The company every email-loving marketer should be grateful for.

The last couple days I've been talking about free tiers and free tools and why we chose one over the other.

Building free tools but requiring a credit card to start a trial may seem like a unique strategy, but if you're an email lover like myself...it shouldn't. One of the most impressive brands I've ever seen does something very similar.

There are a lot of reasons I admire Litmus, but this strategy is one of them.

But comparing us to them isn't even close to fair, because, to me, Litmus is one of the most fascinating, innovative brands I've ever seen.

Three Things

Look at any other industry besides email and you're sure to find one of three things.

First, the most prominent conferences are put on by associations. Not that there's anything wrong with associations, but they sometimes take a very...well...safe, sponsor-driven approach to their work. In other words, hard conversations? Innovation? Action? Almost unheard of.

Second, overly-SEO content. You Google some question, find an answer and then sort through 1,500 words (or whatever Moz said was the optimal length last month) only to be let down by a copy/paste answer by some intern who didn't know their stuff.

Third, the leading platform in the industry is frequently a behemoth of legacy software with decades-old interfaces and functionality, but a ton of brand equity. We know the type and we've all suffered through their systems.

And then there's Litmus.

The premier conference in email that really pushes the industry forward? It's theirs.

The best content in email that never leaves you frustrated after reading it? It's theirs.

Some of the best design - both with their brand and interfaces - in email? It's theirs.

Another (Big) Reason

There are a lot of reasons to love working in the email industry - the people, the momentum, the joy of that background image finally rendering like it was supposed to - but having a design/content-focused company instead of a 30-year-old association helping us move forward?

I hope we appreciate just how awesome that is.