Once limited to the desktop environment, APIs have exploded on the web in modern computing times. Developers and brands are increasingly leveraging these flexible software interfaces to connect with social networks, e-commerce platforms, and lately, even mobile applications. APIs are also gaining traction in the email marketing sector and more businesses are curious about how they can be put to good use. If you are one of them, check out the top three ways they are currently being used.
List Management
One of the most common uses for Edwin Urrutia APIs is list management. As an email marketer, you probably already know how difficult it can be to manage a mailing list, especially if it is loaded with customers and prospects. While the functionality may vary slightly depending on the service provider, most email marketing APIs let you upload lists and perform functions such as add and remove subscribers, update subscriber profiles, and even segment your list for better targeting. The main draw here is being able to mange your list more efficiently and do it all in real-time.
Send Targeted and Triggered Email Campaigns
Another common way to use an API for email marketing purposes is to integrate it with your existing systems. This includes databases, CRMs and even your website. With this ability, you can synchronize your mailing list and even use the system to create and deploy your campaigns. When connected to your website, an API will enable you to send targeted messages based on activities that occur after the click. When plugged into your CRM, you can use it to deliver triggered messages based on purchasing history and other tracking information. An email campaign can be deployed with various software programs, but not all of them can match up to the efficiency you get with a quality API.
View and Analyze Campaign Data
Email marketers are increasingly employing APIs to gather better insight on campaign performance. In most cases, these systems have native functionality that allows you to view and analyze basic metrics such as clicks, bounces, and unsubscribes. You can get your hands on more detailed information when integrating your CRM, CMS, shopping cart or other systems you rely on to collect data. When combined, this wealth of data can help increase the agility of your business by allowing you to make adjustments on the fly and respond in a timely fashion.
Summary
There are numerous benefits to utilizing an API, but the ones that stand out the most are efficiency and convenience. The flexibility that comes from integrating these cooperative technologies allows you to easily transfer data from your in-house platforms to handle whatever processes need to be tended to on the providers server, then export it all back to your internal systems. While we only touched on three uses in this article, the industry is showing us that the possibilities are endless when it comes to integrating email marketing with a robust, capable API.
