2015 Vendor Features & Functions Guide

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© RED PILL EMAIL

All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized distribution strictly prohibited. Information provided by participants and is subject to change with product advancements. CONTACT Red Pill Email – 310-488-6769 – Advertisements in this document link to advertisers.

2015 Email Vendor Features &

Functions Guide

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Em ai l V en do r Fe atu re s & Fu nc tio ns G ui de

Email Vendor Features & Functions Guide

Small-Market / Mid-Market Edition

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CAMPAIGN BUILDING &WORKFLOW SCORE NUMERIC VALUES ... 65

TESTING &REPORTING ... 66

TESTING: ... 66

REPORTING: ... 69

TESTING &REPORTING SCORE NUMERIC VALUES ... 76

THIRD-PARTY INTEGRATION ... 77

DELIVERABILITY ... 77

ANALYTICS ... 78

CRM ... 79

EMAIL VALIDATION SERVICES INTEGRATION ... 80

CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS ... 81

OTHER INTEGRATION ... 81

S.A.M.E.STANDARDS ... 82

TRAINING &SUPPORT... 82

TRAINING ... 82

DOCUMENTATION ... 84

SUPPORT &ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT ... 84

VENDOR SCORES ACROSS ALL CATEGORIES ... 86

PREPARING FOR VENDOR SELECTION ... 89

DISCOVERY ... 89

FUNCTIONAL ... 89

NON-FUNCTIONAL ... 89

PREPARING AN RFP ... 90

SCORING THE PROSPECTS ... 90

S.A.M.E. ... 92

THE S.A.M.E.PROJECT METRICS &CALCULATIONS ... 92

APPENDIX... 95

ADDITIONAL CHARTS &GRAPHS ... 95

SUPPORTED APIFUNCTIONS ... 95

ASSET SUPPORT:... 98

REPORT LEVELS ... 100

REPORTS ... 100

SAMPLE DISCOVERY QUESTIONS ... 103

SAMPLE RFP ... 104

SAMPLE SCORE CARD ... 106

USER REVIEWS ... 107

REVIEWS ... 107

ELITE EMAIL ... 107

GLOSSARY OF TERMS ... 110

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3 Executive Summary

Welcome to the sixth annual edition of the Email Vendor Features & Functions Guide from Red Pill Email; the only guide compiled and written by an email marketing veteran who has made a living sending email and integrating email deployment tools, not just talking about it.

Vendors do not pay to participate on our Guides. Vendor offerings include hosted, on premise, and hybrid solutions and services. Participants were asked a series of Yes/No questions about their product features and functions, and about the skill level required to utilize those features and functions.

Information is provided by the participants and is accepted as submitted. Responses to our questionnaire are converted to binary values and then weighted by the responses in each category and subcategory to provide an objective view of each participant’s features and functional capabilities. Other factors such as hourly throughput may also impact a participants effective and/or overall score and/or product placement within this Guide.

This edition of the Guide highlights the abilities of Small-Market email marketing platforms and Mid-Market platforms that go beyond the features and functions of the Small Mid-Market but don’t quite reach the needs of advanced Mid-Market or Enterprise users. High Mid-Market and Enterprise users with more sophisticated needs should refer to our Mid-Market Enterprise Guide edition

For 2015 Red Pill Email surveyed 38 International providers with over 600 questions across 8 top-level categories regarding their technical product offerings and service options important to prospective users. Buyers should not focus on price alone and should let business requirements and contact strategy drive the selection process. In an increasingly crowded market, buyers need to find providers that offer both scalable technology and pricing.

Participant Selection

The participants were selected from the previous Email Vendor Features & Functions Guide, the author’s hands-on experience, from vendor evaluations conducted by the author on behalf of end-user clients, from International market presence, and from active Industry participation.

All participants in this Guide support their own email deployment tools. While several vendors leverage OEM products and services such as commercial MTAs, no white-labeled services of other turn-key products are included. Vendor revenue was not taken into consideration, nor was the size or revenue of vendor clients.

Equally important to what functions a vendor offers is how those functions work and what it takes to configure the product to meet the desired result. It is up to the user to demonstrate each product under consideration and understand the level of effort required to configure those functions important to the organization.

A total of 67 vendors were invited to participate in the Guide. Apsis, AWeber, Bronto, Campaign Monitor, Copernica, eBay Enterprise, e-Village, Lyris, MadMimi, MailChimp, Marketo, MyEmma, Newsweaver, Optivo, Puresend, Sailthru, SendGrid, Sentori, SmartFocus, Streamsend, TC Media, Teradata (Aprimo), VerticalResponse, Webpower, Yesmail, and Zrinity did not meet the questionnaire deadline or selected not to participate.

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4 Defining Markets & Users

The fundamentals for implementing email marketing deployment tools are the same regardless of the size of the organization. The primary difference between the vendor’s abilities to support Small, Mid, or Enterprise clients is scale and sophistication.

Participants of the 2015 Guide were asked if their marketing efforts were targeted exclusively by business size. To be included in this Edition of the Guide participants must focus their own marketing efforts on Small and Mid-Market clients while supporting those features, functions, and through-put requirements of those market clients.

Small-Market (Minimal Sophistication; Low Volume):

Signs of Small-Market email tools generally include free trial offers with no contracted month-to-month service, pre-made message templates, and shared IP addresses, although more and more Small-Market vendors offer optional dedicated IP addresses at an additional cost.

Several vendors offer basic to intermediate integration capabilities, and many support advanced features such as RSS, video, and built-in social sharing. User Interfaces and segmentation capabilities range from basic to intermediate as do reporting features.

Small-Market tools benefit beginner through intermediate users; those with email volumes of thousands to tens of thousands of messages per month; and/or those requiring only basic messaging and reporting needs.

Small-Market vendors for 2015 include All Web Email, Cooler Email, Elite Email, GreenRope, SparkPost,, and Venntive.

