| So, why would you want to send your campaigns out | | | | being reported by the recipient as being a |
| using an email service provider(ESP) rather than your | | | | SPAMMER..all simply because you put the onus on the |
| standard email program (SEP)? Here are some points | | | | recipient.6. An ESP allows you to view the statistics of |
| to consider......1. An ESP allows you to send the | | | | your campaign, such as open rate and click through |
| message using MIME technology, which means it | | | | rate for individual links, thereby allowing you to |
| sends an HTML (with pictures and colour) version to | | | | continually develop your relationship with your |
| those who can receive HTML and a text version to | | | | subscriber by utilising these statistics for market |
| those who can't. An SEP does not recognise whether | | | | research. Using an SEP, you have no knowledge of |
| the recipient can read HTML emails or not when | | | | who opens their emails and which links/products |
| sending emails. Therefore if you send an HTML email | | | | services/articles are of interest to them.7. With an |
| to all your recipients, those who cannot receive HTML | | | | ESP, you can programme when the campaign is to be |
| emails receive what looks to them like gobbledygook - | | | | sent out - unlike sending it from your PC and using |
| which reflects badly upon your Company and results in | | | | your ISP. ISP's have limitations on how many emails |
| many unsubscribes.2. An ESP cannot send viruses as | | | | can be sent (generally 100), hence if you have a large |
| they are designed to only send emails, not receive | | | | database, they would need to be sent in batches, |
| them, hence they are virus free. Using an SEP, you | | | | often days apart.8. An ESP will enable you to upload |
| may unknowingly send a virus to your recipients, as | | | | your images easily to their system, therefore eliminating |
| your computer can receive emails and viruses.3. Using | | | | the need to FTP knowledge or a website server of |
| an ESP, you can personalise your emails, thereby not | | | | your own. Most SEP's embed the images within the |
| only helping with to build the client/customer relationship, | | | | email, rather than referring to them on a server, which |
| but also enabling the success rate to be higher as the | | | | makes the emails time consuming to send & slow for |
| email will be more Spam filter friendly.4. Each email is | | | | recipient to open.9. By sending attachments you are |
| individually sent rather than the typical bulk send by | | | | restricting the amount of recipients who will receive the |
| SEP's. The Privacy law now required all bulk emails to | | | | email and/or open the attachment. Many corporations |
| use the BCC field (rather than the CC field), which in | | | | do not allow the recipient to open attachments due to |
| turn restricts your recipients to receiving the email, as | | | | the risk of viruses. In addition to this, Internet Explorer 6, |
| many government and other corporations have set | | | | Service Pack 1 has been released and Outlook |
| their SPAM filters to reject all BCC emails.5. An ESP | | | | Express users will find they can't open attachments |
| uses sophisticated software to automate the | | | | after installing the new software as Microsoft has |
| unsubscribe/subscribe process. When using a simple | | | | blocked the opening of attachments.10. Using an ESP |
| "click here to unsubscribe" link, you are putting the onus | | | | to send your email campaigns can prove to be |
| on the recipient to unsubscribe successfully. If you are | | | | cheaper in the long run once you have tallied up all the |
| using BCC, the recipient is unable to know which email | | | | negatives of using an SEP.Kath Pay is Marketing |
| address they need to use to manually unsubscribe. If | | | | Director of Ezemail, a web-based e-communications |
| they unsubscribe using the wrong email address, you | | | | tool, which enables you to create, send and track your |
| will then still send them emails in the future, hence risk | | | | email marketing and SMS messaging campaigns. |