So the time has come in your business where you’ve collected email addresses through your site, and want to communicate with them. The problem is you’re not sure how to actually send the mail to them. Or maybe the reverse situation is true. You’ve had an email list that you’ve been mailing for years, but now need a system that can handle larger, more complex campaigns. Or maybe you just need another email stream set up that has different functionalities from your current email provider. Either way, it sounds like you’re in need of a new Email Service Provider (ESP).
Email Service Provider – Defined
By definition an ESP is a solution to send, receive and store email for organizations and can even help you streamline your email strategy. There are so many different providers out there, be sure to take the time to properly investigate them to find the solution that fits your business’ unique needs. If you have the time and budget available, it might be a good idea to attend an email marketing conference and peruse the exhibit hall. Just about every major and minor ESP will have a booth, and it is a good opportunity to familiarize yourself with each brand and what they have to offer.
Full or Self Service?
To get started on the path to choosing your new ESP, you will need to decide whether you have (or don’t have) the internal resources to send all of this mail. If you’re just starting out with email marketing, the amount of set up work can be daunting. Unless you’re a jack of all trades, you will probably need help from a graphic designer, email marketer, network engineer and software developer…to name a few. Or maybe you just have aggressive email marketing goals and don’t have a dedicated team to work on achieving them. Whatever your situation, you will need to consider whether you want your account with an ESP to be full- or self-service. A self-service account means you will handle all of the email set up, launching and reporting yourself. Basically you will only be using the Email Service Provider as a means to send all of your email. A full-service account will have a team of account managers assigned to you that will assist you in – or completely perform – your email marketing efforts. ESPs will likely have a hybrid solution available as well to accommodate those in unique situations.
Email List Size
Once you have determined who will be sending your mail, you’ll have to outline a few quantitative goals for your email marketing strategy (if you haven’t already). You will need to be familiar with the size of your current email list and how much you expect it to grow in the next year. Then take this number and estimate how often you will be sending email to get a total count of how many emails you plan to send in a year. Remember to take any marketing initiatives such as segmentation, list rental or acquisition efforts into account. This number will be very important later when discussing pricing, so make sure that it is realistic and takes into account any up or down swings that could be caused by seasonality, website downtime, etc.
Budget
The next step in choosing your new Email Service Provider would be to decide on a budget. ESPs will likely charge a monthly base fee, with the amount based on whether you decide to have a full or self service account. In addition, you will pay for how many emails you send based on a cost per thousand (CPM) model. You will probably be quoted a tiered CPM amount according to the number of emails you plan to send in a given month with additional fees for under and overages. The tiers will also most likely decrease in cost if you commit to sending a certain number of emails each month.
RFP Process
Once you’ve determined your email list size, budget and service level, you should take a look at your proposed email strategy and understand what functionality is needed in order to execute your plan. From here, create an RFP (Request for Proposal) document that outlines all requirements you need – in the present or future. This document will be given to the ESPs and is their chance to demonstrate how their email product is the perfect solution for you. Be very specific and include ideas and details that can help ESPs understand your background and the goals you want to accomplish.
Next, begin contacting Email Service Providers to set up information sessions. This is also your opportunity to learn about each ESP’s functionality and to get some of your questions answered. Again, be specific and ask questions that apply to your email marketing goals such as sending capacity, throttle levels, system down time, Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and how long email history data is saved for. If applicable, request demonstrations of their system(s), so you can easily determine if their user interfaces will fit in with your work flow. Now is also the time to start discussing their costs, how many emails you plan on sending and the budget you have available for email marketing.
Since there are so many Email Service Providers in the market today, take the time to meet with as many as you need to so that you are assured you are moving forward with those that have the best possible solutions. Since you might be sharing sensitive or confidential information with the ESPs, it’s also important to remember to have them sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).
Now that you have interviewed several Email Service Providers, you probably have a good idea of which ones are more suited to handle your email marketing. From these, choose your top 3-5 ESPs and invite them to participate in your RFP process. If you are already using an ESP, it is a proper procedure to invite them to participate as well. Basically, this should be their opportunity to keep your business. In this process, you will send your RFP document to each of the ESPs and allow them to respond to each of your questions. They should provide responses that are very descriptive and complete, so that anyone can read them and know what their solution is all about. You will then need to thoroughly review the RFP responses with all key decision makers in your company in order to move forward.
After meeting with the Email Service Providers and reviewing their RFP responses, you will most likely have an inclination as to which provider will be the right solution for your business needs. If so, invite them to perform another demonstration for you and any another key decision makers for your business. This final effort will help solidify your selection for your new ESP.
So as you can see, choosing a new Email Service Provider can be a lengthy and intense process. It’s likely you will invest quite a bit of time selecting the service provider that best suits your needs. You will experience many different ESPs along the way, and some will stand out as definite yeses while others will be definite nos. Take your time and choose wisely, since the ESP will be responsible for delivering all of your email. And if all goes well, the ESP you select will likely become one of your most-trusted business partners.
