Email Marketing Software Category
Opt In Bulk Email
Sending regular newsletters to your customers via Email is an effective way of promoting your web site and marketing your company. People like to receive news updates and special offers from their favorite companies.
“Opt-In” Direct Email is the practice to send commercial email to recipients that have approved of commercial email. If you really want to try bulk email marketing but do not want to send unsolicited bulk email, consult a company that specializes in direct email.
These opt-in lists are targeted email lists which offer marketers a “politically correct” way to reach their target audience on the net. Not only will your offer be sent to a targeted list, you won’t have to worry about flames and ISP cancellation.
Although this targeted direct email marketing is more costly than unsolicited bulk email, it is considered to be more effective. It is quickly becoming one of the most powerful Internet marketing methods available.
Sending “Opt-in” Bulk Email
The term “Opt-in” means that the recipients have signed up to receive emails voluntarily, and implies that the Bulk Email is not Spam. This restriction does not allow when sending mail to Client’s mailboxes hosted on the Service Provider Network. Service Provider has measures to prevent Bulk Email from being sent out from its servers, and any attempt to send such Bulk Email will be prevented and may result in interruption and/or termination of Client’s Email Services. Attempts to circumvent this Bulk Email restriction by breaking up bulk mailings over a period of time or by sending from multiple email accounts will itself be considered a violation of this policy.
Moreover, the Service Provider Network is not set up to process bounce messages for Bulk Email. Therefore, Client may not send Bulk Email from third-party networks using a return address that is hosted on the Service Provider Network, unless Client takes extreme care to prevent more than 100 bounce emails from arriving to the Service Provider Network as the result of sending Bulk Email from a third-party network.
Principles of Opt In Bulk Email
- People in your email list have agreed in a way to receive your newsletter.
- Your subscribers must be able to unsubscribe any time they want.
- Your subscribers need to be reminded how they got on your list.
- The email addresses and personal data of your subscribers are confidential.
Private: Bulk Email Marketing Software - Guide for Buying
Theoretically, you know now what to expect when purchasing a bulk email software.
In this section we nominate at least one example for each cathegory:
Hosted email softwares
These programs are web hosted, also known as ASPs, with packages usualy available for a monthly fee.
- The free, advertising supported ASP from Yahoo, YahooGroups. This is a best option for announcements and discussion lists. I am currently subscribed with two Yahoo Groups, one that functions as a discussion list and the other one as a weekly newsletter. The subscription is based on email-invites (kinf of a double opt-in) and possibility of spam accusations practically inexistent.
- If you’re the bargain type, another advertising-supported ASP is Topica Exchange. Topica also develops a paid e-mail ASP service, Topica EmailPublisher, which is even more popular than the free version, but limits the number of subscribing invitations to 1.000.
- One ASP that used to be free, and is now available for $25/month (send max. 10.000 e-mails/month) is ListBuilder from Microsoft Small Business Center.Features: single or double opt-in, HTML templates, personalizing emails, campaign tracking, targeting options.
- IntelliContactPro is a paying web-based email software, with programs ranging from $9.95 monthly (up to 500 subscribers) through $959.00 monthly (up to 250.000 subscribers).Features: Personalization with mail merge, message scheduling, forward option, surveying, readers track (open rates and clich-thrus), bounceback handling, automatic management for opt-ins and opt-outs, newsletter editing.
- Among the most popular bulk email softwares is Constant Contact, preferred by 10% of the responders in a survey provided by Web Marketing Today (May, 2004). On their website, prices are displayed for up to 25.000 subscribers ($150/month).Features: 75 templates for newsletter or the possibility to create your own, HTML, text and AOL support, personalization, advanced list management, campaign tracking and comparative metrics. They include a free version for under 50 subscribers. Their prices are slightly higher when compared to IntelliContactPro, for example.
- In the same survey, Lyris had 4% of the market. However, the study included market shares for all their email-related softwares. Services begin at $50 per month, they offer limited mail merge, and price extra for link tracking.
Desktop email softwares
This type of bulk email software must be installed on your desktop computer. Providers charge a one-time license.
