Overview Experian Email Benchmark Report 2016

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For many a day in 2004, three people sat Around one desk in a small medical office — an office which served as the group’s conference room, breakfast area, and idea hub. Backed by a little programming group in India, the trio (consisting of Benchmark Internet Group founder Curt Keller, his wife Denise, along with an SEO pro ) discussed ideas for how to implement a deceptively simple concept. Simple email advertising. Many of the ideas were beyond the means of this fledgling company, but that did not stop Keller from moving ahead.

The first Customers of Benchmark Email were small companies located in close proximity to Benchmark’s one-room HQ in Long Beach, CA. Keller and his staff personally sold them on the use of email marketing, while working hard to create a very simple user interface that would be simple to operate. All the time, the business championed such novel ideas as customizable templates and software which adapted to user needs. They also made certain from the beginning that anybody who needed help would have rapid access to excellent customer support.

Benchmark Has continued to rise and advantagesper. Its present focus. Providing worldwide email advertising solutions to small and midsize businesses while continuing to honor a commitment to assist kids in need. This doesn’t mean that Benchmark is a little-guys-only company, however; it’s stuck to its core principle of adaptability and functions big organizations like UNICEF and Kaiser-Permanente via its High Volume Enterprise plans.

Today, Benchmark serves up of 73,000 users from across the planet, but the company hasn’t forgotten its origins. Benchmark still maintains good relationships with little, locally-based companies. In reality, the organization supplies a full page of testimonials from local users of this app. You may read more about Benchmark’s background and development here.

Characteristics

While most of the features Benchmark supplies Are on par with the rest of the business, one of the standout features of this ESP is the simple fact that most of its features come standard with every single accounts — including the free ones. Below are some of Benchmark’s most notable offerings.

· Countless Industry-Specific, Themed Templates. Benchmark offers all customers access to the library of over 400 templates. These are organized into 19 classes, some of which are tailored to specific industries like education, entertainment, and retailstores. There’s also a class for societal media-specific templates.

· Video Emails. Possibly the best-known advantage of Benchmark is its support for video mails. The business describes the advantages of this feature here.

· Online Surveys. You’ll be able to create professional-looking online polls using one of Benchmark’s 6 templates. Post your poll on your website or construct it into an email.

· Dedicated Email Server. All Benchmark’s High Volume plans have a dedicated IP address to help increase deliverability prices. Users on other programs have the choice of paying for this service ($30/month) to boost their particular delivery stats. Read more about the benefits of dedicated servers .

· Email Delivery Direction . Benchmark’s email delivery management program is about getting clients’ emails into inboxes. The company is a part of the Email Sender and Provider Coalition and works with ReturnPath, a leading email delivery and delivery support. The company also communicates with ISPs on its customers’ behalf. Experian Email Benchmark Report 2016

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· Mobile App. Benchmark’s mobile apps allow customers having an Apple device to access several functions on the street. They can access and include contacts, browse reports, send videos via integration with a YouTube accounts, and even layout and send quick email blasts with one of 10 available templates. This is quite a little more than a number of other businesses offer in their mobile apps, making them much more functional.

· Photo Editing. If the photos you plan to use in your email campaign aren’t perfectly sized or want some colour adjustment, you can use Benchmark’s integrated photo editor. This is a fairly handy feature if you do not have photoshop accessible.

· Code Editor. If you have the know-how to work magic with HTML, Benchmark offers this ultra-customization option with which you may build your emails from scratch.

· Autoresponder. Every Benchmark customer has the power to style around eight custom autoresponder messages. These could be scheduled as a series or occasion lead-up, or designed as annual messages like birthday or anniversary emails.

· Sign-Up Forms. The only way to become prosperous in email advertising is by way of growing your own list, and Benchmark really promotes doing this via sign-up forms. The business bases its Free For Life account completely around site and Facebook sign-ups and provides an easy-to-use instrument to create custom templates for each medium.

