Hands down the #1 question I get asked by clients and the Scoop community is “should I upgrade my email system?”
The answer always is…it depends!
Deciding to upgrade your email system is a big decision and there are a lot of factors that should be considered before taking the plunge.
It used to be that once you outgrew Mailchimp or Aweber, you’d be forced into a move into Infusionsoft, but now there are some great alternatives like ConvertKit as well.
So, how do you know if you’re ready or not? Do you need to graduate from the chimp to something else?
Here are 5 signs that it may be time for an upgrade:
#1. Do You Have 1,000 or More Contacts on Your List?
If you have 1000 people on your list, congratulations! That first 1k is a big milestone, and it may mean you’re outgrowing your current system. If you’re at this mark, you may be ready to make the move to a more robust system.
Typically, this is where you get tired of manual interventions or trying to figure out how to make your email system integrate with other solutions.
If you’re not at the 1000 mark, you may not need an upgrade yet. If your list is growing slowly, consider when you will actually need greater functionality. (And if you want to see how the different solutions stack up, check out this post on how to know what system to use.)
#2. Do You Want to Make Your Email Smarter?
Rules and triggers can help you make your email smarter by building logic into your campaigns. For example, by using a trigger when someone clicks a link, you can specify that they get a specific email so you’re delivering content that’s tailored to your audience.
Smart emails can be a powerful part of your email marketing and don’t have to be pushy or sleazy. It’s a way for you to deliver thoughtful, valuable content for your subscribers.
If that whole concept has you excited by the possibilities, it may be time to move systems, but if that made you want to break out in hives, you may want to wait.
#3. Have You Been in Business More Than One or Two Years?
When you first start out in business, it’s easy to feel like you want to have the best possible system right away, but starting right out of the gate with a higher end system may result in wasted time and money.
Until you’ve got an established business and a clear picture of exactly what your business is, you many want to stick with a simpler, lower cost system.
While this isn’t a hard and fast rule, I do find that businesses that have been around for at least a year are best suited to making more meaningful marketing decisions. This is because they have time under their belt in dealing with clients and know who their audience is. If you have previous business experience and/or you are crystal clear about who your audience is and what they want, then you might be ready for an upgrade.
#4. Do You Have Money (or Time) to Invest in Your System?
Let’s face it, upgrades come at a cost. If you’re moving to a solution like ConvertKit, you’ll likely need to invest some time in learning how it works and migrating your list.
If you’re graduating to a system like Infusionsoft or Ontraport, it means you need to be prepared to make an investment in your email marketing each month. If your budget is extremely limited and $200 or more per month feels like a stretch, upgrading now may not be a great idea.
With these all-in-one systems, in addition to to the cost of your subscription, there are training costs and possibly the need to outsource setup or management of the system to a third party. (Or you need to factor in the cost of investing your time to learn and manage the system.)
#5. Are You Reaching a Breaking Point?
Often you’ll reach a breaking point when it comes to all of your marketing and sales systems and it feels like you’re using a million different things all held together with string to get the job done.
If you find yourself constantly figuring out work arounds, or you have so many systems that your costs are mounting, you may need a system that can offer you more.
A big sign you need to upgrade: when you simply can’t do something with your systems that you know could really help make your business grow or make your life easier. (AKA. The breaking point for many a business!)
If you can confidently say you’re not running into challenges, no need to upgrade. But if you’re seeing cracks or feeling frustrated, it’s a sign that the time to upgrade is coming soon.
The Recap: Decision Time
What did you learn from your answers? Do you have more “ready” or “not ready” answers on the answers above? There’s no right or wrong answer. The big thing is that you upgrade when the time is right and not jump too soon!