Mid-Market (Moderate Sophistication; Moderate Volume):

Mid-Market deployment tools are competitive with Small-Market tools on one end of the spectrum and Enterprise tools at the other. While some Mid-Market vendors offer free trials of their products, most require term contracts; unique IP addresses per customer are standard fare. The widely varying capabilities of mid-market applications can make comparing solutions difficult. The costs, the stability of the vendor, and flexibility of services are all key considerations in selecting mid-market deployment tools. Mid-market vendors provide a higher degree of integration and customization than most small-market solutions, and like enterprise applications, generally provide import and export wizards, application program interfaces (APIs) and third-party integration tools for streamlined system implementation. As with enterprise tools, mid-market tools provide the ability to more readily customize the application for particular business requirements and objectives.

Mid-Market class tools benefit beginner to advanced users with email volumes of tens of thousands to several millions of messages per month; those with enhanced data and messaging automation needs; and/or those requiring a moderate level of integration and customization.

Mid-Market vendors for 2015 includeAct-On, BlueHornet, Brick Street, Communicator Corp, ContactLab, Cordial, Delivra, dotMailer, EmailDirect, ExpertSender, Gold Lasoo, Goolara, Harland Clarke Digital, Inbox Marketer Connect, Listrak, Mailup, Maropost, PostUp, Tripolis, and WhatCounts. NOTE: Only Mid-Market vendors that also cater to the Small-Market are included in this edition of the Guide. Market vendors reaching into the Enterprise market may be found in our Mid-Market/Enterprise edition at Red Pill Email.

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Enterprise (Highly Sophisticated; High Volume):

A key consideration of an enterprise-class email deployment tool is its ability to send tens of millions of messages per month per client. Other considerations include bi-directional data integration capabilities with the client’s data base(s), with the most advanced tools featuring open relational data table structures; integration to third-party applications; multi-channel support; integrated Promotional and Transactional platforms; dedicated IP addresses; and conditional data-driven messaging based on the user’s business rules.

Advanced campaign and operational reporting at a granular level in real or near real time is a standard feature of an enterprise-class ESP. Sophisticated User Interfaces provide non-technical user access to the advanced functions of the tool, while more technical users may operate the tool via command line or API. Better SLAs, superior uptime, and an improved user experience allow internal IT staff to focus on core competencies and strategic tasks.

Commercial MTAs and appliances are generally considered an enterprise tool due to in-house operational and maintenance requirements; however larger mid-market users may want to investigate these options, also.

Enterprise-class tools benefit intermediate to advanced users with email volumes of several million to tens of millions of messages per month; those with highly sophisticated conditional rules-driven messaging needs; and/or those requiring a high degree of integration and customization.

Enterprise vendors for 2015 include Acxiom Digital Impact, Adestra, Epsilon, Experian Marketing Services, GreenArrow, IBM Silverpop Engage, Measuremail, Message Systems, Oracle Responsys, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Striata, StrongView, and Zeta Interactive.

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Em ai l V en do r Fe atu re s & Fu nc tio ns G ui de Full Service:

Participants of the 2015 Guide were asked the percentage of full-service and self-service clients. For the purpose of this Guide those vendors stating 55% or higher will be considered Service vendors. Full-Service vendors are a subset of Small, Mid-Market and Enterprise vendors included in this Guide and are shown separately as a convenience for those considering a full-service or partial full/self-service option. Full-Service vendors may cater to Small, Mid or Enterprise markets. Clients are involved in the decision making and approval processes however the vendor handles and is responsible for all aspects of the client’s email marketing programs including design, coding, execution, and subsequent reporting. Full-Service vendors for 2015 include Acxiom Digital Impact, All Web Email, Brick Street, Epsilon,

Experian Marketing Services, Inbox Marketer Connect, Striata, Tripolis, and Zeta Interactive. NOTE: Only All Web Email focuses on Small-Market organizations.

Skill Levels:

Beginner:

Beginners have between no and basic HTML skills and usually use WYSIWYG editors built into their email deployment tool to add content to pre-defined templates. The Beginner’s understanding of data and/or data management may be limited making segmentation more challenging. They are beginning to learn the use of filter and query wizards available in the deployment tool but may not understand and may be just learning the nesting of operators within a filter or query. Beginners hear and read about

"integration", "automation", message triggering, and APIs, but haven't developed or are developing the knowledge or technical expertise to specify or implement them.

Identifying features and functions as Beginner suggests the user has little to no email marketing skills and may be unfamiliar with the email lexicon.

Beginners are learning and/or practicing basic:

» HTML/ CSS Coding

» CAN-SPAM Regulations

» Simple Broadcast deployment

» Uploading data and/or content

» Metrics Reporting Intermediate:

The Intermediate user has developed experience in basic segmenting and testing and is proficient with built-in data filters and wizards. Intermediate users are proficient in HTML and understand opens, clicks, and other metrics. They can execute time-based message triggering and messages containing dynamic content based on data elements within their distribution list. Intermediate users understand the impact that integration and automation has on the organization and are beginning to develop the knowledge and skills to specify and/or implement them.

Identifying features and functions as Intermediate suggest the user has moderate email marketing skills and is gaining technical and implementation experience.

Intermediate users are learning and/or practicing:

» Filter/Query Wizards

» Nesting Operators in Filters

» Basic SQL Skills

» Lifecycle Program Implementation

» Segmented Distribution

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Em ai l V en do r Fe atu re s & Fu nc tio ns G ui de Advanced:

Advanced users understand the technology and what it takes to integrate with their back-end and/or peripheral systems to automate data transfer and complex messaging programs. They understand business rules, functional and non-functional specifications, can translate them into technical

specifications, and are technically capable of implementing or assisting in the implementation of those specifications. Advanced users understand data and data base management and are comfortable creating nested queries within filters and/or creating raw SQL queries.

Advanced users are comfortable with and/or proficient in:

» Specifying and/or Developing API-based Automation

» Specifying and/or Developing Stored Procedures

» Complex Program Development and Implementation

» Multi-Channel Data and Metrics Integration Professional Services Only:

Configuration and implementation is available only through the organization’s Professional Services Operations. Example; User can specify data table configuration, but cannot hands-on develop via UI or API; or, user can specify a filed name of a data table, but cannot add that field via UI or API.

