Select an email newsletter service. How to send a mass email? How to create and set up a mailing list on mail ru

One of the most effective methods of earning money in the information business is rightfully considered e mailing lists . You collect a subscriber base, compose one letter or auto-series, set everything up, launch it and make a profit. But how do you make such mailings? You can’t just take your account, for example, to mail.ru and send at least 100 letters at a time. You will most likely be banned or simply the letters will not be sent. In addition, you will not be able to see any statistics: who opened the letter, who clicked on which link. But for such purposes there are special email newsletter services. Most of them are paid, but some have limited free access. We decided to scour the entire Internet and make a short review of free email marketing services.

First of all, we are interested in free mailing services. After all, if you can send out a newsletter for free and make at least one sale, that’s very cool! This is already a concrete profit without investments and semi-automatically.

In addition, free access gives you the opportunity to work with the service, understand whether it is convenient to use, and see how effective it is. After all, it would be a shame to pay even 1,000 rubles for a month, and then not be able to understand the complex interface or discover that the topic of your newsletter is prohibited on this service. For example, the topic of information business is simply taboo for most.

Free mailing services

Let's start with a list of services for sending mass letters with free access.

Mailing service website Free access period Number of contacts Number of letters
https://cogasystem.ru/ not limited 100 not limited
https://www.unisender.com/ not limited 100 1 500
http://sendexpert.com 1 month 300 3 000
https://esputnik.com not limited 500 2 500
https://www.directiq.com/ru/ not limited 500 2 500
https://mailchimp.com not limited 2 000 12 000

Let’s immediately discuss that the functionality of all email distribution services is the same, plus or minus. Anyone who has ever done email marketing knows that everywhere you can send hundreds and thousands of letters at a time, make autoseries based on a specific trigger (when letters are sent automatically depending on certain subscriber actions, for example, confirming a subscription or opening a letter), set mailing to a queue for a specific date. Can be carried out a-b tests(for example, make one letter with a picture and another without and see which letters have a higher click-through rate). The services also provide various subscription pages, landing pages, etc. And most importantly, you get visual statistics: who opened how many letters, which link they clicked, etc.

Common to all, as we discovered, is the ban on mailing from the mai.ru domain. This is the policy of the email itself, not the services. So if you don’t have your own domain, you can try registering a mailbox on gmail.com, yandex.ru or rambler.ru.

Now let's go through each in more detail.

How to do mass mailings for free?

CogaSystem

Email newsletter service: what to choose?

After conducting our research on email mailing services, we realized that, unfortunately, it won’t be possible to do mass mailings for free. In most cases, you can send only 100-500 contacts (maximum 2000 in mailchimp com), and this, in our experience, does not give significant results and large earnings, which information business gurus often talk about. And paid access is not a cheap pleasure. It will cost you at least 1000-5000 rubles per month.

In addition, there are very few services that do not moderate letters and contact databases and skip the topic of information business. You can be banned at any time, even if you have already paid for the month or year, and the money will not be returned.

A good option is Sergei Bazanov’s program for sending emails from hosting. There is practically no moderation here and it is very cheap compared to other services.

  1. If you have a small database and speak English well, use MailChimp. Up to 2000 subscribers free;
  2. If you're not good at English at all, start with DirectIQ. 500 free contacts is not bad either;
  3. If you have already accumulated a huge database (and also if you bought it or parsed it according to the “Extremely Effective Email Marketing” course model) and are itching to check it out, then Sergei Bazanov’s program is suitable for you.

Attention! Addition: MailChimp has changed its policy; now mailings on the topic of information business are prohibited there.

If after this article you have an unbearable desire to see what kind of mailings these “miracle experts” are doing, subscribe to our mailing list, and the letter will not keep you waiting!

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Let's say a person lives in apartment building. All houses have it. And periodically there are advertisements there. A resident leaves the apartment and sees how, out of everyone mailboxes advertising brochures stick out.

What is bulk email?

Bulk sending of letters is one of the areas of marketing.
Any marketing campaign is aimed at attracting customers to you. And sending letters by email is another channel through which clients can come to you.
Electronic mailing may mean:

  • sending emails;
  • sending SMS messages.

These are email newsletters. Marketers actively use this channel to inform and attract customers.
With the right strategy, a newsletter can attract an audience and interest it, carry it through all stages of the sales funnel and encourage a person to perform the main action for which all efforts are made - buy a product or use a service.

If you overdo it with letters, write to the user too often and intrusively, then there is a risk that you will lose the person from your contact database. He will stop reading similar and uninteresting emails, send them to the spam bin and unsubscribe.

In order not to lose people, to constantly replenish your address book with new addresses, you need to make the newsletter useful and necessary for the user.

Types of email newsletter

  • information letters;
  • transactional messages;
  • commercial letters;
  • event letters.

Newsletter

The newsletter is needed to inform the client. Such letters do not force him to buy or place an order, or ask him to take advantage of discounts. They give the recipient food for thought. They talk about something new.

For example, a person can subscribe to the newsletter of some portal. And he will receive a selection of news for the week by email.
The newsletter should help a person solve his problem. She can tell interesting story, report your experience, suggest an interesting life hack that a person can immediately use.

