Bulk email marketing software: what to look for

Bulk email certainly isn't the newest marketing channel out there, but it has evolved into an easy, effective, and solid bedrock to send relevant, personalized messages at scale. No matter the size of their teams, marketers can reach millions and increase traffic to e-commerce sites, advertise promotions, direct marketing efforts, and gather leads. In fact, according to a survey by Software Advice, 40% of marketers rated the leads generated from email marketing as high quality (the highest number for any marketing channel).

The best bulk-email software can help you get those high quality leads and nurture your relationships with existing customers. But before you can get started reaping the benefits of bulk-email solutions, you need to know what bulk-email software is and what it can do for your business.

What you’ll learn:

• What is Bulk-Email Software?
• Why Bulk Email?
• What to Look for in a Bulk-Email Software Provider
• The Right Provider for Bulk-Email Solutions
• Achieving More with Bulk Email

Bulk-email software is a tool for marketers to get their messaging out quickly to a large number of people via mass mailings. It’s easy and, if crafted well, can be effective. However, it’s also regulated. According to the FTC, the CAN-SPAM Act is a “a law that sets the rules for commercial email, establishes requirements for commercial messages, gives recipients the right to have you stop emailing them, and spells out tough penalties for violations.”

How does this affect you and your bulk emailing strategy? Well, the law is designed to protect potential consumers from unwanted messaging, and if your business fails to comply with the regulations it sets forth, you could face steep penalties. The FTC created a CAN-SPAM Act Compliance Guide for Businesses. Some bulk email blast best practices include making sure that you’re not using deceptive tactics, identifying the email as an ad, including your physical address, giving recipients the ability to unsubscribe (and honoring that request within 10 business days), and making sure that any company that you’re hiring to send out your bulk emails is respecting the law as well. However, despite the strict regulation governing the use of bulk email, bulk-email software is still a lucrative investment for organizations who are committed to handling it the right way.

With so many other communication channels available, one that has become so closely associated with spam and advertising might not seem like the most reliable choice. That said, the truth is that email is still one of the most used communication channels in the world; 92% of online adults use email, with 61% using it on a daily basis. Additionally, the total number of worldwide email accounts expected to increase to over 4.3 billion by 2017. Still, the extreme popularity of email also ensures that email providers have the incentive to ensure that only relevant, valuable messages reach their users. This is why automated, personalized bulk-email software is so valuable.

Personalized bulk-email software can help your email campaign avoid the look and feel of spam, by allowing you to send out mass amounts of targeted content, relevant to the interests of the recipients. There are many instances where bulk email is the appropriate avenue to use in your marketing strategy. Some examples include e-commerce sites, newsletters, promotions, and remarketing efforts.

It is important to find the right bulk-email software for your business. However, finding something that is a good fit with your marketing goals can be a challenge. Here are a few tips when considering a bulk-email software provider:

Look for feature-rich, easy-to-use tools that include the ability to personalize your email. You’re also going to want a tool that has advanced, interactive tracking and reporting capabilities. In the competitive email marketing landscape, you’ll need to utilize analytics to grow your business through your marketing efforts.

Choose bulk-email marketing software that can integrate across other areas of your business. When the marketing department can see what interactions the customer had with the company in service and sales, they can build a more complete picture of the customer for marketing purposes, and send more relevant messaging. This is true even with bulk emails. The marketing department can place a customer in a particular segment based on interactions the customer had with the company, and the customer will receive emails that have relevant messaging.

Look for something that can grow with you. Your campaigns will change (sometimes from moment to moment), and you’ll want an email marketing solution that can adapt along with them.

Additionally, make sure that the provider offers a free trial of their bulk-email marketing software, so that you can demo the product before committing to it. You may also wish to research online reviews or ask for references from other businesses who use the software you’re considering.

At Salesforce, we offer a robust and sophisticated bulk-email software. Our easy-to-use, drag-and-drop tools allow you to build mass emails quickly (a must for any busy marketing department), while still maintaining the all-important personalization aspect that will help ensure that your emails avoid the spam folder. We also have Personalization Builder, A/B testing, and leading email deliverability tools. The Salesforce Marketing Cloud comes with built-in analytics and easy integration with your sales and service departments, so that you’ll be able to see how customers are responding to your email campaigns in real time, and adjust your marketing efforts accordingly.