· Inbox Checker. Since every email program differs and each internet browser includes a signature fashion, making sure that your emails look good across the board is crucial. It is possible to use Inbox Checker to look at the way your email displays in Gmail using Explorer and Outlook 3. Employing the entire program (which assesses everything from AOL to Yahoo, Explorer to Safari, mobile to PC) is a paid add-on service, available for $14 per 100 checks.

· RSS-to-Email. Regular bloggers can create newsletters from their blogs mechanically through the RSS-to-Email feature, which works with any site which manages an RSS-feed. Users simply have to establish a template and campaign inside Benchmark once.

· API Integration. An API (Application Program Interface) allows different software programs to communicate with one another with no formal plug connection. Benchmark’s API Integration feature permits users using XML-RPC, HTTP POST, or HTTP GET skills to recover data from some other apps that use JSON, XML, XML-RPC, or PHP serialization strings. In a nutshell, this allows them to perform three functions. Manage contact lists, manage campaigns and campaign sending, and check data. The business describes this role in more detail here.

· Advanced Metrics. Benchmark provides both Listing Segmentation and AB Split Testing.

· Multiple-Language Interface. Benchmark is available in seven languages. Chinese, English, German, Japanese, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Benefits Of Use

Signing up for a Benchmark account is fairly straightforward. After entering your name, email, contact number, and business name, you need to confirm your email address. This is a five-minute process for me. Upon logging into my new account (using the free program ) I was greeted by an attractive UI that gave me a very clear path about how best to make my first email campaign. Good start!

Email Campaign Creation

On its own dashboard, Benchmark provides users five chief choices. Emails, Automations, Contacts, Surveys, and Reports. To make a new campaign, go to the Emails segment, then hit the large blue”Create New Mail” button at the upper right-hand corner. Experian Email Benchmark Report 2016

From there, you must decide If You Would like an RSS Or traditional email message. You can use Benchmark’s drag-and-drop editor, or go for more customization with the built-in code editor. If you are somebody who codes their own email, then my hat is off to you, but I am not personally gifted that way, so I went with the drag-and-drop alternative.

I was motivated to enter a subject line for my Email and setup how much observation I desired on the message, as well as if I wanted an automatic tweet once the campaign went out. The next task was to select which contacts I wished to get the campaign. With that, I was eventually able to start building the email itself. If you would like to, you can assemble your own email designs employing an extremely intuitive editor. On the other hand, you can alter one of Benchmark’s templates, which are great, and better than I managed to do on my own.

Sending the Email Campaign

If You’re just Starting out, you can do as I did and manually input contacts at a time. However, for those who already have a listing, there are several ways to import it. You can upload a CSV, xls, or txt file directly from your personal computer; import contacts directly from Salesforce.com, Hotmail, or Gmail accounts; or copy and paste huge lists of contacts to a text form. When you create your Benchmark lists, then they’ll appear on your dashboard, together with a Master Unsubscribe List.

The sending of this email is quite simple. When you have finished all your tweaks, you can save email as a draft, send it immediately, or schedule a date and time for delivery. If you would like to verify everything is well before distributing your email on the world, it is possible to send it to your self to preview it as many as 10 times/day. I chose to program my email for shipping to see how timely the automated system would actually be. I scheduled my email for 2.45 and received it at 2.50, therefore while the timing wasn’t exactly ideal, it was probably within tolerance levels for most users. If you’re one of the more rare users who demand on-the-minute email sending, you might have to appear elsewhere. More worryingly, my email did not go to my main inbox but was mechanically sorted into my”promotions” folder. Definitely not perfect.

Email Campaign Reporting

First thing I Noticed about Benchmark email reports was something I’d read in a couple of reviews. They are really, really fast. I mean lightning fast. Opens enroll in the Benchmark system virtually immediately. I’ve worked with several different apps where these reports take hours or even days to look.

