Pay To Play
One of the things that a lot of companies overlook is outsourcing their mailing lists and transactional emails. Trying to host your own lists and send your own emails can be a very costly endeavor, especially in terms of deliverability. Most online email services are actually very affordable, and you actually get something very valuable: expertise. The companies in this sector have employees working full time to make sure they are following industry best practices, as well as helping you make sure you’re doing everything you need to be doing, including following all applicable federal laws. For a small monthly fee, you’re tapping into knowledge that is worth thousands.
There are two main types of email services:
- Mailing Lists & Email Marketing
- Transactional Emails
Mailing lists are the most popular paid service. Most of the companies in this space provide you with simple to use sign up forms, email templates, and list management and marketing tools. Monthly fees are typically charged based on how many subscribers you have, and they frequently allow you to send as many messages as you wish.
Transactional emails don’t have the visibility that mailing lists do, but they are just as important. Think of the last time you placed an order at an online store or signed up for a new website. You immediately received an email afterwards confirming that action. Another use for them is when a company needs to notify you of an important event. Your bank’s website, for instance, will notify you that your scheduled mortgage payment has been processed successfully. Or your airline’s website will notify you that your flight schedule has changed.
These are all transactional messages. They are typically one off messages that do not necessarily have any regularity and are frequently sent based on the actions of a website visitor. They are also frequently composed of information that is solely for your consumption. Services providing these type of messages usually charge by the number of messages sent.
Mailing List & Email Marketing Companies
I’m going to cover some of these a little more in depth in the near future, but here’s a quick list of some of the most popular companies that provide high quality mailing list services:
Transactional Email Providers
Here are some of the leading companies in this space. These will also be covered in more depth in the near future:
Look for the articles covering these two areas soon. They will be linked here when they have been posted.