A good mass e-mail broadcast service

October 19, 2008 5:24 PM

What is a reputable mass email service?

I want to send product announcements to hundreds of people who have voluntarily opted in. What would be a good, cheap company to do this with that has good reputation and won't use/resell the addresses I give them? Also if they're reputable I assume they won't be in RBLs and other blacklists.

I've found that Google Groups stinks for this as they tend to decline invitations/additions on arbitrary grounds -- I've experienced this and I've seen ask.mefi threads about it, so that's out.

posted by crapmatic to computers & internet (13 comments total)

I've used Lyris in the past with good results. Campaign Monitor has a pretty good rep for small lists, as well.
posted by jenkinsEar at 5:33 PM on October 19, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

I've had good results with MailChimp, which offers lots of stats and other goodies for your email campaigns.
posted by runningwithscissors at 5:39 PM on October 19, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Definitely seconding CampaignMonitor, though if for whatever reason you don't want to go with them, I've also heard of Emma.
posted by armoured-ant at 6:00 PM on October 19, 2008

2nding MailChimp. They have a super easy to use interface, great customer service, and I've never had any complaints with them.

Plus, they're cheaper (and overall just plain better) than Emma (I used to use Emma, but wasn't impressed one bit).
posted by mrhaydel at 6:14 PM on October 19, 2008

I heart iContact, myself.
posted by mynameisluka at 6:21 PM on October 19, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

We've used Vtrenz for years and never had any trouble with blacklisting.
posted by chocolate_butch at 6:42 PM on October 19, 2008

I love MailChimp.
posted by sondrialiac at 7:03 PM on October 19, 2008

Constant Contact has worked pretty well for us.
posted by clarkie666 at 7:56 PM on October 19, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

I've worked for orgs that used Constant Contact successfully.
posted by fructose at 7:59 PM on October 19, 2008

Listbox might work. I worked in office that used it and it seemed to work well -- impressive statistics with open and click rates and all that.
posted by midatlanticwanderer at 8:21 PM on October 19, 2008

I've used a few of these and Campaign Monitor is definitely the best, as far as ease of use.
posted by kpmcguire at 2:46 AM on October 20, 2008

Another vote for MailChimp. I've had good experiences with them.
posted by JonBFSU at 11:52 AM on October 20, 2008

I've used Exact Target in the past. They are pros and taught me what I know about not getting flagged as spam - which is your number 1 concern.

Marketing Sherpa has a good article up this week on the subject of deliverability, contributed to by one of their execs.

They are just a nuts and bolts "we send your stuff" company. Your lists are safe.
posted by scarabic at 2:13 PM on October 20, 2008