Finding the right email marketing firm to work with without a solid reference may be challenging, time-consuming, and a gamble for a brand marketer. Selecting the appropriate information as part of your due diligence might help you avoid having to go through the process of finding a new agency partner. The hunt for a marketing agency may take a long time, and if you select an agency that doesn’t work out, the expense of finding a new one isn’t simply monetary. Consider these factors while assessing your alternatives and making a selection for your new agency or re-evaluating your present email vendor:
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5 Steps To Finding The Perfect Email Marketing Partner For Your Agency
Here are some guidelines to help you locate your ideal partner in this specially curated article to simplify outsourcing email marketing for agencies:
#1 Choose The Email Marketing Services You Wish To Provide To Your Customers
In order to outsource email marketing services as an agency yourself, you need to list out the parts of your operation for which you want to get assistance or that you deem to be repetitive. Since you are an agency, it is easier for you to point out the deliverables exactly, and this will be the basis of how efficiently you will fulfill your clients’ requirements.
Sit down and make a list of all technical and creative aspects like your clients and also make it a point to take your client’s original requirements into consideration. You can also assign a separate person of contact for different sets of requirements as you might have dedicated specialists to overlook various aspects of email marketing. However, it is necessary to communicate the particulars properly with your own team so as to ensure that they don’t feel that their job security is being compromised. Instead, make them realize that they are opting for a rather supervisory job role.
#2 Make A List Of The Characteristics That Are Most Essential To You
It’s easy to get caught up in the many features of different email marketing functionalities and features so as to end up cluttering your requirements scheme. While researching options for your firm it is necessary to ensure that the vendor resonates with your organizational values. This ensures that they are the best possible fit for your business’s and clients’ specific goals.
So, before you start looking at numerous solutions and become overwhelmed, consider what aspects of an email marketing provider are most essential to you. The characteristics that are crucial to your agency may differ depending on the model you choose and the aims of your clients. For example, an agency that wants to give customers an email tool may require private labeling and markup features, but an agency that only requires a tool to send on behalf of clients may not require private labeling.
#3 Choose An Email Marketing Service Provider You Can Rely On
Ascertain that your vendor possesses the characteristics and qualities that will position you and your clientele for long-term success.
Security and infrastructure: Make sure the platform you pick is secure and stable, as your customers will see it as an extension—even a product—of your company. Your choice of technology has an impact on your brand and client interactions. It makes your company appear untrustworthy if it is unsteady.
Support: Even world-class email marketing tools don’t always operate the way you expect them to. As a result, it’s critical to evaluate the vendor’s support offering to ensure that you’ll be able to get help when you need it. It’s worth thinking about whether anything less might be a detriment in the long run.
Deliverability: Your agency may have a staff devoted to knowing deliverability laws, but they might or might not have one. Find an email marketing company that will take care of this for you and ensure that your clients’ emails get in your inbox every time.
#4 Take Their Tools Out For A Spin
It’s a good idea to check out your vendor’s email marketing tools (or more than one) in case you currently do not own certain tools. Check out for the functionality (or more) that fits your feature demands.
Most tools include a free trial version that you may test out. Sign up for a free trial and send an email marketing campaign to see how it works, even if you don’t intend to do it by yourself in the future. You’ll be able to see what it’s like to build an email, import a list, and send one. Don’t forget to check out the reporting features to make sure you can keep track of your clients’ important performance indicators.
After you’ve put it through its paces, consider it from your client’s perspective. Just because you’re a pro at email doesn’t imply they’ll be as well. Is the platform straightforward enough for them to develop and send their email marketing campaigns if you want them to generate and send them on their own, even if they aren’t experienced?
Also, put each email marketing vendor’s customer service to the test. Make a product-related inquiry and try calling support. While the ideal situation is for you to never need to contact support, the fact is that you will most likely do so once or twice, so you must have a pleasant experience when you do.
Finally, there are a plethora of independent, third-party software review sites that compile user feedback and allow you to compare systems side by side. This gives you a bird’s eye perspective of all the features each vendor offers, allowing you to focus on the tools that will meet your requirements.
#5 Choose Your Tool, Team, And Begin Onboarding Your Customers
It’s time to start using the tool with your clients when you’ve done your research and limited down your selections to the tool of your choice. There are a few methods that may be used to ensure that this procedure runs as smoothly as possible.
Set up a time to inform your vendor about how to build and send email marketing campaigns if you want them to do so. A representative from the vendor you’ve chosen may be able to join you and lead the training for their employees. You would need to make them aware of the deliverables, creative guidelines, and required automation workflows.
Summing Up
Choosing the proper vendor that performs email marketing for agencies is a tough process. However, keeping the above-discussed aspects in mind will surely help to make the choice easier and productive in the long run.
Author: Kevin George is the head of marketing at Email Uplers, that specializes in crafting Professional Email Templates, PSD to Email conversion, and Mailchimp Templates. Kevin loves gadgets, bikes & jazz, and he breathes email marketing. He enjoys sharing his insights and thoughts on email marketing best practices on email marketing blog.