Choosing an Email Marketing System for your business or practice can be a big decision.
Are you going to choose the right system? What about others who use this one or that one? Will they work for you and your business?
We have been having a lot of discussions lately in the Marketing Mastery Inner Circle about Email Marketing Systems. And choosing to stick with the ones they are using now, or move to new ones.
An Email Marketing System is one of the 10 marketing foundations every business needs and is critical to getting new leads to your business or practice. Without a system that can automate your list building you will spend more time on your marketing. Guaranteed.
Choosing your email marketing system can be a decision that is scary to make. A lot rides on your email marketing system and that is why thinking about one particular factor is important when you are making this decision – whether it is for a new system or changing one.
Yes, this decision is not one that happens when you start a business. It will happen many times along the way as you grow your business.
Pepper It Marketing is a perfect example of this. I have used – not always for good reasons – the following systems:
- Constant Contact
- Infusionsoft
- Mailchimp
- Aweber
- Infusionsoft
- Kajabi
- ConvertKit
Yep – 7 systems in 14 years of business, and one twice!!!
Now, I will say I am on year 3 of the last one and it has served me the best. My open rates for these weekly newsletters have continued to trend upward and now average at about 35%, and they keep going up every month as I review my stats. This helps build my reputation in the email sending systems and helps more folks get the newsletter and emails in their inboxes.
This decision is important and it’s why you need to think about the most important factor when making your decision.
Look to the Future. A realistic Future.
Think of where you want to be in 1 year, 3 years and even 5 years with your business, and this will help you plan what you need for your email marketing. You want to consider the factors of your growth and future plans for your services and programs.
The prime reason for this tip is because changing systems is not easy.
If you start now with one email system and then need to move in the future to another (for specific features your current one does not have), it is very easy to lose email subscribers when doing so.
It is very frustrating to build a list in one system only to lose many of those subscribers when you move to another system. You want to choose for your future needs as much as you can.
Some email marketing systems may “throttle” your sending limits at the beginning. You might have to do a few test emails and get good open rates before they allow you to email everyone. Some may require you to request that people “Click to keep getting your emails” in the new system.
This means you may lose people from your list when you transfer to another system. It is also why I say “Look to the Future.”
This is one of the biggest mistakes I find business owners doing when choosing their Email Marketing System.
It’s choosing a free system now to start with and build on as many systems out there are offering free versions – but with limitations. MailChimp started this trend years ago and others have followed along the way. ConvertKit is my top choice for a free and paid system with Aweber and MailerLite following behind.
[PRO-TIP: If you want to learn more about this recommendation about ConvertKit, you can read this article “Why are so many people moving to Convert Kit for Email Marketing.“]
Using a free system is the bootstrapping way to build your business or private practice, which is fine! Everyone starts somewhere. Finding systems and resources that are free or very low cost when starting your business or practice is common when funds are scarce.
But, without some forethought to the future, this can hurt you in the long run. It can mean you waste time and energy building a list in a system that won’t grow with you or one that, if it does, can cost more than double what others will once you come to a point of having to pay for that system.
The number two mistake?
Choosing too robust and costly of a system and having an email marketing system that is too big for them. This advice may make some of the people out there mad but, in my opinion, there are a lot of business owners who get enticed by a great introductory price on some of these high-end systems, which they have no good justification using. These stories typically end with a lot of money spent on a system they could not use.
Yes, you want to look to the future, and we all want to think that we will have thousands of names on our email lists and many, many products and services that our clients are buying, and we are all making a seven-figure income but the truth is, this is not the reality for everyone. It is the dream, but we also need some reality here.
So your future I am suggesting you look to – needs to be a realistic future.
If you need help choosing then start by creating a Needs List and a Wish List and look at options available for email marketing systems. If you cannot figure out the best system yourself maybe you need help making the choice. There are other factors you want to consider.
You can read about more of the factors to consider when choosing your email marketing system in this article: “The Top Factors to Consider when Choosing an Email Marketing System“.
Your Email Marketing System and List is one of your Marketing Foundations and can help you be more effective with your marketing and save time.
Take time making this decision and be thorough. If you want some help with this, feel free to book a quick consult with me and I can help you narrow down your top factors to consider.
If you are not ready to change or start with an email marketing system today, save this article because that will happen at some point in the future.
Remember… 7 systems 14 years. 😊
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Stop Struggling and Start Thriving! My passion is helping to guide people just like you, dietitians, and private practice owners, who are often frustrated with all their wasted time spent on marketing that gets you nowhere. You can learn strategies to attract a steady flow of clients and build a thriving and profitable practice. Get started with some of the free resources on my Pepper It Marketing website, especially this Guide to Streamline your Marketing. I also offer several self-study training programs to help you attract more clients so you can Build a rewarding and profitable private practice and still have time to LIVE your LIFE!