Email marketing remains one of the most effective ways for businesses to reach their existing and potential customers. Leveraging the power of email, businesses can nurture relationships with their customers, build brand loyalty, and achieve greater levels of revenue growth. However, as businesses grow, their email marketing needs become increasingly complex, requiring more robust solutions that offer greater functionality, scalability, and security. For enterprises looking to take their email marketing to the next level, an enterprise-level email marketing platform may be necessary. In this article, we will explore the steps businesses can take to determine if they require an enterprise-level email marketing platform, how to convince top executives of the value of such a platform, and how to harness its potential.
Steps to Determine if an Enterprise-Level Email Marketing Platform Is Needed
Step 1: Do the same things you would do for any software adoption
To determine whether your company needs an enterprise-level email marketing platform, you should consider the same factors as you would when adopting any new software. These factors may include the size of your email list, the required level of personalization, whether you need to comply with certain regulations, among others. It is recommended to make a list of your requirements for an email marketing platform and compare it to what your current platform is offering. If your current system falls short, then it’s time to consider upgrading to an enterprise-level email marketing platform.
Step 2: Ensure availability of skilled personnel to handle platform features
To succeed with email marketing, you need a team of people who can handle all the features that an enterprise-level email marketing platform has to offer. This could include technical skills, design skills, content skills, and marketing skills. Take a look at your current team and assess whether they have the skillsets required to handle a more advanced platform. If they don’t, you may need to hire skilled individuals who can help manage the platform effectively.
Step 3: Understand customers better by linking separate systems
As your business grows, you may find that you are using multiple systems to manage customer data, including sales systems, CRMs, and customer support systems. This can result in siloed data that is difficult to manage and analyze as a whole. A platform for email marketing at the enterprise level can help you link these separate systems and understand your customers better. By consolidating customer data in one place, you can gain more insights into customer behavior and create more targeted marketing campaigns.
Step 4: Enhance customer database with other relevant data
To better understand your customers, you need access to more than just their email addresses. A robust enterprise-level email marketing platform can help you enrich your customer database with other data about who they are, where they live, what they buy, and more. By combining your email marketing data with other data sources, you can gain a more complete picture of your customers and provide more targeted marketing communications.
Step 5: Consider Data Privacy and Legal Status
Data privacy is a hot-button issue in today’s world, with more cases of data breaches and misuse coming to light every day. Using data to market your brand can give you an edge, but it can also put your brand and legal status at risk. As you consider upgrading to an enterprise-level email marketing platform, pay close attention to its data privacy and security capabilities. Make sure the platform you choose complies with all relevant regulations, including GDPR, CCPA, and others.
Convincing top executives of the value of a new platform
Now that you have determined that your business needs an enterprise-level email marketing platform, you need to convince your top executives of the platform’s value.
Show the results of test projects to convince executives
To convince your executives of the platform’s value, you can show them the results of test projects. Run a few pilot campaigns on the new platform and measure the results. If you can demonstrate that the new platform delivers better results than the old one, your executives will be more likely to approve the investment.
Agree on what success looks like beforehand
Before starting any test projects, ensure that you and your executives agree on what success looks like. Establish clear KPIs and goals for the campaign, and agree on the benchmarks that need to be met in order for the campaign to be considered successful.
Train technical, design, content, and marketing teams effectively
To get the most out of a new platform, you need to regularly train your technical, design, content, and marketing teams. Ensure that everyone on your team understands the platform’s features and how to use them effectively.
Setting Specific Goals to Determine the Need for an Enterprise Platform
To determine whether you need an enterprise-level platform and which one is best for your business, you need to have specific goals in mind. Do you want to increase open rates, boost engagement rates, or drive more conversions? By setting specific goals, you can determine whether an enterprise-level email marketing platform is necessary and which one is best suited for your needs.
As your business’s email marketing needs grow more complex, an enterprise-level email marketing platform may be necessary. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can determine if your business needs such a platform, convincingly present its value to your executives, and leverage its potential to achieve greater levels of success. With the right enterprise-level email marketing platform, you can improve customer engagement, increase conversion rates, and yield better ROI.
