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What attracted you to email marketing, and how did you get to where you are today?

My email marketing journey began in 2006, when I joined a Frankfurt-based email marketing agency called Publicare.

For my job application, I remember that I put together a simple HTML email that I sent via Outlook to make it stand out (it was the noughties!). So I was definitely fascinated by the topic of email marketing early on.

The agency focussed on the enterprise market, and the main solution I used there was emarsys. I was the guy who was interested in all the new tools, that’s why I had my own Mailchimp account that I used to experiment with.

After I left this job in 2011, I started EmailTooltester. My goal was to provide reviews and tutorials for small businesses looking for email marketing services. Over the years, it has grown to become my main source of income, and the team has grown from 1 to 10 people.

The Tooltester team

What are the most interesting changes you have seen in email technology over the last ten years?

Since I am mainly following the SMB market, the most important innovation was the wide scale introduction of automation workflows. Ten years ago, it was still pretty common to only have autoresponders as the only automation option.

But these days, even affordable ESPs like ActiveCampaign, GetResponse, or Brevo offer very advanced automation capabilities. Combine that with the fact that you can integrate these tools pretty easily with the majority of other systems (using native integrations or something like Zapier), the possibilities are almost endless.

How do you see AI changing the way we design and build emails?

AI already helps us come up with content ideas and helps us write our email content.

What I would like to see in the future are AI algorithms that analyze past email campaigns and detect patterns. For example, spikes in unsubscribes or suggestions for optimal segmentation.

Ideally, it will also help us personalize newsletters at a very granular level by referencing all the data we have collected for our subscribers (demographic, behavioral, etc.). I see a future where no email is the same for each subscriber because AI adds some nuance for every single subscriber.

And by personalization, I don’t only mean to promote products based on their interests, but rather finding the right individual hooks that pull them into the emails.

What’s in your email marketing toolbox?

Hardware: 

• MacBook Air with an external 27’ screen
• Standing desk (that I should really use more!)

Software:

• WordPress
• Brevo
• Clicky
• Google Workspace
• Freshdesk
• Zapier
• Trello

What is your favorite email campaign of all time?

I quite like the Spotify Wrapped emails. For anyone who doesn’t know this, it’s a review of your personal music year based on all the songs you have listened to.

Not that the emails aren’t overly special, but the execution of a completely personalized animated landing page that shows your music preferences in the past year is impressive.

How can email marketers avoid selecting the wrong ESP?

I hope I am not making too many enemies when I say the first step is to avoid Mailchimp 😅

They are the absolute market leader among all ESPs, but that doesn’t mean they are still the best choice.

To find a decent service, I would try to be very clear on my requirements. Ask yourself questions like:

• What’s my monthly budget?
• Do I need an ESP that works for ecommerce? If so, does it integrate well with my ecommerce solution?
• Do I want to use advanced automation? (E.g. tracking of browsing behavior, complex workflows)
• What kind of support options do I need? Is live chat enough, or do I need phone support?
• How important are the template options and the email editor functionality?
• Do I need additional logins for coworkers? (This can increase the price significantly)
• Should the ESP also have a CRM integrated?
• What integrations do I need to connect the ESP to my infrastructure?

Once you know what you are looking for, you can check out comparison websites like EmailTooltester and/or ask around in your professional circles.

How do you manage work/life balance?

Whenever I am not spending time with my wife and kids, I jump on my bike and cycle up and down la Costa Brava. Usually, I try to go at least 100 km (62 miles) per day on my gravel bike. That’s one of the perks of living in Barcelona.

Much love,
Andy

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @emaillove