email platform rfp checklistdocshare01.docshare.tips/files/24414/244145174.pdfdr dave chaffey is ceo...

EMAIL PLATFORM RFP CHECKLISTThe key questions you need to ask to choose the right Email marketing service or Marketing Automation platform

Author: Dr Dave Chaffey, SmartInsights.com

Selecting an Email Marketing Platform RFP checklist© Smart Insights (Marketing Intelligence) Limited. Please go to www.smartinsights.com to feedback or access our other guides. 2

IntroductionSelecting a new Email marketing platform

An introduction to ESPs and Marketing Automation systemsEmail marketing remains one of today’s core customer communications channels with analytics showing that for most types of business, alongside search marketing, it is one of the main drivers of online sales and leads. To manage email marketing, businesses have traditionally used software and services that focus on email marketing. These email marketing management services have traditionally been known by email marketers as Email Service Providers or ESPs.

What is it? Email Service Provider (ESP)ESPs help marketers manage their email marketing campaigns. They are typically online services where marketers can sign-in and use these core functions which we show you how to evaluate in this report:

þ 1 Customer profile and targeting using segments

þ 2 Creating and editing email

þ 3 Automation and personalisation

þ 4 Integration with other channels, campaigns and platforms

þ 5 Delivery

þ 6 Evaluation and tracking

We also cover fees and additional services offered by the service provider:

þ 7 Support and customer services

þ 8 Pricing and fees

The label ‘ESP’ is now a bit misleading since most now offer far more than management of email campaigns. Rather they are platforms for managing communications across the whole customer relationship from when a prospect first subscribes via a landing page to when customers purchase and interact with a brand through social media. ESPs not only offer newsletter broadcast, but also offer rich opportunities to send personalised behavioural emails and integrate with social media platforms.

What is it? Behavioural emailsAutomated, personalised 1:1 emails sent in response to interaction of a subscriber with content on site, or within an email. Due to their relevance and context they tend to gain a much higher response rate than campaign-based email.


Introduction

To show the value of providing CRM services and delivering contextual relevance in this way, without the need for manual sending of campaigns, many ESPs are now evolving into Marketing Automation platforms.

What is it? Marketing AutomationMarketing automation enables businesses to automate tasks in the marketing and sales process to make the process of generating new business more efficient and effective.

þ 1. Automatically build marketing lists using landing pages offering content assets

to profile subscribers.

þ 2. Automatically welcome visitors with relevant email messages and as

appropriate personalized messages on the website and remarketing to maintain

interest via publisher websites.

þ 3. Automatically review interaction with messages and online content and

segment intent to purchase based on lead scoring.

You can see that the functions available in Marketing Automation and ESPs are very similar!

So, Marketing Automation offers businesses potential to deliver more relevant communications that increase conversion rates with contacts to increase leads and sales. Marketing Automation enables businesses to automate customer communications activities as part of the marketing and sales process. The use of Marketing Automation services makes new, more sophisticated, processes and relevant communication and experiences possible across a range of touchpoints over the customer lifecycle. More relevant experiences and offers promise an increase in return-on-investment from customer communications and increased efficiency in marketing teams with time savings from manual campaign activities.

Given the overlap between ESPs and Marketing Automation platforms we will limit our review to Email marketing platforms, although these will include many Marketing Automation features.


Introduction

About Smart InsightsSmart Insights provides actionable marketing resources to help businesses succeed online. More than 80,000 members use our blog, sample marketing templates and weekly Emarketing Essentials newsletter to follow best practices and keep up-to-date with the developments that matter in digital marketing. Our Expert members use our planning and management templates, video courses and guides to map, plan and manage their marketing using the RACE Planning framework.

þ See these 10 reasons why Expert members use our resources

Recommended resource? Smart Insights Expert member Email marketing advice We have grouped our member resources on our Email marketing hub page. If you’re serious about improving your Email marketing we recommend our in-depth 7 Steps guide to Email marketing which shows how to develop an email strategy and gives tips on making your emails more effective. Other resources for Expert members include:

þ Email marketing effectiveness audit spreadsheet þ Email campaign calculator spreadsheet þ Email contact strategy template

About the authorDr Dave Chaffey is CEO and co-founder of digital marketing management advice site Smart Insights. He is author of 5 bestselling books on Ecommerce including Total Email marketing and Digital Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice and was recognised by the Chartered Institute of Marketing in 2004 as one of 50 marketing ‘gurus’ worldwide who have helped shape the future of marketing.

About this Email marketing platform RFP checklistThis checklist is aimed at helping you choose the best email provider to fit your needs based on their features and service. Larger businesses can use it to create a Request for Proposals (RFP) when seeking tenders or when comparing bids in a pitch from different email marketing service or marketing automation providers.

