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By Neil Anuskiewicz
4. Good reporting. The ESP should offer a variety of user-friendly reports: deliverability success, open-rates, and click-through rates.
5. CAN SPAM compliance. Your ESP should require customers to comply with the CAN SPAM Act and make it very easy to do so.
6. List Segmenting. Your ESP should enable you to segment lists by demographic and other criteria, Targeting subsets of your list with content relevant to them leads to more successful email marketing campaigns.
7. A/B testing. It is important to have the ability to test different versions of your email to find what works. A/B testing is a way to test your email content, subject line, etc., to see which version gets the best results. Often this involves randomly splitting up the list and comparing results, and your ESP should be able to provide this functionality.
8. Free trial. Most ESPs offer a free trial. Do a test drive to see if the service meets your needs.
9. No term contract. Do not sign up for a service that requires anything beyond a month commitment. If you are unhappy with your service, you should be able to cancel and switch services at will.
10. Pricing Plans. ESPs host your email list on their servers. Some charge a monthly fee based on the number of emails on your list, while others charge a monthly fee you based on the maximum number of emails you think you will send per month. Be sure to choose a pricing structure that fits your needs.
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