Businesses Using Email Service Providers Likely to Switch Within 24 Months, Plan to Integrate Social Media

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A recent survey of businesses that use an email service provider (ESP) reveals that a majority (77 percent) have changed providers within the last two years. The main reasons for switching: lack of product features, limited services and high costs.

In addition, another third plan to switch in the next 12 months – expressing a lack of product features as the top reason, but adding data integration and deliverability as the other key reasons for planning to switch.

According to the survey analysis:

“Deliverability as a reason to change ESPs is also underscored by 67 percent of companies using an ESP’s deliverability services, making it the most popular ESP service offering by nearly a factor of three. Execution (21 percent) and production services (19 percent) round out the top three services offered by ESPs.”

The survey also says businesses are continuing to look for ways to adopt social media. Not surprising, the survey found that 71 percent of companies have either integrated email and social media or plan to in 2010. Businesses’ top objectives, according to the survey, is to promote corporate presence on social networks (71 percent) and make email content shareable, 63 percent indicate a growth opportunity for more sophisticated social media tactics like viral marketing campaigns (48 percent) and user-generated content (35 percent).

Zoomerang conducted the 2010 Email Marketing Survey of more than a 1,000 global businesses online for StrongMail, a provider of online marketing solutions for email and social media.