{"id":13781,"date":"2017-05-30T08:55:38","date_gmt":"2017-05-30T06:55:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.emailvendorselection.com\/?p=13781"},"modified":"2017-05-30T08:55:38","modified_gmt":"2017-05-30T06:55:38","slug":"choosing-an-esp-you-get-what-you-pay-for-so-pay-for-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.emailvendorselection.com\/choosing-an-esp-you-get-what-you-pay-for-so-pay-for-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Choosing an ESP; You Get What You Pay for\u2014so Pay for More"},"content":{"rendered":"

I often see businesses choosing email service providers (ESPs) based largely on price. Later, they discover that ESP wasn\u2019t so cheap after all, for various reasons. You don’t want to make that mistake.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, I see others choosing an ESP that costs more, but also offers more. Which path will you choose? <\/p>\n

<\/span>Why do email service providers charge such different prices?<\/span><\/h2>\n

ESPs differ in price in part because a lower-end one will offer less functionality and support, and therefore costs less, compared to a higher-end (and higher-priced) ESP that offers much more functionality. <\/p>\n

With the lower-end ESP, you\u2019re typically limited to what you can do and usually, you only have one way to do a task. That means you might find out, for example, that the third-party data you wanted to use in your new automation initiative can\u2019t be accessed\u2014because it\u2019s not available in that part of the platform. <\/p>\n

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Do you always get what you pay for?<\/p><\/div>\n

On the other end of the scale, an ESP can be pricey because the platform offers all kinds of functionality, enabling you to segment using relational databases<\/a>, do multivariate testing, use drag-and-drop automation, integrate with third-party data sources, and much, much more. The challenge with these platforms is typically support and the cost of implementing more sophisticated campaigns. <\/p>\n

<\/span>Support and expertise as the middle layer <\/span><\/h2>\n

The reality of \u201cyou get what you pay for\u201d applies to support too. While the lower-priced ESP that offers fewer buttons to push will be easier to learn and use, if you need advice, you\u2019re often limited in how much help you get. The higher-priced ESP with the sophisticated platform will take more time to ramp up<\/a> on\u2014and as you master the various features and functionality, you\u2019ll likely need help with each new one. <\/p>\n

You\u2019ll need their assistance at implementation to ensure everything is set up right. Then you\u2019ll need their support as a kind of \u201cmiddle layer\u201d to make sure you can do more and more with the platform moving forward. <\/p>\n

Consider this analogy: You might be able to fly a Cessna, but you\u2019ll be overwhelmed by the cockpit of a 747, so you\u2019ll need a pilot to help you out. It\u2019s the same with the higher-end ESP: You need expertise and guidance, someone who will help you get what you paid for out of the system. <\/p>\n

<\/span>Paying for expertise beyond the platform<\/span><\/h2>\n

Then there\u2019s the expertise you need beyond simply using the platform. Because let\u2019s face it, if email were easy, we wouldn\u2019t have\u2014or need\u2014email marketing services. We would simply do it all in-house. But email is far from easy. It\u2019s complex, ever-changing, and made up of all kinds of little moving parts that can have a big impact on your end results.<\/p>\n

\"sit-banner\"
\nIn order to get the Outcomes, the combination of in-house and ESP needs to be able to offer the right level of Capacity and Ability.<\/i><\/p>\n

Maybe that\u2019s why so many businesses switch ESPs because they are unhappy with the customer service<\/a> they\u2019re getting. The businesses need the assistance in order to fully make use of the ESP platform as well as to optimize their email marketing programs to maximize their ROI. But they often can\u2019t do it alone. <\/p>\n

<\/span>When spending more money upfront can mean more ROI later<\/span><\/h2>\n

This matters more than you might think because, over the long run, the customer who paid more for the ESP initially can come out financially ahead later on. They\u2019re able to make incremental improvements to their email program, thereby improving deliverability, open rates and click throughs. Those incremental improvements that lead to better engagement, deliverability, and eventually sales can more than make up for spending a little more on the ESP at the outset. <\/p>\n

<\/span>Make sure you know what you\u2019re getting with that ESP<\/span><\/h2>\n

Most of the complaints we hear at ClickMail are from companies getting nickeled and dimed for little things that they assume they should be able to do in the platform when they selected it. We also hear from companies that are frustrated because they don\u2019t get a lot of deliverability help when they have issues getting into the inbox. Companies also complain to us that they have to pay in order to get premium customer support\u2014usually because they wrongly assumed that level of service and support would be part of their contractual agreement with the ESP.<\/p>\n

Consider just the deliverability issue for a minute: What if you\u2019re having deliverability issues with Gmail? Will the low-cost ESP
\n1) be willing to help you and
\n2) have the knowledge to help you? <\/p>\n

Can they help a client go from a 2% open rate with Gmail to a 22% open rate? It can take time and effort to fix deliverability issues, but it\u2019s worth it because any email not opened might as well be an email not sent in the first place. <\/p>\n

<\/span>And what if you want to customize? <\/span><\/h2>\n

This is also true when an organization wants to add a new level of customization to their email program, one that has the potential to dramatically improve the communications to their customers and prospects, and increase their ROI. This is where it\u2019s less about the cost and more about the ESP<\/b>. If a company wants a customized dashboard built, for example, they obviously wouldn\u2019t expect to get that for free. However, choosing the cheapest ESP<\/a> at the outset means the ESP might not have the expertise or ability to do the project at all. <\/p>\n

The three most common requests I see are for additions that have the potential to be game changers for the marketer, yet the cheap ESP might not be able to deliver them. They are: <\/p>\n