Email Solutions: A Guide to Deployment Options and Decision Making
January 2004
BY REGINA BRADY
Does email deployment bewilder you? Many marketers quickly settle on a solution, but then wonder what other choices are available. Others know they want to regularly communicate with customers and registered prospects, but don’t know where to start.
As marketers, you have several options: - Develop your email system internally
- License email software that allows you to manage deployment in-house
- Work with an application service provider (ASP) that provides an online platform so you can manage the majority of functions involved with sending email, including list selection, loading creative, and sending and viewing campaign reports.
- Employ a full-service email deployment vendor or agency to manage everything related to a campaign. Many full-service vendors also provide strategy, creative and modeling services.
Several companies offer a hybrid model that combines both ASP and full-service for the times a marketer needs additional help.
Key Considerations
In making the in-house versus outsource decision, consider: - your projected send volume;
- the amount of control you require for database and email systems;
- whether you have a need for integrated marketing from multiple databases; and
- whether you have a CRM system in place.
An In-House Solution
Unless you mail millions of names it probably does not make sense to build your own solution. This is a major undertaking, and requires you to handle internal consulting and systems integration with all databases, marketing and customer service systems. You also need service personnel dedicated to quality assurance, programming, deployment and network monitoring, as well as the proper hardware, software and network bandwidth.
There are external solutions that can be licensed and installed on your servers. And there are several good software packages available. Most involve a license fee, a sending fee based on volume, and an ongoing maintenance fee for upgrades and enhancements. These packages have varying degrees of functionality.
In-house Risks vs. Rewards
There are 4 reasons to control your e-mailings internally:
- Cost. You have an internal cost rather than writing a check.
- Timeliness and Responsiveness. Your internal resources are dedicated to the success of your business, and you have more control over your marketing efforts. Outside service bureaus share resources across many clients. When going outside your company, you may be required to schedule mailings in advance and priority requests will be evaluated and put into the work queue.
- Connections to existing infrastructure. If you have multiple databases, employ a CRM approach to marketing, or need immediate access to customer information, an internal solution may offer more flexibility.
- Understanding of your business. You understand your business and your customers better than any external resource. There will be greater stewardship of your email efforts as a result.
The biggest risk with an in-house solution is deliverability. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are aggressively filtering email, and corporations are also using filters and blacklists. Many email service providers work with ISPs to ensure mail coming from their domains/servers is delivered. Deliverability is their bread and butter so they dedicate many resources to this issue.
If you mail internally, your IT department must actively work with ISPs, and your mail administrator must know what to do if you are blacklisted or blocked.
Email technology and delivery should be a core competence of your company. Make sure in-house system integration, support, maintenance and ongoing upgrade activity does not dilute your organizational focus.
The Outsourcing Option
Outsourcing service bureaus provide scalable, reliable, measurable solutions derived from experience handling many clients. Most email deployment solutions require no additional investment in hardware, software, or bandwidth costs. With the exception of initial setup you won’t need significant IT involvement.
You gain the advantage of the latest technology. This is a competitive space and most major vendors continually add new features. You can also tap into best practices derived from their work with multiple clients.
The self-service ASP model is popular. Typically, the marketer handles all campaign setup through a desktop interface to the provider’s system. For a typical campaign, you create the e-mail promotion and select the list of customers who will receive it.
The full-service model requires the e-mail solutions provider to handle more of the execution. For instance, the service bureau, rather than the marketer, may load the copy and select which customers will receive a promotion based upon written instructions.
The best solution is a hybrid approach. Many marketers begin using the full-service option while their staff becomes familiar with the procedures involved. They then move to self-service. But having full-service available is like an insurance policy; you can always draw upon these resources if the need arrives.
How to Select a Solution
There is no shortage of companies that provide email solutions. One place to start is at ClickZ, which provides a listing of registered companies (www.clickz.com/emailstrategies/serv). Forrester Research and Jupiter Research have both rated some of the major vendors. These reports can help you determine what experts think is important when deciding on a solution.
Once you’ve narrowed the field to several potential vendors, develop a Request for Proposal (RFP) that addresses your short and long-term needs and details your requirements.
Work with an expert to help you develop an RFP that meets your requirements. Experts also can help streamline the process and ensure you are making the right choice.
Regina Brady is president of Reggie Brady Marketing Solutions, a direct and e-mail marketing consultancy. She can be reached at (203) 838-8138 or reginabrady@att.net.
Return to Articles
| |
