Email Service Providers and How to Choose the Right One 

An email service provider or ESP allows users to send email campaigns to their subscribers. They help ease the process of making email lists and sending emails to subscribers for the users. An ESPs most basic function is to store email addresses and send emails. 

Regular Email ID v/s ESP

You may ask, “Why do I need to use an ESP? Can’t I just use my regular email ID?” Using your regular email ID has many disadvantages, the main ones being:

  1. There is a higher chance of your emails being marked as spam, which can affect the brand.
  2. Using a standard email provider to mass send emails will have a poor delivery rate to your subscribers.
  3. It will be difficult and time consuming to manage email lists, which can hamper performance and efficiency. 
  4. Regular email providers are just not made for email marketing campaigns. 

On the flip side, using an ESP for campaigns has many benefits, which are:

  1. Maximizes efficiency and proficiency
  2. Keeping your emails from being blacklisted or marked a spam
  3. Easier and quick email list management
  4. Tracking an analysis of email marketing campaigns
  5. Proper tools for creating beautiful and attractive emails.

Features of a Good ESP

Since email marketing has become one of the most popular means of reaching the public, many ESPs have come up that provide many advanced features which add to their aforementioned advantages. These are factors which one must consider when choosing the right ESPfor your business. 

Some of the features that a good ESP must have are:

  1. The tools that make email creation very easy. The ESP must have templates that are easy to edit and customize. Also, not all users of ESPs have coding knowledge, so it should have a drag and drop editor to add links, text, icons, and images.
  1. Sign up forms. Look for an ESP that has subscribing tools such as a sign up form, a sign up page, and a sign up button. These can be used on prominent pages and places on blog, websites, and at the end of promotional emails. This allows the users a way to subscribe to the emails easily if they are interested.
  1. Good customer support. It’s essential for any company to be able to have good customer support so as to answer any queries and questions, and to solve any problems that arise for the user. It can come in the form of contact information so that the user can email the customer support, or in the form of tutorials on the website, or FAQs.
  1. The ability to build customer profiles. A good ESP should help you see who the customers are and how they are responding to promotional emails. This feature also will help the business build a concise biography of the customer, which can further assist the business on how to segment the email list based on various criteria. 
  1. Proper security. Danger lurks everywhere on the internet, and in order to keep the personal information of the business and the subscribers safe, it is important to consider choosing an ESP that can provide multi layered security. It is also helpful to read the ESPs privacy policy and their terms and conditions.
  1. A good reputation. An ESP is reputable when a large number of people have sung its praises. Make sure that the ESP you choose is stable and has mastered the art of sustainability and adaptability. 

Conclusion

ESPs provide a service to users that enables them to hold email addresses and make campaigns for their subscribers. They are much better to use than regular email providers because they have specialised features that improve deliverability and help your emails to avoid being marked as spam. ESPs make it easier for users to make beautiful emails and content that will attract the subscribers. It is important for a user to look for a reputed ESP that can provide security, stability, adaptability, analytics, and ease of use. Many ESPs exist today with excellent and unique features, and a thorough look into the needs of your business will allow you to choose the one that is best suited.