If you thought that the e-mail is just a humble means of communication, Sprinklr (www.sprinklr.in) will show you that it is a powerful tool of marketing too. Sending bulk mails are far more intricate than they appear to be. Bulk mails targeted at non opt-in recipients, bad lists (too many inactive and bounce ids), content subject and body with spam words and blacklisted URLs in the body of the mail can end up in spam folders or may be entirely blocked by Internet Service Providers (ISP). Host sites such as Google and Yahoo will end up with extra workload of monitoring and blocking such mails. Phishing mails from a clever fraud can lead your private information to be at risk. Therefore, professional e-mail companies become important as their expertise will assist clients to send relevant opt-in communication to their subscriber’s inbox.

Despite being one of the most common activities on the net, there have not been many takers for e-mail as an instrument for marketing in India. In fact, e-mail marketing in India is often compared to the nascent stage that the concept was in the west a decade ago, with no more than 20 percent companies using it. But Manjunatha K G, Managing Director of Sprinklr sees a positive side to it and says being an unexplored domain, it provides ample scope for improvisation. Founded by Manjunatha, Ragy Thomas, Saurav Patnaik and Sunny Saxena in 2009, Sprinklr is one among the very few players in India which is why Manjunatha claims that Sprinklr’s main competition is from foreign players.

Manjunatha elaborates on their operations, “For bigger brands that have already used e-mail marketing before approaching Sprinklr, we get into business straightaway whereas the new or smaller players need to be educated on why e-mail marketing is an economical and efficient method of marketing. Sprinklr strictly follows opt-in communication where mails are not sent without the permission of the person. Some clients opt for just the platform while others hand over the responsibility of the entire campaign to Sprinklr. Our business model is based completely on the transaction based model rather than the license based model.”
One of the main benefits of digital marketing is undoubtedly the power to track the campaign with the help of analytics. Sprinklr’s e-mail strategy too falls under this category. With many big names like Titan, Indiatimes, MagicBricks, Shine Jobs, NDTV, Indian Express group, Megamart, Myntra and leading digital agencies Urja, Quasar, AdMagnet, TheoryM and Contract Advertising as clients, Sprinklr has to ensure spam control and inbox delivery. For this, the company follows a four pillar concept for maximum deliverability. “Our email marketing software has automated address control and bounce management system to minimize deliverability risks. Sprinklr is armed with a blacklist management system to prevent spam complaints and they engage in time and volume controlled send out. We are a member of the Certified Senders Alliance (CSA) - the first Europe- wide white list for professional email senders,” explains Manjunatha.

In addition to this, Sprinklr is a firm believer of maintaining relationships with Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and regulatory authorities as a good reputation and presence go a long way in guaranteeing deliverability. In fact, the company sees this as their USP, coupled with prior global experience of the founders with the flexibility of adapting to the Indian needs as well as a competent platform.

The outburst of the social media presents a new form of direct marketing which Sprinklr perceives as an opportunity. The company is developing an enterprise marketing platform for the social media and Manjunatha says it has already got some remarkable traction in the US market even before it has been publicly launched. Manjunatha did not disclose the name, but said that the platform will be launched in the global market soon. With the social media and email platforms on their side, Sprinklr seems to be headed on the pathway to further success.