Email marketing delivers reliable ROI for businesses
Two of the most widely known, utilized and respected email campaign management companies around today are ExactTarget and Constant Contact. There are a few other marginal small business solutions like MailChimp, but they don’t scale. Whatever email marketing company you choose, you’re going to want something scaled to your business, with proven efficacy in terms of getting conversions (usually ‘conversion’ means ‘sale’).
For the purposes of this article, we’ll look primarily at features available via Exact Target’s email marketing software, which is scaled for enterprise (whereas Constant Contact, MailChimp and a few other well known services are less so). There are also situations where small businesses would want to use Exact Target for particularly rich, sensitive or granular campaigns.
Here are the top 5 email marketing campaign management qualities that make Exact Target’s software ideal for enterprise clients:
1. A Targeted, Precise and Customer-Aware Focus
When crafting and sending the emails for your campaign, you’ll have access to advanced email creation tools that can segment, track and optimize your email campaign performance. Your subscribers will be linked to other real-time data about them, including their website browsing behavior and also their purchase history. Your emails will be optimized with proactive delivery tracking tools and what’s been called the most dynamic and powerful AB testing engine in the industry today.
2. A Flexible, Cross-Channel, Centralized Platform
Cross-channel means you have to engage your consumer from every angle and across every platform in order to get their attention—or at least across more than one platform.
ExactTarget can gather all of your interaction pathways and social networking channels into one place. Instead of having to keep track of all of these things separately, you’ll have access to all of them in one convenient spot called “the Hub.” This platform can act as a staging ground for keeping track of the conversations that are going on about your brand and your company. The data will flow to you in a combined, easy to track stream. From Facebook to Twitter to Email and Mobile communications, ExactTarget puts it all in one place for you.
3. An Integrated Framework for Email Solutions
With a fully integrated infrastructure that includes more than 600 partners, data can be pulled from just about any source. This will result in more timely and relevant communications with your customers. The ExactTarget Calendar tool can allow you to share one unified view of all of the marketing activities within your organization. ExactTarget offers the most pre-made and “productized” integrations available in the industry today. The bottom line is that this technology will help you to increase your marketing capabilities exponentially.
4. Your Marketing can be Totally Automated and Reliable
ExactTarget powers and sends billions of emails each month, and the uptime of their servers is unprecedented. Productivity and timing are guaranteed, even at peak sending times.
The ExactTarget tool called Automation Studio™ located in the Hub will allow you to automate just about everything you do with their system. From the very simple to the highly complex, with just a few clicks of the mouse, this tool will allow you to be free from monotonous marketing tasks. You’ll then be free to do more of what you love as a business owner: being creative and innovative!
5. See Your Data and Results in Real Time
With ExactTarget’s Pulse™ located within the Hub, you’ll have a window into the real-time internet, with access to real-time information about your brand. With the Pulse™, you’ll be able to see your customer’s behaviors and responses to your emails and other marketing efforts immediately. Messages, conversations and campaigns can all be tracked in one place right in the moment, without delay.
These days, email marketing has grown to become a crucial component of the marketing plan of most every business. With the growth and proliferation of the Internet, just about every company needs email marketing as part of their advertising approach. Studies have shown that over 90 percent of people use email and check their accounts at least once per day. Email marketing works for your business, and ExactTarget just could be your ideal partner.
