Small business email marketing on the rise

Email marketing usage by SMBs

Some recent research on the marketing practices of small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) indicates that email marketing is one of the top 3 marketing tactics they employ, and is set to grow strongly in 2011.

Of the 751 respondents to the survey (conducted by Zoomerang and GrowBiz Media) around 48% of business used email marketing in 2010. This places it equal third with print advertising, behind only direct mail and website in terms of widespread use.

Cost-effective marketing via email

With SMBs often operating on small marketing budgets (55% have less than $1k, a further 20% between $1k and $10k), it seems that the affordability and measurability of email marketing is hard to go past. In fact, 15% of businesses intend to increase their spend on email marketing in 2011, and only 3% intend to decrease it.

Software Shortlist’s own research into email service providers gives further evidence for its cost-effectiveness. In fact, the very best email marketing solutions for SMBs are among the most affordable, with the three products that were awarded 5 stars by our independent reviewers having an average cost of only $31 per month.

Reviews can be useful in understanding the pros and the cons of particular solutions, but remember it’s important you dig deeper and make a considered decision about which software is best for the specific requirements of your business.

Looking to get started with email marketing in 2011?

If you’re a small to mid-sized business looking to start email marketing in 2011 (or upgrade your existing email marketing efforts), there are many low cost yet powerful online email marketing solutions that can make it easy to get started. To get familiar with your *many* options,  see this email marketing software directory.

To narrow this long list of software down to a shortlist quickly, you may like to consider the following free options from Software Shortlist:

• Download our independent reviews of 20 email marketing solutions
• Submit your requirements and let us match you up with relevant providers
• Use our online comparison service (available via our homepage)

Fresh interface + more software comparisons

Today we put through a series of major upgrades to Software Shortlist. Plenty has been happening behind the scenes here, so it’s great to finally put this on public display. Thanks to everyone who’s given feedback – we hope you like what you see.

First and foremost, we’ve given the home page a fresh new look and streamlined the interface for starting a software search. Say goodbye to stock images, general clutter, and complex drop-downs. Say hello to a simple, scrolling interface, customer testimonials, and a screenshot of the software comparisons.  We believe this new homepage is easier to use and conveys more clearly what we do.

Across the site, you’ll notice a nice clean header and a new look for the landing pages and directories. The footer has been tidied up, including a quick sign-up form for our newsletter. Speaking of which, you can expect the next edition of The Shortlist to hit your inbox in the next week or so.

And last but certainly not least, we’ve expanded our coverage across more software types. If you’re looking for email marketing software or online database software, then our online recommendations and convenient side-by-side comparisons are just what the doctor ordered.  Stay tuned for more news soon about our reviews.

There’s lots more on our to-do list – but in the meantime, let us know what you think of these changes.