When looking at how to use email marketing, then the question always arises about how should I send out the emails that I have created to my verified list of contacts. Some look to Microsoft Outlook as a way, and indeed it does have the facility to mail merge from a Word document to a recipient list that you have created. Should you decide to take this route then you will find this overview to be of use.

However, it is a solution that I would have difficulty in recommending to anyone interested in embarking on anything other than a very basic email marketing campaign.

For a more comprehensive and recommended solution to achieving the right elements for an email marketing program, there are a number of options. Firstly you should evaluate between three primary options that exist for you:

1. Use an external agency and outsource your email marketing
2. Run the campaign in house using a purchased desktop / server software system
3. Run the email marketing in house and use a hosted / online system

The initial selection may not always be the most appropriate so it is worthwhile checking out what would best suit your requirements given the internal resources that you have and taking into account the support and advice that you may need to comply with legal and commercial I need to carry it out properly.

a) Use an external agency

Agencies come in many shapes and sizes and will range from large marketing organisations which have added email marketing to their set of marketing services, through to specialist boutiques focused on email marketing or emarketing in general.

In particular, the small agencies may prove to be very effective if they work with you and take help iron out the legal, copywriting that you face, in addition to perhaps designing the emails, personalising elements of the content (essential!!), sending them out and tracking them. The tracking will allow you to judge the success of your campaign as well as permit a better focus as you carry out segment testing that should be standard in an email marketing campaign to achieve the best results.

The flip side is potentially the cost involved, though the Return on Investment (ROI) will almost certainly be a lot higher if they have specialist expertise in the area, rather than using it as an add-on to their offline marketing / mailing services which is a different issue. However, combining the two as an integrated direct marketing approach is perhaps the most powerful and compelling solution.

2. Run the email campaign in house using a purchased desktop / server software system

If you have the necessary in house resource, then buying a system could be an option but do make sure that the software supplier includes upgrades in the purchase price. The market is still developing and the services offered are getting better as well as prices coming down.

A couple of suppliers that offer a service worth looking at are given below, but it is worth comparing the services they offer as this will change, particularly in the tracking arena:

Broadcast (from a company called MailWorkz)
Gammadyne
Lyris

When considering this option, elements that you will want to bear in mind are your internal capabilities in terms of designing the email and working with the software, and your IT set-up including whether bulk email going out through your ISP is something that they will be open to, together with the online processing of bounced emails, unsubscribes etc.

3. Run the email marketing in house and use a hosted / online system

This is probably the simplest method in terms of IT set-up although there is still a learning process with regard to learning the system you select. The system is hosted externally by a company specialising in email marketing and you pay a monthly charge to use the system - this charge is generally either dictated by service level, size of mailing lists or number of emails sent. It is good to check the exact charge configuration if cost is a major issue.

You would import the contacts from your own database or Excel spreadsheet (usually through a CSV format). create the emails within the system and then send out the campaigns from there. Some will offer tracking as part of the package while others offer this as an upgrade so it is worth checking it out if tracking is a key element to your campaign. Some recommended suppliers offering this set-up are:

Constant Contact
Mailer Mailer
AWeber
Vertical Response

If you are combining two or more lists, then you may also wish to consider cleaning the list of email addresses before using it. The basic action will be to “de-dupe” it, which means to remove duplicated addresses or multiple addresses for the same person. Most of the email marketing systems will have a simple de-dupe facility which is probably all that you need – once the system is automatically adding email addresses, then again all of them should do verify current addresses on an ongoing basis before adding a new one. If you have an old list or are unsure about it, then it would probably be wise to verify the recipients as a double opt-in if you want to do this properly, which is what I would recommend.

Email marketing is very powerful but also very diverse in its uses so choosing the right method of sending the emails is key to success. If you are in any doubt about how to run a campaign then it is probably worthwhile finding a small agency to work with you initially to ensure you get it right to - you will then be in a much better position to ask the right questions when you make the move and research your next solution.