Email Service Providers

What Is An Email Service Provider?

Let's make sure we start on the same page. If you're going to send emails to a "large" group of people, it's far easier to use an email service provider than simply sending by cc or bcc from your personal email. 

I had heard a few years ago that Google/Gmail limits the number of names you can have on a "to" line. On a search, apparently that's not accurate - they list no hard number limit. I've known many who seem to have issues with emails bouncing or never being delivered with a group of more than 50 which is surprisingly easy to hit for even small groups, and this has been the case for a number of years.

It becomes more an issue of how the email providers communicate with each other, each having their own spam flags. Unfortunately, even using a paid email service provider is no guarantee you won't end up in someone's spam folder to never be seen. 

What Are the Benefits of Using An Email Service Provider?

• Professionalism: Seeing a message sent through an email service provider conveys you're spending intentional thought (and quite possibly intentional budget) to share your work.
• Data/Analytics: Email service providers generally track numbers for you that you can then track over time—how many emails are getting through, are there blocks or unsubscribes happening, what's the "click" rate of folks engaging with buttons on your message or simply opening emails. This feature may be the difference in a free vs paid tier for an email service.
• Artistic element: many email service providers offer template designs with drag-and-drop styles, making it convenient to personalize your message in a stylized way than simply sending a text email.
• FUN! Creating emails with some design elements may not be for everyone, but if that does excite you, it can make a needed task more fun to manage.

Is It Necessary to Use An Email Service Provider?
Nope!

I'm beginning to see a trend of folks that I know have large email lists sending basic ol' text emails to thousands and tens of thousands of folks. No added graphics—just a chatty bit of news you'd send a friend. 

• Sending email this way may necessitate breaking the large group into smaller ones and hitting copy/paste/send repeatedly as most email servers can only handle so much info on their "to" lines.
• Your personal email may also need to send large amounts of emails in a staggered fashion to not overwhelm sending or receiving providers. 
• In spite of less artistic emails, most I'm familiar with still use an email service provider due to the sheer number of emails they send.

Are Newsletters ONLY By Email?
​Nope! I touched on a couple of other ways to share a "newsletter" with others on this blog post, which includes LinkedIn and Substack.

However—and this is a big however!—"rented land" is definitely a concern for how you communicate with your audience should the social platform go away or shut you down for whatever reason, whether legitimate or not. Unfortunately, there are far too many stories of creators being blocked from access to their account and stuck in limbo for some first-line AI agent before you get to a person for some resolution, if you get any response at all. 

YOU are given permission to use someone's personal email address to send them news. That does not rely on the whims of social media platforms and gives you a means of continued communication.

So Which Email Service Provider Should I Use?
This is a loaded question with a number of factors for you to consider:

• How large is your email list currently? Add a buffer for growth over the next few months to a year before you need to research and consider changing your email provider or plan.
• How often do you anticipate emailing? Most providers multiply the size of your list by your frequency to determine the plan for you.
• Do you want access to the analytics or data? That can make the difference between a free and paid service.
• Are there additional features you may use that the provider has available? Many are now bundling the option of a text messaging service or hosting your website, all for additional pricing. 
• Are you a nonprofit? Many offer a nonprofit discount of varying levels by contacting their Support option and sending proof of your EIN. Even $1-$2 off per month adds up over time!

Options Available
This was a challenging topic to tackle as email service providers seem to change pricing regularly and new servers develop along the way. You're welcome to start with this list, but I suggest you do some additional searching including finding groups that may have useful input for you.

I reviewed nine different platforms for this post. I'll link each to their pricing page and share my favorites of those listed. I'm going to focus on those with pricing for 500 or less contacts, much larger lists, and one very small option. The name of each service is hyperlinked to their pricing page. 

• Kit: Free option for up to 10k on your list, jumps to $33/mo if you want to also text, not seeing a nonprofit discount.
• Mailtrap: Free up to 500 contacts, sending no more than 1.5k/mo (gives you up to 3 emails/mo to 500), no nonprofit discount noted. This can be a good option if you're just starting to send group emails. 
• Sender: Smallest plan accommodates up to 1,000 contacts (generous) and 12k/mo sends (up to 12 x 1000 on your list if you max out the contacts or allows for more sends for a smaller list), $7/mo - one of the most affordable, nonprofit discount of 25%.
• Email Octopus: Free option up to 2,500 contacts and sending up to 10k/mo. Analytics are saved for one month on the free plan OR you can pay $9/mo for ongoing analytics. No texting service but they do offer a 20% nonprofit discount. This is the service I currently use for my business. I have the paid service for ongoing analytics. 
• Brevo: Free option allows only 300 messages sent over one month. If you have a small list and don't anticipate emailing often, it may work for you to start. Their paid tier is for up to 500 contacts and up to 5k/mo sending rate for $8.08/mo. Texting is available for an additional monthly fee and a nonprofit discount is available up to 20% off.
• MailChimp: I've used this service for many years for a number of organizations on free and paid tiers. Whatever price you start with, they're very good at generally locking you in at that rate, "grandfathering" you in. The price has gone up quite a bit over time. Between the number of contacts, sending rate, and price, this is definitely lower on my list of recommendations these days. Their starter plan is up to 500 contacts and no more than 5k sends for $8/mo for the first year, then $9.50/mo. It's a big jump to their next tier of services - up to 10k contacts and up to 150k sends per month, but the price is $25/mo for the first year and $30/mo thereafter. Texting is available for an added fee and there is a nonprofit discount.
• Mailerlite: This service recently had some price and plan changes. There is a free version for up to 250 contacts and no more than 2.5k sends/mo. If you're just starting out, this may be a good option for you! The price begins to climb rapidly beyond the free numbers. 
• Omnisend and Constant Contact are more expensive than I feel comfortable recommending, but their pricing pages are linked for you to investigate further. 

​If you prefer visualizing charts, I'll share my findings below.

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Get to the Point
I highly recommend investing in an email service provider for your nonprofit or business group emails or newsletters. 

• If you or someone on your team is at all artistic, designing a newsletter may be very creative and satisfying. Many of them have drag-and-drop templates to make it easy to create and can generally be updated with your brand colors. Once you create a style you like, you can update the messaging content and quickly hit "send."
• Even if you send only full-text emails, it's a convenient way to send the same message to many people.
• Analytics (numbers) are extremely useful to determine how your message is landing. 
• Discounts are common for nonprofits by sending Support or Sales your EIN. 
• List size and services can grow as you grow! 
• You can upload a number of contacts at once as a .csv file (spreadsheet) or individually.
• Select a plan that leaves you with room to grow into rather than max'ing out your email or delivery numbers. 

Your Turn!
If you send email news to your customers or members, do you have a favorite email service provider? If so, who and what made you select that one?

Here's to a community that lifts each other!  Let's Chat or message me on LinkedIn or Substack!