There are so many email platforms, with all the online services having the same basic features, that it may almost seem like it’s simply a case of choosing the cheapest. Not so! The ease of use when you set up campaigns differs widely and it can be frustrating if you haven’t made the best selection. The tools to manage your campaigns and marketing automation differ widely in their capabilities too. Then there is the differences in insights available, important for reviewing and improving your email marketing. We will cover all the key capabilities of these services across all these areas.

http://www.smartinsights.com/about/?utm_source=email-platform-checklists&utm_medium=pdf&utm_campaign=Pure360

http://www.smartinsights.com/membership/expert-member-reasons/?utm_source=email-platform-checklists&utm_medium=pdf&utm_campaign=Pure360

http://www.smartinsights.com/email-marketing/?utm_source=email-platform-checklists&utm_medium=pdf&utm_campaign=Pure360

http://www.smartinsights.com/guides/email-marketing-7-steps-guide/?utm_source=email-platform-checklists&utm_medium=pdf&utm_campaign=Pure360


http://www.smartinsights.com/guides/email-marketing-healthcheck/?utm_source=email-platform-checklists&utm_medium=pdf&utm_campaign=Pure360

http://www.smartinsights.com/guides/email-marketing-campaign-calculator/?utm_source=email-platform-checklists&utm_medium=pdf&utm_campaign=Pure360

http://www.smartinsights.com/guides/email-sequence-contact-strategy-template/?utm_source=email-platform-checklists&utm_medium=pdf&utm_campaign=Pure360


http://www.smartinsights.com/about-dave-chaffey/?utm_source=email-platform-checklists&utm_medium=pdf&utm_campaign=Pure360


Introduction

About Pure 360Pure360 is an email and digital marketing provider who specialise in helping businesses get the best results from their campaigns. Pure360 work with over 1,000 organisations including brands such as Rightmove, Jet2 and innocent drinks. Our customers stay with us through choice, not contract, and they tell their friends about us – but never their competitors.

We’ll work with you to improve your email and digital marketing results. You’ll get the best from your campaigns without being tied into a long contract, because your success is our success. You’ll get full training, support and regular free advice supported by email and digital marketing software that’s developed in-line with customer feedback.

Pure360 customers have access to the largest UK-based customer support team of all email marketing providers because our whole focus is on improving your results by working together.

Members of the DMA, we’ve recorded a 10% higher open rate for our customers than the DMA average, leading to higher clicks and conversions for your email marketing campaigns.

You can find the team working to improve our customers’ email campaigns, down in Brighton, pop in or give us a call on 0844 586 0001 to discuss how we can help you get excellent results from your email & digital marketing campaigns.

Pure360 – improving results together

http://www.pure360.com/whitepapers/?utm_source=Smart%20Insights&utm_medium=whitepaper&utm_campaign=emailmarketingplatform





EMAIL PLATFORM CHECKLIST

Structure of this checklistThis checklist is based around these 8 key issues to consider that will affect both how you use the service on a day-to-day operational basis and how you work with the provider when you need support:

þ 1 Customer profile and targeting using segments

þ 2 Creating and editing email

þ 3 Automation and personalisation

þ 4 Integration with other channels, campaigns and platforms

þ 5 Delivery

þ 6 Evaluation and tracking

We also cover fees and additional services offered by the service provider:

þ 7 Customer service and support

þ 8 Pricing and fees

We hope you find this checklist useful, do ask any questions about selecting email platforms in our Answers Forum or contact us.

In our checklist over 40 Email marketing features to review are grouped within each of 8 key areas with tips on how to compare platforms for the feature as shown below.

Email marketing management feature Practical evaluation tips

1 Name of feature (Importance of feature)

Further explanation of feature or what to look for when comparing services.

þ Suggestions on testing the feature q

http://www.smartinsights.com/answers/

http://www.smartinsights.com/contact-us/


Email Marketing Platform selection checklist

Email marketing platform checklistEmail marketing management feature Practical evaluation tips

Evaluation area 1 Customer profile management and targeting options

1 Range of standard fields and ease of adding custom disclosed profile fields (Essential)

This should be straightforward, it’s not usually a way in which systems differ.

þ Test adding different types of profile

fieldsq

2 Range of behavioural fields (Advanced)

Can relevant field be updated if a subscriber clicks on part of an email or web page?

þ Decide on whether you need to

deliver more relevant follow-up

emails after a user interaction

q

3 Fields updatable via API (Advanced)

Integration with other content management or email marketing systems possible enabling fields to be updated based on action?

þ You need to make programming

resource available to implement

these

q

4 Bulk import and export options (Essential)

Ease of use of import and export from files?

