Before you pay for a mass email service, make sure that you can run a mail merge in Google Sheets and access reporting capabilities
Though it may seem like a relatively simple task, choosing a mass email service to begin an email marketing campaign is an important and highly involved decision. Not every mass email service is the same, and it can be tempting to choose the first Gmail extension that you discover in a quick Google search. In reality, there are several factors that businesses need to consider before choosing the right mass email service provider.
To make the right choice, marketers must come up with a strategy. Then, marketers can use their strategy to inform which service is the right choice. From there, the next step is to examine the different features of the mass email service. Luckily, a lot of mass email plugins have limited free options so buyers can get an idea of the interface and capabilities before choosing the service to run mass email campaigns.
If you are stumped as to where to start when choosing your mass email service, keep reading. We’re taking a closer look at the steps that will help you make the right decision and set you up for success in your next email campaign. Let’s get started!
Marketing Strategy
Before you choose your service and start a mail merge in Google Sheets, you need to set some goals for your campaign
Don’t rush your decision!
If you are searching for a mass email service, then you are very likely to have an upcoming campaign in mind. A common mistake that email marketers make is choosing to rush the decision process. Marketing is a fast-moving industry—but you can’t run a mail merge in Google Sheets before you have your strategy and an address list. That’s why we’re here to give you some pointers as to how to set goals for your campaign and use those goals to inform your choice of mass email tool.
The first thing you need to do to establish your strategy is to set goals. What exactly are you trying to accomplish by sending mass emails? The most common reasons to send mass emails are to create brand awareness, locate new sales leads, or create eCommerce conversions. If your goal is brand awareness, then you’ll likely be creating a newsletter. If you are trying to create conversions, you could be sending out coupon codes or some other incentive encouraging your audience to visit your website and convert. As you pinpoint your goals, you will get a better understanding of your overall strategy and the features of a mass email service that are the most important.
For example, you’re going to need to determine whether or not you want to use Gmail or Outlook to send your messages. Most marketers opt for Gmail since it is easier to run a mail merge in Google Sheets as opposed to Excel. Depending on your company’s preference, that will affect which mass email service you ultimately choose. If you choose to use Gmail to send out your mass emails, then a service that can easily execute a mail merge in Google Sheets will be your best bet.
Once you have determined what kind of message you want to send, how many you want to send, and set a few reasonable goals for your campaign, it is time to investigate the different service providers. By gauging how these services perform on a few key metrics, you can feel confident in your selection and get started running successful email campaigns.
Deliverability
Without guaranteed deliverability, you will end up working harder to engage with your audience
Choose a service with a guaranteed deliverability.
Sending out mass emails to your target audience doesn’t create results unless the messages are properly delivered. By delivered, we mean that the messages aren’t getting flagged as spam. If your messages get flagged as spam, it can be disastrous for your campaign. To make sure that you are avoiding the spam folder, you need to choose a mass email service that prioritizes deliverability. There are a few features you want to look out for when it comes to deliverability—the most important being email throttling. Email throttling is a feature that allows marketers to send more than the daily limit for Gmail. For regular email accounts, the sending limit is around 500. To ensure that you don’t accidentally exceed the daily send limit, your mass email tool will “throttle” the messages. In this case, it means that no matter how many messages you send for your campaign, the service will only send out 500 per 24-hour period to increase deliverability and without tripping the spam filter.
By choosing a service that guarantees deliverability, you are protecting your sender reputation as well. Each email address has a reputation attached to it that informs Gmail whether you are a credible sender or not. If you routinely violate the 500 send limit, your Gmail will mark your address as spam and will prevent your messages from being delivered. The content of your messages also affects whether or not Gmail will mark your address as spam, so remember to avoid spammy language and clickbait when you start writing your email.
Reporting Capabilities
Campaign reporting capabilities are essential for improving future campaigns
The right tool has easy-to-interpret reporting capabilities.
Sending out your first batch of mass emails is a huge step! But, your work is far from over. This may sound like jumping way ahead to the future if you are still in the strategy and planning phase. However, it is super important to explore reporting features of each mass email service to set your team up for future success. Reporting is the key to achieving your long-term email marketing goals—and here’s why.
As you send out your first email campaign, there is a good chance that you didn’t quite reach the metrics you were reaching for. Not to worry—it is only your first campaign. To improve your reach for your second campaign, you need to choose a mass email tool that displays comprehensive and easy-to-understand reports from your previous campaign.
For example, the most common metrics that email marketers use to determine success are open rate and click-through rate. These are important metrics because they show how many people are interacting with your message and whether or not they are clicking on the call to action. Depending on the goal for your campaign (brand awareness or conversions) these metrics are key to informing how to proceed with your second campaign. If your open rate is lackluster, it may be time to take a second look at your subject line. If your click-through rate needs improvement, then you probably need to rework your message body or the call to action. These insights are invaluable and will only be accessible if you choose the right mass email service to get the job done.
Automatic List Updates
List updates help users keep their address list fresh and free of any outdated or low-engagement recipients
Effortlessly optimize your address list with automatic updates.
In addition to reporting capabilities, automatic list updates are essential for managing an address list. Your address list is your greatest asset when it comes to sending out mass emails. Too often, email marketers neglect their address list and within a short period of time, the address list becomes outdated. The reason address lists become outdated so quickly is because people change email addresses so frequently. This is especially true for college addresses and work addresses. People are changing their career paths more frequently than ever before, so many professional email addresses become quickly abandoned.
To identify and remove these dormant addresses from your list, it helps to have a mass email service that provides you with automatic list updates. With automatic updates, you can designate a column in Google Sheets for your mass email service to input the last time the recipient interacted with your message. If the addressee hasn’t opened one of your messages for the last few campaigns, there is a good chance that they are no longer using that email address or that they are no longer interested in receiving your emails.
It is recommended that email marketers take a look at their address list each time they are ready to send out a campaign to determine which addresses are still viable. By curating your address list and only keeping around recipients that want to keep in touch with your business, you’ll steadily start seeing better results from each campaign.
These are just a few of the major features to look for before choosing your mass email service. Another big thing to consider when choosing a service is the cost. The majority of services operate on a subscription plan that ranges anywhere from $15-$20 per month for basic packages. If you have more advanced mass email needs, there are more expensive services that cater to larger companies that send out ten thousand messages per day. We hope that highlighting these features helps you in your decision-making process. Remember, the right mass email service is the one that fits the best with your company mission and adds value to your campaigns.
