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Email Marketing When you enter your email address into an opt-in form in order to download a white paper or receive a special discount, you will soon be the recipient of that company’s email marketing campaign. Email can be a very effective tool for building trust with your existing and potential customers. Using an email auto-responder to collect addresses and send out emails according to a set schedule, you can establish a loyal following of subscribers who look to your organization as a trusted source of information. When these prospects are further along in the sales cycle, your email newsletter could be the deciding factor in their final purchase. Email is proving to be one of the most effective means of initiating contact with and nurturing B2B leads. In a recent study by MarketingProfs, business service companies reported the highest open rates (at 21.9 percent) and click ratios (at 4.9 percent) in their email campaigns. And in a 2010 survey conducted by Datran Marketing, 39.4 percent of industry executives said that the email was the most effective advertising channel for their company. Why Outsource Your Company’s Email Marketing? Email marketing is without doubt one of the best ways for B2B companies to acquire new leads. That’s why a recent study by BtoB Magazine found that 80 percent of the companies surveyed plan to increase their online marketing budget and of those, 68.6 percent intend to invest more in their email marketing campaigns. Many companies report that the most challenging aspect of successful email marketing lies in finding employees with the expertise to properly develop and implement an email strategy. A recent survey by InsideUp found that for 70 percent of B2B companies, lack of expertise within their firm and difficulty finding qualified people to do the work were the biggest obstacles to successful online marketing. Additionally, in-house email marketing can drain your budget and resources and make your marketing department more dependent on IT. It will also require a substantial investment in customized software and server technology. Finding a quality email marketing company to take care of your needs can save your company considerable expense, in terms of labor hours as well as internal bandwidth and email server processing power. Moreover, you will have the advantage of the email provider’s expertise in all aspects of email marketing, such as list management, customized content, deliverability, testing and tracking, and regulatory compliance. This guide is designed to help you find the best email marketing company for your business.

How to Select the Best Email Marketing Provider for Your Company

Comparing email service providers is a fairly straightforward process. The primary differences between providers are in the pricing models and features offered. Here are a few factors to consider when comparing pricing and features of various ESPs:

1. Know what your current email marketing needs are and decide precisely what goals you want to achieve with your email campaigns.

2. Check for monthly and annual retainers or minimums – many email service providers will

want you to make a minimum commitment. Find a model that offers scalability according to your usage and campaigns.

3. Look at the cost per email. This can be based on cost per delivered email, opened email,

and other factors.

4. Decide whether you need additional professional services. The best companies will offer a flexible pricing schedule for professional services—one that does not require you to commit to unnecessarily high usage levels or to speculate as to how much service you will need several months in advance. Inquire about the cost per labor hour – often times a fair amount is built in for account management oversight fees.

5. Ask about advanced email marketing features. Most providers offer basic email

campaigns that allow you to send the same message to your entire list. But to create truly effective email marketing campaigns you will need some more advanced features such as automation and segmentation. These features will enable you to customize the timing and content of your messages according to the varying needs of your customers. Most providers charge for these features and according to the quantity of email sent or the size of your contact list.

6. Find out if the provider’s dashboard is user-friendly—can you easily add, edit and delete recipient addresses? The same question applies to the visual-to-HTML tools. Will they be intuitive and easy to work with when creating and formatting your newsletter?

7. Consider the appearance and style of their available templates. Will it enhance your

company’s message, or will you need to have a custom design created?

8. Perform reference checks. Each company you consider should be able to provide a list of references that you can contact. Also, find out how long the provider has been in business and ask if they have any case studies.

9. Look for a company that offers a trial period. Some email marketing companies will let

you test out their services with a thirty or even sixty day free or low-cost trial period.

10. Ask about reporting and analysis tools to track open rates and response rates as well as bounces and removal requests. Tracking and comparing the results of various email marketing campaigns will give you insight into what is working and where adjustments can be made.

11. Check the deliverability of the company's system. Will they monitor your delivery rates

and be able to address any issues? Bear in mind that most spam filters do not send a bounce notification to the server. If your email marketing company claims a 98% successful delivery rate, the actual numbers may be lower.

12. Make sure the provider strictly adheres to Federal regulations for commercial email.

Your email messages must meet various content and technical requirements to be in compliance with the CAN SPAM Act of 2003.

13. Find out if your email messages will appear the way you want them to regardless of the

recipient’s personal or ISP settings. The best email marketing solutions can automatically detect which version of a message to send each individual recipient.