Using This Guide

This document provides general overview information about the product and service offerings of the participants, and the ranking of participants across all categories and by category.

Data is presented in aggregate showing offerings of Small and Mid-Market level platforms at the beginning of each section, and by each market separately following aggregate data. When using this Guide in the selection of an appropriate vendor, Small or Mid-Market level users should focus on vendor capabilities within their market categories and not aggregated data.

We realize that most users of email deployment products will rarely use more than 30% of the features and functions available from any vendor; however not all organizations will use the same 30%. Know what features you need to support your business objectives before shopping for email deployment vendors.

Users of this Guide will find the best results if they first define and list the messaging specifications unique to their own organization, then see how each vendor rates in each category that addresses those

specifications. Users can compile their own unique vendor rating or score by weighting each category of importance to their unique specifications and organization’s needs and by discounting those features and functions that are not required by or important to the organization.

As stated throughout this Guide, we look only at what the vendor can do; how they do it will be unique to each participant. The skill level required to implement some features and functions should be discussed with those vendors of interest or under consideration, and should be a part of any product demonstration. An advanced feature or function may be implemented by users with basic skills, or may require more intermediate or advanced skills. It is up to the buyer to make that decision for their organization.

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8 Features & Functions

Business Offerings

Regions Served

More and more Email Service Providers (ESPs) are extending their market presence around the globe. While the majority of participants in this Guide edition are based in North America, those that are not are supporting a physical presence on the Continent. Challenges of providing service to global markets often include:

• Dilution of Brand-Name Power - Being popular in your home country doesn't mean you'll be as popular when introduced in other countries.

• Cultural Nuance - Expanding into other counties requires more than accurate translation of the message from one language to another.

• Communication Style - Besides language differences the customs and pace of business negotiations can be different.

• Time and Distance - Time zone differences can make it difficult to coordinate projects where collaboration is required.

Supported Channels

ESPs are just about Email Marketing anymore. In addition to expanse into Social Marketing with the ability to share to and from social networks, as well as collecting and leveraging that data, ESPs have long integrated with and supported SMS platforms. Of those participants supporting SMS about half do so through a 3rd party platform. About 50% of Small/Mid-Market participants also provide Print services and integration, while just over 30% have integrated Display to their platforms. Approximately half of all participants’ clients are multi-channel users, with the other half being email-only.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

LATAM EMEA APAC NOAM

n= 14 57.14% 71.43% 71.43% 100.00%

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9 Business & Pricing Models

Organizations without technical resources to support an on premise solution will look to SaaS vendors. Advanced users with available technical resources may consider Licensed Software or Appliance vendors. Fast-growing larger senders may consider vendors capable of supporting more than one business model.

Small-Market Business Models

S aaS L icen sed S o ftw a re A ppl ia nc e W h it e L ab el

All Web Email Cooler Email 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Appliance Licensed Software White-Label SaaS

Appliance Licensed Software White-Label SaaS

n = 14 0.00% 28.57% 71.43% 100.00%

Business Offerings

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Display Print SMS Email

Display Print SMS Email

n =14 35.71% 50.00% 71.43% 100.00%

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Em ai l V en do r Fe atu re s & Fu nc tio ns G ui de Elite Email GreenRope SparkPost Venntive

Mid-Market Business Models

S aaS L icen sed S o ftw a re A ppl ia nc e W h it e L ab el Act-On ContactLab Delivra dotMailer EmailDirect Goolara

Harland Clarke Digital MailUp

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11 Pricing options by participant

The most common pricing is by Tiered Rates. Tiered Rates are most often based on the volume of messages sent, usually at a CPM, or cost per milli (thousand), but may also be based on the number of records hosted on the platform. With Tiered Rates, as message or record volume increases to meet contractual benchmarks rates are reduced, however not always automatically. 85.71% of participants included here offer tiered rates by volume sent, and 42.86% offer tiered rates by data stored.

CPM rates vary wildly amongst participants with low-volume rates anywhere between $40.00 and $2.50 and high-volume rates anywhere between $1.25 and $0.25. The average low-volume CPM across both Mid-Market and Enterprise-level participants is $9.46, with the average high-volume CPM at $0.44. Contracted rates define a minimum message or data/record volume over the term and often build in a tiered pricing structure. Not meeting or maintaining minimum contract volume requirements will result in a higher Effective CPM (ECPM) than the contracted rate when based on the volume of messages sent or amount of data/records stored.

Flat-Rate offers a single fixed fee regardless of the volume of messages sent and is usually based on the number of records hosted on the platform. Flat Rates may be Tiered based on the number of records hosted on the platform. This generally includes both active and inactive – including unsubscribed – records.

Small-Market Pricing

The most common pricing structure among Small-Market vendors is Tiered Rates (100.00%) with 83.33% basing tiers on CPM and 66.67% offering tiered pricing based on Stored Data. 50% of Small Market vendors providing tiered pricing offer an option or combination of CPM and/or Stored Data.

CPM pricing is available from 83.33% of Small-Market vendors and is actually more common than with Mid-Market vendors (75.00%). 100% of Small-Market vendors offer a free product trial, while only 16.67% require a contracted term.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Term Contract Flat Rate Free Trial CPM-Based Tiered Rates

Term Contract Flat Rate Free Trial CPM-Based Tiered Rates

n = 14 57.14% 64.29% 78.57% 78.57% 100.00%

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Low-volume rates from all Small-Market vendors can run CPMs as high as $15.00 and as low as $2.50. High-volume CPM rates can run as high as $1.50 and as low as $1.00. The average low-volume CPM rate for Small-Market vendors is $9.38. The average Small-Market high-volume CPM rate is $1.19.