Benchmark provides users with several key Bits of information about each campaign. The possibly most important statistic, the available speed, appears in both pie graph and numerical form. In addition, Benchmark provides users with stats for clicks, forward, bounces, unsubscribes, and abuse. Every stat further breaks down to the exact email addresses associated with a given action. Users may export this information for further analysis via a csv or xls file. There is also a social media place which reports shares through Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, in addition to a map which breaks down, by state, who opens your mails. Experian Email Benchmark Report 2016

Though all of this information Is Excellent and Necessary, it is not sufficient to sustain higher level marketers that need more info such as conversions, which hyperlinks were clicked, and revenue analysis. Although Google Analytics provides a lot of that information with proper integration, there may come a time when serious marketers need more info than Benchmark provides. Whether or not a small business will reach that point changes, of course, based on the business.

Particular Size Of Business

Benchmark designed its 3-tiered pricing Structure with the goal of serving everyone from the tiniest kitchen-table startup to big email marketers. However, the company’s key focus is on small to medium businesses, especially those just beginning in email marketing. This is particularly reflected in the fact that clients subscribing to the moderate plans get unlimited emails, while bigger plans have constraints.

Integrations and Add-Ons

Benchmark Offers approximately 20 plug-ins and integrations. If you don’t see the integration you need, there’s still hope. You’re able to use the API or ask a integration by sending an email to [email protected]

· Benchmark Events — Benchmark Events is event marketing software designed to integrate fully with Benchmark Email. Launched in 2012, this program permits users to create and customize occasions, promote and market tickets, and track the success of the events via their Benchmark Email account. A variety of subscriptions are available, including a free option.

· Salesforce.com — This integration enables users to import contacts directly into Benchmark and use Benchmark’s email system to maintain Salesforce customers engaged. Read our review of Salesforce here.

· Twitter — Benchmark Email Lite is a WordPress plugin which allows users to easily build an email audience through their subscribers. The plug-in can automatically produce email versions of blog articles and permits users to connect up to five Benchmark accounts.

· Highrise — Merges Highrise contacts using a Benchmark listing. Read our review of Highrisehere.

· Benchmark Power — This free plug-in allows you to supply pictures for your Benchmark emails from locations across the web. Benchmark Power captures images you find and immediately uploads them to a Benchmark accounts for future use.

· Flickr — Users with Flickr accounts can link Flickr for their own Benchmark image galleries.

· Shopify — You are able to link a Shopify accounts to Benchmark and mechanically add Shopify customers to Benchmark lists. You may even add contributors to different lists based on which products they purchased. Read our review of Shopify here.

· PayPal — Users may add some of the PayPal clients to their own Benchmark email lists bylinking the accounts. Read our overview of Paypal here.

· Easy List — Learn more about this very simple list-making app and download it here.

· WordPress — The ever-present blog and website builder offers an integration with Benchmark. Use it to send emails of your blog posts and use the analytics to observe how your readers react to them. Learn more here.

· Zapier — Gain entry to Zapier’s huge integration library . Experian Email Benchmark Report 2016

Social Media Integrations

Because Of the integral connection between social networking and email marketing, it is important to check out the social networking features included in Benchmark.

· Social Media Templates — One segment of Benchmark’s enormous email template list consists of societal media-specific templates which directly promote your company’s participation in social media forums like facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

· Facebook”Like” Button — Benchmark provides a simple function which allows you to add a Facebook”Just Like” button into your own emails.

· Facebook Sign-Up Form — Benchmark provides easy-to-create sign-up forms (see”Characteristics” above) for both sites and Facebook enthusiast pages, so you can convert followers to readers.

· Social Links within Email — After you link your Benchmark account together with your Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn account, you can add switches to every email that will direct your readers to each of your social media pages.

Safety

Benchmark Email is a TRUSTe accredited web site. The company’s privacy policy can be viewed here. Benchmark may use the personal information which you provide in order to send you newsletters and also for marketing purposes, but it doesn’t sell or share that information to other companies for their marketing purposes.

The Business also fully Complies with the U.S.-E.U. and U.S.-Swiss Safe Harbor Frameworks concerning the selection of personal data from citizens of these nations. When clients provide credit card numbers to Benchmark, the company utilizes secure socket layer (SSL) security to encrypt the info. The entire platform is encrypted to ensure the security of customers’ personal information.