14. Ask about the company’s expertise in areas such as ad copy and keyword usage. A

provider who is knowledgeable in these areas may be able to offer advice regarding subject length, wording and font type. Using these elements effectively can have a significant impact on the success of your campaign.

A 2009 study conducted by the Direct Marketing Association revealed that email marketing resulted in an ROI of $43.62 on every dollar spent. This was the highest rate of all direct marketing methods. To produce high quality leads, however, email marketing must be well planned and executed, with proper attention given to segmenting and targeting your audience. Here are some tips to help you build successful email marketing campaigns:

• The best time to email a new lead is within the first five minutes of receiving the lead. Take this opportunity to thank them for their interest and to present any special offers you have as further incentive to try out your services.

• Use email to build trust throughout the sales cycle. This is especially effective for B2B

purchases, which typically have a longer sales cycle as the buying decision goes through various levels of approval. Your emails can create an atmosphere of goodwill and demonstrate that you’re there to help them find solutions.

• Focus on providing real value with every email; your prospects will appreciate the fact

that you are delivering more than just a sales pitch, and the occasional testimonial or case study regarding your services will be well received.

• Once you have closed a sale, send an immediate thank you email and let your customer

know you are there if they need help. This is a good time to offer tips on how to get the most from their purchase.

 

• Retention emails afford the opportunity for future sales, but be careful to avoid a “hard sell,” and always pepper your sales messages and offers with useful tips and information that will help build confidence and trust in your company.

• Email is a valuable tool for building trust throughout the sales cycle. This is especially

true for B2B purchases, which typically have a longer sales cycle as the buying decision goes through various levels of approval within a company.

• A slower economy has also contributed to lengthening sales cycles, resulting in an even

greater need to fine-tune the nurturing process. Create an atmosphere of goodwill with your prospects and demonstrate that you’re there to help them find solutions.

• Strategic consultants at Responsys suggest using a progressive profiling system, asking

only one question with each email, letting the customer set the tone and pace, and being careful to never assume too much about your prospect.

• During the consideration phase, continue to monitor the data you collect about your

prospect and change your messages accordingly.

• Strategists for ExactTarget recommend that companies focus on two complementary goals during this stage: Deliver content that helps establish the company as the expert on the topic of interest, and educate the consumer on the products or services the consumer inquired about.

• Segment your lists and “clean” them regularly in order to continually optimize campaign performance.

• And finally, evaluate your email marketing metrics and fine tune campaigns based on the results. Determine your most crucial and actionable key performance indicators and test the results of each campaign accordingly.

A strong email marketing campaign will combine the right timing of emails with a targeted campaign based on where your leads are in the sales cycle. Building a relationship in this way will result in greater customer retention and higher repeat purchase rates. Selecting the best service provider can be a time consuming process for any business. That’s why InsideUp has carefully pre-selected online marketing service professionals who offer quality work at a reasonable cost. By filling out a simple form you can receive custom quotes from up to five top providers who are matched to your company’s specific needs.

Glossary Above-the-fold The part of a web page that is visible without scrolling. It is generally more desirable placement on a Website because of its visibility. If you have a "join our mailing list" tag on your Website, you should place it "above the fold" making it easy for visitors to opt-in. Affirmative Consent Another word for permission. The recipient of your email has been clearly and fully notified of the collection and use of his email address and has consented prior to such collection and use. Affirmative consent is not only a best practice; it is required by all reputable email marketing services. Auto Responder A program or a script that automatically sends a response when someone sends a message to its address. The most common uses of auto responders are for subscribe and unsubscribe confirmations, welcome emails and customer-support questions. CAN-SPAM Act of 2003-Federal anti-spam legislation passed in 2003 that requires the following in each email: a legitimate header, a valid "From" address, a straightforward "Subject" line, an unsubscribe/opt-out link and/or instructions and a physical address. It also requires that all unsubscribes are processed within ten days of receipt. Campaign An email marketing message or a series of messages designed to accomplish an overall goal. Challenge Response An automated message triggered by the receipt of an email for the purpose of identifying the sender as a trusted source. The challenge is a message to the sender of the email with instructions on how to validate themselves. If the sender provides a valid response, his email address is added to the recipient's list of trusted senders and his message is passed along to the recipient. Click-through Rate (CTR) The percentage (the number of unique clicks divided by the number that were opened) of recipients that click on a given URL in your e-mail. Confirmed Opt-In A more stringent method of obtaining permission to send email campaigns. Confirmed opt-in adds an additional step to the opt-in process. It requires the subscriber to respond to a confirmation email, either by clicking on a confirmation link, or by replying to the email to confirm their subscription. Only those subscribers who take this additional step are added to your list.