Small-Market Pricing Models

F la t R a te C PM -B ased T ier ed R at e s T e rm C o n tr act F ree T ri al

All Web Email Cooler Email Elite Email GreenRope SparkPost Venntive

Mid-Market Pricing

The most common pricing structure among Mid-Market vendors is Tiered Rates (100.00%) with 87.50% basing tiers on CPM and 25.00% offering tiered pricing based on Stored Data. 16.67% of Mid-Market vendors providing tiered pricing offer an option or combination of CPM and/or Stored Data.

CPM pricing is available from 75.00% of Mid-Market vendors;62.5% offer a free product trial, and 87.50% require a contracted term.

Low-volume rates from all Mid-Market vendors can run CPMs as high as $40.00 and as low as $10.00. High-volume CPM rates can run as high as $0.50 and as low as $0.20. The average low-volume CPM rate for Mid-Market vendors is $23.75. The average Small-Market high-volume CPM rate is $0.34.

Mid-Market Pricing Models

F la t R a te C PM -B ased T ier ed R at es T e rm C o n tr act F ree T ri al Act-On ContactLab

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Em ai l V en do r Fe atu re s & Fu nc tio ns G ui de Delivra dotMailer EmailDirect Goolara Harland Clarke Digital MailUp

Professional Services

Organizations with limited marketing resources might consider vendors providing full-services or à la carte full/self-serve. Vendor in-house professional services might include Strategic, Technical, Production, or Creative services and are billed by the hour or by quote.

Not every type of Professional Service will be of equal importance to all users. Consider and prioritize those Professional Services required by or important to your organization when selecting a vendor.

Professional Services like in-house creative may mean less to an organization staffing those roles than one that does not. An organization staffing strategic and creative roles may not staff technical or

production roles and require those services from a vendor. Likewise, an organization may be well staffed technically, but require strategic and creative services.

Strategic Services

85.71% of Small- and Mid-Market participants surveyed offer Strategic Services. 85.71% offer Tactical Recommendations and Reporting Metrics Analysis. 78.57% provide Actionable Analysis, and 71.43% of participants surveyed offer Competitive Analysis.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

In-house Creative In-house Production In-house Technical In-house Strategy

Have Services 78.57% 92.86% 85.71% 85.71%

No Services 21.43% 7.14% 14.29% 14.29%

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Competitive Analysis may be difficult for vendors that do not have a high enough sampling of client verticals to provide data that is valuable enough to one client while not divulging confidential or sensitive information on another. Likewise, “Financial Services” may include banks, credit card companies, pre-paid credit and gift cards, credit reporting agencies, mortgage brokers, and lenders of all stripes making available data too broadly categorized to provide actionable intelligence.

Technical Services

85.71% of Small- and Mid-Market participants surveyed offer Technical Services. 85.71% offer Systems Integration and Tactical Implementation. 78.57% offer Specialized Training and Systems Architecture and Design.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Competitive Analysis Actionable Analysis Reporting Metrics Analysis Tactical Recommendations

Competitive Analysis Actionable Analysis Reporting Metrics_Analysis _{Recommendations}Tactical

Have Services 71.43% 78.57% 85.71% 85.71% No Services 28.57% 21.43% 14.29% 14.29%

Strategy Services

n = 14 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Systems Integration Systems Architecture/Design Tactical Implementation Specialized Training

Systems Integration _{Architecture/Design}Systems Tactical Implementation Specialized Training

Have Services 85.71% 78.57% 85.71% 78.57%

No Services 14.29% 21.43% 14.29% 21.43%

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Vendors have a vested interest in integrating a client’s internal system with the vendor platform.

Generally speaking, the deeper the integration the more sophistication can be gained by the platform; and the more difficult – and expensive – it is to switch to another vendor. Most Mid-Market vendors also integrate with third-party products (listed later in this Guide) to provide greater business intelligence while extending the functionality of the vendor platform. Third-party systems integration is not as widely offered with Small-Market vendors as it is with Mid-Market vendors. The two most common third-party

integrations supported by Small-Market vendors are Google Analytics and Salesforce.

Production Services

92.86% of Small- and Mid-Market participants surveyed offer Production Services. 92.86% offer Automated Message and/or Campaign Development, Message and/or Campaign Reporting, and Message and/or Campaign Assembly, while 78.57% offer Message and/or Campaign Deployment.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Message/Campaign Assembly

Message/Campaign Deployment Automated Message/Campaign Development Message/Campaign Reporting

Message/Campaign

Assembly Message/CampaignDeployment

Automated Message/Campaign Development Message/Campaign Reporting Have Services 92.86% 78.57% 92.86% 92.86% No Services 7.14% 21.43% 7.14% 7.14%

Production Services

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16 Creative Services

78.57% of participants surveyed offer Creative Services. 78.57% offer Graphic and Design Services and/or Copywriting and/or Editing Services.

Service Types

92.86% of Small- and Mid-Market participant’s surveyed offer a Self-Service option, 78.57% offer a Full-Service option, and 92.86% offer a la carte services, or a mix-and-match offering of Self- and Full-Full-Service options. Only one Small-Market participant, All Web Email, is classified as a Full-Service platform based on their percentage of Full-Service clients.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Copywriting/Editing Services Graphic/Design Services

Have Services 78.57% 78.57% No Services 21.43% 21.43%

Creative Services

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Full-Service Self-Service à la carte

Full-Service Self-Service à la carte

n = 14 78.57% 92.86% 92.86%

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17 Service Types by Participant

Ful l-S er vi ce Se lf -S er vi ce à l a car te By Ho u r B y Q u ot e Act-On All Web Email ContactLab Cooler Email Delivra dotMailer Elite Email EmailDirect Goolara GreenRope

SparkPost Venntive

Professional Services Pricing

92.86% of participants surveyed price projects and professional services by Quote, 78.57% by the Hour. 78.57% of participants surveyed price projects and professional services by both Quote and by the Hour.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Hour Both Quote

n = 14 78.57% 78.57% 92.86%

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18 Professional Services Staffing

The average number of In-House Production staff is 4.93, up from 3.11 in 2014, and with an average of 7.00 years of experience, up from 4.74 years in 2014. In-House Technical staff averages 6.57, up from 3.42 in 2014, averaging 6.93 years of experience compared to 5.68 years in 2014. The average number of In-House Strategy staff is 3.93 up from 2.63 in 2014, with the average years of experience of strategy staff at 8.07 up from 5.16 in 2014. In-House Creative staff is at an average of 3.64 compared to 2.05 in 2014 and with an average of 6.64 years of experience up from 5 years in 2014.

