Even in 2024, email marketing still reigns supreme — and a successful email strategy can help you build trust and brand loyalty with your contacts. Email doesn’t work alone, though.

When you add a dash of email marketing into your regular digital marketing mix, you’ll reach the right people at the right time in the right place. So if you’re working with an agency to help you win the inbox, it’s important to make sure they’re on the up and up with email marketing.

Here are the right questions to ask any agency you’re considering as your ally.

Which Email Platforms Do You Have Experience With?

If an agency suggests using Gmail as your email marketing platform, end the call.

Fortunately for you, there are plenty of platforms for an agency to work with, including HubSpot, SharpSpring, or MailChimp. Each of these platforms has different capabilities and cost points, so a good agency should be able to offer the pros and cons of each one and suggest which might best achieve your email marketing goals.

How Do You Get Contacts?

You should never pay for contacts or lists, so it’s a red flag if an agency suggests that.

We access our clients’ CRMs to import their sales and leads into their email marketing platforms. 

No CRM? No worries! Most forms on your website collect the information that your users fill out, so you can use that as well. You could also promote a newsletter or emails on social media.

The point is to ensure that the people you’re emailing have consented to being emailed.

Note: If you’re using your website form to collect user information, make sure to add a yes/no option so they can consent to receiving emails after filling out the form.

Things Your Email Contacts Want You to Know

Do You Have Experience with Automated Email Workflows?

An automated email (sometimes called a workflow email) is a marketing email sent automatically after a certain action is completed.

From managing contacts that unsubscribe to sending a thank you to a contact that leaves a review for your business, you can set up workflows for almost anything. 

They’re a great tool that can save you time and money, so a good agency should be familiar with workflow emails.

Do You Report on Email Results?

If you’re paying an agency to send emails on your behalf, they better be letting you know exactly how things went. 

At 9 Clouds, we send a performance report after every email that goes out. Our reports include performance metrics like:

• Open rate
• Click-through rate
• Benchmarks for comparison 

If you’re trying to find engaged leads, we’ll include a list of the contacts that opened and clicked on links in your email so you know exactly who’s most interested in what you’re sending.

Interested in learning more about email performance benchmarks? A good agency should have a list of internal benchmarks that they use to guide their strategy plans, but the external benchmarks we keep an eye on in 2024 include:

• 36.5% open rate
• 1.4% click-through rate
• 0.01% spam rate

Staying Visible with Email: Ways to Avoid Spam Folders and Unsubscribes

Do You Want 9 Clouds in Your Contact List?

When used well, email has the power to connect your business with potential customers in a surprisingly personal, economical way.

So if you’re ready to send creative emails, make workflows work for you, and build an email strategy that grows with your business, we’re here to be your email marketing ally.

Win the Inbox With Email Marketing »