þ Check for standard formats such as

Excel and Comma Delimited (CSV) q

5 Lead scoring (Intermediate)

Enable lead scores to be updated for each record based on their profile updates to disclosed and inferred fields, e.g. role and when downloaded whitepaper or other content type.

þ A core feature of Marketing

Automation systems, essential for

B2B Marketing

q

6 Segment setup and selection (Essential)

Ease of use of creating different groups of prospects and customers depending on their profile fields. Are SQL options available?

þ Define a few key segments and

check how easy to setup and selectq

7 Landing page setup (Intermediate)

Can a page be setup to capture email addresses which adds fields to the database?

þ Review options for testing setup

þ Review options for data capture on

Facebook

q




Evaluation area 2 Creating and editing email

8 Ease of using WYSIWYG editing (Essential)

WYSIWYG stands for “What you see is What you get”. Editors look similar, but their usability varies massively.

þ Try a real test for an example email to

add contentq

9 Range of integrated example templates (Intermediate)

You can get an agency to create your templates, but this is relatively costly to create ‘from scratch’, so see which pre-built templates are available with your email provider.

þ Make a list of the type of templates

needed and review examples q

10 Mobile responsive templates (Intermediate)

Most emails are now read on smartphones and tablets, so make sure the email templates you use work on these.

þ Ask for examples sent from gallery

and review how they work on the

main iOS, Android and desktop

devices

q

11 Dynamic content insertion (Advanced)

This advanced feature enables you to add content or images based on profile features. For example, if a reader is female, insert a different introduction.

þ Choose some examples of common

rules you would send q

12 Ease of adding content assets (Essential)

You will want to add images and icons to your email which will be hosted online.

þ Check the ease of use of this process q

13 One click text email creation (Intermediate)

Some emails will still be displayed as plain text, so you have to provide an alternative version of your email. Check your service makes it easy to add a plain text version.

þ Check the ease of use of this process q



Email marketing management feature Practical evaluation tips14 Inbox preview tool

(Advanced)

Your email will appear differently on different email readers, e.g. Gmail display is different from Outlook. So you should check they render correctly in all of these, particularly for desktop versions.

þ Separate services such as Litmus

can be used for this.

þ Test the quality of service included

q

Evaluation area 3 Automation and personalisation

15 Behavioural email sequence setup (Intermediate)

Is it possible to define a sequence of emails based on an event that triggers sequence firing, e.g a new lead, sale or customer service enquiry or other field update.

þ Test for setting up different types of

behavioural emails such as Welcome

or reactivation.

q

16 Behavioural email trigger setup (Intermediate)

What options are available to trigger a sequence for example, just adding to list or other conditions related to visiting site, accessing specific content?

þ Are sequences only triggered

by subscribing to list of are other

conditions related to visiting site,

accessing content and taking other

actions possible.

q

17 APIs available to trigger sequences (Advanced)

Application Programming Interface (API) or coding within a CMS or Ecommerce system may be needed to trigger a sequence.

þ Review use cases where this type

of trigger may be needed, e.g.

completing an order

q

18 Email sequence personalisation (Intermediate)

Can messages in sequence tailored with content according to segment?

þ Review benefits of different segments

receiving tailored sequences

based on fields, e.g. mail or female,

category purchased.

q

19 Web personalisation (Advanced)

Does the system also offer personalisation of promotions on a website using similar triggers and sequences?

þ You may have separate personalisa-

tion systems for the website that may

need to integrate.

q




Evaluation area 4 Integration with other services

20 Landing page hosting service (Intermediate)

Are integrations available for collecting data via Landing Pages?

þ Examples include Unbounce and Ion

Interactiveq

21 Social media integration (Intermediate)

Does the service enable data integration and sharing of content with the 4 main social network sites (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+)?

þ Is Facebook data capture possible?

þ Is there a social sign-in option to

populate the database via an API?

þ Are tools available for viral

promotions like quizzes and

competitions on social media?

q

22 CRM integration (Intermediate)

Does the email service enable data to be automatically updated in standard CRM systems?

þ Typical lead capture and scoring

integrations include Salesforce and

Microsoft Dynamics

þ Integration with surveys, e.g.

Customer satisfaction?

q

23 SMS service integration (Intermediate)

Can messages also be sent via text?

þ Is it possible to set rules to automate

these too?q

24 Ecommerce integrations (Intermediate)

For retailers, abandoned cart and service emails are essential and a key part of implementing a new ESP.

þ Which Ecommerce platforms are

supported?

þ Ease of abandoned cart setup?

þ Voucher code integrations?

q

24 Blog to Enewsletter creation (Intermediate)

Can an RSS feed from a blog automatically create enewsletter content ?

þ Particularly useful for publishers and

content marketers.q

26 Analytics integration (Essential)

Can campaign tracking codes be defined for campaigns and automatically added to clickthroughs on email or web pages?