  Conversion Rate The number or percentage of recipients who respond to your call-to-action in a given e-mail marketing campaign or promotion. This is the measure of your e-mail campaign's success. You may measure conversion in sales, phone calls, appointments etc. Cost per Thousand (CPM) In e-mail marketing, CPM commonly refers to the cost per 1000 names on a given rental list. For example, a rental list priced at $250 CPM would mean that the list owner charges $.25 per e-mail address. E-zine An ezine is an electronic magazine emailed to a list of subscribers. Advertisers pay to have their ad (text, HTML or both depending on the publication) inserted into the body of the email. Buying ad space in an e-zine or email newsletter, or sponsoring a specific article or series of articles allow advertisers to reach a targeted audience driving traffic to a website, store or office, signups to a newsletter or sales of a product or service. Email Blocking Email blocking typically refers to blocking by ISPs. E-mails that are blocked are not processed through the ISP and are essentially prevented from reaching their addressed destination. ISPs actively block email coming from suspected spammers. Email Newsletter Ads or Sponsorships Buying ad space in an email newsletter or sponsoring a specific article or series of articles. Advertisers pay to have their ad (text, HTML or both depending on the publication) inserted into the body of the email. False Positive Legitimate permission-based email that is erroneously blocked due to the limitations of current email blocking and filtering techniques. False positives are an industry wide problem. Currently, 17% of permission-based email is erroneously blocked. From Line or Sender Line The from line has two parts: part one is the "From Name" - such as "Constant Contact's Email Marketing Diva, Michelle Keegan." Part two is the "From Address" - the electronic address including "@" such as, "tips@constantcontact.com." Your recipients may see just the from name, just the from address, or both depending on the configuration of their email client. HTML E-mail An e-mail that is formatted using Hypertext Markup Language instead of plain text. HTML makes it possible to include unique fonts, graphics and background colors. HTML makes an e-mail more interesting and when used properly can generate higher response rates than plain text.

Hard Bounce/Soft Bounce A hard bounce is the failed delivery of an e-mail due to a permanent reason like a non-existent address. A soft bounce is the failed delivery of an e-mail due to a temporary issue, like a full mailbox or an unavailable server. House List (or Retention List) A permission-based list that you built yourself. Use it to market, cross sell and up-sell, and to establish a relationship with customers over time. Your house list is one of your most valuable assets because it is 7 times less expensive to market to an existing customer than it is to acquire a new one. Use every opportunity to add to it and use it. Landing Page A web page that is linked to an email for the purpose of providing additional information directly related to products or services promoted in the email. Links Text links, hyperlinks, graphics or images that, when clicked or when pasted into a browser, send the prospect to another online location (e.g. a landing page or other pages of a website). Links in emails are a call-to-action. To be most effective in motivating action, links should be visible, clear and compelling. Open Rate The percentage of e-mails opened in any given e-mail marketing campaign, or the percentage opened of the total number of e-mails sent. Opt-in (or Subscribe) To opt-in or subscribe to an e-mail list is to choose to receive e-mail communications by supplying your e-mail address to a particular company, website or individual thereby giving them permission to e-mail you. The subscriber can often indicate areas of personal interest (e.g. mountain biking) and/or indicate what types of e-mails she wishes to receive from the sender (e.g. newsletters). Opt-out (or Unsubscribe) To opt-out or unsubscribe from an e-mail list is to choose not to receive communications from the sender by requesting the removal of your e-mail address from their list. Permission-Based E-mail E-mail sent to recipients who have opted-in or subscribed to receive e-mail communications from a particular company, website or individual. Permission is an absolute prerequisite for legitimate and profitable e-mail marketing.