Anti-Spam Policy and Protection

Like All legitimate ESPs, Benchmark takes junk seriously and outlines a clear zero-tolerance coverage for any of the users hoping to engage in spam activities. The company is fully in compliance with all the U.S. CAN-SPAM Act of 2003. Benchmark additionally takes several measures to preserve its standing as a spam-free supplier, among them membership from the Email Sender and Provider Coalition. The business employs the app SpamAssassin to filter messages sent through its host.

To stop users from Unknowingly sending spam-like substances, Benchmark provides a spam check feature that looks for words commonly used in spam messages. It scores every email on a scale from 1 to 5; 5s are delegated to content that’s very likely to be blocked. In case of a high score, the program suggests”less spammy” alternatives. Individualized IP addresses also assist large-volume senders reduce their spam numbers.

Client Service and Support

Benchmark Offers its users a great deal of support resources. Customer service is usually responsive, with minimal waiting times. The website provides good learning resources, but may be opaque occasionally. Crucial information is often buried and hard to find, particularly if you don’t know exactly what you’re searching for, especially in regards to minute details about plans. As an example. That the Free For Life plan comprises Benchmark branding on each email, however you won’t find that mentioned on the Free For Life webpage, not even at the fine print. Nor are you going to see it said when you register. The only place it is mentioned is in the FAQ, here.

Here are some of the resources Benchmark offers. Experian Email Benchmark Report 2016

· Live Email and Support — Benchmark supplies live one-on-one aid through the following means.

· Email Service. Contact Benchmark at [email protected] or through the organization’s contact form here. Available 24 hours Monday — Friday and limited hours on Saturday.

· Telephone Support. You can reach Benchmark at 800-430-4095 (U.S.) or 001-562-252-3789 (all states ). Available weekdays from 6 am to 5 pm PT.

· Chat Support. Available nearly 24 hours daily Monday — Friday and limited hours on Saturday. Founded in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian.

· FAQ — Benchmark’s FAQ section is somewhat mislabeled as it is closer to a QandA-format knowledge foundation than a normal FAQ. There are over 900 entries, sorted into 18 subjects ranging from”Getting Started” to”API.” Users can execute a keyword search of any subject (or sub-topic) or from their FAQ as a whole. One caveat. With such an extensive knowledge base, it’s pretty much inevitable that some entries will be out of date. Some of the QandAs provide information which is wholly inaccurate, so in some cases, you may want to contact support to hash things out.

· Video Tutorials and Webinars — Benchmark supplies about two dozen video tutorials that take users step by step through the features of the program. The business also offers a webinar known as”Benchmark Mail Crash Course.” You may view it live each Friday at 10.00 a.m. PST or see the recorded version at any time. You might even ask for a particular webinar on quite a few different subjects. Live webinars comprise the chance to ask questions throughout the demonstration.

· Email Marketing Manuals and Articles — There are more in-depth information on email marketing in general, as well as the Benchmark program especially, in the Manuals Section. These downloadable files also cover industry-specific issues. Articles, similar to blogs, offer users guidance beyond that found in the FAQ section, but in shorter, more digestible chunks than the guides provide.

· Glossary of Email Marketing Terms — This is a particularly valuable tool for those brand new to email marketing who believe consumed by all of the jargon. Benchmark gives a glossarywith 50 of the very popular email advertising conditions from”above-the-fold” to”whitelists.”

· Blog and Newsletter — For current information about email advertising trends, check out Benchmark’s monthly newsletter, in addition to its exceptionally active blog. All subscribers automatically obtain access to current newsletters, and Benchmark also provides an archive of newsletter articles from November 2007-October 2012.

· Benchmark Community — Benchmark users can post their newest newsletters on message boards at the Benchmark Community. This forum allows users to discuss newsletter creation approaches, vote for their favorite newsletters, and gain inspiration from other Benchmark users.

Web-Based Or Locally-Installed

Benchmark is entirely web-based and doesn’t Require any setup on your computer.