- A very interesting solution for your emailing campaigns seems to be the multiple Editor’s Choice awarded WorldMerge from Colorado Soft; when others price their softwares at hundreds dollars, this one will cost you only $49.Features: Mail list size: 100K (max. 100.000 recipients), allows 20 attachments for each message, unlimited mailing projects and database fields, HTML editing. No database convertion or import required.
- WorldCast from Fairlogic Systems is also available at $49.Features: imports and exports to many database types, has an email validator, a crash recovery system, multi-threaded sending, HTML editor and spell checker.
- A complete desktop email software is Corey Rudl’s Mailloopfeatures: opt-in, bounce management, mail merge, attachments, autoresponder, HTML and text message display, email extractor. Available for $397.
I’ll also nominate a list of spam tools, it is your responsibility whether you’ll choose them or not:
Untargeted Bulk Email Software
There are many ways to utilize email marketing. Untargeted email marketing on the Internet usually takes the form of “Unsolicited Bulk Email” and automatically receive a negative connotation. The real usage of a bulk email is not so destructive. Bulk email software is utilized to send the same message to many people or email addresses at once. The problem is that in our days it becomes a trick abused by spammers.
- Bulk E-mail is Low Cost Advertise. To start your spam campaign you can by with $20 - $30 a CDs with millions of email addresses (a 30 second television advertise would cost you thousands of dollars. Once you have an Internet service provider, it doesn’t cost you a penny to send e-mail). O.key these addresses can be used and reused, and chances to sell something to people from the list are low. If you are a marketer considerately using email marketing methods, respect the person you will be sending your messages to. Don’t just bombard them with sales messages, give them something useful for the effort and time that they have spent in acknowledging your email. Their time is valuable.
- Bulk email software can collect itself email addresses from the web. There are some ways of extracting email addresses from the web: using spambots to scour web pages, using spambots that scour usenet, decrypting web-based email lists , or harvesting email addresses that are published in forums and discussion lists. All you have to do is to use an email extracting software or email harvesting software. Do not buy lists of e-mail addresses. Usually the lists full of old, fake, and undeliverable e-mail addresses. And do not forget this list was sold to other bulk e-mailers.
- Bulk email can hide your identity. So if you send unsolicited bulk emails you run the risk of being caught. It is a very important to use an anonymous bulk email server, because you risk losing your ISP connection or to receive different flames or mailbombs as a result of your bulk email campaign.
- Some bulk email software offers spam-blocking systems, you also need to be protected by the other spammers.
But if you won’t have to worry about ISP cancellation and the reputation of your business send target e-mails. That means you deliver your emails to recipients that have approved of it.
Email Marketing Software Features
Several important features that should be available in e-marketing software products are:
Personalization
Personalization is one of the most important features of a quality email marketing software package. It ensures better open and click-thru rates. Some more advanced email marketing software, offers “if-then” personalization for users who want to get the maximum personalization, which many consider important to maintain exceptional customer relationships.
Web Based vs. Computer Based
Generally the email marketing software have to be downloaded on your computer in order to use them. The main inconvenience is that you have to use the same computer each time you want to send your newsletter.
Integration with existing applications and databases
To be most effective, your email marketing software should offer you the ability to import data from existing applications and databases like SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, Access and Excel. Also, it is very useful that it can be integrated with popular email clients like MS Outlook.
Automatic Subscribe and Unsubscribe Option
People need to be able to opt-in (subscribe) to your newsletter Double opt-in is recommended. That means you ask them to confirm their subscription via email.
Multi-threaded Sending
Delivers several messages at the same time, rather than one after the other. It is definitely worth getting if you have big lists.
Database Query
This option allows you to apply various filters to your data base. You can select the persons of a certain age, or location for a specific emailing campaign.
Bounceback Management
The email software must manage bouncebacks automatically, detecting whether the addresses don’t work because a permanent or temporary problem, and deciding when to remove them from the list.
Email Tracking Software
An important features of a bulk email marketing software is to track the persons who actually open your email, the ones who click through or the ones who forward it to somebody else.
Duplicate removal
It is important, especially in programs that import data from elsewhere. Most have this feature.
Listserver functions
This software are included in some programs. These check incoming mail from specified POP e-mail boxes, and handle subs and bounced e-mails automatically.
Autoresponders
Scan incoming e-mail for keywords in the subject line or the body, and then send out pre-written messages based on those keywords.