Choosing an email marketing company

Once you have decided to run an email marketing campaign, you will need to look for a company which provides ALL the services you think you might need. Take your time when selecting an email marketing firm and find one you trust, as the company will have direct access to your customers and you want to make sure you feel comfortable with the company you hire. What is essential is that the company should be up to date with all data protection laws and ideally be a member of the DMA in the UK.

The company should have excellent relationships with all ISP’s. This means that they will be able to ensure that your email campaign gets delivered effectively. In order to ensure that your emails work from a marketing perspective -- and that they will survive spam filters -- an email firm can edit and proofread your message content.

An email marketing company should also deliver your email with the proper protocols. Although HTML emails are becoming the standard, not everyone can receive them. An email marketing company can ensure that each recipient receives your emails in the format (HTML or text) they prefer.

The email marketing company should also provide you with reports and statistics for your campaign. Metrics such as number of emails sent, number opened and number of click-throughs provide important feedback that will help you design future campaigns, re-think your approach, or decide whether your efforts are working.

An email service should ensure that your email marketing database is kept updated and clean. The company should also provide you with a data appending service. This means that they will be able to add any missing fields to data that you may already have. This level of list management ensures goodwill whilst keeping your business compliant with any existing or planned SPAM legislation.

Finally, email marketing firms are specialists and a good one will be able to provide you with tangible results. Look for a company that works in your industry. Many email marketing companies work in multiple industries. If you can find one that specialises in your industry you are more likely to succeed. It is also important to find a company that allows you to target recipients from many variables including as much demographic information as you can get to make your email campaign more targeted.