Recommended reports
Email marketing: A Beginner's Guide
The Email Marketing Beginner's Guide is a starting point for those who want to discover what email is all about. It is free to Econsultancy Bronze members (registered users) and higher.
dead insect
25 September 2007 16:37pm
Hiya,
I've currently working for a baby clothing brand, http://www.ohbabylondon.com
We've only just started to sell online, and from this and from our high street shop, we have a database of about 1000 people.
We're looking to send out emails to these people - a newsletter and very occasional offer messages.
Volumes would be 1k , split across 2 or 3 cells, every 2 months
My questions are
is this volume something we could do from a freeware email mass mailer client? has anyone had any experience with this?
if not, who provides a good, reasonably priced service for a small timer like us?
thanks,
Anthony
anthony.goh@gmail.com
CEO at StoneShot Ltd
26 September 2007 08:43am
Hi Anthony,
You could use a free product to send 1,000 email campaigns, but there are some major benefits in going with a provider. The ability to track who has opened or followed a link in one of your emails could prove invaluable especially when you’re starting out. Add to that the fact that an email provider will get more email delivered, you can automate opt-outs and bounces, and integrate registration forms and competitions.
I’d be more than happy to offer a free trial of our solution to show you email tracking in action. If you like what you see you would be looking at £40-80 per month for the email volume plus any agency time you’d like to use (for creative, strategy, etc).
Please give me a buzz on 020 7628 4444 if you’d like to discuss further.
Regards,
Gavin John
StoneShot
Director at Mailvivo
26 September 2007 09:38am
Hi Anthony
Nice site by the way!
In terms of a free solution I'm not sure about that. As stated in a previous reply there are good reasons going with a provider of which one is that they should have a vested interest in the success of your e-marketing. For ourselves here at Mailvivo we provide an on-demand solution that could cater for your requirements.
For example, we offer flat-rate monthly fee arrangement that is not based on the volume of emails you send but on the number of customers/subscribers you have. At just £19/mth+VAT it is reasonably priced. This means that you can send a regular newsletter and then a targeted promotion in the same month for a set cost.
For the fee of 19/mth there are no compromises.... For example you would still be able to track conversions, such as whether someone has actually gone ahead and purchased a product from your emails. Open rate and click rate are often not the most effective measure of success for e-commerce sites.
We have e-commerce companies using our service so feel free to contact me on the details below for a chat.
http://www.mailvivo.co.uk
Mark Gooding
0845 644 3730
Business Development Director @ Mailvivo
mark@mailvivo.co.uk
Sector Marketing Executive at Pellings
26 September 2007 09:55am
Hi Anthony,
I previously worked for the Arcadia group who had a massive database and I have many years experience in email marketing. I recently started on a new project for an Architects firm and have a simillar size database to yourselves and similar needs. I was shocked to find how hard it is to come accross companies who can provide a good email service for small businesses. I've been researching 16 different companies for this and we are likely to go with Dotmailer who offer a pay as you go offer for £75 for one month wich you can use ad hoc for up to 2000 emails in that month (or you can do it regularly for £50 a month). From previous experience and from colleages also in online marketing I would advise against the free packages as these are often based in the USA and then there is confusion with data protection laws and usually the reports are unreliable and in the wrong time zones :-) - but that is just my opinion.
Technical Project Manager (MBA, MBCS, CITP, CEng) at Naxtech.com
26 September 2007 23:19pm
Option 1:
- mailing list feature as part of web hosting
Option 2:
- email marketing tool/platform (shows you clickthroughs and records interest)
Option 3:
- mailing list application on a desktop PC (could run into spam issues easily)
Could help if more detail if you want: denis@naxtech.com
CEO at Sign-Up.to
27 September 2007 09:26am
Hi Emma/Anthony
I have an obvious bias here but completely agree that if you put any value on your time, you'll ultimately save by going with a hosted solution, based in the UK. If nothing else going for a UK provider means you'll get help when you need it and a service tailored to a UK audience.
So then, the obligatory plug - at Sign-Up.to we have a solution aimed specifically at UK SME's, starting at £25/month (up to 500 contacts, £40 for 2,000) for a complete hosted email marketing platform and full email/phone support.
It's important to get the right solution for the way you like to work, different solutions are more suited to different people, so if you'd like to try us free for a month to see if we're a fit, feel free to give me a shout.
Matt
CEO
www.sign-up.to