Whether you're switching to a new email service provider (ESP) or selecting one for the first time—it's one of the most challenging purchases a marketer can make. High-stakes, time-intensive, and hard to undo if you get it wrong.
So when the time comes, we naturally lean on our network to help us navigate. That's exactly why we reached out to email pros across the US to ask: when it comes to choosing an ESP—what worked, what didn't, and what would you do differently the second time around?
The result? 100+ seasoned marketers responded to our survey.
Their top insights are summarized below and helped us craft an interactive Google Sheet template that you can use to more effectively compare and choose your next ESP.
Vetting software is a task that usually falls to one unlucky individual (you) that’s left juggling stakeholders' requests and navigating products that sound the same—but just use different jargon. Don’t forget the hours spent in demo calls that don’t answer your questions.
And, after all that, it’s still ridiculously hard to narrow down your choices.
“Some companies played the cat and mouse game, and would not provide a pricing estimate until we provided a budget.”
—Marketing Manager
“So much info to wade through...and the players in the space change every year.”
—CEO
We wanted to create a tool that actually makes this task manageable. Too often, solutions for this problem are just checklists you have to print or articles that promise “the 56 best email marketing platforms” or “347 questions to ask on your next product demo”—which are not helpful.
So, we built a practical tool as a solution to everything you hate about choosing new email marketing software. Meet the Project Hub for Comparing Email Software. This template will house and track all the key information from the selection process. And, at the end, you have every part of your decision documented and ready for review.
We walk you through every step of the process: defining your needs, conducting internal research, creating a budget & timeline, finding your top contenders, comparing apples to apples, and finally, making sure everyone has signed off.
Free Project Hub: Comparing Email Software
Get the free Google Sheet template that walks you through each critical step of selecting a new ESP
- Map your needs to key features
- Save time on sales demos
- Easily keep stakeholders in the loop
- Effectively compare your options
- Monitor your deadlines and deliver on time
Yes, we know—we’re an email marketing platform telling you how to buy an email marketing service.
Here’s why we made this: no single ESP will meet the needs of every team. We know it’s better for everyone, ourselves included (trust us, we’ve been doing this for 20 years) when a customer gets paired with the ESP that has everything they need, whether that’s us or another platform.
We both win when we get it right and we both lose when it’s not the right fit.
But this isn’t about us, this is about you. And you shouldn’t just take our word for it.
We tapped into our network of marketing VPs, directors, managers, CTOs, and sales leadership—both Delivra customers and non-customers—to find out what goes well in the ESP buying process and what doesn’t. Our survey received more than 100 responses from individuals who recently switched their email marketing platforms.
We analyzed every response so we could build a solution that addresses real problems that real teams run into.
Here are the themes that showed up the most in survey responses.
Here’s what we learned: the 3 biggest challenges in shopping for a new ESP
Everyone who responded to our survey has been directly or indirectly involved in the buying process within the last five years. Whether they were in sales, marketing, IT, operations, or management, there were regular themes in what frustrated them and what made the process difficult (as well as some serious golden nuggets of knowledge for how to approach a problem).
Here’s what they had to say:
1) People slow down the process
While you spend so much time and effort scrutinizing the software and figuring out if Feature A beats Feature B... the greatest complexity is usually elsewhere: the people.
What made it difficult?
“Reps that only wanted to go through the motions; limited or not giving us time to think about questions during the demo [...]—felt like we had to go it alone.”
— Marketing Manager
“Sales people wanting to demonstrate while on the phone and going to a website [...] (small businesses rely on conducting research on their own timeline as time is valuable and spoken for). I have never had the time or motivation to do this.”
— Director, VP
Sales fatigue is real. Even if a demo is only 30 minutes long, don’t forget about all the time you invest in communicating with sales reps, gathering questions from stakeholders, and scheduling an appointment. Jumping on a demo call for every platform that seems like a good fit will lead to burnout.
How can we solve this?
The real question is, how do you meaningfully demo a platform? The answer: figure out your requirements for an ESP in advance, so you don’t wait until after a demo to decide if a platform will meet your needs.
You need to know what your teams want from a new ESP, what didn’t work in the past, and all the nitty-gritty requirements for volume and software functionality. You should also get answers from upper management on budget and timeline before you start speaking with any sales reps.
Armed with a list of your needs, wants, and absolutely-must-haves, you can skip the sales calls with the platforms that are lacking. Asking sales reps direct questions before you demo means you’ll only be investing your time in actual, viable options.
Our Project Hub template prompts you to define your needs before you do anything else. In an easy, checkbox layout you can figure out what’s essential to your business and what’s a nice-to-have.
In this “discovery” phase, get as much input as possible from the teams that will be using the email service. Once you have all your requirements for an ESP laid out, gather feedback from upper management and relay your findings to your stakeholders for final confirmation.
