By: Walter

Walter — Thu, 16 Oct 2014 08:19:00 +0000

Thanks for taking the time to make these additions to the article, Akin.
Indeed, most marketers today are looking to combine data from various sources to create a single customer view, allowing them to use their data for marketing intelligence and automation. Collecting data should not be a goal, though, as it should lead to more intelligent and relevant individual communications.
Absolutely, support is far more than software support. Services from a third party, being the ESP or a specialized agency, remain important for most businesses. Although personally I’d say that responsive design is being quickly commoditized by drag-and-drop editors that automatically convert a design into mobile-ready emails, there are more than enough other challenges . In order to retain a competitive advantage, I do agree that businesses should do all they can to increase engagement and automate their customer journeys. Because of lack of experience for most marketers, it is advisable to turn to specialists for the strategy and (parts of the) implementation.
I do agree with you that segmenting and targeting are key. Although collecting data is relatively easy, converting data into relevant messages is a lot more difficult. Even when the data model of the ESP allows for the creation of a single customer view, not in all cases would you segment on data and customer interactions in the database of your ESP. Also here a choice is to be made.
Most of our users appreciate Copernica because of the extremely flexible and scalable data model, but we’ve noticed that, mainly due to their ever expanding pool of data, the top 10% businesses opt for in-house data management and a separate MTA for email delivery. Because these businesses often have organized their data-warehousing in-house and employ substantial marketing teams (and data analysts), it is then not necessary to segment from the ESP. In order for businesses to grow into their ideal solution, ESP’s need to be able to adopt to changing needs, for example by offering a separate MTA and accessible API’s.
The opportunities of integrating various data sources and omnichannel customer journeys are making our industry increasingly interesting once more!

By: Akin Arikan

Akin Arikan — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 18:41:00 +0000

Great article that covers so many of the most important criteria for choosing. I’d like to take a step back and add a consideration to this. In our experience at Lyris (we’re an email service provider) companies that are looking to select a new email marketing solution frequently mention these three key needs:
1. We want to better leverage analytics and data to drive our email
2. We need to integrate with X, Y, Z systems that we already have in place
3. We are looking for (not just “support”) but a long-term partner by our side that will guide us with best practices and experience.
I think the above map very well to your guidance in the article with some slight nuances I would like to point out if I may:
* It’s not even just “support” but services, especially around coaching for better deliverability, engagement, mobile optimization, etc.
* It’s not just about a “database” but really think about the kind of segmentation and data (e.g. website behavior) that will be used for targeting.
* Besides “should I integrate” it is also critical to ask as to how the ESP will support me with integrations of those systems that I already have in place.
Hope you agree. Thank you for a great article and guidance!
Akin
Lyris

Comments on: 8 crucial points for growing into the ideal email marketing solution

By: Walter

By: Akin Arikan