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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
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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