Service Levels Email service providers typically focus on one of three market segments. Examples of enterprise-level providers include IBM Marketing Cloud (formerly Silverpop), Salesforce Marketing Cloud (formerly ExactTarget), and Epsilon. Examples of small business providers include MailChimp, Constant Contact, and VerticalResponse. Features and Capabilities A well-suited email service provider should offer the basic functionality needs of your company, plus additional features to potentially use in the future. Pricing Models Many enterprise and mid-market providers charge on a cost-per-thousand basis — i.e., a fee for each deployed email. Small business providers typically charge a flat rate based on the size of an email list. VerticalResponse, for example, charges $120 per month for lists of 5,001 to 10,000 email addresses. Advanced features. Some advanced features could have a-la-carte pricing beyond the base CPM or monthly fee. Dedicated IP addresses typically involve additional fees.
The landscape of email service providers is continually evolving, with advances in technology and changing needs of brands and merchants. In this article, I’ll address factors to consider, in 2017, when choosing an email service provider.
Evolving Industry
In the past few years, many leading email service providers have been acquired or have shifted focus to expand basic offerings. Shopping for email providers therefore becomes daunting, with new company names and capabilities. Here are a few examples.
- ExactTarget. Acquired by Salesforce.
- Silverpop. Acquired by IBM.
- Responsys. Acquired by Oracle.
- Yesmail. Acquired by Infogroup.
- CheetahMail. Acquired by Experian.
- Bronto. Acquired by NetSuite.
As email service providers grow and add valuable brands to their client roosters, larger companies have acquired them to diversify and complement their offerings. Data plays a crucial role in email marketing, which attracts data-centric organizations to the industry.
All of this is important to know when shopping for a vendor, as capabilities and functionality may change after an acquisition.
Service Levels
Email service providers typically focus on one of three market segments.
- Enterprise. These are larger providers with sophisticated tools and functionality. They typically handle high-volume senders. Examples of enterprise-level providers include IBM Marketing Cloud (formerly Silverpop), Salesforce Marketing Cloud (formerly ExactTarget), and Epsilon.
- Mid-market. Mid-market providers cater mainly to midsize companies. These…
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