Such letters allow you to build trust with your audience. We said that people love it when their problems are solved. And if in your letters a person can find the answer to a question that worries him, that is interesting to him, then in the future he will turn to you.

Letters should be thematic. If you are the owner of an online store of pet products, then your newsletter should be appropriate. Include materials about keeping animals, Interesting Facts about their lives. What if there are articles about installation plastic windows- this is strange to say the least.
These letters work for long-term results. Their task is to increase the interest of the audience and warm it up.

If you want to directly talk about your products and invite people to your site to make purchases, organize a commercial newsletter.

Commercial mailing

Tell the user about your products, discounts or promotions. And invite him to take advantage of such a lucrative offer.
Typically, sales letters are sent periodically. Do you constantly organize promotions and give discounts? Tell the person about this, include descriptions of several products in the letter - give them the opportunity to choose.

Transactional mailing

These are automatically generated letters. They confirm the action that the user performed on your site.
For example, a person placed an order for cat food. Confirm this action by sending him a check in the mail. Once again, indicate the order amount, make a list of the goods that the user bought. Show him that his order is being worked on.

Trigger mailing

These are also letters that are sent automatically. But if a transactional email simply makes it easier to use your website or service, a trigger email is sent depending on the condition.

You can plan entire chains of trigger emails. The person has registered on the site - send it to him. A person buys only cat shampoo from you - inform him about new discounts on these products. The user buys goods from you once a month - thank him for his loyalty and give him a discount coupon for his next order.

As a rule, such letters are personalized. Their goal is to retain a person and sell him a product. Therefore, such letters are personalized. User profile data is used and the letter is made personal. The person is addressed by name; if possible, the addressee’s personal information is included in the text.

Another type of classification of mailing types is by direction:

Mailing to a target audience involves selecting people who will be interested in a specific letter. If you want to inform the buyer of your online store about a new promotion, first select recipients who will be interested in your offer. For example, a person orders only cat food from you. You probably shouldn't tell him about discounts on dog leashes. Such a letter will cause nothing but irritation to a person.

Regional mailing - sending letters in accordance with the subscriber's geography. The address database is collected and segmented by geographic parameters.
Bulk mailing Email- This . Sometimes people buy databases of email addresses and just start sending letters to them. This is a dubious method of attracting customers. Such emails usually end up straight into the spam folder.

How to send emails

For email marketing to work, you need to work on every email campaign.

  • Collect an address database.
    Do not use ready-made, purchased address databases. You should only send your emails to people who agree to receive them. Most effective method- send a letter to the subscriber’s email with a unique code with which he can confirm his consent to receive your letters.
  • Think about your news feeds.
    You cannot send letters thoughtlessly. Every message should serve some purpose. Tell us about new products and services. Make a selection of the best materials published on your website to interest people.
  • Create a mailing schedule.
    Find a time that is convenient for your subscribers. For example, some people check their email more often during their lunch break - at 12 noon Moscow time. But what if you have people from the Far East, where the time zone is completely different?
  • Check your emails.
    No one is immune from typos and mistakes. Always check your email before sending. Send yourself a test letter, see if everything is written correctly, laid out and displayed correctly.
  • Add the ability to unsubscribe.
    A person must have the opportunity to remove his address from the database. His activities, interests may change, or the cat may run away. And your letters may become redundant. Leave an unsubscribe link in your email. You can ask the person to leave a review, describing the reason why he no longer wants to receive your letters.
  • Monitor the safety of your address database.
    The list of addresses should not be shared with anyone. And the newsletter should only be received by people who have subscribed to it.

How to organize mailing using services

There are services that help you send emails. You can set up automatic collection of data from your website into mailing lists, and segment the lists according to many parameters.

You can customize the template. If you don’t know how to type out letters directly, you can use the block constructor.

Be responsible with your email campaigns. This is a powerful tool that can be used in marketing. The newsletter will help you build trust among your audience, talk about your business and attract customers. But, as in any business, it is important to understand whether what you are doing is effective.

Set up UTM tags, see how many people open emails, how many people click on links. Is what you are doing even necessary?

I present to you the third generation of the XSpamer application, free and entirely in Russian. You can download it for free from the official website: XSpamer – III

This program for sending letters to email can send any number of emails to your recipients. The newly rewritten program code implements new methods of bypassing spam filters, simplifies the use of the application and gives you new opportunities. You can very subtly, and I would even say cleverly, customize your mailings. The functionality is constantly updated, and you can get the latest versions of XSpamer absolutely free.

What are the advantages of the program?

  • For free.Get the free version of the program. it is already able to satisfy all your needs. In any case, there will be enough for a database of 10,000 addresses.
  • Do you want super functionality? Million dollar bases are you a gift for example? Purchase a license. You understand that one mailing to 1 million addresses will already cover all costs.
  • In Russian. Not just in Russian, but a Russian program, our Russian developers, with their personal online support!
  • Easy launch of a newsletter. A convenient editor will help you create a letter template for mailing. You can choose a transport for your mailings right during their creation or order a configured and ready-to-use SMTP server from us.
  • Dynamic IP. Previously, you may have encountered the problem of IP address blocking. We have solved this problem and now you can manage IP addresses for mailing or entrust this to a trained XSpamer system.
  • Get ready-made databases for mailing. Even if you do not have your own recipient database, you can still send letters using the recipient database that we will provide you with. All you need is to select an audience based on several parameters right when creating your newsletter.
  • Uniqueness of mailings. Big choice tools for unique images and text. Generators of text, letter subjects and sender names.
  • Substitution of links. To save your links in emails, we have developed a tool for replacing links on the fly. Now all your links will be saved from blocking.

