{"id":17483,"date":"2019-03-05T11:08:06","date_gmt":"2019-03-05T10:08:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.emailvendorselection.com\/?p=17483"},"modified":"2019-12-30T10:29:59","modified_gmt":"2019-12-30T09:29:59","slug":"expensive-better-email-service-providers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.emailvendorselection.com\/expensive-better-email-service-providers\/","title":{"rendered":"More Expensive Doesn’t Mean Better When it Comes to Email Service Providers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trying to pin down the right choice of email service provider can be tough. There are so many and it is hard to see which will be best for you. ESPs makes promises and offer their feature sets at varying price points. But does more expensive also means better for you? Turns out, not all the time. <\/p>\n

More expensive ESPs don\u2019t always offer much more than their moderately-priced competitors.<\/p>\n

As Marketing Manager of a fast growing ESP, we keep a very close eye at prices of email marketing solutions. Pricing is important, some companies build their whole strategies around pricing alone, and we take it seriously.<\/p>\n

Just the other day a customer asked me a question that comes up all of the time: How come the prices differ between companies so much? They all basically help you get those emails sent, right? Then why some Email Service Providers are so expensive?<\/i><\/p>\n

Well, they don’t do everything the same, it is a bit<\/i> more nuanced. But indeed, sometimes there is literally nothing<\/strong> that justifies the higher price of one ESP comparing to another with the same features. Just because a service asks more money doesn\u2019t mean that they are actually delivering a better product.<\/p>\n

\"more<\/p>\n

That\u2019s like having a gold-plated toothbrush<\/strong> (with built in cappuccino maker). It is still a regular toothbrush, just a very expensive one. And you are always out of fresh beans. The cappuccino maker seemed like a good idea when looking at it at the shop, but you never ended up using it.<\/p>\n

Sometimes a higher price tag means more sophisticated features<\/a>. That is OK if you use them. Problem is that a lot of companies turn out not to use those extra sophisticated features. An ESP might offer features that you are paying for, but end up not using.<\/p>\n

Research by Kath Pay<\/a> and Holistic email showed that on 3 in 10 marketers use more than 60% of the features offered by their ESP. You could say they are not making the most of the platform they are using, you could also say that they are overpaying for the features they aren’t using.<\/p>\n

\"ESP<\/a>
\nSource: Holistic Email vendor satisfaction report<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t have experience in email marketing, evaluating the different options available can be almost impossible. Pairing down your options by features offered is a good start, but you can\u2019t evaluate a solution until you dive in. Take advantage of any demos or free trial offers that the company makes available.<\/p>\n

For most companies, once they begin working with an email marketing solution, it is often too big of a hassle for them to look elsewhere. That makes the choice that you make on your first evaluation incredibly important.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Email Software Pricing and What Effects It<\/span><\/h2>\n

The price that you pay for your email marketing service will depend on a number of factors including the volume of mail that you would like to send, the automation features that you require, and the level of support that you will need. Still, the price of similar services will range quite a bit. There is plenty of cheap email marketing software<\/a>, but are they any good?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

And then there are cases where Email Service Providers overpromise and underdeliver. That said, there are perfectly good reasons why a solution may require premium pricing, or be cheaper than the competition.<\/p>\n

Do you need a small market, mid-sized, or enterprise solution<\/a>? While in some cases it might make sense to choose a solution that you can grow into. Stepping up into a solution that offers features that you don\u2019t need will cost more and cut into your budget.
\nPay for the ESP you need<\/p>\n

There are solid email providers at cheaper price points. In fact, for many businesses a cheaper email service provider is the right choice. They don\u2019t have to send the volume or require the features that would necessitate an enterprise ESP.<\/p>\n

Opting for the cheapest option can be tempting. Especially when low-dollar options can often look similar to high-dollar solutions. However, there are certain situations where choosing a cheaper email provider is the wrong idea.<\/p>\n

Some of the reasons to choosing a bit more expensive ESP<\/strong> service will be good for your business include:<\/p>\n