Combining Email Technology and Technique to Drive Business Results
Expertise that drives metrics
Bridgeline helps customers maximize the performance of their omni-channel digital experience—from websites and intranets to online stores and campaigns. Bridgeline’s Unbound platform integrates Web Content Management, eCommerce, Marketing Automation, Site Search, Community Portals, Social Media Management, Translation, and Web Analytics to help organizations deliver digital experiences that attract, engage, nurture, and convert their customers across all channels and streamline business operations. Bridgeline’s IT staff had been self-hosting and managing SocketLabs’ on-premise Hurricane email server, but a lack of email-specific expertise was creating multiple deliverability and reliability issues that were limiting campaign performance.
“Ultimately, we realized that email is an incredibly specialized area that requires dedicated, expert resources. We saw a vast improvement in open rates after switching to SocketLabs’ managed email service.”
“Our team was responsible for rotating IPs and warming them up, staying off the blacklists, and metering out the mail volumes, but we didn’t have the bandwith to do it,” says Jim Voss, Bridgeline Executive Vice President of Technology & Information Security. “So, our hosting team was frequently tied up with email issues, and it wasn’t the best use of our time or talent. Ultimately, we realized that email is a very specialized area that requires dedicated, expert resources.”
Bridgeline looked at several options and decided to migrate its email delivery function to SocketLabs’ solution. The company quickly saw significant improvement in the deliverability and reliability metrics that were most important to them and their customers. Just as valuable, Voss and his team were able to spend less time managing their email system and more time focusing on their core competencies.
Reduced infrastructure and management costs
The contrast between the service models was dramatic. With the in-house solution, Bridgeline’s team was maintaining extra servers and bandwidth to ensure capacity for its customers’ biggest seasonal promotional demands. But, the rapid scalability of SocketLab’s SaaS solution easily handles the spikes in email traffic without the risk of service interruption or the need for resource pre-planning—eliminating the costs of overprovisioning.
Reliable delivery and peace of mind
When asked what really stands out about SocketLabs, Voss could not identify just one single attribute. “The platform’s technical maturity allows my team to focus on supporting the business, and the scalability and flexibility give us the confidence to continue growing our services to our own clients.” In fact, the company’s biggest customer is leveraging Bridgeline’s platform to support a corporate website and more than 1,300 retail location websites. That footprint translates into upwards of 12 million emails a month. Asserts Voss: “The dramatic reduction of time spent dealing with email deliverability issues is the biggest benefit. It’s set it and forget it for us, and that’s important provided our volume. I don’t have to think about it at all because it’s so reliable and stable.”
Robust customer and technical support
Voss says SocketLabs’ renowned customer service and consulting team certainly lives up to its reputation. Bridgeline’s IT team has found that the day-to-day support it receives to be a welcome mix of technical know-how and friendly assistance. “Time is money with these email campaigns,” he added, “especially if it’s around a particular event. So, if there’s a problem and it goes out too late, our customers miss their window for that marketing opportunity.
“SocketLabs does a superlative job at the technical aspects of sending email quickly and effectively. But on top of that, they provide an extra level of responsiveness and technical service that sets them apart.”
Driving better customer experiences
Great support is especially important to Voss because of the critical role SocketLabs plays in supporting Bridgeline’s customer experience. In turn, Bridgeline’s customers are relying on the success of SocketLabs’ email delivery to drive their own customer experiences. Recently, for example, Bridgeline’s client needed to modify its sending practices to address some regulatory changes. “The technical consultants at SocketLabs were very professional and responsive. They were actually helping to educate our client’s technical team on best practices and performance improvements,” Voss explained. “That went a long way for us in terms of satisfaction with that customer.”
Why Choose SocketLabs?
- Cutting-edge email technology
- Highly personalized service
- Managed migration and warming
- An amazing customer experience