NEW!!!

  • Now you can create your own SMTP server for mailing with the XServers v1.0 program
  • Now you can parse free domains and use them XDomains v1.0

XSpamer Features

Fast mailing

See how you can quickly and easily send out a newsletter without having to tediously configure all the parameters. This method is suitable for small, quick mailings, for example, to notify your subscribers about news.

  • Addressees: 500
  • Time spent: 10 minutes

Use XSpamer 3

Download XSpamer - III and get a serious tool for performing email campaigns absolutely free and launch emails with a high inbox.

In general, download, try it yourself and understand everything: XSpamer - III.

I haven't given you any bad advice yet. Good luck, friends!

Recently (more precisely, since November 1, when SmartResponder closed) I have been actively searching for a new email newsletter service. It would seem, choose, I don’t want to - Google gives dozens of options, but in practice everything is not so simple. But if there is a goal, then finding the best option is realistic. So that you don’t have to go through the same long path as me, I want to give a few tips and present my short review email newsletter services, which are now in the TOP in popularity.

A little theory

But first, let's dispel a few myths about email advertising. First of all, it really works, no matter what anyone says. This is best confirmed by statistics - for example, WolfgangJaegel.com calculated that more than 90% of people who have a virtual mailbox check it daily. On average, good email service Marketing gives a return of 44 times every dollar spent, so this opportunity to increase profits should not be missed in any case. Moreover, according to rough estimates, next year the number of letter recipients will reach 2.7 billion people.

Secondly, services are needed not to distribute unnecessary spam, but to inform people who have subscribed to a series of letters because they are really interested in the product. By filling out subscription forms, users express their consent, that is, they become the target audience with which the services help to maintain contact. Using an email distribution service across your database, you can inform about various promotions, presentations of new products, opening branches or stores, and even offer a job. The goals may be different, as, in fact, the tools for achieving them, so let’s move on to selecting the optimal service.

Deciding on the criteria

A huge number of programs offering to send a series of letters with or without confirmation of the base makes it possible to choose exactly the one that suits you. But here a problem arises - which characteristics are considered basic, and which ones can be “turned a blind eye.” My personal opinion is that everything is important, but, of course, it is unrealistic to analyze absolutely everything according to all parameters.

So if you're looking best services, I advise you to pay special attention to:

  • letter delivery rates – if the service’s rates are below 98%, you can immediately move on to the next “contender”;
  • not too complex analytics;
  • are able to adapt to mobile devices, design - almost all programs offer letter templates (or you can assemble them yourself using a drag and drop constructor), but only the best services provide the ability to display on different devices;
  • proposed letter templates and their variety;
  • Russian-language support for those who cannot boast of impeccable English;
  • availability of a free trial version;
  • cost and limitations of tariff plans;
  • available payment options for mailing services;
  • quality of technical support;
  • setting up trigger letters and autoresponders;
  • integration of buttons for popular social networks;
  • provision of hosting services;
  • Availability of an email scheduler;
  • synchronization with CMS, CRM and the ability to integrate via API;
  • integrated tools for A/B testing;
  • effective anti-spam mechanism;
  • a range of additional options (sending SMS, automatic posting on social networks and the function of viewing letters before sending, etc.).

You need to understand that there is no absolute ideal, so decide in advance on a list of priorities. Of course, everyone wants to get for minimal money maximum amount options, but let's be realistic - you always have to pay for quality service! On the other hand, you shouldn’t overpay either, especially when there are services that offer really favorable conditions.

Pros and cons of the most popular services

So, which email marketing service should you choose to ensure you are satisfied? So that you can accept final decision, I propose to understand the key features of the most popular programs. Please note that this is more of a review and not a comparison of email marketing services, because, again, everyone has different requirements. Well, let's begin.

Sendsay

The optimal choice for online stores, since it is integrated with all CRM and CMS, does not require too complicated registration, supports trigger, regular and transactional mailings, as well as sending via SMS messages. In addition, there are no functional restrictions and high-quality company analytics are provided. The only caveat is that you will have to get used to working with the letter editor, which is not very convenient.

Free plan: Up to 200 addresses, 1000 letters per month

Website address: https://sendsay.ru/

SendPulse

Pleases with its intuitive interface, the ability to send Push messages and minimal pre-moderation times. A free plan is available, however, you need to be prepared for the fact that it will not be possible to use automatic mailing via RSS.

Free plan: Up to 2500 addresses, 15,000 letters per month

Website address: https://sendpulse.com

Simplemail

Attractive with very affordable prices, the service cannot boast of an abundance of options (but the basic functionality is fully present) and good technical support. On the other hand, get an answer to the question in online chat can be quite problematic. An excellent solution if your business is small and you don’t need any special hassles.

