What should I include in an email marketing automation platform comparison checklist?

Hi! A solid comparison checklist for an email marketing automation platform should cover four big buckets—deliverability + compliance, automation depth, data/integrations, and total cost/operational fit—because those are the areas that most strongly affect real-world results (not just feature checkboxes).

Here are the criteria I’d include, plus the things people commonly overlook.

1) Deliverability & compliance (often underweighted)

This is the “nothing else matters if you land in spam” category.

• Authentication support: easy setup for SPF/DKIM, and support for DMARC alignment guidance; ability to manage sending domains/subdomains cleanly.
• Dedicated vs shared IP options (and whether it’s actually needed for your volume), plus warm-up support/process.
• Reputation safeguards: bounce handling, spam complaint handling, suppression lists, and how aggressively they prevent risky sending practices.
• List hygiene tools: automations for unengaged contacts, bounce/spam-trap risk indicators, and segmentation by engagement.
• Compliance features: double opt-in support, consent tracking, unsubscribe management (including list-level and global suppression), physical address fields, and tools to support GDPR/CCPA-style requirements.
• Transactional vs marketing separation (if relevant): ability to keep critical emails (password resets/receipts) from being impacted by marketing sends.

Commonly overlooked: how the platform handles suppression lists across multiple audiences/workspaces, and whether unsubscribes are truly “global” when you have multiple brands or lists.

2) Automation depth (beyond “has automations”)

Most tools say they do automation. The differences are in control, branching, and maintainability.

• Workflow builder usability: how easy it is to edit, version, test, and troubleshoot automations.
• Trigger variety: events, tags, list changes, purchases, page views, custom events, lead score changes, API events, etc.
• Branching & logic: if/else, wait-until conditions, goal/exit steps, throttling, frequency caps, and re-entry rules.
• Personalization: dynamic content blocks, conditional content, merge fields, product/content recommendations (if needed).
• Automation analytics: per-step conversion, drop-off, time-to-convert, revenue attribution, and cohort comparisons.
• Testing inside automations: A/B testing for subject/content/sending time within journeys (not just campaigns).

Commonly overlooked: re-entry rules and idempotency (e.g., “what happens if a contact triggers the same event twice?”) and whether you can safely modify live automations without breaking reporting or duplicating sends.

3) Segmentation, data model, and CRM-ish capabilities

This is where platforms feel “simple” or “powerful” depending on your use case.

• Segmentation power: real-time vs batch, nested logic, behavioral segments, purchase/event-based segments, and segment performance reporting.
• Custom fields and data types: arrays/lists, objects, date handling, number fields, and validation.
• Contact model flexibility: one contact with many lists/tags vs list-based duplicates; handling multiple emails per person (if needed).
• Lead scoring (if B2B): rules, decay, and automation hooks.
• Preference center: granular topics/frequencies and how those map to segments.

Commonly overlooked: whether the platform’s data model causes duplicate contacts (and duplicate billing) when people exist in multiple lists/audiences.

4) Integrations & extensibility (the “ecosystem” score)

• Native integrations: ecommerce (Shopify/WooCommerce/etc.), CRM (Salesforce/HubSpot), webinar tools, forms, analytics, and ads.
• API quality: coverage (contacts/events/automation triggers), rate limits, webhooks, and documentation quality.
• Event tracking: first-party event tracking, server-side event ingestion, and reliability.
• Data sync behavior: real-time vs delayed, conflict resolution, field mapping, and historical backfill.

Commonly overlooked: integration “gotchas” like one-way sync, limited historical data, or event delays that break timely automation (abandoned cart, browse abandonment, lead routing).

5) Reporting & measurement (what you can prove)

• Core metrics: deliverability signals (bounces/complaints), open/click trends, conversion tracking, and revenue attribution (if ecommerce).
• Attribution model options: last-click vs multi-touch (even basic options help).
• UTM handling and campaign tracking consistency.
• Automation reporting: funnel performance by step, not just overall.
• Exportability: clean exports, scheduled reports, and data retention windows.

Commonly overlooked: data retention limits and whether you can access historical automation performance after X months (this matters for seasonal businesses).

6) Templates, editor, and content workflow (day-to-day reality)

• Editor quality: drag-and-drop vs code editor, reusable blocks, global styles, mobile responsiveness, dark mode considerations.
• Team workflow: approvals, roles/permissions, commenting, and change history.
• Brand management: multiple brands, template governance, and asset management.

Commonly overlooked: whether the editor produces bloated HTML that can hurt rendering/performance, and whether you can lock down brand components so teammates don’t accidentally break layouts.

7) Forms, landing pages, and acquisition tools (if applicable)

• Signup forms: embedded, popups, targeting rules, double opt-in, spam prevention.
• Preference/consent capture: checkbox management, proof of consent fields.
• Landing pages: customization, tracking, and domain support.

Commonly overlooked: how well forms handle bot/spam signups and whether it’s easy to prevent list poisoning.

8) Delivering at scale: performance & controls

• Send speed controls: throttling, quiet hours, time-zone sending, and send-time optimization (if important).
• Frequency capping / message limits by contact.
• Reliability/SLA posture: uptime history, status transparency (even if informal), and incident communication expectations.

Commonly overlooked: rate limits (API and sending) that only show up once you scale or start doing event-driven automation.

9) Security, privacy, and governance (often skipped in marketing-led evaluations)

• User roles/permissions: granular access (billing, exports, list edits, sending).
• Audit logs: who changed what, and when.
• SSO/SAML (for larger teams).
• Data processing controls: deletion requests, anonymization, and data residency options (if needed).
• Account-level safeguards: 2FA enforcement, approved sender domains, and sending permissions.

Commonly overlooked: lack of audit trails—a big pain when something goes wrong (wrong segment, wrong email, wrong automation change).

10) Pricing & total cost (beyond the headline)

Since you’re already scoring pricing, make sure you capture “hidden multipliers”:

• Billing unit: per contact, per subscriber, per profile, per send, or per seat.
• Double billing risk: duplicates across lists/audiences.
• Overage fees: sends, contacts, API calls, SMS add-ons, dedicated IP, additional workspaces.
• Feature gating: segmentation/automation/reporting locked behind higher tiers.
• Migration cost: paid onboarding, template rebuild time, automation rebuild time.

Commonly overlooked: the cost of required add-ons (SMS, advanced reporting, ecommerce events, extra users) and whether the platform charges for unsubscribed or non-marketable contacts.

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Practical tips for your weighted scoring model

• Separate “must-haves” vs “scorables.” Use hard disqualifiers (e.g., no DKIM, no global unsubscribe, no needed integration), then score the rest.
• Add a “confidence” score for each answer (documented, tested in demo, or sales claim). Platforms can look equal on paper until you validate.
• Include a section for “implementation effort” (time to set up authentication, tracking, key integrations, and 3 core automations). Marketers often underestimate this.

If you tell me your target audience (ecommerce vs B2B SaaS vs creators), your typical list size range, and which channels matter (email-only vs email+SMS), I can help you tailor the checklist and suggested weights so it reflects how people actually choose—and what leads to long-term satisfaction.