whitepaper choosing 2012_web2

Digital Marketing Solutions Guide

29 factors to consider in 2012

DIGITAL MARKETING SOLUTIONS GUIDE

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ContentsIntroducing our 2012 Guide Page 1

Let our guide help you find your ideal Digital Marketing Solution

29 Factors to Consider in 2012 Page 3

The Platform Page 3 Usability Reliability

Data Management and Integrations Page 4 Data Intelligence Data Integration Application Programming Interface (API)

Segmentation, Targeting and Automation Page 5 Segmentation Dynamic Content Automated Email Transactional Emails

Email Deliverability and Rendering Page 7 Deliverability Sending Reputation Management Authentication Scoring Tools Engagement

Email Results Page 9 Testing Reporting ROI

Beyond Email Page 11 Third-Party Integrations Consulting Services

Emerging Channels Page 11 Social Media Mobile Email and SMS

Business Requirements Page 12 Trial Accounts Pricing and Contracts Implemenatation Timeline Customer Service Training Enterprise Needs

Legal Requirements and Data Security Page 14 Legal Security

Call on Clickmail Page 16


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Introducing our 2012 GuideAnother year has gone by, and as I take time out to reflect on 2011, I’ve realized that the evolution of email marketing doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. Email marketing has become increasingly more digitally interactive, and with that, a growing number of integrated marketing technologies have continued to emerge.

In 2011, Social and Mobile continue to dominate the industry airwaves, and with them a new concept called Engagement Marketing has continued to grow. As a result, many strategies have grown and developed including: marketing automation, social influence, QR codes and geo-targeting. (But you can read more about these in our Engagement Marketing Guide.)

So, what does this mean for us email marketers? For starters, the stakes are higher. In order to stay on top of the latest trends, we need to commit ourselves to the time and money it takes to get them up and running. Secondly, we must learn to adapt. The industry is changing at a rapid rate, so we must change with it; change our processes, strategies, and ideals of what email should be. By embracing these new technologies we can encourage more engagement from our subscribers and establish a better relationship with them, increasing our ROI as a result.

In my introductory letter for our 2011 guide, I speculated that our 2012 guide would likely not include any email service provider (ESP) references (as the industry seemed to be walking away from that term). This year, I have found that to be true. Many providers are starting to refer to their solutions using words like “engagement”, “digital”, “interactive”, and many more. And so, we have decided to use the phrase “digital marketing solution” moving forward as we felt it best described the products in the industry.

You’ll notice in this year’s edition of the guide, we’ve made some changes to the order and grouping and have expanded on some factors as well. We hope this helps you better navigate through our guide and find all of the essential information you are looking for.

Cheers to you, a prosperous 2012, and a new guide to help you choose. Choose wisely. Choose well.

Yours in successful email marketing,

Marco MariniCEOClickMail Marketing


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Let our guide help you find your ideal Digital Marketing SolutionYour digital marketing solution will have a huge impact on your marketing success. Use this guide when reviewing potential solutions to increase your ability to make the right selection for your business. This Guide does not mention specific digital marketing solutions. Instead, it covers 29 factors to consider. For each factor, we have included details about why it matters so you know how to prioritize it for your particular organization. We have also included detailed information on how to streamline your research.

Because the research is so labor intensive, there is a time cost to selecting an email marketing solution. Plus there is the risk that a less-than-optimal tool will jeopardize your email marketing ROI for the long term. ClickMail can reduce the time—and therefore cost—of choosing a digital marketing solution, and help you make the right choice. ClickMail is a vendor-neutral email marketing consultancy and value-added reseller of digital marketing solutions. We can help you avoid the hassles of an RFP, and instead, help you quickly determine your requirements, evaluate a short list of options and even give you firsthand knowledge about the strengths and weaknesses of the providers you are considering.

Will any one tool completely satisfy all of the factors included in this guide? Not likely. But if you’d like some help prioritizing the features that matter most to your organization, ClickMail can help. We can even provide you with a free trial of one or more platforms, so you can complete a hands-on evaluation before you commit (and before you pay).


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29 Factors to Consider in 2012

The Platform 1. USABILITY

Why It Matters – Although the usability of a digital marketing solution’s interface is ultimately determined by the user, it affects how well it will work for your organization. If your staff finds it difficult to use, they will not use it effectively. If they find it easy to use it will minimize errors and increase their efficiency.