Free plan: Up to 100 addresses, 500 letters per month

Website address: https://prostoemail.ru

The service is English-language and quite expensive, which is compensated by its adaptive design, automation of posting on social networks and distribution via RSS. Clients also have over seven hundred integrations at their disposal and a free tariff plan (available limited quantity options). The program is reliable, with good technical capabilities, but not everyone can afford it.

Free plan:

Website address: https://mailchimp.com

Unisender

It is distinguished by a variety of letter templates, an absolutely clear interface, stylish design and prompt response to requests to the technical support service. A trial period is provided, but if you want to use the program for free, you will have to “reveal incognito” - Unisender will require you to enter a lot of personal data (it is not clear, of course, why, because in fact the user of the beta version is not a client...). You can also note some delay in confirmation of registration by email.

Free plan: Up to 100 addresses, 1500 letters per month

Website address: https://unisender.com

Expertsender

Has maximum capabilities in terms of setting user settings, allowing you to send different kinds notifications and automatically stop mailing when errors are detected in the content. True, the service also has a serious (for some, of course) disadvantage - the inability to use the free version.

Free plan: Absent

Website address: https://expertsender.ru

Mailtrig

Targeted at clients interested in sending trigger emails. Nothing supernatural, but quite convenient, especially for those who don’t want to waste time setting up the API or go broke on programmers’ services. A couple of things are confusing:

  1. To register, you need to write to them by email.
  2. To find out the rates, you need to write to the mail, etc.

Those. Everything is too hidden from view, it’s repulsive.

Getresponse

The service combines extensive functionality, modern design and user-friendly interface, variable mailing settings, detailed analytical reports and the ability free testing options within a month. There are, of course, some disadvantages, such as the abundance of registration fields, but they are insignificant against the backdrop of the variety of options and quite reasonable prices.

Free plan: Absent

Website address: https://getresponse.ru

Another expensive service on English language, where to use the trial version you need to provide card details at the bank, transfer a dollar and allow personal data to be declassified. I must say that there is something to pay for: an integrated gallery, publishing posts on Twitter, Facebook automatic mode and a huge number of original templates on all topics. Aweber has built a reputation as a reliable email marketing partner, so if you don't want to take risks, then this is the option for you.

Free plan: Absent

Website address: https://aweber.com

Not as multifunctional as many others, but still a good service that offers a standard package of options. However, not everyone needs a complete set, especially when the budget is tight.

Free plan: Up to 1000 addresses, unlimited number of letters per month

Website address: https://mailerlite.com

Will definitely appeal to those interested in the free plan. I would also like to note the quick response from the technical support staff, but there are no special frills in the design - everything is quite standard, but understandable.

Free plan: Up to 100 addresses, unlimited number of letters per month

Website address: https://madmimi.com

Mailigen

It’s sort of “average” compared to the others with a basic interface, excellent technical support and the provision of a personal manager for the account owner, as well as options for conducting surveys. But there is a “catch”, namely, the presence of a trial period, but not a free plan.

Free plan: Absent

Website address: https://mailigen.ru

Campaignmonitor

It is characterized by a variety of ready-made integrations, taking into account time zones, adaptability to mobile devices and the presence of a White label. But for those who decide to take advantage free version, you won’t be able to try out all the available functions (the list is very limited).

In my opinion, the most suitable program for those new to email marketing. Of course, the lack of a block editor is disappointing, but you can organize the sending of letters and do analysis in just three steps. One of the most “large-scale” free plans, but the site has layout glitches (this is alarming).

Free plan: Up to 3000 addresses, 15,000 letters per month

Website address: https://feedgee.com

Mailrelay

It is immediately attractive because it offers a free plan with extensive functionality, but there is no Russian-language interface, the design is outdated, plus the number of payment methods is very limited. So it makes sense to try the free plan, but I would not recommend using the service on an ongoing basis.

Free plan: Up to 75,000 letters

Website address: https://mailrelay.com

Benchmarkmail

A service without any particular disadvantages, but also without significant advantages. The free plan is quite acceptable, there is a block design, and there are no problems at all with using the interface.

Free plan: Up to 2000 addresses, 14,000 letters per month

Website address: https://benchmarkemail.com

Having lost a lot of fans after the cancellation of the free plan (now only a trial period), the service pleases with moderate prices, a function for correcting fingerprints and the ability to identify subscribers by gender.

Free plan: Absent

Website address: https://mail365.ru

Falconsender

A young, rapidly developing service, which was created by a team of developers, for a long time working on another major project. The guys assure that they tried to take into account all the pros and cons of the current market and embodied this in the new project. Users will be attracted by very affordable prices - one of the lowest on the market. Simple and convenient interface.

Among the minuses, it is worth noting that the service has only recently launched, so in terms of functionality it may be inferior to its competitors in some ways. Technical support is excellent, they respond quickly. There is a free plan for up to 1000 subscribers.

Free plan: up to 1000 subscribers

Sendgrid

A service practically devoid of serious shortcomings, which will especially appeal to those who want to organize trigger mailings. One of the pitfalls is the need to personally communicate with technical support in order to explain in detail what you need for work.