This will save you from stakeholders weighing in at the eleventh hour by it confining requirements gathering to one stage in the process.
2) Making the most of a free trial
A demo never tells the full story. Take it as a caution from the marketers that came before you: test an ESP in every way possible before signing.
After a demo is complete, and you’re convinced a platform could be a contender, your next step should be to secure a trial. While an option could look great on paper, there’s no way to know if it will really work for you until you try it yourself.
What made it difficult?
“Platforms that either didn't have a trial period or didn't have a long enough trial period to determine whether it would work for us.”
— Marketing Manager
“It takes so much time to actually use a new product and see if it works”
— Marketing
A demonstration is very different from a behind-the-wheel test drive. Does it actually run? Is it easy for you and your team to use daily?
Pro tip: even if there is no free trial advertised, that doesn’t mean a trial option doesn’t exist. Ask a sales rep for one, and be clear that it’s critical for your team in making a decision.
How can we solve this?
This is where some gold nuggets of wisdom appear. Our survey respondents had some tried and true creative ways of testing email software in a limited time.
First, input the same dummy data into each of the systems you’re trialing. This will help you compare apples to apples when it comes to data handling and the platform’s capabilities for analytics, reporting, and contact organization.
Next, create an email, a template, or even a full campaign within each ESP. Use similar content and graphics on each site so you can understand the limitations of each platform.
Every stakeholder you outlined in the Requirement Gathering section of the Project Hub (who will be working directly within the ESP) should have a window of access into the free trial account where they can test critical functions.
Designers, junior marketers, copywriters, or anyone who will be working within the ESP can provide you with real, use-case feedback that will help you understand how that platform will impact day-to-day business.
Finally, try chatting with their customer support team or submitting a support ticket. How easy was it to reach them and have your problems resolved? Put them through their paces so you know what it’s actually like to be their customer.
3) Apples to elephants: comparing your final options
You have all the groundwork laid for your decision, the next tough part is actually making that decision. Depending on how specific your email marketing needs are, you may be left with a few valid options after all the testing, trialing, and feedback phases are complete.
What made it difficult?
“The slight subtlety of what the different ESPs will and will not do well.”
— Marketing
“Sometimes specific features included in each system were not clear. What one platform calls "Automation" and another calls "Campaigns" can contain similar features.”
— Marketing Manager
How can we solve this?
ESP feature indexes are becoming overcrowded with jargon. This can make it really difficult to find the subtle differences between each platform—subtle differences that could end up being deal-breakers.
The best way to deal with this is through rigorous testing. Like we’ve mentioned, putting your ESP options through all your daily motions and creating direct comparables will help you see past whatever language each platform is using.
Here’s where it gets tricky (but it doesn’t have to!). Once you’re through testing, narrow your contenders down to three final choices. This is where the Platform Comparison sheet becomes your best friend.
We created a Platform Comparison sheet that compares your options in a simple, visual layout. Input cost (and projected cost with growth), key features, and ratings from your stakeholders.
These two tips will make your cost/benefit analysis more efficient (and we’ve built them into the template layout):
- Doing the work to standardize pricing pays off. Look beyond the initial pricing quote and think in terms of first-year, second-year, and third-year costs. Will options get more expensive as you grow your audience?
- Ignore the bells and whistles—stay focused on the core features.
Removing all the unnecessary information that’s crowding your decision will help you to focus on what matters to your team, and not that ESP’s marketing. When you’re done, it should be easy to spot where a provider falls short.
If you’ve completed all the other steps leading up to this moment, most of the work will already be done for you. You just have to find that information and plug it into this worksheet.
After all of this, if you’re still unsure about making a decision, try requesting another demo of each platform to test some more specific features or explore how much room there is to grow within your options.
Pro tip: comparing all the new options to your current ESP (if this applies), is also very helpful. In the long term, this page can help justify your decision to switch ESPs as well as why you chose the one you did.
It’s time to get started
We recommend looking through the Project Hub template before you start searching for software options. There’s a lot of groundwork and crucial recommendations to cover before you start getting lots in the countless providers on the market.
Remember, there could be a long road ahead. We’ve tried to keep things as simple as possible, but you can really make this template your own: delete what doesn’t matter to your team, add more space for comparison, or take a deeper dive into your budget.
If you don’t want to go it alone, share with a collaborator and work through the process together. This template can be your HQ so you can share information without becoming scattered or overwhelmed.
Our platform and team have been in the email industry for 20+ years, we’ve seen how quickly features change and platforms trend, but one thing stays the same: comparing email software is stressful. We’re striving to make this process easier because, as email marketers ourselves, we’ve been in your shoes. So we truly hope this helps.
That’s how we do things at Delivra. If you think we might be a good fit for your team, you can get to know us a little better by clicking below.
