Since I am in the email marketing field I regularly read “MediaPost’s”:http://www.mediapost.com “Email Insider”:http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Archives.showArchive&art_type=32&archive_year=2005 (free registration required).
I really liked the October 17 issue titled “How to Evaluate Email Vendors”:http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=35183. David Baker, Vice President of Email Marketing and Analytical Solutions at “Agency.com”:http://www.agency.com provides a great overview on what you should look for when selecting an email marketing vendor.
His list of what to look for is pretty good but I had someone ask me to validate his opinions.
Here’s my personal list of things to review when choosing an Email Service Provider:
Category: Stefan Eyram
Every weekday morning I look forward to my email from eMarketer. This morning I was somewhat surprised to read “Many Permission E-Mails Still Don’t Get Through”:http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?1003635 (free access until October 25, 2005; subscription required after).
Based on a recent “Return Path”:http://www.returnpath.com study, 21% of permission email did not get delivered as intended (to the inbox) during the first half of this year. That’s more than one out of every five emails where the recipient has subscribed by giving their permission.
This is a slight year-over-year improvement but what scares me more is that as of November 1 Microsoft (think Hotmail) will require all incoming emails to have Sender ID implemented or the messages will automatically get sent to the junk folder. If you have read Paula Skaper’s June 22nd post “Hotmail Demands Sender ID”:http://www.onedegree.ca/2005/06/22/hotmail-demands-sender-id you will know that as of that date Hotmail was flagging all emails that did not have proper authentication through Sender ID. I often see half the emails in my Hotmail account with this flag. Now all of these *permission-based messages* will be sent to the junk folder along with all the spam.
The funny thing – not so funny if you are trying to understand all this deliverability stuff – is that Return Path found non-delivery rates varied greatly across the top 23 ISPs in the US from a low of 8% at Mac.com to a high of 39% at Gmail and Excite.
With all my recommendations about deliverability being important, it is equally important to remind marketers that email is still a booming trend.
In July Jay Aber, President of 24/7 Canada, penned an article on the CMA website, If deliverability is such a big issue, why is e-mail booming?, that quotes BBM research indicating email still ranks at the top of the list when it comes to online activities by those aged 18+. We also learn that Canadians prefer communicating via e-mail more than by any other methods.