Interview with Inxmail: "both as SaaS and as a software license".

Today we welcome Inxmail in our interview cycle of emailing platforms. If you have an opinion on the solution, please let us know in the comments.

Can you give us a brief history of Inxmail? When was the platform founded, by whom, has the business model evolved since the beginning of the adventure?

Inxmail was founded in Germany in 1999 by Martin Bucher and Peter Ziras, two IT engineers who are still at the head of the group today, which boasts over 1,500 customers in 20 countries, as well as three direct subsidiaries in Italy (2007), Australia (2009) and France (2011). Our email marketing platform, Inxmail Professional, has been in existence since 2001 and is developed in Java, offering our customers unrivalled functional richness and speed of execution. Inxmail Professional also comes with an extended API (SDK) in PHP5, .Net and of course Java, which today enables the platform to be interconnected with numerous third-party systems such as CRM tools (Apps for Salesforce CRM and Microsoft Dynamics CRM) and e-commerce solutions (RBS Change, Magento, OXID e-sales, Hybris, Intershop...).

What makes Inxmail unique? What makes you different from other players in this very competitive market?

As you rightly point out, the market is highly competitive, with multiple players identifying themselves as "routers", "multi-channel platforms", "emailing solutions", "360° solutions"... there's no shortage of names and superlatives, just like the core businesses, which differ greatly from one player to the next. Nevertheless, it's a good idea to distinguish the different types of solutions into 3 categories:

1. Emailing solutions, the mass mailing approach of the early 2000s
2. Email marketing solutions
3. Multi or cross-channel solutions

Our offer is definitely in line with the logic of email marketing, and is aimed at advertisers wishing to set up relevant, ROI-strong relational programs. We're not in the "email cannon" business, and neither is the daily reinvention of lukewarm water by the handful of so-called "multi-channel" players. In addition to our Java development, Inxmail Professional is the only email marketing solution on the market to be offered both in SaaS mode and as a software license. Last but not least, our network of partnerships: digital agencies, integrators, software publishers... each with their own expertise and business. Ours: email marketing.

What are the 3 main challenges for the next few months in the emailing world?

No need to try to be original here:

1. Mobile terminals (keyword: responsive web)
2. Content relevance (keyword: trigger marketing)
3. Integration with third-party systems

In the first case, the rules for displaying mailings change as often as a new terminal is launched... in other words, constantly! This effervescence is not unlike that of the 2000s, with the proliferation of web browsers. We help our customers to rise to the challenge of mobile communications, drawing on our know-how and the features of Inxmail Professional: CMS and email rendering and eye-tracking options. With non-opening rates of almost 80%, the era of the "email cannon" is coming to an end. To avoid drowning in the mass of emails quickly deleted by annoyed readers, advertisers need to hit the target with the right content. Trigger mailings optimize the timing of messages according to the customer lifecycle; integration enables content to be finely personalized by retrieving high value-added information where it is found (e-commerce, CRM, analytics...). In our view, traceability and data quality are essential for high-performance email marketing in 2013.

What are the next evolutions of your platform?

There are two major updates each year, in the spring and fall. The next versions will emphasize connectivity to other systems, in particular with e-commerce platforms and CRM solutions for which we will ensure the compatibility of the modules developed. The sustainability of our clients' investments is at stake.

Do you offer your customers a "Freemium" mode (free version with reduced features)?

No.

Why not use this model?

The Inxmail group has grown at a rate of 30% per year over the last ten years, and the number of employees reached 100 in 2013. This growth is completely organic, with the parent company and its subsidiaries still owned by the two founders. Freemium is a suitable model for fund-raising, which is not our case. Furthermore, we have no intention of promoting a user base that is out of touch with reality, by highlighting "customers" who are not actively using the platform. Finally, we don't believe that email marketing can be improvised, and all our offers naturally include support; whether it's a question of sharing best practices or the responsiveness of our user assistance, we don't leave our customers to fend for themselves.

What do you think of the French emailing market? Is it mature or is there still room for new innovations?

Like all other European markets, it is becoming more structured, with the share of prospecting emails declining in favor of loyalty emails. Although we cannot yet speak of maturity, the indicators are nevertheless encouraging, with advertisers becoming more critical and understanding that deliverability is not so much the result of technical settings as of a qualitative approach to data collection (traceability, double opt-in form, preference center...). Innovation, on the other hand, will come from practices: as the common denominator for all Internet users, email is nonetheless a channel to be used wisely alongside other channels (paper, telephone, social networks, etc.).

A last word to conclude?

First of all, thank you for the interview! And a little advert for the road: confident in the quality of our solutions and services, we're offering any interested company an online demonstration and even a free evaluation of Inxmail Professional. Don't hesitate to contact us!