7 Questions to Ask When Choosing an Email Platform

Did you know your email list can be your most profitable community?

Email is the #1 way that small businesses attract and keep new clients. Even more effective than social media.

The numbers don't lie. According to HubSpot, for every $1 spent on email marketing, you can expect a return of $42.

Another reason email is great, you actually get better engagement with your audience.

Think about it - at the drop of a dime, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and any of the platforms could cancel your account or change their terms of service, blocking you from connecting to the audiences you've built on those platforms. But if you have them on your email list, you get to connect with them on your terms - especially if you've captured their phone number.

Email marketing is more than just sharing information or promoting offers. It's how you nurture leads through the sales cycle. Sending the right content to the right people at the right time is how you take someone from being interested in your business to ready to pay you for your services.

Examples of effective email marketing could like:

• Answering questions to remove sales objectives
• Sharing a testimonial with prospective clients
• Providing an update on a new product or event, or
• Educating new customers on how to use your product or service
• Warning subscribers about mistakes they might make
• Asking for a testimonial or referral

Hopefully, you can see the value of using email marketing in your business. So now the question is, how do you choose the right platform? Do you just choose the cheapest thing one you can find? The simplest one? The one that all your business besties are using?

7 Questions to Ask When Choosing an Email Platform?

While there are lots of tools on the market, all email marketing platforms are not created equal. The email platform that works for one business might not work for another. To help you avoid wasting time and money on a platform that is not suited for you, I've got a list of 7 questions you can use to determine what kind of platform you really need, and make an informed decision when choosing the right platform for your business.

Question 1: Does it allow you to do what you really need to do?

Your email marketing system needs to match your company's needs. It can't just be something that looks fancy or sounds great. There are a number of platforms that make pretty emails, but don't have the features you need for effective email marketing.

The basic things to look for in an email marketing platform are:

• Deliverability rate: Do their emails get to the inbox or go straight to spam
• The ability to create lists and/or tags so you can segment subscribers
• The ability to set up automated campaigns
• Mobile optimization: lots of people read emails on their phone
• Analytics and reporting: so you can track what works
• Options for customization and personalization
• The number of messages you can send

Question #2: Is it user friendly?

Most email marketing systems look great on paper but don't deliver in real life! If an email marketing software is hard to set up, fails half the time or breaks when you need it most, then what's the point? You should expect a learning curve with any new platform, but if the solution requires you to get a PhD before you can actually use it, it may not be worth it.

Question #3: What kind of support is available?

We always take a look at the documentation and the help options for our tools. If a platform doesn't have well-written instructions or easy to access answers, you could be in trouble if you get stuck. And if they provide technical support, make sure the hours they are available during hours when you can reach them.

Question #4: Does it play nicely with your other tools?

Your email marketing system is just one component of your marketing toolkit. To service your entire marketing and sales process, you'll likely have a CRM (customer relationship manager), landing page platform, and scheduling app - the basics of a good marketing system. You want to make sure that all your tools have a way of talking to each other. This is why some people look at all-in-one platforms that do everything.

Question #5: Will it grow with your business?

Many people start with free or low cost platforms. These can be great if you are just getting started with your business. However as your business scales and your email list grows, you need an email marketing platform that can support more robust tasks and automations. If you think choosing an email platform is hard, consider the challenge of having to move all of your subscribers along with their historical data to a new platform along with resetting any integrated tools you've been using.

Question #6: How tech savvy are you?

Any new platform that you incorporate into your business is going to have some kind of learning curve after you get set up. Do you have the capacity to learn the new tool? Are there other people on your team who will need access and training?

Will you ever outsource your email marketing? If managing this kind of tech on an ongoing basis is not your thing, at some point you will want to hire someone to help you. In this case you want to make sure the platform you choose has a solid user base which makes it easy to find help when you need it. If you choose something that few people know how to use, you will be hard pressed to find someone to help you.

Question #7: What's your budget?

Ideally, this is the last question you want to ask. Why? Bankable business owners make decisions based on value first. Many of the free or low-cost tools that seem inviting because they are budget friendly get more costly as your list grows. Even if they don't offer the robust features you need, your monthly fee goes up the more subscribers you have.

What to do next...

Now that you know what questions to ask yourself when evaluating email marketing platforms, here are the steps to take to choose a platform that fits your needs:

1. Make a list of all the things you need your platform to do.
2. Make a list of all the platforms that you are interested in.
3. Remove the platforms that don't have the features you need.
4. Use the questions above to evaluate the options you have left.
5. If possible, sign up for a trial so you can actually see and experience the interface and support features for yourself.

One more thing...Beware "vanity" recommendations

Before making a final decision, check with others in your industry who actually use their email marketing platform. There are a lot of people who will make a recommendation to you because they got a cheap offer, or they have an affiliate link. But if they just have a platform, but don't really use it in their business, their recommendation isn't worth much to you.

The Bottom Line

Each email marketing solution has its own benefits, so it's vital that you understand the pros and cons of each before making a choice. Using the guidelines and questions in this article helps ensure you choose a platform that meets the needs of your business now and as you scale.

Looking for support with choosing the right email platform? Let's talk: www.thatmarketingteam.com/start.