Tips for Choosing the Best Email Marketing Software

Tips for Choosing the Best Email Marketing Software

The Best Email Marketing Software for Your Business

With email marketing ROI of 3800% , choosing the best newsletter software provider is key. Question is: how to choose the right one?

This post contains 13 actionable tips that will help you find an ideal email marketing software for your business needs

Benefits of Email Marketing Software at a Glance

• High deliverability rate (subject to newsletter provider)
• Emails and newsletters available as templates or HTML
• Email automation that increases communication efficiency
• Contact Segmentation
• Personalized Newsletters (Personalization level subject to newsletter provider)
• A/B testing and reporting tools that increase campaign effectiveness

These are the basic features any newsletter software should have. However, how effective these features are, is a different story. Moreover, there are more advanced features that you can expect and I will cover these further down in the blog post.

Once you can estimate the number of subscribers you have as well as the number of emails you will be sending, you will find it easier to choose the right email marketing system. This estimate will determine the functionality you will require as well as the cost of the email marketing system.

While companies with a relatively small number of customers can go by with few functionalities, users with big, segmented lists require more robust products.

Usually email marketing systems offer different price plans depending on the number of subscribers or email campaigns you will be sending each month. The perfect newsletter provider should be cost efficient and offer all the functionalities you may need.

How to Choose the Best Email Marketing Software

1. Number of subscribers

Once you can estimate the number of subscribers you have as well as the number of emails you will be sending, you will find it easier to choose the right email marketing system. This estimate will determine the functionality you will require as well as the cost of the email marketing system.

While companies with a relatively small number of customers can go by with few functionalities, users with big, segmented lists require more robust products.

Usually email marketing systems offer different price plans depending on the number of subscribers or email campaigns you will be sending each month. The perfect newsletter provider should be cost efficient and offer all the functionalities you may need.

2.Budget

Email marketing doesn’t have to be expensive. In fact, it shouldn’t be.

As mentioned, once you have estimated the number of subscribers you have as well as the number of emails you will be sending, necessary functionalities, you will be able to determine which newsletter solution will be the most (cost-)effective.

Many newsletter solutions are available for free, subject to the number of subscribers. However, they will offer only limited options.

If you place much importance on the price… remember that the average order value of an email is at least three times higher than that of social media, according to McKinsey.

With Newsletter2Go, you can send monthly 1,000 free newsletters for every account.

3. Email Customization

Intuitiveness

A perfect newsletter provider will allow for easy email design – regardless of your level of expertise. Therefore, you’d want to choose an email marketing system that offers pre-designed templates as well as customizable HTML.

The more intuitive newsletter provider, the better. Look out for providers that offer drag and drop as well as HTML and plain text editors.

Responsive Email Templates

75% of Gmail’s 900M users access their accounts via mobile devices.

Therefore, you will want to send out responsive newsletters. Some providers charge for responsive templates; however, you can get these for free with Newsletter2Go. This feature comes, naturally, with mobile preview.

Corporate Design

Brand recognition is key to effective marketing. A good newsletter provider will make sure that you can easily implement corporate design into email marketing. Remember that consistently implemented corporate design translates into brand recognition and, consequently, faster buying decisions.

Read more about corporate design in email marketing.

4. Email & Mobile Preview

Just because you craft a professionally-looking email, it doesn’t mean it will display as intended. A perfect software provider will offer you email and mobile preview for different operating systems.

5. List Segmentation & Targeting Attributes

Do you want to send out the same content to all of your subscribers?

Probably not. You’d like to send out valuable content at the right time.

How do you go about it?

First of all, you need to come up with targeting attributes and then segment you list according to these. The best email marketing software would be the one that will allow for any attributes, not just custom ones.

6. Reporting Tools

No email marketing campaign is complete without results analysis. No matter what business you’re in, you’d be interested to learn about open- and click-through rates. Different newsletter providers offer various tracking tools.

The best email marketing software will provide these reporting tools and will make sure they are optimized to your needs.

