Getting started with email marketing can be difficult, and deciding whether you need to invest in additional tools can be difficult. However, finding the right tool that meets all of your marketing needs will not only be easier and more streamlined, but it can also save your company hundreds of pounds that would have been wasted on multiple, repetitive services.

• What is an Email Service Provider?
• What is Email Marketing Service?
• Advantages of ESPs and Email Marketing Services

What is an Email Service Provider?

Most businesses already have a basic Email Service Provider, though the type can vary depending on the business’s size and, most importantly, the budget.

While it’s common for large corporations to own their own domain, a comprehensive email service provider may be able to host your domain in-house, saving you time and money.

The best ESPs store your subscribers’ details so you can easily send them marketing emails and reach a larger audience. In spite of its age, email marketing has shown to have higher click-through rates than social media. This is probably because people use emails more actively while using social media passively.

Even the most basic Email Service Providers allow you to create and save templates for frequent use, as well as use pre-made templates. Using the same formatting for all marketing emails saves time and effort while also maintaining brand consistency.

Choosing your ESP carefully will ensure you have access to all the features you will need in the coming months and years. Look for built-in dynamic content and analytics tools like lead capture and click-through analytics.

What is Email Marketing Service?

For larger businesses, an email marketing service builds on what an ESP establishes. It can be more expensive, but it requires less human input, making it potentially cheaper.

Part of the savings comes from automation. Businesses can move from a few standard marketing templates to a more dynamic approach tailored to each user. A follow-up email reminding you of an unfinished online purchase may have been sent to you, sometimes offering a small discount to encourage you to finish it. This was made possible by an email marketing tool.

The same goes for e-commerce sites that haven’t been visited in a while. Again, this is the result of an automated email marketing service tool.

Advantages of ESPs and Email Marketing Services

• Finding your customers
• Regulation adherence
• Data Management
• Analytics

1. Finding your customers

If you spend time curating content to drive sales, you want your email marketing to reach the right people. Sending mass emails from your email client is not only cumbersome and time-consuming, but it is also likely to be viewed as suspicious by many recipients. Your emails may end up in spam or junk folders, causing you to lose a large portion of your intended customer base.

Once your domain is identified as a potential spammer, all future emails are likely to be categorized as such. ESPs counteract this by making your emails less likely to be marked as spam.

2. Regulation adherence

Various laws have been passed around the world to protect consumers, but their effects are likely to be felt by developers as well. The CAN-SPAM Act, for example, gives recipients the right to stop communications (a clear route to do so is key). Others include identifying and highlighting advertisements, giving the recipient information about your business, and using accurate information.

In the UK and Europe, the GDPR places a similar emphasis on transparency, as well as data storage and collection. Using a marketing service provider will help you follow these rules, but don’t assume that any service you use will follow the latest rules in every area.

3. Data Management

A good email service provider or marketing tool should be a marketing hub. Active subscribers should be tracked, and advanced marketing service providers’ automations can help you understand where the most leads are coming from.

You’ll also want to store newsletters and other marketing materials as templates. This saves time and ensures brand consistency.

4. Analytics

Your users’ habits, characteristics, likelihood to interact with your brand, and more will be collected. Finding an ESP or marketing service tool that can present all of this data can save time. This is a great way to learn why customers return to your site or not. Identifying trends and patterns allows you to make simple changes to your existing template, for example.