An email software offers you the following important resources:
Email Merge
This option allows you to send personalised mass emails. Personalizing a newsletter or other email communication is a must. “Dear reader” or “customer” is not personalised email. However, it is preferable to a horrible mistake like “Dear Smith”.
Click To Buy Payment Processing
This option allows you to include buy now buttons or pay now buttons on email invoicing. A great feature for all email marketing programs is allowing your customers to pay invoices in their email with integrated credit card merchant services. Most Email marketing software packages should be compatible with many of the most popular merchant credit card services including PsBill and Patriot Bankcard.
Web Based vs. Computer Based
There are email softwares that you have to download on your computer in order to use them. The main inconvenience is that you have to use the same computer each time you want to send your newsletter.
On the other hand, a web based email software has several advantages:
- you can operate it on any computer that has an internet connection
- you can benefit from the software upgrades in real time
- the space you can use is virtually unlimited
The issue gets more complicated when you need to choose among a script that will run on your server or a program that runs on an external server. Usually, the second one is recommended, as it saves you from the bore of installing additional software on your server.
Automatic Subscribe and Unsubscribe Option
People need to be able to opt-in (subscribe) to your newsletter, no matter how they found out about it. Double opt-in is recommended. That means you ask them to confirm their subscription via email. This procedure is needed because of the common practice of subscribing other persons to newsletters, for the most curious reasons.
Automatic Responder
When somebody subscribes to one of your newsletters, or orders a product from you, you may have the impulse to thank him or her. What if several thousands people do this at the same time? Guess you'll need an automatic responder.
Track False Subscribers
Sometimes, subscribers give — accidentally or not — wrong spelled email addresses, inexisting email addresses or false data in the subscription form — e.g. the zip code. Your email software must track these inadvertences automatically when possible.
Multi-threaded Sending
Instead of delivering one email at a time, with this option you can deliver several messages at a time.
Database Query
This option allows you3 to apply various filters to your data base. You can select the persons of a certain age, or location for a specific emailing campaign. E.g. you can use this option to identify duplicates, unless your program does not eliminate those automatically.
Bounceback Management
Bouncebacks are the addresses unable to deliver your message. High bounceback rates are bad news for your bulk email campaign. The email software must manage bouncebacks automatically, detecting whether the addresses don't work because a permanent or temporary problem, and deciding when they need to be removed from the list.
Multi Part MIME
A multi part MIME message discerns among subscribers that can read HTML messages and the ones that can't. The second category will receive the message in a text format. That way, you can be sure they won't see indescifrable HTML code or mistake your newsletter for spam.
Email Tracking Software
One of the most important features of a bulk email marketing campaign is the possibility to track the persons who actually open your email, the ones who click through or the ones who forward it to somebody else.
Ultimate Email Software Features
- How about a software that saves the history of your subscribers' individual actions?
- Or a software that helps you eliminate embarasing mistakes in your newsletter through automatic multi-testing messages?
- Or a software that allows you to manage more lists, more newsletters and cross promotion between them?
- Or a software that can provide you statistics such as comparative effectiveness of various emailing campaigns for the same product?
We'll discuss each feature at a time.