Free plan: Up to 2000 addresses, 12,000 letters per month

Website address: https://benchmarkemail.com

And what's the result?

So we looked at the main services that provide the ability to send emails. Of course, the list could go on and on, but these services are the best, so it makes sense to choose from them. Based on my experience, I can say that I am most impressed by Mailchimp, Getresponse, Sendsay and Sendpulse (which has strange reviews on the search): the first is optimal for solid projects, while the second will be a good compromise in terms of financial costs and practical capabilities , about 3 and 4 - here I am undecided.

But everyone makes the final decision themselves, so the last thing I can advise is that before making a choice, carefully study customer reviews on the forums! The service itself can advertise its services in any way it likes, but you and I know that in practice everything may turn out to be completely different...

What mailing service do you use? Write in the comments!

Article tags:

You have found yourself in the email marketing section, where you will learn what it is and what it is needed for. I will also tell you how email marketing on the Internet works and how to improve its effectiveness. And for dessert, at the very bottom there will be cool cases and articles with free lessons on this topic.

What is email marketing

Email Marketing- This complex activities, aimed at establishing interaction with subscribers and customers through email and mailing tools.

The purpose of such communication is to strengthen audience loyalty ( customer retention and return). That is, you need people who learn something about you not to leave after a certain action, but to stay close and support you. We would monitor how you develop, what you offer, and so on.

In fact, it is also a good one. After all, with the help of such mailings you can generate additional traffic to your resource. This is especially noticeable with a large base of active subscribers.

Why is this so important?

According to statistics, 98% of Internet users have email. 91% of them check it every day.

As you can see, email is one of the main sources of communication. This is the most main reason, why email marketing still works.

Misconceptions

Many people still have misconceptions about email marketing. Basically, they are divided into two parts:

  1. Many people think that this is banal spam. But that's not true! This is communication with subscribers of our own database of email addresses with their prior consent.
  2. Also some people think that it is banal mailing by email. However, in reality, in addition to the usual action, communication strategy plays an important role. If you sent a person only one email and didn’t send anything else, then this is not email marketing.

Let me give you an example.

A person wants to buy a tablet, but doesn’t know which one is better. As a result, he starts looking for information on the Internet. Through a search, he goes to some site and sees that they offer a free training course.

The user agrees!

He enters his data into the subscription form and agrees to the terms. Then this course is sent to him by email. He begins to study it.

Then, after some time, the person receives a second letter. there in general outline There is an acquaintance with the author of the course. Given short biography people and history of working with tablets.

The subscriber learns a lot about the author and sees that he has already encountered a similar situation. In addition, the letter promises to solve the problem. The author also warns the subscriber that he will send new lessons and additions to the course in the future.

After a certain series of lessons, a final letter is sent. There they sum up various results and at the end there is an offer to buy the product. And not just buy, but buy at a good discount.

It is also said that if a person makes an order during the day, he will be provided with free accessories for the tablet.

As a result, the subscriber agrees to purchase!

Some will think, why bother so much! It's the same profitable proposition online stores provide immediately.

But the fact is that at first a person does not have trust in the company. Therefore, in the example here, the author of the newsletter has a greater chance of selling something. After all, the author himself became a subscriber good friend and helped him solve the problem. This is what it's all about the essence of email marketing!

That is, do not use sales directly. And first make friends with the person. Try to solve his problem. Show your expertise and provide cases.

But the most important thing is that you are working for a long-term relationship. This is not just a site where the user came, looked, left and forgot.

No! With the help of a series of lessons, you are constantly in contact with your subscriber, thereby reminding them of yourself and strengthening your brand.

Advantages and disadvantages of email marketing

Below I would like to list the important benefits of email marketing:

  • This is an additional source of traffic to the site
  • Cheap channel support. You can collect information about your subscribers and send emails completely free of charge.
  • The ability to collect a current subscription base of your audience. That is, precisely those people who directly this moment are in contact with you.
  • Creation of communication ( regularity of touches) between brand and consumer
  • Establishing a strong relationship with the client
  • Effective engagement necessary actions. For example, sharing information, viewing recommendations, purchasing, etc.
  • Increase efficiency through personalization based on customer information ( who he is, where he lives, what his interests are, etc.)
  • You can quickly replenish your database of email addresses
  • Increases the average check - you can use upsells

Disadvantages of Email Marketing:

  • Spam filters are constantly being improved - sending out mailings is no longer as easy as before
  • You need a clear strategy and segmentation of the target audience - if you send uninteresting information, people will unsubscribe or send it to spam
  • Not suitable for everyone - e.g. funeral services this kind of marketing will not work ( no one wants to be reminded to buy a coffin or a wreath)
  • Setting up your service for mass mailings will seem very difficult to many
  • Tariffs of mailing services for intensive work with large databases are not cheap
  • You constantly need to check and clean the database of inactive subscribers
  • Regularity is necessary - otherwise the subscriber will forget about you and at the first uninteresting letter he will simply unsubscribe

Email Marketing Performance Indicators

There are certain indicators that help measure the effectiveness of email marketing:

  1. The number of subscriptions is the size of the subscriber base
  2. Open Rate - email open rate by subscribers (50 - 60% is considered a good indicator)
  3. Click Rate - how many recipients who opened the letter completed the target action
  4. Number of unsubscribes
  5. Messages marked as spam
  6. Recipient conversion rate - the rate of donations or purchases made after clicking on a link in an email

Typically, all this data is available through the email newsletter service you use. It is worth noting that the accuracy of determining such indicators may vary greatly for each service. Some give better statistics, others worse.

