If you decide to tackle email marketing on your own (instead of hiring a marketing company) distribution is going to take up a quite a bit of your workday! Luckily there are several online services to help you build templates, while managing and maintaining your mailing lists. And while email software is getting more user-friendly, it’s still wise to take any programs for a spin before committing.
We suggest experiment with a few different sites. You’ll pick up valuable tips and tricks along the way, and you’re far more likely — having tried some — to choose a vendor that’s a good fit. Here are three examples and what their free trials offer…
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MailChimp
MailChimp is a great for first-time users. You get access to several templates and the trial subscription lets you send as many as 12,000 emails to up to 2,000 subscribers. One of the greatest things about MailChimp are the helpful (and humorous) hints that pop up as you build your templates and create mailing lists. Most graphics are customizable to fit the spaces provided. Online training is offered. If you have time and an artistic bent (or someone to give this project to), MailChimp may be a good platform for you to create a nice-looking, customized email template.
77% of ROI comes from segmented, targeted, and triggered email campaigns.
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Verticalresponse
Verticalresponse identifies personalizable templates at the start, and a template wizard guides you through the creative process. While attractive, there isn’t a wide template variety. Editing is tricky and takes some trial and error. Fortunately, technical support is available.
Vertical Response offers a convenient pay-as-you go model, charging per mailing rather than a monthly fee. Because the fee is nominal per email address, this model makes it economical to send targeted emails to smaller audiences. In addition, you can easily track your ROI per mailing.
Employees spend thirteen (33%) of their working hours, digging through their inbox, each week!
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Constant Contact
Constant Contact makes it easy to customize font styles and colors, and to resize photos. There are plenty of templates to choose from, but most are tailored to industry sectors. So any given industry (such as legal) doesn’t have a large selection.
Constant Contact offers a big value-add: Every user is assigned a Constant Contact “coach” to call for support and suggestions. This support is available seven days a week. Of the three sites, Constant Contact is the most expensive, starting at $15 per month for 500 emails. But if you are not sending out a large quantity of email, the price may be worth the personal service.
There are scores of other email marketing services. Among them, Campaigner claims it’s less expensive than some of its competitors, but requires credit card information before beginning a free trial subscription. Also, Emma is a popular choice for some who like high-end, customized templates. But you can’t try any of their templates directly from the Emma website; instead, you have to provide your contact information and wait for them to contact you.
If you have any thoughts, comments or concerns about your firm’s distribution methods, contact Kirkpatrick Creative today!