• Open and Click Rates
• Conversion Tracking
• Bounces and Unsubscribes
• Clickmaps & Geolocating
• Target Group Clustering
• Tracking Plug-ins
• A/B Testing

Open and Click Rates

These are the big ones.

In fact, they are the most important key performance indicators.

If you want, you can check open and click rate

*in total

*per contact

*over a given period

Learn more about open and click rate tracking.

Conversion Tracking

Conversion tracking is also a big one.

With Newsletter2Go, you can build conversion tracking into your email and measure conversion rates any time you like. However, you can learn much more than that. Learn more about conversion tracking.

Bounces and Unsubscribes

With that tool, you can discover how many newsletters were not delivered and what were your unsubscribe rates. Unlike other newsletter providers, Newsletter2Go automatically makes sure that an unsubscribed user will never be included in future campaigns.

Clickmaps & Geolocating

Do you want to see how did your open rates perform in a particular city?

If you’re curious, check out the Geolocation feature.

Target Group Clustering

This feature enables you to evaluate your campaign according to specific target groups. Segment your subscribers by identifying traits and learn how many women showed interest in your product. Check out the clustering feature.

Tracking Plugins

Want to connect Google Analytics to your newsletter?

Do it with one click. Check how to connect newsletter with Google Analytics.

7. Multivariate A/B Testing

Most newsletters out there offer A/B testing. Consequently, your competitors use it too.

Want to be one step ahead?

While A/B split testing allows you to test only two versions against one another, multivariate A/B testing, you can test a number of variants.

8. Email Automation

Email automation enables email scheduling.

This includes a series of welcome emails, birthday, we want you back, promo emails… whatever you choose them to be.

What you’d like to consider is whether you want integrated auto-responders or lifecycle capabilities. Auto-responders are triggered by user behavior, such as an abandoned cart reminder. Lifecycle emails are more complex; these are messages sent to subscribers depending on their relationship with the company. A welcome coupon code is a lifecycle email. Check if you need these emails to be automated or triggered and then see whether potential newsletter providers cater to your needs. Learn more about marketing automation.

9. More Marketing Automation

You’re a super busy individual, who’d like to automate as much as possible. You think that copy and paste-like work is a drag.

Newsletter2Go, unlike other newsletter providers, offers unique features: 1 Click Product Transfer and 1 Click Content Transfer.

1 Click Product Transfer allows you to copy all of your product details into your newsletter in one click! If you want to save time copying content into your email, learn more about 1 Click Content Transfer.

10. Deliverability Rate

Just because you send a professionally-looking email, it doesn’t mean that it will make it to the inbox.

You don’t want this to happen to you.

Email deliverability rate is one of the key metrics you should measure your future newsletter provider against.

Use a whitelisted server for newsletter dispatch.

Don’t risk it and use a professional email marketing software for newsletter dispatch. A good software is certified by the Certified Senders Alliance (CSA), which will automatically whitelist all your email campaigns. Read more about increasing delivery rates with whitelisting.

11. Subscription Page

You want to expand your email list, right?

Before you fetch new emails, you need to create an enticing subscription page. The best email marketing software will allow for a customized page in your corporate style.

Therefore, you will want to choose a provider that will enable you to create a subscription page. Probably you won’t do it yourself, so check if there are pre-designed sign up forms and a sign up form generator. Moreover, look for one that will allow for easy subscriber collection.

12. Training and Educational Resources

Even seasoned marketing professionals need to get help from time to time.

Once you find a newsletter provider, check if they offer access to the knowledge database as well (blog, online tutorials, whitepapers, webinars…). If that is the case, make sure you make use of it to make the most of your new email marketing software and learn about email marketing in general.

13. Free Trial The Vendor

Still not sure who provides the best email marketing software?

Pick the most reliably-looking newsletter software and free trial them. If newsletter sending and campaign tracking is a seamless experience and customer support is great, congratulations, you’ve found the best email marketing software!