Four Good Reasons to Outsource Your Email Send

It is not that we against managing your email send in-house, it's just that I've found it to be better in theory than in practice. Clients hire us to optimize their email marketing efforts; they're looking to increase their return on investment.

1. Tracking and Reporting

Without metrics like open rates and click-through, it's hard to know which parts of your email campaign are working and which could use some tweaking. Effective email marketing isn't about the send - it's about the results of the send. And that means tracking and reporting.

But the bottom line is this: If company serious about email marketing, if company want to optimize the return on investment, you need to have robust, reliable and timely tracking and reporting. In most cases, using a good ESP (Email Service Provider) is the easier way to get it.

2. Keeping up with the Technology

This is the 'contact us', 'join our mailing list', or 'sign up today' option, which informs the site visitor of the correct next step. Most people are grateful to be guided through the process of evaluating a product or service, so if you tell them that the next step is to sign up for a 30-day trial, many of them will.

ESPs like Tomolion have to stay up on technology - it's their business, their bread and butter. They are constantly looking for ways to improve their service and provide additional value to their customers. It's a competitive field. Few in-house technology teams have that kind of motivation. And even those who do often find themselves understaffed and over their heads very quickly.

3. Managing Subscribes, Bounces and Unsubscribes

Some in-house systems handle this, but others require that you do it manually. While it may not seem like much with a small list, a larger list requires much more attention. And now, with CAN-SPAM, not only do you have to remove people who unsubscribe, you have to do so within 10 days.

Any outsource solution worth its salt will handle these things automatically. In addition to saving you time, you'll get things your in-house system probably didn't provide - like differentiation between types of bounces, automatic removal after a certain number of bounces and immediate unsubscribe to stay ahead of CAN-SPAM.

4. Getting Sound Advice

Another benefit of working with an ESP is the advice they can provide. Even if you don't pay for one-on-one consulting, most ESPs provide education to their customers, ranging from optimizing your list growth to avoiding spam filters to elements of good email design.

Plus, when you add up the benefits:

• Increased deliverability
• Enhanced tracking and reporting
• Latest technology
• Automated subscriber, bounces and unsubscribe
• Great advice
  

It's really no contest. Tomolion found time and time again, with small, medium and large businesses, that the benefits of using a reputable ESP far outweigh the costs.