Small-Market In-House Services

C reat ive P roduc ti on T ech n ical S tr at eg y

All Web Email Cooler Email Elite Email GreenRope SparkPost Venntive 0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 7.00 8.00 9.00 In-house Creative In-house Production In-house Technical In-house Strategy

In-house Creative In-house Production In-house Technical In-house Strategy

Average Years 6.64 7.00 6.93 8.07

Average Number 3.64 4.93 6.57 3.93

Professional Services Staff

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19 Mid-Market In-House Services

C reat ive P roduc ti on T ech n ical S tr at eg y Act-On ContactLab Delivra dotMailer EmailDirect Goolara

Small-Market Professional Services Score

P ro -S er vi ces S c o re Pro -S er vi ces S c o re

All Web Email 3.61 GreenRope 4.72 Cooler Email 4.72 SparkPost 0.00 Elite Email 5.00 Venntive 4.72

Mid-Market Professional Services Score

P ro -S er vi ces S c o re Pro -S er vi ces S c o re Act-On 3.33 EmailDirect 5.00 ContactLab 5.00 Goolara 3.89

Delivra 5.00 Harland Clarke Digital 5.00

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20 Targeted Verticals and Geographic Markets

Several vendors focus on and/or excel in specific vertical markets. Having specialized experience in a specific market often influences the features and functions of the email platform. Professional Services staff experienced in specific vertical markets often brings experience that can accelerate their client’s marketing efforts, but there is often a fine line between repetitive efforts across a targeted vertical and treating all clients within a vertical the same.

Targeted Verticals

Targeted Geographic Markets

0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7% 8% 9% Real Estate Automotive Travel Entertainment Health/Insurance Education Banking/Financial Other Media/Publishing Non-Profit Consumer/Retail Business to Business

Targeted Verticals

n = 14 International 16% Domestic 84%

Targeted Markets

n = 14

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21 Product Offerings

Platform

The average user won’t be concerned with a vendor’s platform. Advanced and technical users will have opinions on commercial and proprietary MTAs (Message Transfer Agents) that may influence their purchasing decisions. Those that do are encouraged to ask their sales representative for details.

A commercial MTA is a software agent supported by an independent vendor. A proprietary MTA is a software agent supported by the vendor. Only one participant in the Small- / Mid-Market edition of the 2015 Guide is a developer of MTAs, and it is the parent company that is the MTA developer. For the purposes of this Guide MTA developers are considered as commercial. While proprietary MTAs are represented, 86% of participants are developed on commercial MTAs compared to 74% in 2014 and up from 70% in 2013.

A full 50.00% of Small and Mid-Market participants using a commercial MTA use Port25’s PowerMTA, down from 64.29% of participants using PowerMTA in 2014 and down from 66.67% in 2013. A full third (33.33%) of Small and Mid-Market participants use Message Systems’ Momentum MTA, up from 7.14% in 2014 and from 13.33% in 2013. 16.74% of Small and Mid-Market participants use the Green Arrow MTA, down from 21.43% in 2014.

Two important things to note:

1. The number of Small and Mid-Market participants of this edition of the Guide in 2015 is 14 compared to 19 participants in 2014. This is due to some vendors missing the deadline for inclusion and to some moving to the Mid-Market/Enterprise edition of the Guide.

2. Less than 3 weeks before this Guide was publically released Message Systems announced the purchase of Port25 and PowerMTA giving Message Systems 85-90% market share of

commercial MTAs used across all levels of ESPs. Proprietary 14% Commmercial 86%

MTA Type

n = 12

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Em ai l V en do r Fe atu re s & Fu nc tio ns G ui de GreenArrow Message Systems PMTA 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

GreenArrow Message Systems PMTA

n = 12 16.67% 33.33% 50.00%

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23 Service Level Agreements (SLAs), Data Back-up, & Redundancy

85.71% of Small- and Mid-Market participants will contract SLAs. 100% back-up their own and client data daily or more frequently. 92.86% support redundant platforms.

Security Features

ESPs protect not only their own data, but also the data of hundreds of clients. Security breaches at ESPs and their users within the past few years have heightened the need for improved security of vendor and user data alike. PCI Compliance is on the rise amongst leading ESPs, as is Multi-Level Authentication and “Safe Harbor” data hosting. Geo-Based Access Restrictions are gaining in popularity while basic record encryption remains flat. Popular encryption methods include MD5#, PGP/GPG, and TripleDES.

In 2015 as in 2014 100% of Small- and Mid-Market participants have a Data Security Policy in place. In 2015 100% of participants support IP-Based Access Restrictions compared to 84.21% in 2014. Multi-Level Authentication has increase to 78.57% in 2015 up from 52.63% in 2014. Geo-Based Access Restrictions have risen to 71.43% as has PCI Compliance in 2015 compared to only 36.84% and 57.89% respectively in 2014. Safe Harbor Hosting has also seen an increase in adoption from 42.11% in 2014 to 71.43% in 2015.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Safe Harbor Hosting PCI-Compliant Geo-Based Access Restrictions Multi-Level Auth IP-Based Access Restrictions Data Security Policy

Safe Harbor

Hosting PCI-Compliant Geo-Based AccessRestrictions Multi-Level Auth IP-Based AccessRestrictions Data SecurityPolicy

n = 14 64.29% 71.43% 71.43% 78.57% 100.00% 100.00%

(25)

24 Security Scores

Small-Market Vendor Security Score

S ecu ri ty S c o re Secu ri ty S c o re

All Web Email 2.50 GreenRope 5.00 Cooler Email 5.00 SparkPost 5.00 Elite Email 4.17 Venntive 5.00

Mid-Market Vendor Security Score

S ecu ri ty S c o re Secu ri ty S c o re Act-On 5.00 EmailDirect 4.17 ContactLab 3.33 Goolara 3.33

Delivra 4.17 Harland Clarke Digital 3.33

dotMailer 4.17 MailUp 2.50

Supported Browsers

Of all participants responding to the question of multiple browser support, not one participant provides only single browser support.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Other Safari Internet Explorer Firefox Chrome

Other Safari Internet Explorer Firefox Chrome

n = 14 21.43% 78.57% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00%

(26)

25

Although browser support is interesting information, it should not be a primary or even secondary consideration when selecting an ESP. The most common “Other” supported browser is Opera.