What to Look For • Howwelldoestheinterfaceworkonanindividuallevelandforyour

organization? • Doesitallowforaworkflowthatfitswithyourorganization?• Howmuchtrainingisrequired?• ConsidertheGUI:Isthereadrag-and-dropvisualworkflow?• Islistsegmentationandautomatedmessagingeasilyconfigurableviadrag-

and-drop GUIs?• Considereaseofnavigation,reporting,accountconfigurationsandprofile

settings.• Istheworkflowintuitive?Aretherepreloadedtemplates?IsthereaWYSIWYG

editor?• Istheretheabilitytoturnonorofffeaturesfordifferentuserroles?• HoweasyisittoexecuteanA/Bsplittest?WhatcanbetestedinA/Bsplits?• Doestheworkflowallowforanapprovalprocess?• Howstreamlinedarethetaskworkflows?• Doestheworkflowprovideassistanceonhowtoconductmoreadvancedemail

strategy? • Doestheplatformallowforausertoeasilysetorselectacustom“From”and

“Reply To” email address?• Doestheplatformallowforrole-basedordepartment-basedaccess?

2. RELIABILITY

Why It Matters – When your platform is down, you lose the ability to send manual and automated emails (even those already scheduled). You may also lose valuable email tracking data. Any time-sensitive or revenue-generating initiatives are essentially rendered inoperable. That impacts your customers’ experience.

What to Look For • Anuptimeof99.5%orhigher.• AskforaServiceLevelAgreement(SLA),andfindoutyourrecourseiftheSLA

is not met. • Howoftendoestheplatformreleaseupdatesthatneedatemporaryservice

suspension? • Howmuchunplanneddowntimehastheplatformexperiencedinthelast12to

24 months? • Askabouttechnologyinvestmentswithinthelast12to24months.• Doesthetoolhaveredundantdatacenters?• Whatarchitectureenhancementshavetheymadetoensuretheapplicationis

available24/7?• Requestcustomerreferences.

We encourage our clients to get hands-

on experience evaluating both

the user interface and the workflow

of an application to evaluate for ease of

use, effectiveness and efficiency.


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Data Management and Integrations3. DATA INTELLIGENCE

Why It Matters – Data has always been important, but now it is even more so. It is time to move past simply keeping your data clean to learning from it in order to become as relevant as possible. You also need accurate, real-time data to make informed and immediate decisions.

What to Look For • Whattypesofdatamanagementtoolsdoesthetooloffer?• Doesitupdatedatacontinuouslywithautomatedfeaturessuchasself

cleansing mailing lists, bouncing email addresses, audience preference changes and unsubscribes?

• Canthesystemsupportyourrelationaldatastructure?Canyoueasilycreateadata mart or does it accommodate integration to a data mart solution?

• Checkthedataretentionpolicies:Willyoubechargedforstoringyourdata?• Arekeys(GUID’s)otherthanemailaddressavailableforuniquelyidentifyinga

record supported? • Arethereeasy-to-usesegmentationtoolsfordatafiltering?

4. DATA INTEGRATION

Why It Matters – To be effective, email has to be timely, relevant and personalized, which requires access to the data that results in that relevance. Often this means email must be driven by data from outside the email marketing application. Data integration means connecting disparate systems so your email platform can work with web analytics, CRM systems, your CMS and custom reporting dashboards. CRM systems like Salesforce.com and Microsoft Dynamics offer growing options for integrations, which means additional and new approaches for you to consider.

What to Look For • Doestheplatformhavepre-configuredintegrationswiththetoolsyouwantto

integrate to? • Willyouneedtocontractsomeonetodothesetupforyou?• Willtheplatformallowforpoint-and-clickautomateddataintegrationorwill

you need to build it utilizing the Application Programming Interface (API)?• WillyourplatformchoiceintegratedirectlywithyourCRM?Ifso,doesit

support all the functionality you will need or is the integration lacking in any respects?

• WhatisthebreadthoftheAPIfunctionality?Forcustomintegration,lookintothe breadth of the API to determine how much can be accomplished via the API.

• DoestheplatformallowforcampaignmanagementthroughyourCRM?

5. APPLICATION PROGRAMMING INTERFACE (API)

Why It Matters – When it comes to building an integration utilizing a platform’s API, keep in mind that different companies have different skill sets and it is best to ensure that the platform’s API can be easily and effectively leveraged by your firm. Many digital marketing solutions provide code samples for different programming languages so make sure their examples are written in a language that your developers are comfortable with.

Most top tier digital marketing solutions have a professional services division to handle these integrations for you. But they are often backlogged with projects from their largest customers, so be sure you are clear on expectations of timelines. Ensure the team has hands-on knowledge of the platform as well as your back-end systems, and ask for and follow up on references.

To avoid any unnecessary

downtime, we recommend being very clear in your communications

about your timelines, but also realistic in your expectations.


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What to Look For • Arethereongoingsupportcostsformanagingtheintegrations?• Doyouhavetheinternalpersonneltohelpwithchanges?Orwouldyouneed

to contract the work out to a VAR (value-added reseller) like ClickMail or the platform directly?

• Isthereanonlinedevelopercommunity?Examinesamplecode.Whatistheavailability of skilled programmers to develop and maintain the integration? Also look behind the scenes to evaluate the platform’s infrastructure to support the API calls. The best API is not going to help if the redundant, scalable infrastructure is not there to serve it.