Below I want to give you some useful tips and cases on email marketing. To start, personalize, but don't use automatically inserted fields like “Dear [insert name].” It’s just that the name during registration may not match the real data.

People also often fear that it is phishing or spam. After all, most of these letters are usually fake.

So make your personalization more natural. It's done well through segmentation subscription base by gender, age, social and other characteristics.

The more clearly you segment your base, the better your email open rates will be. After all, in this case, you will offer your subscribers only what is interesting to them.

Also in letters you need to address header length. There is no specific answer as to what works best. Long titles or short ones.

But there is a title length that is called the “Dead Zone” (60 to 70 characters). You should try to avoid it. That is, do either less than 60 or more than 70 characters.

Also try to choose the best time for email newsletters. There is no clear answer here either. It will be different for each target audience. Therefore, you need to conduct A/B testing and see at what time the open rate is best.

The next tip is free gift. Give something to your subscribers so that they will be grateful to you. It could be some eBook, webinar recording, templates and so on.

Must also be present adaptive design letters. Then the messages will look good on different devices.

Still not bad send emails on weekends. On such days people are less stressed. Therefore, they have more time to check email. However, again, there is no clear answer here. Therefore, this point also needs to be tested.

Sometimes remind yourself. That is, there should not be too long pauses in the mailing. You can also use subscriber segmentation based on email open rates. Those who open emails frequently can be interacted with more often.

Well, definitely track statistics. It is she who makes it clear how effective your actions were.

Types of letters in the newsletter

  1. Informational are different stories, useful tips, cases or lessons
  2. Active - we offer to take a survey or invite you to some events
  3. Commercial - we offer to buy some product or order a service
  4. Transactional - an email that is automatically sent after a target action is completed on the site ( subscription confirmation, reminder of items in cart, etc.)
  5. Autoresponders ( trigger letters) - configured for specific user actions ( for example, an automatic series of emails to complete a course)

It is worth noting that newsletters should be at least twice as much. After all, if you often ask people for some help, there will be a high probability of unsubscribing.

So let's people more information. For example, news, some stories, useful cases, articles, and so on.

How to improve email open rates

Many people have a problem with how to increase the open rate of emails. To begin with, we can distinguish two important indicators. This is From Name ( who did the letter come from?) and the subject of the message itself.

If you are sending letters as an organization, you have two options. Can From Name name on behalf of the organization or simply write the employee’s name.

But there is no specific answer here! Therefore, you need to test everything and see how it will be better in your case.

A lot depends on how well the audience knows you. Of course, it is much more pleasant to receive a letter from a specific person whom you already know.

Well, about subject of the letter don't forget either! The shortest and clearest headlines work best in many topics.

It also has a big impact on open rates. dispatch time. Largest quantity emails are opened during the lunch break and in the evening.

Opening rates are worse in the morning. People at the beginning of the working day are focused on work. Therefore, some letters will be ignored or even deleted.

And one more tip is database segmentation subscribers. You need to know your subscribers and what will be interesting to them.

Best day to open emails

Industry Day
Hotels Monday
Accounting Monday
Veterinary services, animal care Saturday
Art, culture, entertainment, museums, music, cinema, theaters Wednesday
Cars Friday
Products and services for children Saturday
Associations, clubs Monday
Consulting, trainings Monday
Education Monday
Finance Friday
Fitness centers, yoga studios, bowling clubs, gyms Monday
Government organizations Monday
Healthcare, dentistry, hospitals Monday
Real estate, construction, landscape design services Tuesday
Insurance Wednesday
Manufacturing companies Tuesday
Marketing, advertising PR Monday
Cleaning companies Wednesday
Photo studios Wednesday
Publishers Monday
Real estate Tuesday
Religious organizations Monday
Restaurants, bars, cafes Monday
Retail Monday
Beauty Salons Monday
Development of websites, online stores Tuesday
Transportation Sunday
Tourism Thursday
Other Monday

It is very important not to end up in spam when sending emails. To start, avoid safe words. The easiest way is to use the Glavred service ( glvrd.ru). It immediately highlights such words in the text. For example, buy, sell, advertising and so on.

Also avoid capital letters in words (except for the beginning of sentences). Spam filters react very harshly to this.

Still don't need to use much bright fonts and colors. I recommend using simple templates letters.

Also, don't insert large images(both in size and weight). This has a very bad effect on loading information. Especially for mobile devices.

The field of the letter should contain minimum 200 text and numeric characters. Avoid large quantities exclamation marks.

Use subscription confirmation. This is when, after filling out the form, a confirmation email is sent to the person. To finally subscribe, the user must follow the link in the email.

Be sure to use this double confirmation!

Firstly, it helps to get rid of inactive mailboxes. After all, sometimes people can accidentally enter the wrong email address in the form.