þ Check for standard Google Analytics

UTM tracking on email campaigns

which is most common.




Evaluation area 5 Delivery

27 Spam rating scoring (Essential)

Does the service give a spam score for each email plus a breakdown of spam elements in email?

þ Note that use most email platforms

use Spamassasin scoring which is

used for some businesses, but not

webmail platforms.

q

28 Inbox delivery reporting (Essential)

Is inbox delivery reported to show overall % delivery?

þ Delivery should be reported overall

and by webmail platform. q

30 Options for server sender reputation (Essential)

Standard techniques applied for server authentication to improve delivery including rDNS, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.

þ Review reports for other clients

þ Are unique IP addresses possible or

is address shared?

q

31 Options for high volume senders (Intermediate)

Can email send rates be varied or throttled for larger list size?

þ Ask for typical send sizes for ESP

amongst clientsq

32 Closed-loop webmail reporting (Intermediate)

Is reporting of spam complaints by webmail providers available?

þ Ask about relationships with major

webmail providers to review and

improve delivery

q

Evaluation area 6 Evaluation and tracking

33 Open, click, bounce reporting (Essential)

Standard reporting of subscriber engagement and response.

þ Check how this is visualised?

þ How can it be customised, exported?

þ Can response be reported by

segment?

q



Email marketing management feature Practical evaluation tips34 Beyond the click conversion reporting

(Intermediate)

Can the site be tagged to report on goals from email, e.g. leads, sales, value?

þ Check product level reporting for

retailers?

þ How can it be customised, exported?

þ Can it be reported by segment

q

35 Google Analytics campaign tracking

Can Google Analytics UTM campaign tracking be setup? See article for details.

þ Review ease of automating this for

different types of campaigns?q

36 Long-term value assessment (Advanced)

Can response and value be reported over a longer time period for different cohorts?

þ Review options for RFM analysis if

relevant

þ Review options for Lifetime Value

Analysis if relevant

q

37 Conversion attribution (Advanced)

Review options for apportioning value of conversion to earlier response . (more typically used in Google Analytics)

þ Review weighting options

þ Review visualisation optionsq

Evaluation area 7 Support and customer services

38 Reliability - Service Level Agreements (Essential)

What recompense is available for downtime?

þ Ask for recent platform availability

levelsq

39 Quality of support (Essential)

What is availability of support by phone and email?

þ Test process and quality of service

for support

þ Review support in your timezone

q

40 Additional services

See section 8. Pricing for these.

þ Migration of data

þ Creative and design

þ Strategy consulting

þ Optimization

q

http://www.smartinsights.com/email-marketing/email-marketing-analytics/email-campaign-tracking-with-google-analytics/




Evaluation area 8 Pricing and costs

41 Demo account options (Essential)

Ease of setting up tests.

þ Develop a test of typical email

marketing activities in a month to

assess costs

q

42 Setup fees

What are total costs before emailing can start?

þ Standard setup fees

þ Fees for data migration from current

system?

þ Fees for using templates?

q

43 Broadcast costs

Review cost model for sending emails.

þ Cost for subscribers on list?

þ Cost for volume of send per month?q

44 Additional costs

Review these hidden costs carefully which typically should be included.

þ Reporting fees?

þ Support fees?

þ Additional modules required?

þ Strategy consulting fees?

þ Creative design fees?

þ Other ‘hidden’ service costs?

q



Your next steps?We hope you have found this guide useful and that it helps you select the right type of email marketing platform for you.

We hope you find this checklist useful, do ask any questions about selecting email platforms in our Answers Forum or contact us.

Recommended resource? Smart Insights Expert member Email marketing advice We have grouped our member resources on our Email marketing hub page. If you’re serious about improving your Email marketing we recommend our in-depth 7 Steps guide to Email marketing which shows how to develop an email strategy and gives tips on making your emails more effective. Other resources for Expert members include:

þ Email marketing effectiveness audit spreadsheet þ Email campaign calculator spreadsheet þ Email contact strategy template

The team at Pure 360 will also be happy to answer questions about the capabilities of their platform - view Pure 360 Platform capabilities. Call 0844 586 0001.

http://www.smartinsights.com/answers/

http://www.smartinsights.com/contact-us/

http://www.smartinsights.com/email-marketing/?utm_source=email-platform-checklists&utm_medium=pdf&utm_campaign=Pure360



http://www.smartinsights.com/guides/email-marketing-healthcheck/?utm_source=email-platform-checklists&utm_medium=pdf&utm_campaign=Pure360

http://www.smartinsights.com/guides/email-marketing-campaign-calculator/?utm_source=email-platform-checklists&utm_medium=pdf&utm_campaign=Pure360



http://www.pure360.com/platform

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