All companies need a robust email marketing campaign to reach customers and expand their reach. However, keeping up with an efficient schedule and delivering the best possible messages for your campaign isn’t easy. Some brands swear by self-hosted email marketing, while others rely on external email marketing. Let’s discuss the differences and the right option for you
Self Hosted Email Marketing
The self-hosting approach means a business can manage email marketing via an internal server. Everything related to an email campaign, from creating the design to handling the database, happens in-house.
1. Benefits of Self-Hosted Email Marketing
Companies often turn to the self-hosted email marketing approach for its higher level of control. There is no external third party placing restrictions over your content and management of the email list. Therefore, companies can make as many adjustments as needed to perfect their campaign.
You can customize emails to stay on brand, enhance the templates, and change the delivery system. On top of this, there is the ability to see and manage email marketing data far more effectively. Everything you want from your analytics is at your fingertips. You can dive in and gain valuable insights to make your campaign more profitable.
2. Downsides of Self-Hosted Email Marketing
Of course, there will always be problems with this self-hosting approach. If everything is yours to control, it is also yours to lose or misuse. Companies with limited experience in email marketing may become overwhelmed by the potential opportunities or fail to see the tools in front of them.
Hiring someone in-house to deal with email marketing is one solution. You could have a savvy team member go through all the data and design aspects, working closely with your marketing team on a cohesive plan. Alternatively, consider looking into external email marketing.
External Email Marketing
External email marketing means handing over the responsibility for an email marketing system to a third party. Think of it like outsourcing and delegating this role to a different department outside of the business. You may have heard people talk about using services like MailChimp to handle their email campaigns for them. For some, it will make life a lot easier.
1. Benefits of External Email Marketing
Some companies will benefit from working with an external email marketing service. Placing the responsibility for the campaign in the hands of professionals can ease the workload. Marketing teams can focus more on the branding and other sides of their campaigns and leave the technical details to their third-party team. As long as the platform has the tools and reliable output needed, it can save time and stress.
The best options have simple interfaces where companies can easily set up basic schedules and features. The service then handles the rest, creating and delivering the emails as needed. It helps to shop around and check out the elements in each package. Look out for potential scalability as the company expands its output. Also, check the company has a high deliverability rate to avoid rejection via spam filters.
2. Limitations of External Email Marketing
The biggest issue for companies is the lack of control. Self-hosting can seem daunting to first-timers, but it does provide countless options for individual expression. That isn’t the case with external systems. Once you hand over control to the third-party company, you also hand over some access to your email list and its data. You won’t get the same insights.
Low-level plans can also mean minimal options for customization and design. That means you can’t create the same bespoke email designs for a new campaign and rely more on templates. You might save time and effort but not be completely satisfied with what gets delivered to potential clients.
Wrapping Up
There are pros and cons to both approaches. The external system could make life much easier as you scale up a business and focus your attention elsewhere. Yet, the high costs, lack of creative control, and data issues are worth considering. Take some time to consider your options and decide which approach will deliver the marketing campaign you have in mind.
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