• EnsuretheAPIcansupportthescaleofyourrecord-setandisabletosynchronize at a reasonable frequency.

• UnderstandandevaluatethetypeofAPItheplatformoffers:- XML based- Web services: Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)- REST- Synchronous vs. Asynchronous

• Ensuretheyhavesamplesofthelanguagethatyouwillbebuildingin:.NET,PHP,RubyorJava.

Segmentation, Targeting and Automation6. SEGMENTATION

Why It Matters – You want the ability to segment your database and target your marketing efforts. This enables you to send the right message at the right time to the right audience. As subscribers become used to increasingly relevant messages, there is a greater corresponding need for increasingly relational data and easy-to-use segmentation tools. Segmenting data easily with one-click functionality means your marketing efforts can be more easily targeted to the right list. And smaller, more targeted email lists consistently perform better in terms of opens, click throughs and conversions.

What to Look For • Canyousearchandselectbasedondateranges,demographicvaluesand

email preference metrics? Can you easily determine past recipient behavior, including opens and click throughs? Can you view users’ history?

• Doestheplatformoffersupportforrelationaldata?Istheresupporttobringin ecommerce or web analytics data to help drive better segmentation or personalization?

• Doestheplatformallowforcustomdemographicfields?Withwhatkindsoflimits and costs?

• CanyoudocomplexfilteringwithoutknowingSQL?Orifyourteamalreadyknows SQL, make sure the platform allows for SQL queries.

• Askaboutfrequencycappingandtimingfilteringfactorssoyoucanmakesuresubscribers are not emailed too frequently.

• Isthereatooltoquerythedataforfurtherlistsegmentationforbettertargeting?

• Howeasytousearethesegmentationtools?Draganddropfunctionalitycanbe very useful for easier segmentation.

• Iscomplexsegmentationpossible(e.g.blendingdemographics,pastemailbehavior, and other data such as website analytics)?

“ClickMail tailored an ESP solution that fit

our exact needs and actually allowed us to trial the solution

before we committed to it. It was as if we were measured and

fitted and allowed to walk the room in a new suit before we

bought it.”

JeffPecorSr. Communications Director

Yapta.com


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7. DYNAMIC CONTENT

Why It Matters – Content is key to a successful marketing campaign. It’s not enough to have quality content these days; consumers are becoming ever-more sophisticated and your content needs to target their expectations. Content needs to be dynamic: responsive to things like buying and browsing habits, and compelling: current, relevant, and targeted.

What to Look For• Istheredynamiccontentcreationcapability?• Whattoolsareavailabletohelpassistwithcreatingcontent?• Canyouusedynamiccontentandsegmentationtoolstogethertoproduce

compelling content?

8. AUTOMATED EMAIL

Why It Matters – Scalability of automated email means more 1-to-1 messaging, which also means being more timely and relevant with your audience without requiring a lot of extra hands-on management. Automated emails allow you to send emails that facilitate highly engaged clients based on purchases, transaction confirmations, browsing behavior and more, and can also assist with drip or lifecycle campaigns. Choosing a solution that supports a user-friendly automation feature can be ideal if you want to optimize your email initiatives and minimize the manpower required to manage your email campaigns.

If value is derived from the email interaction, then focus on the automation capabilities of the platform. If your value is derived from the logic or business rules at the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) level, focus more on integration between the two platforms.

What to Look For • Theabilitytosenddripandtriggeredemails.• Easyintegrationwiththird-partydatabaseslikeCRM,webanalytics,Enterprise

Resource Planning (ERP), data mart and ecommerce. You need to be able to query data sources for effective segmentation.

• Query/segmentationabilitieswithintheplatform,includingsupportofacontent library or the ability to integrate with a Content Management System (CMS)viaWebScrapeand/orAPI.Alsoconsiderhowcomplexitistosetupandmaintain.

• Islifecyclemessagingpossible?Isitdeterminedbasedonsubscriberbehaviorblended with demographic values?

• Howmuchsupportisavailableand/orrequiredfromyourinternalITtosetupandmaintaintheautomation?Howmuchdoesitcosttohavetheplatformsupport it?

• Doyouneedorwantyourplatformtoactasadatamart,providingameanstostore,manageand/orquerydatafromdisparatesources?Ifso,howeasyisitto set up, modify or enhance? Is this something you can do or do you have to utilize the platform’s professional services team?

9. TRANSACTIONAL EMAILS

Why It Matters – Transactional messages are a way to improve your relationship between your organization and its subscribers. By sending order confirmations, welcome emails, remarketing emails, password resets and shipping information, you are further engaging your customers and giving them the information they

“When I first started withHealthGrades,

they had yet to implement a formal

integrated email program. I reached

out to Clickmail for advice. [They were] the perfect

guides through the process. They not

only have a high level of knowledge and

expertise, but they bring to the table a

practical knowledge of what would work

best.”