Favorable Reviews and Reviews

Benchmark Has a four-out-of-five star score on G2 Crowd, using a slightly better showing on GetApp and Capterra. 4.5 stars each. Experian Email Benchmark Report 2016

Some common points of compliments.

· Top Notch Support. This is maybe the most common monitoring regarding Benchmark, and something I noticed for myself too. People are inclined to find support prompt and helpful, and some say it’s really the component that distinguishes Benchmark from its competitors. The company also receives praise for its website posts and videos.

· Characteristic Selection Across All Plans. Some customers praise the inclusion of attributes like AB testing and surveys in most plans; many firms charge extra for these attributes or only include them in their pricier programs.

· Ease of Use. Users have a tendency to find Benchmark’s interface incredibly intuitive and user-friendly. The program gathers compliments from a broad range of demographics, from first-time ESP users to people who have tried many different programs before settling on Benchmark.

· Mobile Friendly Emails. Consumers were impressed with the mobile-friendly email layout of Benchmark’s templates. Since an increasing number of people access their email from mobile devices, this can be an increasingly significant factor to take into account.

Negative Reviews and Complaints

I was Unable to find many Men and Women who loathed Their Benchmark experience. However, I was able to discover a couple of complaints.

· Inconsistent Send-Times. Apparently some users experienced an issue with Benchmark in which their emails were sent hours when they were scheduled. 1 customer theorized that the issue might arise from lengthy lists of recipients. Not all clients of all Benchmark will have time-sensitive sending needs, but others will. Should you want your mails to go out exactly when your program dictates, you may have to take into account this issue.

· Buggy Social Media Integrations. I watched several consumer reviews that remarked the social media integrations in Benchmark are not up to par.

· “Spammy” Templates. Some users were worried that Benchmark’s templates can feel like spam email, causing recipients to mark them as junk rather than reading the contents. Since the whole point of an ESP would be to prevent this from happening, this might be an issue. On the flip side, I never felt this way whilst looking through the template list, therefore it might not be the most legitimate of complaints.

Pricing

Benchmark Provides a huge variety of pricing strategies, such as a totally free plan and a huge array of paid programs which can service anywhere between 600 and 7,140,000 subscribers.

Free Plan.

Benchmark’s free plans do not require credit Cards, which is always refreshing. The only grab. There will be a small Benchmark emblem in the bottom of every email you send out. Obviously, you can always opt to upgrade to a paid program if you don’t want the Benchmark branding. The free program permits you to send up to 14000 emails to up to 2000 subscribers and gives you access to all but not all of Benchmark’s features record. Notable absences to the attributes list for free account comprise email automation and sub-accounts (enabling multiple users to access one Benchmark accounts ).

Paid Plans. Experian Email Benchmark Report 2016

Users with small contacts lists and limited Monthly messages have the option of paying for their email advertising based on the number of emails they send every month.

o Moderate Plans. 600-50,000 subscribers, $13.99-$254.99 per month

o Large Strategies. 55,000-100,000 subscribers, $285.99-$494.99 a month

o Extra Large Plans. 125,000-1,000,000 subscribers, $659.99-$4,273.99 a month

o Enormous Plans. 1,070,000-7,140,000 subscribers, $4,500-$29,200 per month

Benchmark accepts all Major charge cards and also allows you to pay through PayPal. They also offer you a 25% reduction for nonprofits and teachers.

Conclusion

Benchmark is a good program. It’s easy to use, Open to innovation, and competitively priced. Its free options might just be the best in the business for anyone who only wants to dive into email marketing (particularly small, local businesses). For that matter, any Benchmark plan can work nicely for a little company which perspectives email as a minor element of its marketing and does not have any desire to operate beyond the principles just yet.

If you are a little or even medium-sized Company looking for a easy email advertising program using a multitude of amazing features, Benchmark is an excellent choice. Even though there might come a time when you launch the app, it supplies a lot for the money, provides exceptional service, and the company seems to be sensitive to the needs of its users. You can not ask for much more.

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