Review: Campaigner Offers Free Email Marketing Service

Email marketing service provider, Campaigner, has recently announced its new service called Campaigner Free. The company states that anyone can sign up for service, which is completely free -- forever -- as long as you maintain a contact list of 500 or fewer contacts.  This service in particular would be of interest to non-profits, individual entrepreneurs and small businesses with a shoestring budget looking to boost email communications.

Getting Started with Free Email Marketing From Campaigner

In this review of Campaigner Free, we take you through the steps of registering for an account, setting up your contact list, designing a Web form to encourage website visitors to opt-in to your email list, and how to design and send your first email campaign. The registration process takes only a couple of minutes, and you don’t need to provide any credit card information. 

Step 1: Creating Your Account

The first step is to create your free account on Campaigner's website. To create the account, you provide your name, email address and also choose a security question on the first screen. The next step prompts you to provide your business and other contact details. Campaigner then sends you a confirmation email. Click the link in the email to create a password, and you're ready to start using campaigner Free.

Campaigner Free offers a nice selection of email templates plus a good editor to customize the email.
(Click for larger image).Step 2: Adding Contacts and Newsletter Subscribers

When you first log in to your dashboard administration area, you'll see two sections to customize and set-up for your business. One places your contact list in the system, and the other helps you to design a newsletter email campaign.

Add Your Email Contacts

 This part of Campaigner Free lets you add email addresses and details for people interested in receiving your email campaigns. You can also group the contact list by common interests using mailing lists. When you add contacts, you can choose to import from a file or from online service. Some import options available include: Excel or CSV files, Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo Mail. You can also manually enter the contact information individually by hand.

Once you have started a contact list, you can access the Contacts tab located at the top of your main page dashboard. From this tab you will see options to edit contact details, select contacts to receive test messages (e.g. sample out your message before sending it to the entire list) or to manage subscription options for each contact. Other contact management options you can access from this tab let you include contacts on different email lists and segment options to help you send more targeted email marketing campaigns.

Step 3: Create Your Newsletter Template

The second option lets you create or design your email newsletter.  You'll find this in the Start an Email Campaign link on the dashboard main page, or you can choose to work in the Email Campaigns tab for access to all options.

Campaigner Free offers a number of templates that you can customize to match your business. The customization wizard lets you choose from a number of template styles and themes, plus you can work with a blank page and design the newsletter yourself.

Once you have selected an email template design, Campaigner Free offers a nice WYSIWYG editor so you can easily edit existing text, provide your own copy, resize images or upload your own, add hyperlinks and more. You can also choose between working in HTML or plain text for the email. During the email creation process you can review and test what you are working on.

When you are happy with the design and have tested your email newsletter, you move into the Email Details screen where you specify the Email Campaign Name and also choose the subject line and provide your sender details. From the Email Campaigns tab you have options to schedule the email and later view reporting details for sent and incomplete details of the campaign.

At the bottom of each newsletter there will be information and a link provided for contacts to unsubscribe from the mailing list. It is extremely important to remember that any imported contact must have a relationship with you and you need to ensure compliance with Campaigner's Anti-Spam Policy.

Step 3: Create Your Newsletter Sign-Up Page

Campaigner Free also offers a sign-up form creation wizard.  This lets you create a subscription form on your website that visitors can fill out to join your mailing list.

The wizard provides quick-and-easy access to format the layout, color, and text that site visitors see when they access the form.  In the final steps of the sign-up form-creation process, you can edit the thank you message that people receive after subscribing to your mailing list.

Email Marketing Reporting and Management Tasks

The last tab in the Campaigner Free dashboard lets you view your email campaign reports. The service breaks down reports into two sections: Email Campaign Reports and Contact Reports.

The Campaigner Free dashboard offers quick access to Email Campaign and Contact reports.
(Click for larger image).

You can view the contacts report by all-contacts or by contacts-by-mailing-list. The reporting interface offers a quick graphical overview of current newsletter subscribers; unsubscribe requests, bounces and pending confirmations. 

After you have sent your first email campaign, the reporting section allows you to view in-depth newsletter details for the following areas: total emails sent, total emails received, opened, clicked through, replied, unsubscribed, spam complaints , soft bounces and hard bounces.

Campaigner Free: Who is it For?

Campaigner designed the Campaigner Free email marketing solution for non-profits, individuals, entrepreneurs, and small businesses.  Overall, this free service offers ample tools and reporting in its administration dashboard to help you start and manage an email list.

Most people will find the interface and email campaign options very easy to understand. The layout simplifies the process of contact management, email design and reporting tasks quickly.  There are just enough features and options to manage a small marketing list of 500 or fewer contacts without being lost in features and functions you simply wouldn’t use.

All newsletters sent via Campaigner Free include a link and ad for Campaigner Free at the bottom.  While some people may not use the service for this reason, some individuals may like the connection to a well-known and reputable company and service in each email.

If you grow your email marking contact list with Campaigner Free and surpass the 500 contacts limit, you can upgrade to a regular Campaigner plan which starts at $10 per month for up to 1,000 contacts with unlimited sends.

More Email Marketing Tips

From beginner guides to expert tips, our selection of email marketing tips and articles can help you to better manage your small business marketing tasks.

The Top Five E-mail Mistakes to AvoidHow to Start E-mail MarketingA Buyer's Guide to Remarketing ServicesHow to Find an E-Mail Marketing Service Provider

Vangie Beal is a veteran online seller and frequent contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com. She is also managing editor of Webopedia.com. You can tweet with her online @AuroraGG .

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