Supported API Protocols

APIs play an important role in bi-directional data integration and real-time messaging. Technical users and resources will appreciate knowing what API protocols are available for the transfer of documents and data to or from the vendor. See Appendix for percentages of Supported API Functions.

Small-Market Supported API Protocols

SO A P XM L G ET /PO ST J SO N R EST WC F

All Web Email Cooler Email Elite Email GreenRope SparkPost Venntive

Mid-Market Supported API Protocols

SO A P XM L G ET /PO ST J SO N R EST WC F Act-On ContactLab Delivra dotMailer EmailDirect Goolara Harland Clarke Digital MailUp

(27)

26 Data & Segmentation

Data is at the heart of any email marketing program. The greater the options are to transfer, structure, query, and segment data the more intricate and complex messaging can become. Participants were surveyed in four subcategories of data and segmentation.

Data Control:

Organizations with complex data matching as a core function of their business will at some point want to flatten multiple sources to a series of single relational tables that may be joined together and queried for reference and/or supplemental data to support a variety of messaging programs; or may just want a well-structured flat file hosted on the vendor.

The greater control over your data at the vendor the more flexibility you will have with complex queries, Primary and Foreign Keys, and joining and querying multiple and/or relational tables. The ability to bypass filter wizards and directly query data may decrease processing time while yielding more refined data sets for advanced messaging.

Each vendor will have their own unique way of implementing the features and functions of their product. Some will require advanced programming skills and/or technological resources implement, while others may be easily accessed and/or configured by non-technical resources via the UI.

Full-Service vendors implement features and functions on your behalf. While the features and functions supported by Full-Service vendors will be important, ease of use should not be a concern.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

User-defined FK Access to Logs User Control Over Tables

Multiple Indices Any Field/Log/ List User-definable fields

User-defined FK Access to Logs User Control_{Over Tables} Multiple Indices Any Field/Log/_List User-definable_fields

n = 14 50.00% 50.00% 71.43% 78.57% 85.71% 100.00%

(28)

27 Small-Market Data Control Score

Small-Market Data Control Ease of Use

0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00 Average Elite Email SparkPost GreenRope Cooler Email All Web Email Venntive

Data Control

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Average Venntive SparkPost GreenRope Elite Email Cooler Email All Web Email

Data Control

(29)

28 Mid-Market Data Control Score

Mid-Market Data Control Ease of Use

0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00

Average Harland Clarke Digital dotMailer Delivra EmailDirect MailUp ContactLab Goolara Act-On

Data Control

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Average MailUp Harland Clarke Digital Goolara EmailDirect dotMailer Delivra ContactLab Act-On

Data Control

(30)

29 Queries & Segmentation:

Several participants provide advanced data querying and segmentation wizards making it easier on marketers with limited technical skills or resources to segment data required for advanced messaging programs.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Seg by Channel Drag & Drop Seg Seg by Platform/OS Seg by Social Sharing Seg by Mobile Use Seg by Device Seg by Client Compound Seg Rules Behavior-based

Seg by

Channel Drop SegDrag &

Seg by Platform/ OS Seg by Social Sharing Seg by

Mobile Use DeviceSeg by Seg byClient CompoundSeg Rules Behavior-based

n = 14 57.14% 57.14% 71.43% 85.71% 85.71% 85.71% 85.71% 100.00% 100.00%

(31)

30 Small-Market Queries & Segmentation Score

Small-Market Queries & Segmentation Ease of Use

0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00

Average All Web Email Elite Email Venntive SparkPost GreenRope Cooler Email

Queries & Segmentation

Queries & Segmentation Ease of Use

(32)

31 Mid-Market Queries & Segmentation Score

Mid-Market Queries & Segmentation Ease of Use

0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00

Average Harland Clarke Digital Goolara ContactLab Delivra Act-On MailUp EmailDirect dotMailer

Queries & Segmentation

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Average MailUp Harland Clarke Digital Goolara EmailDirect dotMailer Delivra ContactLab Act-On

Queries & Segmentation Ease of Use

(33)

32 Form Processing:

The ability to process forms at the vendor opens a variety of data collection and user-triggered messaging possibilities. The more flexible vendors are to write data to a table, with the option of triggering a

message as a result, the greater the application options are to the user.

Small-Market Form Processing Score

88% 90% 92% 94% 96% 98% 100%

Trigger Message by Form Supports Form Processing Trigger Pre-Def Message Trigger by Recipient Action

Trigger Message by Form Supports Form Processing Trigger Pre-Def Message Trigger by Recipient_Action

n = 14 92.86% 92.86% 100.00% 100.00%

Form Processing

0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00

Average All Web Email Venntive SparkPost GreenRope Elite Email Cooler Email

Form Processing

(34)

33 Small-Market Form Processing Ease of Use

Mid-Market Form Processing Score

Form Processing

Beginner Intermediate Advanced Pro Services

0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00

Average Goolara MailUp Harland Clarke Digital EmailDirect dotMailer Delivra ContactLab Act-On

Form Processing

(35)

34 Mid-Market Form Processing Ease of Use

Exporting Data via the User Interface:

Most vendors will you allow the export of lists or data tables through the User Interface. Not all provide the option to export account logs, content, or message rules.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Form Processing

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Rules Logs Content Lists

n = 14 57.14% 85.71% 85.71% 100.00%

(36)

35 Small-Market UI Export Score

Small-Market Data Export Ease of Use

0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00

Average SparkPost All Web Email Venntive GreenRope Elite Email Cooler Email

UI Export

(37)

36 Mid-Market UI Export Score

Mid-Market UI Export Ease of Use

0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00

Average Harland Clarke Digital Goolara EmailDirect dotMailer Delivra ContactLab MailUp Act-On

UI Export

(38)

37 Data & Segmentation Scoring:

Data & Segmentation scores are based on scores of each of the four subcategories; Data Control, Queries & Segmentation, Form Processing, and UI Export.