Brian Vacanti Vice President, Marketing

HealthGrades


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are asking for. Transactional messages also tend to be more time-sensitive than marketing emails, which increases the need for a platform that will support this functionality and ensure timely delivery, regardless of the volume.

What to Look For • TheabilitytosendtransactionalmessageswithadifferentdedicatedIP

address. • TheabilitytosendMultipart/AlternativeMIMEFormattransactionalmessages

that allow you to track opens and click throughs, as well as up sell or cross sell.

• Canyousendtransactionalandmarketingemailswithinthesameaccount?HowsoonareemailssentwhenyouevoketheAPIcall?Youideallywantthemsent out within 30 to 60 seconds. Does the platform charge extra for the ability to quickly send or prioritize your message?

• Canyoureportontransactionalmessagingtrafficwithinthesameaccount?• Istheperformancedatefromtransactionalmessageseasilyleveragedforother

email types? • Iftransactionalemailsaremission-critical,lookfortoolsthatmove

transactional messages to the front of the queue for immediate delivery.• CanthetoolsupportyourtransactionalemailvolumewithoutacustomSLA?

Email Deliverability and Rendering 10. DELIVERABILITY

Why It Matters – For most digital marketing solutions, delivery only means there was a successful handoff between MTAs (Mail Transfer Agents). For a marketer, delivery means the email arrived in the recipient‘s inbox—not gone missing, or to the spam or junk folder. A marketer needs the email to be delivered to the recipient’s inbox so that it can be opened, clicked on and interacted with. In order to accomplish this, everything related to deliverability must be optimized, including monitoring your sending reputation, because the online sending reputation will affect the deliverability of your emails. If deliverability is a high priority for your company, make sure your new platform manages and monitors deliverability appropriately on their end.

What to Look For• Willtheplatformallowathird-partydeliverabilityauditbyacompanysuchas

PivotalVeracity/IBMUnicaorReturnPathbeforerequiringacontract?• Isdeliverabilityconsistentlymonitoredbytheplatform?• DoestheplatformhaveateamofpostmasterstointeractwithInternetService

Providers (ISPs)? If so, how many?• Doestheplatformoffercertifiedmailoptionsthroughrelationshipswith

ReturnPath or others? • Whataboutdatahygieneservices?Doestheplatformscrubagainstknown

spam traps, active complainers and undeliverable addresses? • Willyournewplatformproactivelynotifyyouifyourdeliverabilitydrops?• Ifyourdeliverabilitydrops,whatevaluationsandremediesareavailable?How

long does this process take?

11. SENDING REPUTATION MANAGEMENT

Why It Matters – ISPs look at several factors when deciding whether or not to let your email through their system and into their customer’s inbox. Your sending reputationisoneofthem.Justlikeareal-lifereputation,yoursendingreputationas an email marketer is based on your past behaviors. Your reputation must be stellar to keep your email deliverability rate high. Send to bad email addresses or

We encourage you to actively monitor your deliverability

to improve your email reputation

and ensure you are communicating with your most engaged list of subscribers.


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people who report you as a spammer, and you are putting your reputation at risk. Your platform’s behavior can put your reputation at risk as well.

What to Look For• CanyouhaveyourowndedicatedIPaddress?Isthereanextracost?Canyou

elect to be in a shared or distributed IP mail server pool? Can you transfer and use an existing IP address to your new ESP?

• Istherereputationsupportwithintheplatform’sserviceoffering,includingwhitelisting, feedback loop (FBL) enrollments and authentication protocols assistance?

• Istherereal-timemonitoringandalertingcapabilityforblacklisting,domainblocking and abuse reporting?

• DoestheplatformallowyoutosignupforwhitelistingstatuswithISPs?Willthey do this automatically on your behalf?

• DoestheplatformprovideyouthedatafromFBLenrollments?• Doestheplatformoffersuggestionstomanageorimproveyourreputation?

12. AUTHENTICATION

Why It Matters – You need authentication to protect your online reputation. Authentication is publishing the mail servers that are authorized to send email on your behalf. This establishes who you are and gives the recipient a method to identify your email. There are currently four main types of authentication: SPF (Sender Policy Framework), SenderID (SPF2), DomainKeys (DK) and DomainKeys IdentifiedMail(DKIM).Havingagoodsendingreputationleadstoabetterdeliverability rate because most ISPs look at your sending reputation as a key factor on whether to route your message to the inbox. Proving your identity can also help reduce the likelihood of a legitimate email being mistaken for spam, and help reduce and even prevent evil-doers from spamming or scamming your brand.

What to Look For• Whattypesofauthenticationdoestheplatformoffer?• Willyoubeabletotestinstallationofthesetechnologies?• Arethereextrasetupandmonthlycoststousethesetechnologies?• DoesDKIMsetupcostextra?• DoestheplatformofferadedicatedIPorbankofIPaddresses?• Doestheplatformofferthird-partyDomainKeysigningforsharedIPs?

