Microsoft Office Live (Small Business) e-mail marketing

[Fernhurst Solutions Ltd]

Has anybody used it, and is it any good?

:)

[paulhalsey]

Judging by the number of replies, I think you have your answer!:D

[Fernhurst Solutions Ltd]

Paul, you might just be right ..... what programme / company do you use?

:)

[paulhalsey]

The easiest one I have found (easy in terms of lack of minimum term contracts, free trials, cost, tracking of responses and ease of use etc) is at www.emailshot.co.uk (http://www.emailshot.co.uk)

[SeanandTheBrush]

As a marketing expert can I just say...

The office live email marketing is very expensive and is complicated to use.

There are many providers on the market that offer different services.

I have to stick with infusion soft. Nothing comes close. I use this for my marketing business as well as on behalf of clients. What are you selling and where is your target market?

Although email marketing is all well and good. It is cheap, has a throw away element and you will need to monitor your bounces and unopened messages.

I always advise my clients to find at least 10 other ways of contact their market. You may use email marketing, direct mail, an e shop or website, blogging and the list goes on.

Good luck with your project.

Sean and The Brush

[Accounting Sage]

I tried it but I find Google docs far more easy to login as I use gmail most of the time. Its pretty good when you are discussing with the same spread sheet open. Both can edit at the same time. Google has come offline as well which increases the speed.

[Pete Crane]

Just to start with I'll start say right now that I work in this field, and I'll refrain from making some sort of sales pitch too!

Microsoft's offering on first acquaintance looks like a half decent service. However, it doesn't work very well across different email platforms; I've seen some woeful results after a lot of hard work has been put in by the user, and I could mention several other email marketing solutions that face the same obstacle.

As for alternative solutions, well there are a lot out there and I always suggest taking a look round is a good idea. But don't be taken in by super cheap headline prices or promises that email marketing will transform your business. Like anything else, the bargain bucket end of a market can be a risky lake to swim. Instead, think about how email marketing can become a key component in how you promote and communicate with your customers and prospects as well as supporting your other business development and marketing efforts, such as telemarketing, events, web, and so on.

Sean commented that email marketing is cheap and has a throwaway element. With all due respect to the poster that's simply not correct. If you take a casual approach to email marketing then you're risking your business reputation. Invest some time, thought and commitment and it can make a tangible difference, not just to your opportunities pipeline but to many other facets of your business as well.

[faststaff]

The easiest one I have found (easy in terms of lack of minimum term contracts, free trials, cost, tracking of responses and ease of use etc) is at www.emailshot.co.uk (http://www.emailshot.co.uk)


Just had a look at this Paul and signed up for the free trial. It looks pretty decent.