Small-Market Data & Segmentation Score

0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00

Average All Web Email Elite Email SparkPost Venntive GreenRope Cooler Email

(39)

38 Small-Market Data & Segmentation Ease of Use

Mid-Market Data & Segmentation Score

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Data & Segmentation

0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00

Average Harland Clarke Digital Delivra Goolara ContactLab dotMailer EmailDirect MailUp Act-On

(40)

39 Mid-Market Data & Segmentation Ease of Use

Data & Segmentation Score Breakdowns

The following charts provide a side-by-side comparison of the scores of each of the four subcategories and the total Data & Segmentation Score for each participant. Participants are ranked first by the total score, then by each subcategory in order below. Users of this Guide may choose to consider the total score for each participant or may weigh prospective vendors by subcategory.

Small-Market Data & Segmentation Score Breakdown

Da ta & S eg m en tat io n S c o re Da ta Co n tr o l Q u er ies & S eg m en tat io n F o rm P ro cessi n g U I E x por t Venntive 4.78 5.00 4.44 5.00 5.00 Cooler Email 4.78 4.17 5.00 5.00 5.00 GreenRope 4.78 4.17 5.00 5.00 5.00 SparkPost 4.35 3.33 5.00 5.00 3.75 Elite Email 3.48 1.67 3.33 5.00 5.00

All Web Email 3.04 4.17 1.67 3.75 3.75

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Data & Segmentation

(41)

40 Mid-Market Data & Segmentation Score Breakdown

D at a & S eg m en tat io n S c o re Da ta Co n tr o l Q u er ies & S eg m en tat io n F o rm P ro cessi n g U I E x por t Act-On 4.57 5.00 3.89 5.00 5.00 MailUp 4.57 4.17 4.44 5.00 5.00 EmailDirect 4.35 3.33 5.00 5.00 3.75 dotMailer 4.13 2.50 5.00 5.00 3.75 Goolara 3.91 5.00 3.33 3.75 3.75 ContactLab 3.91 4.17 3.33 5.00 3.75 Delivra 3.70 2.50 3.89 5.00 3.75

(42)

41 Deliverability & List Hygiene:

Delivery, or Delivered, is the emails sent less the number of emails rejected by the receiving server that has bounced back.

Deliverability is the ability to deliver to the recipient Inbox and not the spam or junk folder. Deliverability and List Hygiene tools help the user to maintain good list health which is essential to maintaining high deliverability.

Not every line item will be of equal importance to all users, however the following key items will be:  Throttling/Metering per ISP

 Integrated Feedback Loops  Authentication

 Good ISP relations  White-listing services

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% In-bound Message Selectable IPs Freq Caps Throttle by ISP White-listing Separate IPs Diff Opt-out Deliv Scoring Custom Bounce Unsub / Pref ISP Relations FBLs In-bound Message Selectabl

e IPs CapsFreq Throttleby ISP White-listing SeparateIPs Opt-outDiff ScoringDeliv CustomBounce Unsub /Pref ISP Relation

s FBLs

n = 14 50.00% 71.43% 71.43% 78.57% 85.71% 92.86% 92.86% 92.86% 92.86% 100.00%100.00%100.00%

Deliverability & Hygiene

(43)

42 Deliverability & List Hygiene Scoring:

Deliverability & List Hygiene scores are based on participant responses to the questions in the eleven Deliverability & Hygiene categories.

Small-Market Deliverability & List Hygiene Score

0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00

Average All Web Email Elite Email Venntive SparkPost GreenRope Cooler Email

(44)

43 Small-Market Deliverability & List Hygiene Ease of Use

Mid-Market Deliverability & List Hygiene Score

Deliverability & Hygiene

0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00 Average ContactLab Act-On dotMailer Goolara Delivra MailUp Harland Clarke Digital EmailDirect

(45)

44 Mid-Market Deliverability & List Hygiene Ease of Use

Deliverability & List Hygiene Score Numeric Values

The following charts provide the numeric scoring values for each participant. Deliverability & List Hygiene features & functions are table stakes items for full-service vendors

Small-Market Deliverability & List Hygiene Score Numeric Values

D el iver ab il it y & Li s t H y gi e ne S c o re Del iver ab il it y & Li s t H y gi e ne S c o re

Cooler Email 5.00 Venntive 4.58 GreenRope 5.00 Elite Email 4.17 SparkPost 4.58 All Web Email 3.75

Mid-Market Deliverability & List Hygiene Score Numeric Values

D el iver ab il it y & Li s t H y gi e ne S c o re Del iver ab il it y & Li s t H y gi e ne S c o re EmailDirect 5.00 Goolara 4.17 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Average MailUp Harland Clarke Digital Goolara EmailDirect dotMailer Delivra ContactLab Act-On

Deliverability & Hygiene

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45

Harland Clarke Digital 4.58 dotMailer 3.75

MailUp 4.58 Act-On 3.33

Delivra 4.17 ContactLab 3.33

Campaign Building & Workflow

Having an ordered sequence of campaign building and management tasks makes deployment tools easier to learn and more productive in developing and managing campaigns.

Flexibility, ease of use, and implementation of built-in features such as personalization & dynamic content; segmentation & filtering functions; campaign deployment & reporting options; and content & asset management will also add to operational productivity which means less time building and supporting and more time marketing.