Secondly, a person will not simply sign without his final consent. That is, you need ironclad confirmation of the owner of the box.

Also, a person must be able easy to unsubscribe from the newsletter. If this does not happen, then it will simply send the letter to the spam folder. The robots will take this into account and, of course, will worsen the deliverability of letters to other recipients.

More spam filter criteria:

  • Checking the IP address in blacklists - if you get there, then it is better to use your smtp servers
  • Pay attention to SPF, DKIM and DMARK records
  • Check email and sender name
  • If you link to bad and suspicious sites, your letter will be filtered. Hiding links through java scripts improves email deliverability. I also recommend making all links through a redirect from the sender’s domain.
  • Monitor the number of messages and the speed of their sending - when large values include locks
  • They take into account complaints from email recipients - if people put your emails in the spam folder, then the mailing list begins to be blocked
  • Pay attention to the frequency of the email database - you need the majority of addresses to be active. That is, for users to go into the mailbox and check it. But if there are many inactive and deleted mailboxes, then it may be blocked from sending letters. You also need to avoid email traps. These are boxes that were not initially subscribed to any mailing list. If there are any, the systems will track you and then block you. Therefore, do not use third-party databases under any circumstances.
  • Look at information about the company and so on

I really want to give you tips on how to increase your email subscriber base. To begin with, come up with A good reason to subscribe.

To do this, people need to be given some kind of bonuses for subscribing. Usually these are free books, webinar recordings, checklists, and so on.

When people unsubscribe, you can also give them some additional bonuses. Even when unsubscribing, do a survey asking why the person decided to unsubscribe. To do this, you can insert a short questionnaire with answer options. Or, after a typo, direct the person to a page with a survey.

I also recommend offering educational content. Through an automatic series of emails, you can offer subscribers to take a course. That is, after subscribing, you will automatically receive emails with lessons at a given time.

This gives additional user engagement.

Plays a very important role in collecting the subscription base. subscription form. She must be attractive. If you are offering a book or course, be sure to include it in the form. beautiful cover product.

It is worth considering the number of fields in the form. The more there are, the less likely it is that a person will subscribe.


Pop up window with form

Use the tools attention grabber. Pop-ups work very well in this regard. Also use beautiful buttons and links with calls to action. Additionally, you can add animation.

How email marketing works

You need to understand that any email newsletter service consists of three elements:

  1. SMTP server - deals with sending email messages.
  2. POP server - accepts incoming correspondence.
  3. Spam filter - controls the SMTP and POP server. It monitors emails and evaluates them as spam based on a number of criteria. A message is blocked if it meets at least several of these criteria.

Your letter first goes to the servers of the mail.ru service. That is, it first goes to SMTP and then is checked by the mail.ru filter. If the spam filter approved the letter when sending, then it is then sent to another mail service. For example, on yandex.ru.


How email marketing works

Your message first leaves the mail.ru spam filter and gets to the yandex.ru spam filter. Yandex will already have its own criteria for selecting letters.

That is, different systems have one such filter. However, for each of them it works according to its own specific algorithms.

So, the Yandex spam filter checks your letter. If it is approved, then the message goes to the POP server of the same Yandex and then goes directly to the recipient.

If your letter meets at least several criteria that violate the spam filter, then they either go to the spam folder or simply do not end up in the inbox.

If the recipient decides to send you a reply message, then the principle of sending is absolutely the same.

First, the message goes to the SMTP server and is checked by the spam filter of the outgoing mail service (for example, Yandex). Then it goes into the spam filter of the receiving mail service (for example, Mail.ru) and is sent to your email via the POP server.

This is how a regular email newsletter works between two users who use regular services.

If sending occurs within one service ( for example, between mail.ru mails), then it simply goes through the SMTP server. And then, passing through the spam filter, it returns through the POP server and is sent to another user.


Email distribution within one mail service

In any case, even if the exchange messages are coming through one mail service, all letters are still checked for spam.

Email distribution to the database

Bulk email distribution to a database differs in that the message is automatically sent to several recipients at once. That is, there is a mass phenomenon. To organize it, you need programs to automate the above-mentioned process.

This software is installed on a computer. Then in this program you can create message texts, place images and various files.

But the main thing is that you can upload a list of email subscribers to the software for whom the newsletter will work.

Sending email via a free SMTP server

This is a simple protocol for sending a letter. You can connect it to your program and then send messages. But this has its limitations.

Service SMTP server Sending speed
gmail.com smtp.gmail.com 500 emails per day
hotmail.com smtp.live.com 200 emails per day
yahoo.com smtp.mail.yahoo.com 100 emails per hour
rambler.ru smtp.rambler.ru 200 letters per hour
mail.ru smtp.mail.ru 60 emails per hour
yandex.ru smtp.yandex.ru 150 emails per day
aol.com smtp.aol.com 500 emails per day
lycos.com smtp.lycos.com 250 emails per day
meta.ua smtp.meta.ua 200 emails per day
ukr.net smtp.ukr.net 250 emails per day

I note that if you send emails very quickly through such free SMTP, your mailing may be blocked at any time. That is, the email that you used as the SMTP server will be blocked.

