Newsletter Management Software

[jestep]

I'm looking for a newsletter management and delivery software program. There are so many out there, but I would like to know of some that people have used in the past with good results.

I prefer PHP based, and it must be able to manage non-deliverable emails, and send in milti-part, html, and text based.

[John Glube]

Originally Posted by jestep

I'm looking for a newsletter management and delivery software program. There are so many out there, but I would like to know of some that people have used in the past with good results.

I prefer PHP based, and it must be able to manage non-deliverable emails, and send in milti-part, html, and text based.

Are you looking for a PC based, server side or 3rd party solution?

Meaning do you want to manage your own mailings, or do you want to retain a 3rd party?

What list size (roughly) and amount of monthly volume (total emails) on average are you looking at?

Are you concerned about delivery? Are you willing to accept that on average anywhere from 25 to 50% of your emails will either be simply dropped or end up in the junk mail/bulk mail folder?

This is the statistical average, based on most major studies. 25% is the average for business to consumer and 50% is the average for business to business.

You can significantly improve these numbers, but you need to take important steps to monitor and improve delivery rates.

This is especially important if all or some of your email messages are critical communications?

I am asking these questions, because even with a good "server side" software solution, you are still confronted with these issues.

Therefore, if you are looking at server side solution, I suggest you also need to consider two additional concepts:

* Certification - send email from a dedicated IP address, which is listed with a service that monitors your mailing practices, allowing messages from your IP to be "safe listed" or "white listed" at the server lever with large and small networks.

* Monitoring Delivery - being able to monitor delivery of your email, so that you can assess what changes are required to resolve issues.

These services are not free, but if you have a significant list, the return on investment will justify the expenditure.

Presuming for the moment that you are looking at a server side solution, Interspire markets Send Studio 2004 which is a nice product that is well supported and would likely satisfy your needs.

(Yes, that is an affiliate link. Or you can simply go here.)

The only draw back is that presently the software does not integrate RSS into the offering.

In my view, online publishers will want to look at RSS for delivering content.

Are you familiar with Mozilla's Thunderbird email client software?

This program is a good example of what I believe the world will look like in the near term.

The program allows users to access both e-mail, along with their News and Blog feeds in an easy fashion. The News and Blogs appear in the same fashion as email messages. You can simply read the subject line, or the whole message.

I appreciate this is still "bleeding edge," but the program is easy to use for the average non-techie. Meaning, I would consider adding an RSS feed.

Trusting these comments are of some assistance.

Kind regards,

John

P.S. Another solution is to send your marketing/newsletter email from your own server and use a third party (which is certified and does provide access to good statistics) to send your transactional messages for you.

One provider which does offer this service is Bighip. You will find details of their Receipt Delivery Service on the landing page.

I add that this provider also allows you to integrate your email "campaigns" with RSS.

John Glube
Toronto, Canada

[jestep]

We are looking for a hosted or server based solution. Depending on sign up percentages, we could be looking at 10K+ per month if even a fraction of visitors sign up for it.

A server side solution would probably be the easiest for us to manage ourselves. Dedicated IP is no problem. Email delivery is important so we aren't sending emails to bad addresses. Beyond that, its not currently an issue.

RSS isn't that important immediately, but I'm sure that it will come up in time.

Thanks for your reply, and I will take a look at the companies that you talked about.

[John Glube]

Originally Posted by jestep

We are looking for a hosted or server based solution. Depending on sign up percentages, we could be looking at 10K+ per month if even a fraction of visitors sign up for it.

A server side solution would probably be the easiest for us to manage ourselves. Dedicated IP is no problem. Email delivery is important so we aren't sending emails to bad addresses. Beyond that, its not currently an issue.

RSS isn't that important immediately, but I'm sure that it will come up in time.

Thanks for your reply, and I will take a look at the companies that you talked about.

A couple of additional comments:

* Since you will be sending requested bulk mail, I would look into publishing a sender policy framework (SPF) record.

(For the details on SPF, read this article. The article includes links in the footnotes to the formal protocol, along with the resource page Microsoft has set up and a wizard, to aid you in publishing the appropriate record.)

* Given your monthly volumes, you may want to consider a dedicated hosting solution, or at least a solution which ensures you are the only one using the mail server to send mail.

(If you are looking at a shared solution, you will want to ensure that the message headers include a functioning email address for the return path and that the message header properly identifies your IP as the originator and not local host.)

In chosing a solution, make sure the assigned IP is clean and if you are renting space from a data host, you check the AUP to make sure they won't go off the wall, if someone complains.

* If your list is, or you plan on setting it up, so that it is closed loop verified, then look at getting white listed with Yahoo!. Also, look into getting white listed with AOL.

(For the details on Yahoo! go to the help section on bulk mail and for AOL, go to the postmaster page.)

Also, set up a feed back loop with AOL.

* Manage your bounces. You should remove hard bounces right away and soft bounces after no more than 3 attempts.

* Check your message headers to ensure everything is RFC compliant and "clean."

* Run your content through SpamAssassin, to review for issues. You want to have as low as score as possible, with 0 being preferred.

(The benefit of using a "good" third party provider is this type of service is included.)

Another reason why I suggest Send Studio if you are looking at a server side solution is that:

* The software allows you to generate "clean" headers - the footprint from the software is not known as ratware; and

(This helps with delivery. Some of the "cheaper" software has been used and abused.)

* The software provides you with bounce management capabilities.

(There are other good software programs on the market. Price wise, you are going to be into the $200 to $300 range for anything worth while and that has good support.)

Trusting these additional comments are of assistance.

Regards,

John Glube

[steven1976]

Im finding this company very good http://www.lmhsoft.com/ . None of that pay per email sent, just sign up and away you go.

My only problem with it is the direct sending. You can send on the customers server, meaning if their server is okay with sending it. Im not keen on this option as I have about a 30 % fail in sending. If you can send on your own smtp server however the delivery I have been having is excellent.

My feeling it is run by a chinese bloke as I feel they are not a big company and he is very good at follow up, and help is very quick.

You can try a trial which allows 50 emails or 100 not sure and to buy it, it is 100US dollars or the pro version is about another 100 which just allows more emails to be sent in one batch. The version I have is 2000 emails per time and at the moment as Im still trying it myself.

So I would appreciate replies and thoughts about this also.

steve

[punter]

Are there any privacy/theft issues with using a 3rd party solution? Or is that the benefit for a server side solution?

Cheers