Each vendor will have their own unique way of implementing the features and functions of their product. Some will require advanced programming skills and/or technological resources to implement, while others may be easily accessed and/or configured by non-technical resources via the UI.

Account Management

Organizations often support multiple domains for different identities, business units, or subsidiaries. Rather than having a unique user and/or billing account for each identity, business unit, or subsidiary, organizations may take support of multiple domains into consideration.

It is not uncommon for an organization to wish to exclude domains, such as those of their competitors or services such as SpamCop or Spamhaus. For those organizations domain exclusion might be a tipping factor in their decision between two otherwise equally matched vendors.

Organizations that send Transactional messages on a different IP or IP set than their Promotional messages frequently look for vendors that support both through the same Login, same interface and/or platform. They find having to login to two unique accounts or interfaces less efficient than a single point of operation.

(47)

46

Participants were surveyed as to their functional capabilities surrounding account management, domain and IP/Transactional/Promotional interface support.

Small-Market Account Management Score

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Multi-Channel UI Child Account Multiple Top-Level Domains Integrated Trans/Promo Domain Exclusion

Multi-Channel UI Child Account Multiple Top-Level_Domains _Trans/PromoIntegrated Domain Exclusion

n = 14 57.14% 71.43% 92.86% 92.86% 92.86%

Account Management

0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00

Average SparkPost All Web Email Venntive GreenRope Elite Email Cooler Email

(48)

47 Small-Market Account Management Ease of Use

Mid-Market Account Management Score

Account Management

0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00

Average ContactLab Goolara dotMailer Harland Clarke Digital Delivra MailUp EmailDirect Act-On

(49)

48 Mid-Market Account Management Ease of Use

Asset Support:

Participants were surveyed as to their functional capabilities surrounding content management, image hosting, Personalization, dynamic content, and more. See Appendix for Asset Support breakdown by percentage.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Account Management

(50)

49 Small-Market Asset Support Score

Small-Market Asset Support Ease of Use

0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00

Average Elite Email All Web Email Venntive SparkPost GreenRope Cooler Email

Asset Support

(51)

50 Mid-Market Asset Support Score

Mid-Market Asset Support Ease of Use

0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00

Average Harland Clarke Digital ContactLab MailUp Goolara dotMailer Act-On EmailDirect Delivra

Asset Support

(52)

51 Deployment Management

Deployment Management helps to support and make adjustments to ongoing message programs, manage links, the ability to stop or pause campaigns, and more.

Small-Market Deployment Management Score

Small-Market Deployment Management Ease of Use

0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00

Average SparkPost All Web Email GreenRope Elite Email Cooler Email Venntive

Deployment Management

(53)

52 Mid-Market Deployment Management Score

Mid-Market Deployment Management Ease of Use

0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00

Average Harland Clarke Digital Delivra Act-On MailUp ContactLab Goolara EmailDirect dotMailer

Deployment Management

(54)

53 Pre-Configured Programs

To make the marketer’s life easier, several vendors provide pre-configured versions of popular email messaging programs like Abandoned Order, Welcome, and Win-Back programs. Just add data, your own content and adjust the messaging rules, and you’re programs are ready to run.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Pre-Configured Abandoned Pre-Configured Win-Back Pre-Configured Welcome

n = 14 42.86% 57.14% 85.71%

(55)

54 Small-Market Pre-Configured Programs Score

Small-Market Pre-Configured Programs Ease of Use

0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00

Average SparkPost All Web Email Elite Email Venntive GreenRope Cooler Email

Pre-Configured

(56)

55 Mid-Market Pre-Configured Programs Score

Mid-Market Pre-Configured Programs Ease of Use

0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00

Average Delivra ContactLab Harland Clarke Digital Act-On MailUp Goolara EmailDirect dotMailer

Pre-Configured

(57)

56 RSS and SMS Support

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Deploy by Post Supports RSS

Deploy by Post Supports RSS

n = 14 50.00% 57.14%

RSS Content Support

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Integrated Reporting Supports SMS

n = 14 64.29% 78.57%

(58)

57 Small-Market RSS & SMS Support

S uppor ts R SS S uppor ts SM S Suppor ts R SS S uppor ts SM S

All Web Email GreenRope

Cooler Email SparkPost

Elite Email Venntive

Mid-Market RSS &SMS Support

S uppor ts R SS S uppor ts SM S Suppor ts R SS S uppor ts SM S Act-On EmailDirect ContactLab Goolara

Delivra Harland Clarke Digital

(59)

58 Share-to-Social Content Support

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Sharing-FROM-Social Integrated Reporting Integrated Content Built-in Link/Message

n = 14 57.14% 78.57% 85.71% 92.86%

2015 Vendor Features & Functions Guide

2015 Email Vendor Features &

Functions Guide

1

Email Vendor Features & Functions Guide

Small-Market / Mid-Market Edition

Table of Contents

2

3

Executive Summary

Participant Selection

4

Defining Markets & Users

5

6

Skill Levels:

7

Using This Guide

8

Features & Functions

Business Offerings

Regions Served

Supported Channels

9

Business & Pricing Models

Small-Market Business Models

Business Offerings

10

Mid-Market Business Models

11

Pricing options by participant

Small-Market Pricing

12

Small-Market Pricing Models

Mid-Market Pricing

Mid-Market Pricing Models

13

Professional Services

Strategic Services

14

Technical Services

Strategy Services

15

Production Services

Production Services

16

Creative Services

Service Types

Creative Services

17

Service Types by Participant

Professional Services Pricing

18

Professional Services Staffing

Small-Market In-House Services

Professional Services Staff

19

Mid-Market In-House Services

Small-Market Professional Services Score

Mid-Market Professional Services Score

20

Targeted Verticals and Geographic Markets

Targeted Verticals

Targeted Geographic Markets

Targeted Verticals

Targeted Markets

21

Product Offerings

Platform

MTA Type

22

23

Service Level Agreements (SLAs), Data Back-up, & Redundancy

Security Features

24

Security Scores

Small-Market Vendor Security Score

Mid-Market Vendor Security Score

Supported Browsers

25