What is an email service provider?

An email service provider (ESP) is a platform that facilitates sending large volumes of targeted marketing emails to your list of subscribers who voluntarily opt-in to receive these messages from your brand.

ESPs in digital marketing are not to be confused with inbox providers like Gmail and Outlook. Among marketers, ESPs are what allow brands to send large volumes of emails that reach inboxes.

Why do you need an ESP?

ESPs help you manage every aspect of email marketing to deliver personalized automated email flows and campaigns to your subscribers and customers, nurturing customer loyalty and maximizing return on investment (ROI).

Here are some specific benefits of using an ESP to fuel your marketing strategy:

1. Increased subscriber engagement and conversion rates

Sending personalized, well-timed emails to your email list subscribers at each point of the customer journey can lead to higher engagement and conversion rates than traditional, mass email blasts.

2. Time and money savings

ESPs can automate various manual processes, like setting up email campaigns and defining criteria that trigger automated email sequences. These services save you hours of tedious work, giving you the time to focus on other productive activities instead.

3. Reduced bounce rates

A consistently high bounce rate can affect your email deliverability and hurt your sender reputation. Repeated email bounces negatively impact all aspects of your email marketing efforts, including your email click and conversion rates.

By effectively managing DKIM, DMARC, and SPF, the primary security protocols that prevent spam and phishing attacks, ESPs keep your bounce rates at a minimum.

What to look for in an ESP for your brand

Here are some key considerations for choosing an ESP for your business:

1. Email automation

An ESP’s superpower is delivering the right message to the right audience at the right time. Choose the ESP that gives you the highest level of personalization by helping you automate:

Welcome emails
Order confirmations
Product recommendations
Abandoned cart reminders
Feedback requests

2. CRM capabilities

The best ESPs incorporate customer relationship management (CRM) functionality to collect and consolidate your customer data so you can make good use of purchase history, email engagement, and website activity to increase revenue.

Choose an ESP that collects and unifies relevant subscriber information for a complete view of your target audience.

3. Sign-up forms

Your ESP should help you build a solid subscriber list through customizable sign-up forms without coding skills or extensive technical knowledge. Depending on your goals or people you’re trying to reach, your ESP should help with:

Dynamic sign-up forms: Tailor the form based on user behavior, demographics, or psychographic profile. Your loyal customers shouldn’t see the same sign-up form as your first-time visitors because their intentions likely differ.
Multi-step forms: Break down the information collection process into manageable steps. Start by asking for basic information like name and email address before asking for an SMS opt-in.
Form display optimization: Dial in how and when your forms are displayed to improve conversions. Use your ESP’s functionality to A/B test factors like timing, placement, and triggers (like scroll percentage or time on page) to make sure your forms appear in the right place at the right time.

4. Audience segmentation

Top-performing ESPs like Klaviyo come with advanced segmentation features that help you create and manage specific audience segments based on shared characteristics like:

Demographics
Shopping behavior
Interests and preferences

By choosing an ESP that helps you segment your audience, you can make sure you send relevant emails that cater to the needs and preferences of each segment.

5. A/B testing

After you create campaigns and flows with the help of your ESP, you need to keep optimizing them for the best possible results. That’s where A/B testing comes in.

A/B testing eliminates the guesswork from your optimization efforts by sending two different versions of an email to determine which one your audience likes better.

Here are some email components that you can test:

Subject line: Length, wording, emojis, tone
Email design: Images, no images, header, etc.
CTA: Placement, color, text

6. Tracking and analytics

For effective email marketing, having actionable data is essential. Your ESP should offer advanced tracking and analytics so you can gauge your marketing efforts. Pay attention to:

Integrations: Integrate data from your entire tech stack to see all your marketing data in one place and track the entire customer journey.
Industry benchmark comparisons: Compare your email and SMS performance against industry-specific benchmarks or your competitors to identify areas for improvement and stay in front.
Segment-level reporting: Examine detailed segment-specific analytics to see how different audience segments engage with your campaigns.
Automated reporting and alerts: Set up automated reports and alerts to keep track of performance trends and quickly address any underperforming areas.

Choose Klaviyo for all your ESP needs

Campaigns: Create and manage personalized campaigns that drive engagement and boost conversions.
Flows: Choose from 60+ flows and create custom triggers for specific audience actions with a drag-and-drop builder.
Forms: Grow your subscriber list with ready-to-use customizable forms that require no coding skills to set up.
Customer profiles: Get a 360-degree view of your customers’ profiles with Klaviyo’s built-in CRM functionality and 350+ integrations.
Audience segmentation: Use predictive analytics and dynamic criteria to create subscriber segments and personalized messages for each group.
A/B testing: Run automated A/B tests that send top-performing emails to your audience.
Reporting: Track the performance of your campaigns and flows to uncover key areas for improvement.