Just like other business technologies, email marketing software must meet specific standards and must-have features for them to be suitable for purpose. Email marketing software vendors are very much aware of the expectations of marketers. But because email services are highly competitive, nearly all software vendors provide customizable templates, one-to-many messaging, contact segmentation, and opt-in and opt-out management. However, the following seven must-have features must be considered when comparing different email software to choose from and customize.
1. Sign-Up Forms and Pop-Ups: Do not fail to look for customization and mobile-friendly tools that can help you with this. This is because your business really needs email marketing software that can help grow your list. They must have the right tools to build and add landing pages, forms, and pop-ups to your e-commerce website.
2. Visual Email Editor: You must try to carefully compare design tools by ease of use, mobile responsiveness, and template variety. These are tools that will help create and customize emails using templates, drag-and-drop builders, or WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) interfaces.
3. Contact Segmentation: Segmentation is hugely important in email marketing effectiveness. You therefore need tools that can help you to group your email subscribers by activity or traits to improve campaign results. Be sure to verify that you can filter contacts by behavior, such as opens or purchases.
4. Basic Personalization Fields: Settle for email marketing tools that at the very minimum, they should be able to automatically add your customer's name or product details to the email body.
5. Performance Tracking Dashboards: Metrics are hugely important to track email marketing success. Therefore, you must look out for key email campaign metrics like the open rate, unsubscribes, and the click-through rate. Make sure the dashboards are easy to understand and that they’ll allow you filter results by segment or campaign.
6. Prebuilt Automation Workflows: Look for workflows that require minimal editing because they are automated. Such software will enable you to use ready-made email sequences to welcome new subscribers or send cart reminders.
7. Unsubscribe and Compliance Tools: In the software market, the best email marketing systems handle opt-outs automatically and ensure GDPR and CAN-SPAM compliance. Look for these tools. Check and be sure they provide a one-click unsubscribe and auto-update contact status.
EndNote
Significantly, email service providers aren't all the same. This is expected. From their numerous products, you may have tools designed for local or service-based businesses but lack behavior-based automation that is critical for e-commerce brands. The good news however is that most email marketing platforms offer core capabilities, such as contact management, templates, and basic automations. But these platforms still vary significantly in areas like artificial intelligence (AI)-powered segmentation, advanced workflows, and scalability for small-to-mid-sized businesses (SMBs). Exactly why you cannot afford to overlook the foregoing features as must-have features in any email marketing tools you choose to deploy.
