Things to consider while selecting the right ESP

THE RIGHT ESP CAN GIVE YOU WINGS TO FLY FIND OUT WHY? ESP 00 00 00000 Choosing the right Email Service Provider can be a daunting task. With the ESP selection and finalization; there are two possibilities - Fly or Die! While the right ESP provides wings to fly high with roaring ROI; a bad choice that doesn't match up to your expectations leads to an unfortunate and inescapable outcome. Although there is some information available on the internet; it still becomes difficult to choose the right ESP that best fits the bill. THE IMPORTANCE OF CHOOSING THE RIGHT ESP Email marketing is one of the most preferred and cost-effective channels of marketing. To execute email marketing well, you need to have a right ESP support. A RIGHT ESP HELPS: Increasing your deliverability rate & ROI Eliminating a future cost of switching to the other ESP Integrating your technology and automation systems with it Preventing the unsubscribe on account of poor testing or rendering Scaling the automation to the next level with targeted & relevant communication Authenticate mail server Collaborate people and processes across the organization EVALUATING THE ESPS IT's NO MORE A HOBSON's СHOICE! SELF ANALYSIS - ARE YOU CONSIDERING SPACE AS YOUR LIMIT OR WANT TO RESTRICT IT TO A FEW METERS FROM THE GROUND? BEFORE SELECTING THE ESP, ASK A FEW QUESTIONS: Are you able to track the success of your email programs? Does migrating to a new ESP impact your revenue ? Are your needs realistic? Are you evaluating ESPS keeping in mind the budget? Would you require a dedicated account manager, robust deliverability and reporting? PLATFORM THERE ARE CROWS AND THERE ARE CUCKOOS! AFTER HAVING A SELF-EXAMINATION ABOUT THE KIND OF REQUIREMENTS, START YOUR DIVINE SEARCH OF THE RIGHT PLATFORM MATCHING YOUR NEEDS. B IS IT A USABILITY ROCKSTAR? HOW DIVINE IS THE DELIVERABILITY? Usability of the platform is quintessential. If the platform isn't user friendly your Deliverability is the key concern for most staff might not be able to use it quite marketers. Without emails being well. Consider the speed of training your delivered, marketers will not be able to staff. track the ROI from the campaigns. WATCHWORDS WATCHWORDS • Ease of navigation. Analysts' rating on Forrester, Jupiter or member of Email Service Provider Coalition (ESPC). • Profile settings and account configuration or syncing. • Flexibility to allow third party deliverability audit. The nature of workflow. • Optional interfaces. • Monitoring of deliverability. • Possibility of having a dedicated IP and associated costs, if any. Pre-loaded templates and WYSIWYG editor • Error recognition capabilities. • Team that interacts with ISP. • HTML validation tools within the platform. • Reputation support such as white listing, feedback loops etc. • Customized permission setup possibilities. • Third party and in-built deliverability tools, if any • Authentication support - SPF, SenderID, DomainKeys, DKIM and DMARC. • Testing and demo. ARE YOUR WINGS RELIABLE? THE HOW SCALABLE IN THE ESP? ESP WE MEAN! Remember, migrating ESP is tougher than Well, if your wings aren't reliable, you selecting ESP ab initio. That said; it is won't really be able to fly well. Same now mission critical to choose a platform that is easily scalable with your growing goes with the ESP! Make sure it is reliable to be able to count on the system needs. and not losing on the ROI. WATCHWORDS WATCHWORDS • Understand the scalability claims as this could be email volume, speed, lists and anything wide. • Consider the uptime and downtime including the patterns of downtime. • Size of customers served. • Customer viewpoints about downtime. • MTA (Mail Transfer Agent) used. • Unplanned downtime in last two years. Delivery capacities of informative and promotional emails. • Crisis management plan. • Integration and partnership ecosystem. • Number of releases about temporary service suspension in the past. Long-term growth plans of the ESP and scalability business cases. Competitors scalability. IS THE ESP BIG DATA HOW DIVINE IS THE ENTHUSIAST? DELIVERABILITY? With marketers shifting from marketing Reporting and analytics is crucial part of to data science, it is much required that any ESP's feature list. With marketers your ESP is a data lover. now tracking more than just email open, click through rate and unsubscribe complaints, it is essential that the ESP WATCHWORDS provides more logical matrices than just • Full or partial relational database support. open and click rates. • Data integration with CRM, e-commerce and other automated systems. WATCHWORDS • Custom reporting ability. • Ability of providing custom integration and complete documentation. • Reporting for bounce emails. • Ability to report programmable post click-through such as clickstream behavior. • Internal integration and third party integration facilities. • Ease of exporting data. • Understand the type of API the platform offers: XML- based, Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), REST, Synchronous or Asynchronous. Easier the better. • Team that interacts with ISP. • Tools for conversion tracking and subscriber engagement. PRICING FLY HIGH REASONABLY! Having a pricing term that fits your budgets and sending pattern matters. Analyze pricing plans from various vendors before selecting an ESP. WATCHWORDS Yearly usage or commitment to revenue Termination terms Optional and fixed costs Complimentary services, if any Payment terms: Contracts, Full service payment or Minimum monthly pay as you go Set up fee, if any Modes of payment CUSTOMER SERVICE, SECURITY AND COMPLIANCE THEY ARE YOUR EAGLE EYES! The other kind of question to probe while choosing an ESP is about the customer service, security and compliance. Check whether there will be consulting, training, 24/7 support, data security, trial accounts etc. WATCHWORDS 24/7 support and the ticketing system Complaint escalation procedure Staff training and consulting on deployment, design and coding, if any For data security is the ESP SOX and HIPAA compliant, if applicable Do they have network intrusion detection, such as firewalls, employee screening, monitored access, and/or security cameras? Are they insured, licensed and bonded? Types of audit trials available Types of security tools in place Monitoring and alerts, if any Compliance requirements of ESP Knowledge with regards to the new regulations Recourse if there is a violation of one of these laws or policies Ask if there are trial accounts available So now when you know the miles you can fly (aka. ESP), will you still consider the same wings? If yes, make sure those wings help you fly high! Email Monks Email Monks design and code heavenly emails, newsletter templates and landing pages. To know more email us on [email protected] or visit www.emailmonks.com 3 +1 213 674 MONK O facebook.com/emailmonks Email Monks e twitter.com/emailmonks X [email protected] www.emailmonks.com S emailmonks O pinterest.com/emailmonks Sources: | Email Vendor Selection | Vertical Response | Click Mail