13. SCORING TOOLS

Why It Matters – Scoring tools allow you to monitor, manage and improve the delivery, credibility, reputation and rendering of your marketing and service communications.Forexample,mostISPslikeYahoo,GmailandHotmailhelpdetermine whether to deliver your email to the subscriber’s inbox based on your online sending reputation, so you want tools for measuring that. You might also want to know what your emails look like in different email clients: If your emails do not render properly in certain email clients, you run the risk of not only having a bad user experience, but damaging your brand as well. Digital marketing solutions are providing more marketing automation capabilities, including lead nurturing and lead scoring, which could help you to grow your subscriber list. These are just a few examples of the types of scoring tools that might be important to your organization.

Deliverability and subscriber

engagement are of the utmost

importance in email marketing. ClickMail can direct you to the appropriate tools to

evaluate this data and provide you with

feedback on how to improve.


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What to Look For • Reviewthescoringtoolsfortheirabilitytogiveyouinsightintocontent

scoring, email client inbox rendering, ISP deliverability, blacklist monitoring and your online reputation.

• Doestheplatformprovidemarketingautomationcapabilities,includingleadnurturing and lead scoring?

• Doestheplatformuseitsownorathird-partyreportingtoolsuchasReturnPathorPivotalVeracity/IBMUnica?

• Isthereportactionable?Doesitindicatehowtocorrecttheproblemsitdetects?

14. ENGAGEMENT

Why It Matters – A subscriber’s engagement, or lack thereof, directly influences your deliverability and ROI. ISPs are now keeping track of how users interact with their emails and decide which emails are classified as spam based on that data. If a recipient does not engage with your emails, the ISP may consider your email spam in the eyes of that recipient. You need new tools that move you beyond open rates to data that really matters, like knowing who did what with your email. On the flip side, engagement technologies can make your emails even more relevant and timely. Engagement can be a useful tool to further segment your data and manage your interactions with subscribers. For example, using data on recent click-throughs and site visits, you can determine which users are highly engaged and those that are becoming inactive, and target your messages to these disparate groups accordingly. In addition, intelligent content—content that renders when an email is opened rather than when it was sent—can have liveoffersthataretiedtoyourinventory.Ifsomethingissoldoutorthefirst250respondents have already converted, an alternate offer is presented.

What to Look For • Doyouneedatooltomeasureengagement?• Whatkindofengagementtoolsdoestheplatformoffer?• Doestheplatformprovideactionable,real-timereportingofdatafrom

ecommerce sites and social sites?• Lookfortheabilitytotrackandstoreopentimebyuser.• Canyouoptimizeyoursendtimesonanindividualbasispersubscriberwith

the platform?• Doestheplatformofferintegrationwiththird-partytoolsthathelpsyou

measureengagement?Howaboutengagementbeyondemail?• Doestheplatformoffertheabilitytorenderdynamiccontentbasedon

engagement?• Considerotherpossibleintegrationswithsocialsites,ecommercesite,web

analytics.

Email Results 15. TESTING

Why It Matters – Testing is very important to an email marketing campaign because testing will help you determine what is effective and what isn’t. And in the ever-changing world of digital marketing, what worked last year may not be what works best this year; so consistent and constant testing should be a key component of your marketing strategy. As users increase their mobile use, it becomes increasingly important to test how your email designs render across a variety of platforms.

Engagement technologies can help you make your emails

even more relevant and timely by moving

you beyond open rates to data that

really matters, like knowing who did

what with your email.


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What to Look For • Whattestingcapabilitiesdoestheplatformoffer?• Doestheplatformofferdatacompilinganddrill-downability?• Doestheplatformofferinboxpreviewtesting?• HoweasyisittoexecuteanA/Bsplittest?• Doestheplatformsupportmultivariatetesting?• Whichvariablescanyoutestwith?

- From Address- Subject Line- In-email content- Time of delivery- Day of delivery

16. REPORTING

Why It Matters – Reporting and analysis tools are critical for measuring the effectiveness of your email campaigns and making adjustments to optimize ROI over time. Standard metrics include sends, deliveries, opens, click throughs and forwards, but are more advanced metrics available if you need them? Make sure you are clear on the metrics that matter for your business and review how well the reporting capabilities of the platform match those needs.

What to Look For • Isthereportinginsightful?Meaningful?Easilyactionable?• Whatlevelofreportingisavailableforbouncemessages?Willyoubeableto

discern why a message bounced? • Doestheplatformofferprogrammablepostclick-throughreportingsuchas

clickstream behavior? Do you have flexibility to customize the reports? • Isittoeasytoexportresultssotheycanbeusedwithothertoolsordata?

Look for the ability to tag links for analysis in web analytics tools, as well as the ability to share information between web analytics, your CRM system and the platform. Also, find out if the platform automatically handles email replies.