Phishing (pronounced "fishing") Refers to email scams whose purpose is identity theft. Identity thieves send fraudulent email messages with return addresses, links, and branding that appear to come from credit card companies, banks and some of the Web's most well known sites including eBay®, PayPal®, MSN®, Yahoo®, and AOL®. These messages are designed to "phish" for personal and financial information (e.g. passwords, usernames, social security numbers, credit card numbers, mother's maiden name, etc.) from the recipient. For examples, see www.anti-phishing.org. Preexisting Business Relationship The recipient of your email has made a purchase, requested information, responded to a questionnaire or a survey, or had offline contact with you. Important note: Federal law recognizes your right to send email to people with whom you have a preexisting business relationship provided that you include a working unsubscribe link or instructions, however, be aware of the difference between your legal rights and best practices. Blasting off an email campaign to all of your past customers will likely engender bad will and get you a high complaint, or abuse, rate. First, forget about the customers who are more than one year old if you haven't emailed them before. To your remaining list, you may want to send a permission letter that reminds customers of their relationship with you. Then, encourage them to unsubscribe if they do not want to receive your future mailings. Your permission letter reassures your customers that you care about their permission, minimizes complaints and starts you off with a cleaner list. Privacy Policy A clear description of a website or company's policy on the use of information collected from and about website visitors and what they do, and do not do, with the data. Your privacy policy builds trust especially among those who opt-in to receive e-mail from you or those who register on your site. If subscribers, prospects and customers know their information is safe with you, they will likely share more information with you making your relationship that much more valuable. Rental List (or Acquisition list) A list of prospects or a targeted group of recipients who have opt-in to receive information about certain subjects. Using permission-based rental lists, marketers can send e-mail messages to audiences targeted by interest category, profession, demographic information and more. Renting a list usually costs between $.10 and $.40 per name. Be sure your rental list is a certified permission-based, opt-in list. Permission-based lists are rented, not sold. Segmentation Dividing your email list based on interest categories, purchasing behavior, demographics and more for the purpose of targeting specific email campaigns to the audience most likely to respond to your messaging or offer. Your list segmentation and targeting efforts pay off in higher open and click-through rates.

Signature File (or sig file for short) A tagline or short block of text at the end of an e-mail message that identifies the sender and provides additional information such as company name and contact information. Your signature file is a marketing opportunity. Use it to convey a benefit and include a call-to-action with a link. Single Opt-in (with a subscriber acknowledgement email) The most widely accepted and routinely used method of obtaining email addresses and permission. A single opt-in list is created by inviting visitors and customers to subscribe to your email list. When you use a signup tag on your website, a message immediately goes out to the subscriber acknowledging the subscription (this is often accomplished using an auto- responder). This message should reiterate what the subscriber has signed up for, and provide an immediate way for the subscriber to edit her interests or opt-out. Spam or UCE (Unsolicited Commercial E-mail) E-mail sent to someone who has not opt-in or given permission to the sender. Do you get spam? (a rhetorical question, to be sure) Find out how the sender obtained your e-mail address. Spoofing The falsification of an email header so that the email appears to have originated from someone or somewhere other than the actual source. Illegitimate marketers use spoofing to disguise their identity in an attempt to commit fraud and avoid prosecution for sending UCE or spam. Federal law prohibits spoofing, however, until sender identity can be established, spammers will continue to escape the law. Subject Line The short line of type in an email that indicates what the message is about. Your subject line should be short (30 - 40 characters including spaces, or 5-8 words), and it should include a specific benefit that accurately reflects your offer in order to be effective. Federal law prohibits the use of misleading subject lines. Suppression List (a.k.a. opt-out list) A list of email addresses whose owners have asked to be removed from an email list so that they no longer receive email regarding an advertiser's products or services. A reputable email marketing service makes this process automatic; however, if you use multiple email products, or have multiple databases from which you send emails, you should use a suppression list to process all unsubscribe requests across all lists. Targeting Selecting a target audience or group of individuals likely to be interested in a certain product or service. Targeting is very important for an e-mail marketer because targeted and relevant e-mail campaigns yield a higher response and result in fewer unsubscribes.

Unique Selling Proposition (USP) Your USP is the unique attribute(s) of your business that makes your company, product or service the best solution to a problem, the best way to fulfill a need or desire or the best way to achieve a goal. Your USP answers the prospect's question: "Why should I do business with you instead of someone else?" Universal Resource Locator (URL) A website, page or any other document address or location on the Internet. URLs indicate the location of every file on every computer accessible through the Internet. Viral Marketing A type of marketing that is carried out voluntarily by a company's customers. It is often referred to as word-of-mouth advertising. Email has made this type of marketing very prevalent. Tools such as "send this page, article or website to a friend" encourage people to refer or recommend your company product, service or a specific offer to others. WIIFM-or "What's In It For Me?" The question at the forefront of every email recipient's mind when making a decision to open, read and take action on your email (e.g. click on a link, call for an appointment, visit an office or retail location). Glossary Courtesy of Constant Contact