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Email management systems provide the ability to design, manage, and track the success of your outbound marketing messages.
Things to Consider
- How do you normally communicate with your customers online? Have you found a use for email for marketing your products and services?
- What platform do you use to send marketing emails? What sort of management tools and features do you have access to? How much does it cost?
- Do you prepare HTML and text versions of marketing emails?
- Are you aware of response rates to the emails you send? Have your email lists grown over time, and if so, how do you grow them?
Links
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Those of you just starting out with email marketing
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may be tempted to jump right in with a tool you're already familiar with.
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Perhaps you want to send out a welcome message or information on your new app
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using Gmail, Outlook, or some other web mail platform.
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While it's possible to send out messages related to your business
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through these systems, there are many great email management tools available,
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some paid, some free, that provide features you will discover
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you can't live without.
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Email management systems provide the ability
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to design HTML and plain text messages.
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Users should be given a choice about what kind to subscribe to
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as some have strong preferences.
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Many email platforms also have design templates you can use to get started.
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In most cases, however, you'll want to design your own template
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and use it every time.
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Email systems also provide basic statistics about the messages you send.
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You can see how many people opened the message, how many emails bounced back,
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and how many unsubscribed.
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List management tools allow you to store addresses
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and create segments for targeted emails
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as well as give you tools to create an email opt-in form for your website.
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And finally, some provide campaign management tools
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that track the success of a group of messages over time
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as well as conversion rates based on the links you included in each one.
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So, what are some email platforms you should consider?
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Most offer a number of different plans based on how much you want to manage
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and do on their platform, but MailChimp offers a free plan
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that allows you to manage up to 2,000 subscribers
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and up to 12,000 emails per month.
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While it imposes a few limitations on what you can do
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it's free, and it offers a lot of flexibility for businesses just starting out.
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Limited time free trials are also available on platforms like
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MailerLite, Emma, iContact, Constant Contact, and AWeber.
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Each one offers many of the same options with some differences,
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including the variety of design templates,
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access to social tools, newsletter integration, and mobile-friendly designs.
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Whatever option you go with, do some research
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and figure out which options mean the most for your business.
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Keep in mind that free tools will only take you so far.
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If you're starting out or are a small business with a limited number of subscribers
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perhaps a free tool is all you need.
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But consider the future.
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Do you always want to be small or have a limited number of people
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signed up to receive your updates?
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It's important to keep an eye on how these free tools perform,
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especially as you grow.
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Consider a paid solution if and when you want to move things to the next level.
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