Email marketing is simply the most cost-effective means of all Internet marketing channels. With the flexibility to narrow down and target future customers without the expenses of postage, paper, etc., email goes unmatched by any other medium. But no matter how cost-effective it is, there is still an associated cost, so you will obviously want to get the best return on your investment. To help you find the perfect service, here are a few things you should look for in an email marketing solution.

Firstly, keeping your emails out of the “bulk" folders of your future customers has got to be the most important aspect of any solid email marketing campaign, as what good will even the best email creative do for you and your company if it’s deleted before it’s even read? With more and more ISP’s and email services sorting the inbox-worthy email from the spam (and offering to delete the “not-worthy" before the recipient could even check it), finding a service with a proven track record and high percentage of delivered messages is the single most important feature.

A “smart-tracking feature" will allow you to easily decipher which messages are pulling in the most potential customers and which are a waste of your time, efforts and money. In direct marketing, it’s crucial to be able to track everything possible so you can eliminate quickly what isn’t working.

Having access to your database at any time is a point that so many companies tend to overlook. You should be able to access any and all lists and key features when it’s convenient for you, not for your service. Remember- not all great ideas come between 9 and 5, Monday through Friday.

All auto-responders should do their job, responding automatically and quickly to any queries from future customers, letting them know how important they are to you and your business. Customers do not want to be treated as a number, so an email marketing solution should reflect this.

Of course, having the absolute best service without easy set-up and management is just plain useless. You should be able to get in and set up quickly and easily, with plenty of options available to you to get a campaign up and running from day one. Online support and customer service whenever you need it should be a given.

And finally, we’ll touch upon SPAM. Be sure that your email marketing service is fully compliant with all CAN-SPAM issues, as you want to be sure that your auto responder (as well as yourself) stay out of legal trouble. Helpful features such as SPAM-Check steer you in the direction to write your messages more effectively and keep them from ending up in the “bulk box".