We have done a number of emarketing courses and during those courses we have always recommended people to not to send emails using their own email server. In this post we will talk about what are the advantages of using a third party service for sending bulk emails. This will become a basis of our next post on if you are sending emails from your own mail server what are the points that you need to be careful about.
1. List Handling
A third party service can help streamline many process that you would have had to do manually with your own mailing list. For Example, Subscribe and Unsubscribe requests, bounced email address cleaning etc.
2. Email Servers
Email servers are smart, when they see two identical messages they know they are bulk emails. If you send identical messages to more than one person, there is a huge possibility that they may be treated as junk. A third party service usually has a very strong reputation and hence email servers give them some benefit of doubt. These services usually spread out the delivery over a period of time as well.
3. Bounced Email Addresses
If you send an email to a closed account (The recipient may not be working in that organisation anymore); it is frustrating for you but it is a sign of bulk email when you send 10 emails to that account in a short span of time. A third party service removes the bounced email address and doesn’t deliver any more emails to it.
4. CAN-SPAM / Data Protection in Ireland
You don’t only become a nuisance by sending unsolicited emails but you may be breaking the law as well. In Ireland the Data Protection Commissioner’s website can provide you necessary guidelines on how to avoid sending spam to your mailing list. In US the law is Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing (CAN – SPAM) Act of 2003. A third party service makes sure that you comply with the regulations set by the government. For example, by making sure you are not sending an email without an unsubscribe link etc.
5. Reporting
Reporting is the most important feature of any third party email service. Who received your email? Who opened it? Who clicked on it? Answers to these questions may be difficult for you to answer but a third party service provides a lot of reports of similar nature and makes you a star in front of your boss.
The third party service that Target Integration recommends is MailChimp. Target Integration is fully trained up on creating custom templates, integrating MailChimp with your CRM application and managing your marketing campaigns as well.