• Doestheplatformoffersocialmediadatametrics?• Howaboutbusinessintelligencereporting?• Doestheplatform’sreportingincludeconversiontracking?Isiteasytodeploy?• Canyougetactionablereportsonmultipleopensthatindicateahigherlevelof

interest and potential engagement?• Isthereanykindofproactivereportingthatwillalertyoutoaproblem?

For example, if your open rates or clickthrough rates drop below a certain threshold, will you be notified?

• Canyousetupcustomreport(s)andviewthedatathatismostvaluabletoyou?

17. ROI

Why It Matters – According to Direct Marketing Association’s 2011 Power of Direct economic impact study, email marketing is returning vastly more for every dollar spent on it this year than every other marketing channel. When compared to other marketing channels, the ROI of email marketing is unsurpassed – this is why marketers continue to expand their email marketing budget by redirecting investment from less proven marketing mediums. Tracking conversion rates through email open rates and click-throughs will ultimately yield more return on your investment. New analytics programs are available to help you view and track your ROI.

When compared to other marketing

channels, the ROI of email marketing is unsurpassed – this

is why marketers continue to expand

their marketing budget by redirecting investment from less

proven marketing mediums.


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What to Look For• Doestheplatformofferconversiontracking?• Doestheplatformofferintegrationwithanalyticsprograms?Howrobustis

their reporting structure?• Whatactionablecross-channelreportingcapabilitiesexistwithintheplatform?

Beyond Email 18. THIRD-PARTY INTEGRATIONS

Why It Matters – Email is still the strongest, most effective messaging medium out there. One characteristic that makes it so strong is its ubiquity. It is everywhere. As new technologies are developed, email integrates more and more with add-on services and innovations. If your platform’s UI does not let you adopt these innovations by integrating with third-party services and technologies now and in the future, you will fall behind your competition.

What to Look For • Doestheplatformoffersupportforintegratingwithnewtechnologies?• Doestheplatformoffertechnologythatidentifiespeopleassmartphone

recipients and send them a version optimized for rendering on a smart phone? • DoestheplatformsupportSMS(text-basedmessaging)?• Doestheplatformsupportsocialmediaintegrations?• Canyouremailbeintegratedwithdirectmail?• Whatistheplatform’sroadmapforthird-partyintegrationinthefuture?• Isthereasingletoolthatperformseverything,orwillyouneedseparatetools?

19. CONSULTING SERVICES

Why It Matters – Agency-type services such as strategy, professional design, emaildeployment,email-specificHTMLcoding,andintegrationservicescanhelp you optimize your email marketing program, especially if your department is understaffed or less experienced. Consider capabilities you want now and those you might want in the future, such as campaign planning, list growth, deployment or customized web development including landing pages, signup and profile preference pages and reporting.

What to Look For • Whatotherservicesdoestheplatformoffer?• Isthereanactivepartnernetwork?Whichvendorshastheplatformpartnered

with? For how long? • Doestheplatformoffermulti-modalmessaging,likeSMS,voiceorfaxto

augment email from within the application?

Emerging Channels 20. SOCIAL MEDIA

Why It Matters – To keep pace with the rapidly changing world of technology and cultural expectations, email must integrate with social networking tools. That is the only way you can hope to communicate with all audiences, as some stay with email for communication and others move to social media. Integrating with social media also extends your reach, getting your message in front of more people when shared. A best practice is to allow subscribers to share your marketing message or your email content with social networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter. You also need the ability to solicit email signups at your social network pages. As the world of digital marketing becomes more social, there are increasing opportunities for more strategic placements and capabilities for social media to integrate with email campaigns.

The email marketing space is ever-

changing, so staying on top of the latest

trends is a must. We recommend having

access to someone in the industry that can

assist you with the latest technologies

and direct you on the best initiatives for

your business on an ongoing basis.


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What to Look For • Issocialmediaintegrationapriorityfortheplatform?• Canemailsbesharedwithsocialnetworksusingtheiremailplatform?Isita

full integration or only a partial solution? • Whattrackingdoestheplatformreportonregardingsocialmediaengagements

beginning from an email?• Doestheplatformintegratewithothertoolstomanagesocialchannelsand

define social influencers?• Doestheplatformoffertheabilitytotrackinfluencerratings?

21. MOBILE EMAIL AND SMS

Why It Matters – As more users increasingly utilize mobile applications to check email and perform transactions, mobile ROI is only going to climb. As mobile marketing increases, it’s important to get a jump on the trend and ensure that your email marketing campaign is optimized for the mobile landscape. If your emails don’t render effectively on a smart phone, you run the risk of not only having a bad user experience and ignored email, but damaging your brand as well. Another way to start thinking about mobile integration with your email campaign is to use SMS to gain subscribers. Allowing subscribers to opt-in to receive text updates from you and to subscribe to email updates using SMS is yet another way to make your email marketing campaign visible and available to prospects.

