Email Marketing Software: What Are The Disadvantages?
Why Owning Email Marketing Software Is A Bad Idea
In my previous article I discussed the advantages of owning your own email marketing software. I encourage you to read that article first and then come back and read part 2 on the disadvantages. Read “Email Marketing Software: What are the Advantages.”
Before you purchase email marketing software, it is really important that you understand the disadvantages of doing so. If these are issues you can easily overcome, owning the software may be the best solution for you.
High Initial Cost
If you purchase high-end email marketing software, you can expect to pay at least $500 for a quality program and it will most likely have to be installed on a dedicated or a virtual dedicated server. If you already have a dedicated server, this won’t be an issue. If you don’t, you can expect to pay no less than $60/month for this service.
You will also be responsible for the cost of software upgrades. Some upgrades are voluntary while others are mandatory. You don’t want to be responsible for running software on your server that’s a security risk to your business. Not investing in software upgrades can cause a much bigger problem than just loosing your email list.
Bandwidth is another expense that you’ll have to pay for every time you send an email. If you’re sending graphically rich emails to a large list on a frequent basis, this could become an issue. If not, bandwidth is not going to be a problem.
Technical Help
The biggest potential cost of owning professional email marketing software is the cost of a technician. If you’re not an email-marketing technical expert, you’re going to need access to someone who is.
Setting up and maintaining an email-marketing program takes the skill of a professional, and they don’t come cheap. Plan on investing a minimum of 4 hours for the initial software set-up and at least one hour a month to handle system malfunctions and maintenance.
These estimates are based on the time it takes a professional email-marketing technician to install and maintain software on your server. If this isn’t what your technician does for a living, it could cost much more.
You’ll also want to invest in the technical support offered by the software company. Their fees start at $100 per year and I would not consider purchasing software from a company that does not offer this service.
The annual service fee usually cover things like general support, setup and configuration questions, basic troubleshooting and access to the free software upgrades that you’ll be responsible for installing on your system.
However, don’t expect them to do the heavy lifting. They’re not responsible for configure your MTA to use DomainKeys, DKIM or SenderID. Nor should you expect them to submit your abuse@domain address to major companies like Comcast, Yahoo! or Hotmail as your anti-spam feedback loop address.
Configuring your SPF, PTR and DNS records are your responsibility as well as insuring that your server’s outbound IP address and your domain name don’t end up on any of the major email black lists. That’s not what you’re paying them to do.
And if anything I just wrote about above sound foreign to you, you’re definitely going to need an email marketing technician to help you get started.
So in conclusion, should you invest in your own email marketing software or not? If you can answer, “yes” to these five questions, purchasing software is a good solution.
- Do you have an initial investment of $500 – $1,500?
- Do you plan to build your list to 10,000 people this year?
- Are you planning to build more than one list?
- Do you have your own dedicated or virtual dedicated server?
- Do you have easy access to an email marketing professional?
If you couldn’t answer, “yes” to all five questions, owning your own software may not be right for you today. But that doesn’t mean this won’t be the best solution for you in the future. Here’s what I suggest.
If you’re not at the point where owning and hosting your own email marketing software is your best solution, start with one of the many email marketing services. You can learn everything you need to know about running a successful email marketing campaign from them without the substantial upfront costs of owning your own software.
Once you build your list and have access to a professional email-marketing expert, or become one yourself, then consider purchasing your own software.
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