Are You Considering Free Email Marketing Software?

Are you considering free email marketing software for your business? Defining the word “free” is a critical first step to answering this question. There are two classifications of computer software that make use of this terminology. The first is software that has no month-to-month costs associated with the product and the second is a service that has no associated costs for a trial period, generally thirty days.

Many new marketers often get fixated on price above all other considerations when choosing their systems. Often times, this is the motivation that leads people to utilize free email marketing software that has no ongoing month-to-month fees. Even though this may sound attractive at first, there are some items that need to be understood about with this particular arrangement. To begin with, most companies offering a free service place advertising on the outgoing emails sent by their users. Since they are not charging a monthly usage fee, their expenses are covered through the placement of paid advertisements on all outgoing emails. The free accounts offered by most of these types of companies have limited performance capability when compared to comparable paid services. For example, a company may restrict a free account to having not more than 500 email recipients. Anything above that number incurs an ongoing monthly cost or requires the migration to a paid service. Another limitation often present with these kinds of services is the volume of online email marketing pieces that can be sent on a monthly basis. Aside from these disadvantages there are other performance restrictions in areas of design, tracking and split testing.

A trial period is another common arrangement for free email marketing software. In this particular arrangement the full capability of the program is unlocked for the consumer, so they can effectively evaluate the overall performance and functions of the program. A limitation on the total number of subscribers and the total number of emails that can be sent are generally the only limitations seen in this type of arrangement. Unlike the arrangement mentioned above, trial period software contains no third party advertising. All features of the system are available for testing and the overall performance of the software can be effectively measured.

While it might at first seem like a good idea to save money, it is imperative that anyone serious about building their business through online email marketing take a long term perspective. With the traffic generation tools available to a marketer today, the power to grow a mailing list of over 500 people in a short period of time is well within reach. Having to go back and move that email list to a different service in the future is not just a hassle, but it creates a way to lose numerous subscribers, solely because they do not subscribe to the new email marketing service. Ultimately, the headaches brought on by using this type of free email marketing software could become more costly than any financial savings that may be realized.

It is a much more sensible strategy to utilize a free email marketing software provider as a test drive for a paid service. The paid service offers much greater functionality to their clients and will also have greater flexibility for tailoring email campaigns to the needs of the business that is being promoted. The ideal use of this trial period is to learn the functionality of the system, so that it is being fully maximized once the account moves from a free trial to paid subscription status.

Free email marketing software is a great tool for gaining familiarity with a paid marketing platform; having said that, it is not encouraged that it be used as the primary tool for an email marketing strategy.