What to Look For • Doestheplatformoffermobileoptimizedemail?• Doestheplatformofferaneasy-to-usemobileonlinecommerce?• Doestheplatformoffertheabilityforsubscriberstotext-to-joinusingSMS?• Istheplatformintegratedwithlocation-basedservices?• Whatmobile-optimizationandsegmentationtoolsdoestheplatformoffer?

Business Requirements 22. TRIAL ACCOUNTS

Why It Matters – Typically you are making at least a one-year commitment to a platform. Choosing a tool that does not do what you need it to can cost you. Big time. A new platform can cost you money if it is difficult to use, and if the deliverability rate is not as high as it should be.

What to Look For• Makesureyoucantaketheuserinterfaceforatestdrive.Donotrelyonthe

service provider showing you an internal demo version. Get an actual instance of their platform that you can test drive yourself.

• Doesithavethefeaturesandfunctionalityyouarelookingfor?Aretheyeasyenough for you and your team to figure out and use?

23. PRICING AND CONTRACTS

Why It Matters–Havingflexiblepricingandpaymenttermsthatmatchyourrequirements based on your sending patterns and budget constraints means you have a vendor that is responsive to your needs. More flexible contract terms mean you are better equipped to try new tactics without long-term expense commitments. Most platforms require a 12-month usage and revenue commitment. You do not want to choose a platform solely on price, but you do want to know exactly what you are getting.

Don’t get caught up in “cool” functionality

that you don’t need now or won’t realistically use in

the next 18 months. Most marketing

organizations switch providers every 24

months anyway.


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What to Look For• Whichfeatureshavecosts?Dynamiccontent,dedicatedIPaddresses,API

deployment, surveys, transactional messaging, data storage and hosted content or landing pages are all features to ask about. Investigate these details early in the selection process, particularly if you are in a highly regulated industry such as finance, insurance or healthcare, or if your corporation is known for strict contractual negotiations.

• Doesyourplatformofferflexiblebillingterms,suchasallowingyoutorampup over time, as your usage increases?

• Askforcontractsfrompotentialserviceprovidersandhavethemreviewedbyyour legal department for any red flags before final vendor selection.

24. IMPLEMENTATION TIMELINE

Why It Matters – Email can be instant…but not always. If you are waiting on an implementation you may begin to lose out. An API integration is typically the most time-consuming, but implementation can also involve setting up your account, creating email templates, importing lists, setting up authentication protocols and more. You need to know how long to expect the process to take, who is responsible for doing what, and in what order the configuration tasks must be completed.

What to Look For• Willthesolutionprovidercommittobeupandrunningbyacertaindate?• Willtheyagreetobuilt-infinancialconsequencesifthetimelineisnotmet?

25. CUSTOMER SERVICE

Why It Matters – When there is a problem, you need timely resolution. With over 100 platforms to choose from, much of email is being viewed as a commodity. Therefore level and quality of service is a prime differentiator.

What to Look For• Isreachingalivepersonimportanttoyou?Doyouneed24houraccessto

support, or are you willing to wait until the next day for help? During which hours are calls answered?

• Testandtrackafter-hourssupport,includingtimelinessofemailresponsestosupport queries. What type of ticketing system exists?

• Askforreferencesfromcurrentclients.• Onceupandrunning,doyouanticipateyourorganizationwillrelyonself-

service, collaborative services, or full services? Is this likely to change? Self-service users: consider the possibility that you will need some interim help.

26. TRAINING

Why It Matters – The sooner you and your staff are proficient on your new platform, the faster you can start reaping the benefits of your investment, and the less likely you are to make mistakes. You will also want ongoing education to ensure you continue to deepen your knowledge of the platform, especially when the platform releases upgrades and new features.

What to Look For• Youwantaplatformthatofferseasyaccesstoresourcestoensureyourramp

up time is minimal. Are there costs for initial or follow-up training? Is training available both online and live?

• Donewreleasesincludetraining?Arethereextrachargesforsupport?• Istheretrainingavailablebeyondtheplatforminterface(i.e.trainingonbest

practices)?

The sooner you and your staff are proficient on your new platform, the

faster you can start reaping the benefits of your investment,

and the less likely you are to make

mistakes.


14

• Doestheplatformsupplyindustryinformation,casestudiesorothereducational resources?

• Isthereausercommunityorconferenceforadditionallearningopportunities?• Istheretrainingavailableforyourdeveloperssupportingintegrationefforts?

27. ENTERPRISE NEEDS

Why It Matters – An enterprise-sized business will have specific requirements from a platform. This kind of larger organization might have different business units running independently of one another, for example, but with a need to control the look and feel of any messaging that goes out.

