Choosing Newsletter Software

One of the biggest drawbacks in getting into email marketing is knowing what software is ideal for your solution. In affiliate marketing, I needed a platform that could deliver at a high rate of speed and could optimize high volume mailings. I decided the best route to go is setting up my own mailing system to cater to my needs. Deliverability was a huge issue because I had to setup all my antispam measures, whitelisting, and mail settings myself. To say the very least, it was a very difficult treading. However, the experience was a valuable lesson in the ins and outs of email marketing.

When I decided to start Austin Inbox, I wanted to see what my competition had to offer for their newsletter solutions. This was a huge part of my research into the market. I learned a tremendous amount of information about the industry which helped me decide on the features for our solution. While I am a little biased in terms of the solution to use, I believe ours will be the best!, I’ll give an unbiased review of the solutions I tested.

Constant Contact - Probably the most widely used solution out there. I really got to understand this software after helping setup this email marketing solution for a company I worked for at the beginning of the year. Pros: One of the cheapest around, access to unlimited mailings (pricing is based on # of contacts), very easy to use, well designed templates, they can customize just about anything for you, well defined community of users. Cons: Deliverability starts to be come an issue after growing your list based 5k, Doesn’t do a great job of helping you get the best ROI on your list, aggressive sales team will call alot during free trial period and after.

iContact - iContact is another popular newsletter choice for small businesses. They have advertising everywhere these days. I didn’t do much research on their support as i was able to accomplish everything I needed without their help. Pros: Many templates to choose from, cheap, handles higher volume great, great community, customizeable features, easy to use. Cons: Stock templates don’t have as clean of look as Constant Contact’s, small storage of files.

MyEmma - I had heard a little bit about these guys from SEO/PPC events I attended but had never looked into their product. Out of all the solutions I have used, MyEmma has the most helpful/friendly support. Pros: Outstanding support, cheap customized templates, optimized for great ROI on list. Cons: Pricing is based on number of emails sent, layout a bit girly for my tastes, not a big fan of stock templates, no free trial.

EliteMail - I wasn’t able to do huge volumes of testing with EliteMail. Their free trial, however, is great. Allow for up to 1,000 emails over a month and unlimited image hosting. I still need to do more testing to get a real accurate measure of this solution. here’s what i came up with. Pros: Low cost, unlimited image hosting, easy to use. Cons: Not a big fan of their stock templates, low cost but not if your doing many campaigns a bunch (pricing based on emails delivered).

MailChimp - MailChimp is one of the big up and commers in the industry. They do a great job of integrating their technology with other forms of online marketing to help grow your database of users. Also, in doing my research for my lastest presentation, I was able to pull valuable charts and graphs related to statistics in the email marketing industry for free. Pros: Pricing based on # of contacts, great custom features, helpful learning center, excellent to use in conjunction with blogs and other forms of online marketing. Cons: Stock Templates aren’t as clean as some of the other solutions out there, add-ons a bit pricey.

Bronto - Bronto was one of the more impressive email marketing solutions I tested for one reason, their stat tracking. Hands down the best statitsics reporting in the industry. They have so many features in place to really optimize your mailing experience to get the best ROI possible. The only thing holding Bronto back is their pricing. They are one of the more expensive solutions out there and sell themselves as a higher end email marketing solution. Pros: Reporting, superb customer support, great deliverability for higher volume. Cons: Expensive.

I left off a few other solutions because I ddin’t feel like I recieved an accurate portrayal of the product. I will probably update this list sometime down the road with more reviews. The great thing about the email newsletter solutions out there is that almost all of them have some sort of free trial or demo. I highly reccomend you take advanatge and test them out for yourself. What works for me might not necessarily be the best option for you. Along the way you’ll be able to educate yourself to make an intelligent decision.
 

Filed under: Inbox Truth

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