Therefore, this mailing method is only suitable for a small subscriber base. If you have a large database, then this method can also be used. However, in this case you need to connect proxy servers. They allow you to hide your computer’s IP address and make it seem like the sending is coming from different devices.


Sending email via free SMTP

Sending emails via your SMTP server

For hosting you need to buy a VDS or VPS server. Next, you create your SMTP and POP server on it. Then you set everything up and send out mailings.

Advantages of your SMTP servers in Internet distribution

What are the advantages of your own smtp servers for internet distribution? To begin with, here no restrictions by the number of letters sent. Everything depends only on the power of the VDS or VPS.

You can still customize your entries:

  • DKIM - electronic signature domain
  • SPF - domain permission to send letters using your mailbox
  • DMARK - DKIM and SPF identification

All these entries increase the number of successfully delivered SMTP server emails!

Another advantage is that here there is no spam filter. That is, for outgoing correspondence, your letter will not be checked for spam. After all, this is your smtp.

Another advantage is the possibility blocking ip address sender when using multiple SMTP.


Sending emails via your own SMTP

If you send a message, your computer's IP address is blocked. Therefore, other spam filters postal systems it seems that you are sending from several smtp servers.

If you are sending from one smtp server, then the filters will see that you are sending from one IP address. Then, once the letter has passed the spam filters, it reaches the end user.

Third party email marketing services

For example, they have a very convenient one. This allows you to conduct a normal analysis of your email newsletter. Some other services may offer a set of beautiful subscription forms and letter templates.


Email newsletter service statistics

You will also receive active technical support. For many beginners this will be a big plus.

Good services:

SendPulse - there is a free plan ( up to 2,500 subscribers and 16,000 letters) for beginners with good support and useful features. There are many mailing options available. And the presence of artificial intelligence will help you easily increase the effectiveness of email marketing. The system itself will compose a suitable letter for you and select necessary elements. Tariffs here are cheap. There are a number of free bonuses and big discounts. They provide cool subscription form designers, templates and many other interesting features.

MailerLite is aimed at beginners and small businesses only. The rates here are reasonable. In terms of functionality and prices, it is inferior to the previous service. However, the basic tools here are quite sufficient for small businesses. There is also a free plan for up to 1000 subscribers.

GetResponse - has all the necessary marketing functions. Therefore, it is suitable even for large players! A powerful landing page builder, a flexible system for automating processes and more than 500 letter templates. You can create stylish subscription forms and surveys, warm up people using webinars, and so on. Tariff prices here are not high. The only thing is that there is no free option. However, for testing they give 1 free trial month with all the functionality.

Disadvantages of third-party services

Such services also have their drawbacks! For example, some companies have strict rules for loading their subscription database.

They also make sure to check the validity of the subscription database. That is, they look for inactive email addresses and decoy boxes.

Depending on the tariff plan, services may limit the number of subscribers and emails sent.

Well, don’t forget that you have to pay for everything!

Luckily, many companies offer us free initial plans. But as a rule, the functionality there is greatly reduced. That is, it will no longer be possible to engage in full-fledged email marketing here.

And if you switch to paid options, then good companies They usually charge high prices. Therefore, high cost is another disadvantage of such services!

Email distribution through third-party services


Email distribution through third-party services

Also, initially the service itself checks your subscription base and the letters you send. If, for example, there are a lot of spam words, then mailing to the email database will be blocked. However, before this you will be notified that there are violations and you need to review the format of the letter.

If letters start to end up in spam or go a big wave complaints from recipients, then spam filters report technical support service about suspicious mass email distribution.

But if you send to a small subscriber base, then your letters are likely to end up in inboxes, since such SMTPs are on the white list of spam filters.

Your own email newsletter service


Your own email newsletter service

A distinctive feature is that such a service is located and installed on your SMTP servers to which your domain is attached.

Here Main advantages email newsletter scripts:

  • We host everything on our own server
  • User-friendly web interface available
  • No restrictions on email newsletters
  • Very convenient statistics
  • You can hide the IP server on which the script is installed
  • SMTP servers without restrictions - if some part is blacklisted, they can be replaced with new ones
  • Good tools for randomizing texts and message topics

Bulk email sending through your service

Now let's figure out how to send mass emails through your service. You use it through your web interface. It's on your domain.


Bulk email sending through your service

If the setting was correct, the server IP address will be blocked. Only the SMTP IP will be visible. Sending comes as if from each separate server with a separate IP and maximum randomization.

As a result, spam filters postal services They see that the mailing is coming from different people. This advantage makes it possible to effectively create large mass email campaigns without ending up in spam.

That is, despite the criteria of spam filters to limit the letters sent, you can significantly increase the number of subscribers and the sending of letters and at the same time not fall under spam.

So, if you have a very large base and are closely involved in this area, then this option is perfect for you! There are no restrictions here. Everything depends only on the power of the server.

In general, now you know what email marketing is, why it is needed and how it works. Below are free cases and articles with training lessons on this topic. They will help you improve the effectiveness of your mailings.

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18.01.2018

When creating newsletters, an email marketing strategy is very important. However, to create it, you need to try hard. Therefore, to make your life easier, I have prepared step-by-step instructions for developing such a strategy especially for you. There will be interesting examples and useful cases.