISPs (Internet spent, email Service Providers) and corporate spam filters. This is due to several factors marketing ROI is including:dropping from . Scammers, spammers, phishing and pharming$57.25 in 2005 . Emailing too oftento a projected . Not segmenting and targeting, resulting in messages that aren't optimally $43.52 in 2009. relevant. Poor online sending reputations. Inbox competition making it harder to be noticed
As a result, email is now less likely to get delivered, get opened and get interacted with. Not surprisingly, despite email's excellent ROI (Return On Investment) compared to other channels, the ROI is declining. According to the DMA's (Direct Marketing Association's) Power of Direct annual economic impact study, released October 2008, for every dollar spent, email marketing ROI will drop from $57.25 in 2005 to a projected $43.52 in 2009. Further, the DMA predicts email ROI will continue to drop, projecting a $37.99 return 1for every dollar spent in 2013.
Yet, despite the declining ROI, email still provides a far better ROI than any other marketing medium. and it's still the preferred means of communication 2among consumers. So it's worth doing everything you can to succeed in the email marketing space to protect your email marketing ROI.
Just as email marketing can be complex, so is choosing a top tier ESP (Email Service Provider). Comparing ESPs to each other isn't always an apples-to-apples comparison. They each have their specific areas of strengths and weaknesses. For example, some ESPs excel at integration with web analytics or CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems, some are very strong in deliverability, and others have a more intuitive interface. The differences don't just stop there: The same piece of content sent to the same list on different ESPs will give you different delivery results.
Email marketing ROI is dropping in part because fewer people are receiving, opening or responding to email marketing campaigns. And that means choosing the best ESP can make the difference between a decreasing ROI or a consistent or even increasing one. Choosing the right ESP for your company not only means choosing the one that will excel at the features most important to your email marketing initiatives, but also the one that will allow you to attain the best ROI.
1 "E-mail's Killer ROI Less Lethal by the Year: DMA," DIRECT, by Ken Magill Oct 14, 2008, http://directmag.com/email/1014-email-roi-dma/2 2008 Channel Preference Survey, Exact TargetCLickmail Marketing White Paper: Choosing the Right Email Service Provider 4
Why it's so important to choose the right ESP
Although email marketing ROI is dropping, email still has the highest return on investment by far, more than twice any other marketing channel according 3to the DMA. That means it's worth making sure you're doing it right . and that starts with choosing the right ESP.
Even th... [download for more]
