Email Marketing Software Buyers Guide
Last updated: December 06, 2023
Email Marketing Software—Easy to Follow Buyers Guide for 2021
Email marketing has been around for a long time, but if you think this advertising tool is outdated, you’re wrong. It’s vital that you still incorporate this into your company’s business plan, as it’s an effective way of placing your messages in front of your audience no matter who they are: everyone has email addresses these days, don’t they?
An email marketing software package can help you manage your email campaign more effectively. With automated tasks and insightful feedback, you can make more of an impact in 2019 than ever before.
Technology is on your side—now simply make sure you use it correctly by picking the right software according to these guidelines.
What is Email Marketing Software?
If you want your email marketing campaign to work, your messages must reach your targets—leads—at the right time according to their recent actions in your sales funnel. You can’t send just any message; it must align with your lead’s specific need at that time.
When you have many leads to manage this can become complicated. Email marketing software automates many of these tasks and helps you keep track of all your data, contacts, history of sent messages & more.
The software can simply be used to educate clients or stay in touch with them through simple newsletters. But it’s also effective in generating leads or showcasing new products to new subscribers. It’s effective in managing communication with individuals that have entered your sales funnel.
Bonus: it’s cost-effective!
BIG
Key Functionalities of Modern Email Marketing Software
If you do invest in one of these programs you’ll have the following to look forward to:
- Sending multiple emails containing sales information, newsletters, or other types of content.
- You can effortlessly compile and maintain a contact list with accurate, up-to-date information. It allows for easy importing of data such as a contact list from your CRM software so you can work with centralized information.
- It provides feedback on what happens with sent messages, such as what percentage of recipients opened and read your communication. You can even find out where revenue originated.
- Get insights on your clientele, such as reports on their demographics, because the software compiles data automatically. These analytics can be used to improve future campaigns.
- You can monitor how your email marketing performs and what your ROI is.
- The autoresponders in the software will automatically send specific correspondence to customers who took certain actions. Instead of you going through your database to see who needs a follow-up email because they clicked your ‘Subscribe’ button or downloaded your online guides, your software will do it on your behalf.
The software can also be used for marketing research with a split test. Compare how different subject lines or email content draw engagement so you know what will give you optimum results in future campaigns.
Free vs Paid: What is Best?
There are many free or cheap versions of email marketing software on the market these days. The costs often determine:
- How many users can utilize the features
- How many emails you can send each month
- The number of features
- The type of technical support you’ll receive
Small businesses often only need free packages to start with. But take note: while it’s important to manage your budget, don’t settle on a free package if it won’t help you make the impact you want.
A smart option is to start out with a vendor’s free package so you can determine if it works for you and whether you find it user-friendly. Upgrade once you’ve found the software that works for you.
Email marketing software is a cost-effective advertising option when compared to many others. That makes it worth investing in, even if you’re currently working on a tight budget.
Pricing & Plans
The paid-for software can cost anything from a few dollars up to $1000 a month. You’ll often pay less if you manage it yourself, rather than letting an agency do it for you.
You can manage how much you spend by first paying for one user and adding more users later on. It’s worth paying for a few users as your whole team can then benefit from and take part in this type of marketing.
What to Look for in Email Marketing Software
The features may all seem the same when you work through vendors’ portfolios. Asking service providers more in-depth questions and reading reviews will show you which one is true value for money:
- Is it easy to manage the contact list and does the program have a user-friendly layout?
- Can you divide contacts into groups according to their characteristics so you can send relevant emails to each group?
- Will the vendor or software ensure your messages are sent to contacts’ inboxes and not their spam folders?
- Does the system allow for easy marketing automation? This refers to how easily you can personalize outgoing messages.
- Does it have the features you need? Not all companies send out newsletters, so don’t pay for features you don’t want.
- Can you incorporate your sales engine with your new email marketing software?
- All features—even creating a newsletter—must be super easy to do. Drag and drop features are customer favorites.
- Does the company provide quality technical support?
- For emails to look professional—without much effort from you—your software should provide you with various templates to pick from.
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Some vendors offer customized packages so you can align features with your exact needs.
Conclusion
What you see as a tedious task can be simplified while becoming more effective: that’s the benefit of using the latest technology and software.
Will you start making more of an impact via your clients’ email inboxes?
