What Software Marketing Pros Need to Know About E-mail Marketing

Software marketing can be approached in a lot of different ways: for example, through channel partner programs, tradeshow booths, speaking at events, webinars, white papers, blogging, and social media campaigns, just to name a few.

However, e-mail marketing is still very popular among software marketing pros, primarily as a cost-effective tool to stay in front of qualified leads and clients.

I recently came across a very interesting post on e-mail deliverability, essentially the study of how to make sure your e-mail marketing makes it through to as many of your subscribers’ inboxes as possible.

The post, “19 Email Deliverability Terms Every Marketer Should Know,” from Jenn Yorke at HubSpot, is a very well-organized yet concise glossary of e-mail marketing jargon that you really need to be aware of if you’re tasked with using e-mail marketing as part of your software marketing campaigns.

Some terms that are especially relevant to small IT companies include:

• CAN-SPAM Act: Although primarily a U.S.-based set of legislation, the CAN-SPAM Act in a lot of ways has set the standard for responsible e-mail marketing.

• Open Rate: Software marketing pros need to know what an “open rate” is for no other reason than to identify when a supposed e-mail marketing “expert” is either stuck in 1999 or grossly exaggerating their expertise. (Hint: Open rates haven’t been a relevant metric for a long time.)

• Soft Bounce vs. Hard Bounce; Ask anyone who’s worked for the offline postal service, such as the United States Postal Service, and you’ll learn that offline mail is often undeliverable for a variety of reasons. It’s the same thing with e-mail marketing, and bounces are just one of many factors that can prevent your important marketing messages from reaching your subscribers’ inboxes.

• Single Opt-In vs. Double Opt-In: While many e-mail marketing purists would have you believe that there is a “right” and “wrong” answer to this debate, it’s more complicated than it appears on the surface. If your software marketing involves a lot of email marketing, you should at least be aware of these differences when evaluating email service providers (ESPs).

There definitely is a lot for software marketing professionals to know, and keep up with, to make sure that their e-mail marketing campaigns get through to their intended recipients. In fact, in significantly-staffed marketing departments, e-mail marketing is now a distinct career path in and of itself.

What do you find most important to assessing and measuring an e-mail marketing campaign? Please share your thoughts in the Comments section below.

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