When you run a small business, you need to look at keeping the costs as low as possible. This can become a problem when you start looking at marketing tools. Email marketing is a channel that all small businesses should consider and there are many tools you can use for this. Not all tools will suit your business or your marketing budget and you need to know what to look for when choosing between them.
Know The Number Of Lists And Contacts
Before you start looking at email marketing tools, you need to know what your needs are. In particular, you need to know how many lists or contacts you will want on the list. This is important because different tools will have different limits for this. It is recommended that you have a rough idea of how many contacts you want initially and the number of lists you will run at the same time.
When you start looking at the tools, you should consider your needs and narrow down your options. Ideally, you will want to look at tools which offer a tiered pricing structure with increasing limits. This allows you to scale your email marketing as your list grows and your business gains visibility. You do not want to have to change providers once you have 2000 contacts and have to start the selection process again.
Tiered payment structures are ideal for small businesses because you can keep your costs down. The lowest tier can work for months as you slowly increase your lost size. You do not want to pay for list capacity you are not utilizing.
Do You Need Templates?
Most small businesses do not code their own newsletters and you need to consider this. Unless you are HTML and CSS savvy, you do not want to attempt to code your newsletters. This is where templates will come into play.
It is possible to buy templates from third parties, but you can also get them from the email marketing tools. Many email autoresponders will often have templates that you can use based on the industry you are in. They may also have a builder that you can use to create your newsletter template. Having a builder is something that you should look for unless you are willing to hire someone to code your newsletter.
There is one problem with builders and that is the fact that they are not all made equally. Some will be much easier to use than others and some will provide responsive templates while others do not. You should look for reviews of the tool and determine how easily others have been able to use the builder. Having responsive templates is vital as more people are opening their email on a mobile device.
Offering A/B Testing
When it comes to digital marketing in general, A/B testing is vital. This will increase your ROI and ensure that you are using the best possible marketing materials. Any email marketing tools you use should offer you A/B testing.
The tools should offer A/B testing for the subject lines of your emails, the content and the images being used. Over time, you will find engagement and conversions will improve when you continually test. Having this testing in your marketing tools will make everything easier and ensure that you can use the best options with the tool.
Inbox Previews
Email clients will render emails in different ways and you need to ensure that your emails work across the board. Tools that have inbox previews are better than those that do not. The preview shows you how your email will look on different devices and through popular clients.
When considering the previews offered by the tools, you should consider those that offer multiple email client views. Many tools only provide you with an inbox preview using Outlook or Gmail. Ideally, you want to use a tool that offers all the popular clients.
List Management
The ease of list management is vital when looking at email marketing tools. Segmentation of your list will increase the conversions and engagement. This will also help you target different audiences within your email list. An example of this will be a business having one list for existing customers and another for potential customers.
The ease of managing your list will be hard to determine before you start using the tools. Looking at reviews is one of the best ways to determine this. You should focus on reviews that talk about list management and see what potential problems you could face.
There are a lot of email marketing tools on the market and you need to choose the ones that are best for your small business. A tiered pricing scale is recommended along with templates and the ability to A/B test. Inbox previews and list management are also important.
