Avinash Kaushik - world leader in web business optimisation
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Affordable Email marketing & Enewsletter systems and software
I am often asked about recommendations for affordable E-mail broadcast software packages for Email marketing, E-newsletters or Ezines. This note highlights some of the options that are most commonly used in the UK and delegates on my E-mail marketing courses have recommended to me. I only recommend hosted (Application Service Provider) email marketing solutions since, in general, the reporting/tracking and bounce management capabilities of the cheaper desktop e-mail packages are inferior. There are also management problems with deliverability and blacklisting which are best managed by an external company IMO.
Although you can use an email service provider in another country, I recommend using a local provider since this is easier for support and resolving deliverability problems locally. So I have highlighted UK Email marketing companies at the start of the list.
The E-mail broadcast / management (E-mail Service Provider, ESP) solutions which are most cost-effective (below $50 per month for low volumes) recommended to me by delegates on my courses are:
- EmailReaction (UK-based email marketing system with a range of client sizes, but tends to be larger organisations). I use EmailReaction for distributing my E-newsletter.
- NewZapp (a relatively low cost, capable UK-based solution)
- dotMailer (another cost-effective UK solution)
- Pure 360 (UK-based Email marketing specialists with options for SMEs and larger companies wishing to run trigger-based personalised Email marketing campaigns).
- Newsweaver (Offices in UK and Ireland with clients ranging from large multinationals to SMEs. Have examples of SMEs on their site)
- Jangomail (one of the best for database integration?)
- Ezinedirector
- Constant Contact
- Campaign Monitor Relatively new, low cost
Of course, there are literally hundreds of E-newsletter broadcast solutions and these represent the most widely used lower-cost options.
There are also quite a few other reviews of email marketing software on my site you may want to check which refer to desktop and hybrid email broadcast software.
For higher-end packages and a good review of what to look out for within an E-mail management system see the E-consultancy E-mail Marketing buyers guide.
I personally use the UK supplier Email Reaction for my e-newsletter and have been happy with the capability of the package for editing creative, list broadcast and tracking. Great, responsive support too - important to have UK support IMHO.
This is a helpful 2007 review of US-based E-mail marketing systems based on many criteria and ranking them in order.
Criteria to consider for an Email or Enewsletter system are - can the solution:
- Track E-mail response at an individual level?
- Track campaign response across time / multiple campaigns?
- Integrate response with customer database?
- Manage profiling and subscription/unsubscribe?
- Bounces, e.g. Out-of-office auto-replies?
- Deliver WYSIWYG editing for marketing staff?
- Archived e-newsletters on web site?
- Is broadcasting straightforward? Deliverability may be a problem also if shared IP address and some blacklisted.
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Email Marketing Software