Email marketing software: a buying checklist

Create a new subscriber, an existing contact with changed preferences, a duplicate and a previously unsubscribed test address. Record the expected state before importing them. Build a segment from two fields, change one field and inspect who enters or leaves. Ask whether segmentation is evaluated when a campaign is scheduled or when it is sent. Keep the expected and actual recipient lists together. If contacts arrive from another system, test a delayed update and decide which system owns each field.

Ask the vendor to demonstrate the authentication setup for your sending domain and explain how your team notices a broken configuration. Inspect the headers of a message delivered to a test mailbox rather than relying only on a green dashboard indicator. Test the plain-text version, links and mobile rendering. Google publishes separate requirements for all senders and bulk senders to personal Gmail accounts; use its current guidance for the relevant scope. A successful test delivery does not guarantee future inbox placement.

Unsubscribe one test address using the message interface and another using the link in the message body. Check the state in the platform and any connected contact system. Reimport the original list and inspect a new campaign preview: establish whether either address would become eligible again and what explicit action would be required. Check the scope of suppression across lists, brands and automations. Keep marketing preferences separate from the handling of operational messages and ask the responsible reviewer to define the intended policy.

Quote the same contact count, monthly send volume, peak campaign and required automation in every product. Ask how duplicates, inactive contacts, overages and extra sending domains affect the invoice. Separate the sending service from a newsletter application when these are billed independently. Export the sample audience and read its custom fields, subscription states, signup sources and available history outside the platform. Record omissions and ask how the team would preserve suppression during a migration. Retain the export alongside the plan-specific quote.