Page 6 - AeM_December_2022

BEST PRACTICES & STRATEGIES

Avoid the common pitfalls of choosing an

email marketing platform by asking the

right questions

marketing: Where is which data located? How is the
data automatically synchronized? The integration of the
email marketing system is often a major cost driver.
However, if the "homework" is done in advance, nasty
surprises in the form of additional costs can be avoid-
ed.

Market maturity and future security
Another aspect that should be considered in an evalua-
tion is the market maturity and future security of the
respective provider. It is important to get a comprehen-
sive and clear picture:

When choosing email marketing software, it is • How long has the company been in the market?
crucial to follow the motto "strategy first,
technology second" so that the procedure does • How many employees work for the provider?
not lead to a technological dead end. Therefore, • Is the focus on CRM / email marketing or is it just
define in advance as specifically as possible how one of many lines of business?
the email marketing should be structured. Ask
yourself questions like: What types of emails • Have there been major advances in product devel-
should be sent? Which campaigns should be opment in the past?
automated? Which departments are involved?
Are approval processes required? • And what does the roadmap look like for the com-
ing months and years?
Don't be blinded by the usual buzzwords, like artificial
intelligence, 360-degree marketing, hyper- Total cost of ownership
personalization, when evaluating. Instead, check which The pure shipping costs can be predicted relatively
functions are relevant for your business model. well, but at least in larger scenarios they are only one
cost block of many. In addition to the distribution, you
Data protection and data safety
should therefore consider the following factors for the
All providers emphasize data protection and compli- calculation:
ance with the GDPR in their marketing and sales docu-
ments – or who would say that they are violating the • How high are the costs for the integration or for the
legal requirements? However, experience shows that connection to the existing systems?
these statements cannot always be relied upon. During
the evaluation, you should therefore check as compre- • Do employees have to be trained?
hensively as possible whether the requirements of the
GDPR are fully met. Critical questions here are, for ex- • How many email templates and signup pages are
ample: Is the consent to advertising sufficiently docu- required?
mented? Can personal data be completely deleted?
• Do additional modules (e.g., for automation or simi-
Connection to the existing system landscape lar) need to be purchased?
Emails to shopping cart abandoners, automated reacti- During the evaluation, it can be helpful to seek an ex-
vation campaigns, birthday emails, etc.: If smart email change with the provider's customers and, if necessary,
marketing is to be set up, data from third-party systems to call in external consultants. ◊
is required, for example, the CRM system or the shop
system. For the evaluation, it should therefore be deter- By MediaBUZZ
mined which systems are to be connected to the email

6 December 2022: Email Marketing