HP1
ESP Review: Have any suggestions?
Hello,
I'm currently looking for a new ESP as our current contract with our ESP has expired and wanted to see what else was avaliable. We are working with magento and heard both Bronto and Dotmailer are the top ESPs that integrate with Magento. I just wondering if anyone hear has used either Bronto or Dotmailer for email marketing? What did you like and what didnt you like?
Thanks!
I have used both of these with great results. I actually worked directly with Lindsey Traub (at Bronto) and Michael Hicke (at Dotmailer) to improve the functionality you see today in each integration. While I really like both of these ESP platforms and companies I might add, I have to say Dotmailer wins overall. Here is a quick Dotmailer and Bronto comparison.
Dotmailer has the absolute best way to build quick promo emails. It has a blocks feature you can use to preset block of commonly used items easily. Bronto does have this functionality but it just doesn't work as well. Dotmailer also has a super intuitive efficient way to drag and drop elements to create emails. Fast email creation is magic for your staff.
Dotmailer has another amazing feature when used with Magento. You can actually place product suggestions automatically in the email based on customer behavior for each customer! For example, place recently viewed products in your weekly 10% off sale email!
There are a handful of various filters you can use based on customer behavior that Magento knows about. As of last check Bronto didn't have this but feel free to check with Lindsay Traub over there for an update, she rocks.
I also bitched and begged and put SweetTooth and Dotmailer together to implement more magic. Rewards Points can be presented in any email contact. For example, your weekly newsletter blast has a line in the header that state “You have 100 rewards points available, let’s go shopping!” or “don’t let them expire”.
The latter of the two really got customers stirred up even if it was only .50, you would be surprised. That feature alone paid for Dotmailer and SweetTooth, very powerful strategy.
There is also quite a bit of great segmentation you can do based on Attribute Sets. Make sure you setup your attribute sets like “product types”. Many new Magento users mess this up and doom their entire product database.
If you have your products setup properly you can segment customers by previous buying habits related to Attribute Sets! If a customer buys a tripod from Attribute Set = Camera then they might want buy products from Attribute Set = Lens. You can automate this type of email with a one time setup, set it and forget it.
Make sure to start out by targeting popular combos and your largest segments of customers. I believe both Bronto and Dotmailer have this now but I’ve only used it extensively with Dotmailer.
Support is great on both of these ESP’s and the pricing is similar, very expensive. If you are just starting out in ecommerce you are probably going to balk at the pricing but realize you get what you pay for. My relationship with Dotmailer brought in at least $100k in profit each year once it was integrated with Magento.
-Travis
http://www.sharpcommerce.com
I don't have personal experience with Bronto or Dotmailer, but any good ESP should be able to plug into your Magento database or POS system to get data syncing back and forth. If you've got an eCommerce site, you'll probably want to look for an ESP that offers triggered and automated email tools for remarketing campaigns (Abandoned cart, Related items, etc.). I actually work at an email service provider called the Emfluence Marketing Platform, we integrate the Litmus testing toolset into our platform. Happy to give you a demo sometime if you want to see some of our features. Shoot me an email at support@emfluence.com. -Sara