Information Technology

Monday, November 12, 2012

Email Marketing - Can You Do It Yourself?

Often times business will struggle with how to start and manage their email marketing program. Doing email marketing on your own can be hard. It is also more time consuming due to the content editing process. Unless you're an "advertiser" creating a professional looking email can take hours to complete. And as most of us know, time is money. In this article I will mostly be talking about Internet Service Provider(s), which for the duration of this article will be refer to it as ISP.

So what are the benefits of using and Email Marketing Company?
Well, there are several.

First, ISP relations.
Second, ISP bulk mailing.
Third, email creation software.

Let's start out with ISP relations. Most third party email companies have a dedicated team whose job it is to follow the new Can Spam Act Guidelines and be compliant to those rules. This is something you will not have to worry about in regards to your emails, because your third party marketing company will be doing that for you. They are also involved if for some reason an ISP blocks a domain. For example, Yahoo blocks a domain from your email marketing company, the ISP relations team will work directly with that ISP to get that domain removed from the black list, thus lifting your ban and getting your emails back into the inbox.

ISP Bulk Mailing is another great benefit you get by using an email marketing company. Most spammers will bulk send off of a single ISP, one time. This is a red flag for ISP monitoring companies in identifying what may or may not be spam. Using an email marketing company, you get the benefit of consistent bulk emails going to the various ISP companies. This builds up a reputation with the ISP companies and allows for less traffic jams if suspecting emails are flagged for review. In addition, a lot of companies will use shared ISP's to send mail. What t his does is put you in categorized, recognized ISP databases which will continue to build your reputation as well as the email marketing company you are using.

Finally, email software. As stated above, creating an email takes time. It takes a lot less time if you're using a company that provides a basic shell and template. Throw in the bells and whistles of social media, sharing, videos, image libraries, and you have a one stop shop for your email endeavors. As you get the hang of using the software, you will become more proficient, and effective at creating your emails. Planning is a great benefit when it comes to creating your email. This will allow you the time to explore the options, and finesse your email to best represent your business, but becoming familiar with your email creation software.

Email marketing can be done on your own. Plenty of business do it, but the most successful way to drive your efforts is to research and pick a great email marketing company that works for you. Understanding what they provide in way of templates, pricing, tracking and reporting is the difference between giving out your business information on a napkin, or handing over a highly polished business card. Take your time, research, and try out a few options. You'll find one that works for you.

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