Just as there is not one ideal house, there is no one ideal email service provider. But how do you know which is the right one for your needs and budget? Keeping these five tenets in mind can help you select the best ESP for you (and maybe the best house too!).
1) Plan on making a long-term commitment. As with buying a house, you are making a long-term commitment when choosing an ESP. Nobody changes from one supplier to another for fun. There are a lot of hassles and costs involved. When switching ESPs you have to move your subscriber data and newsletter templates, change all your integrations, retrain, and more. So do our research and don’t be hasty; you don’t want to end up living unhappily or moving around.
2) Know what you want. There are more than 300 ESPs worldwide, even 1,000 if you take agencies into account. And as when shopping for a house, you don’t want to see them all. That would take up way too much time. When house hunting, you check how big the house is, if it fits your budget, and if it’s in the right area, right? And you check that before you go, right? So be sure you know what you want before you go and ask ESPs to present their tool or give a quote.
3) ESP salespeople, like real estate agents, are trying to close the deal. Each ESP has been in thousands of sales talks before talking to you. They know how to make their tools look good and how to cover up the, let’s say, less attractive parts. Take this into account, and don’t take all they say at face value. Ask for examples and verified information, and have them put their promises into a service level agreement (SLA).
4) Ask about the neighborhood. Ask the ESP if it services companies equal to yours in size and activity. If those companies are happy with the ESP, there is a good chance you will be as well. But keep in mind that large corporations might use several service providers at the same time. So ask the ESP, and the companies you speak to as references, what exactly the ESP does for them.
5) Consider whether you need a broker. Choosing the optimal ESP isn’t always easy. But it is important to get the decision right. The process might take up a lot of your time and resources, especially if you haven’t shopped around for an ESP before. Some people have done this before; they know the market, know about the various tools available, and have firsthand experience working with ESPs. Shopping around yourself might reduce your out-of-pocket costs, but all the same, you might want to consider hiring an adviser to help you with the all-important selection process.
Jordie van Rijn is an email marketing consultant and chief editor of www.emailvendorselection.com.
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