What to Look For• Areyoubeabletosilobusinessdata,soonedepartmentcannotemailanother

department’s list, for example?• Doestheplatformoffermasterorcorporatelevelviewsintotheactivityof

different departments working in the tool?• Doestheplatformallowcorporatelevelapproval?Whataboutamaster

reporting toolset that pulls in data from the different departments?• Canheadersandfootersdifferfordifferentaccountsandbrands?• Canyouhavedifferentunsubscribepoliciesbetweenbusinessunits?Cana

user unsubscribe from one brand’s list without unsubscribing from all lists?

Legal Requirements and Data Security28. LEGAL

Why It Matters – Your customer and prospect data is one of your company’s most valuable assets. If your organization requires you to manage data a certain way, legal considerations matter. You will definitely need to make sure your emails are CAN-SPAM compliant, but there are other regulations you might need to comply with as well, such as the new Canadian anti-spam law (FISA), the California Online Privacy Protection Act (OPPA) and others. All top tier digital marketing solutions have requirements for emails sent out through their platforms. Will your emails meet those requirements?

What to Look For• Willtheplatformhelpyoudeterminewhichmarketingcontentislegally

acceptable in transactional emails?• Istheplatformabletohelpyoucomplywiththenew,morestringent,Canadian

anti-spam law?• Whatistherecourseifyouviolateoneoftheselawsorpolicies?

29. SECURITY

Why It Matters – Your email lists are valuable proprietary information. People are increasingly concerned about the security of their data, and are hesitant to use a third-party tool because of security issues. Therefore, security should extend beyond the platform to cover access to the network as well as local access from the platform facility. Also, public companies must comply with regulations like Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX). Before evaluating the security capabilities of any platform, be clear on the requirements of your organization and industry, in particular, the level of security wanted or mandated. Ensure that your selected provider maintains a security methodology that you are comfortable with.

We encourage you to assess the present

and future needs of your business needs

before choosing a new platform. If you have an idea of the

type of services, pricing and features you are looking for,

you will be able to make a better decision on your

platform.


15

What to Look For• IsthecompanySOXcompliant?• Dotheyhavenetworkintrusiondetection?Firewalls?Employeescreening?

Monitored access at the office and at the data center(s)? Security cameras? Do they require vendor employee background checks?

• Aretheyinsured,licensedandbonded?Internallyconsiderpasswordstrengthand encryption safeguards.

• Whattypesofaudittrailsareavailable?Canyouseewhologgedinandwhatthey worked on?

• Whattypeofsecuritytoolsareinplace?Dotheyprovidemonitoringandalerts?IP whitelisting? Factor authentication?

• HasthecompanybeenthroughaSAS70audit?Ifyes,atwhatlevel?• Ifyouaremanagingyourowndata,areyourdatatransferprotocolssafeand

aligned with your marketing needs?


16

Call on ClickmailIf you have reached this point of the Guide, you are probably realizing you have a lot to consider with the 29 factors outlined above. But you do not have to consider all of them, only those that matter to your organization’s business objectives and email marketing programs. And you do not have to consider them alone. Sorting through the myriad strengths and weaknesses of each platform can be a streamlined process when ClickMail is guiding you. We know the platforms. We know how well they rank for each of these factors. And we know we can help you find the right tool for you.

As a value-added reseller, working with us is risk free. We’ll set you up with trial accounts so that you can try the platforms before you purchase your account. And once you’ve selected your provider of choice, our partnerships with over a dozen digital marketing solutions will allow us to offer you competitive pricing on your platform selection.

With ClickMail on your side, you will learn how to use the platform faster and utilize the features of your digital marketing solution to the fullest extent possible. And when you’re ready to grow your email marketing strategy, our technical and strategic consulting services will help you earn the maximum return from your email marketing investment.

Let ClickMail to become an extension of your email marketing team by helping you on the path to becoming a successfuland profitable email marketer. For more information, contact us at 650-653-8055, 866-418-4877 or [email protected].

Your ESP Selection Toolwww.espinator.com

Looking for specific Email Marketing

recommendations?

Although our 2012 Guide is vendor agnostic, we have

built an Email selection tool featuring specific platforms. You can access this tool at

www.espinator.com.

Powered by ClickMail Marketing

ClickMail Marketing, Inc.155 Bovet Road, Suite 310San Mateo, CA 94402-3108

Phone: 650.653.8055Toll Free: 866.418.4877

Fax: 650.350.1056

About ClickMail MarketingClickMail Marketing is an email consultancy and value-added reseller of over a dozen digital marketing solutions. As one of

the fastest growing email solutions providers in the industry, we strive to stay vendor neutral so that we can recommend the best

solution for your specific marketing needs.

We also publish The Whitelist, an email marketing blog, at www.ClickMailmarketing.com/whitelist/ and The ClickMail

Marketer newsletter at www.ClickMailmarketing.com/signup.html.

Connect with us:

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[email protected] www.ClickMailMarketing.com

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