The World of Webhosting

Whether a business is using its Web site to sell a product or service, or to promote its message, an email newsletter is an effective promotional tool. A Web search will bring up dozens of companies offering email marketing as a service or as software for sale. In either form, an email newsletter can help you communicate with customers and maintain loyalty.

If you prefer to purchase software and install it on a local computer, Email Marketing Director by Arial Software (arialsoftware.com/emailmarketingdirector.htm) is a good option. The software works with most Windows operating systems, functions even on dial-up connection and enables non-technical individuals to create and deliver personalized email marketing campaigns. It also has a built-in database supporting an unlimited number of lists, pre-made email newsletter templates, automatic bounce and unsubscribe handling and simple email personalization.

When installing the software on your own infrastructure, it’s important to be aware of the kind of restrictions your ISP may have on bulk email sending, whether it’s a size limit, batch size limit or complete ban on sending bulk messages. Businesses can purchase Email Marketing Director for $495 and maintain a support plan for $149 per year.

A popular alternative to installing software is to sign up with email newsletter software providers who host your email campaigns and database on their servers. IContact (icontact.com) is an on-demand email marketing service that enables users to create, send and track email newsletters, RSS feeds, surveys and autoresponders. It includes open and clickthrough tracking, WYSIWYG newsletter editor, CAN-SPAM compliance and over 300 templates to choose from. With iContact, users pay a monthly fee based on the number of subscribers. Plans start at $9.95 per month or $107.46 per year for 500 contacts and under and users can send up to six times their subscriber limit per month.

Another company that offers email newsletter marketing services is Vertical Response (verticalresponse.com). Not unlike iContact, it enables users to send out messages with customized newsletters or one of the templates, utilize free opt-in forms that turn Web site visitors into actual email leads and offers free data hosting with unlimited list uploads at no charge. One big difference is rather than paying a monthly fee, users can either pay as they go on a per campaign basis or buy in bulk and subtract from a total amount of credits every time they email. To send up to 1,000 emails, it costs $0.015 per email or $15.00 per 1,000 emails and the cost decreases with the larger number of emails you send.

Whatever software you decide to go with, email newsletter software will help drive Web sites sales, qualified leads, retail store visits, ticket sales or increase readership of your content. You just have to decide on whether you want it installed on your own machines or sign up with a email marketing service provider and let them host your content.