Ask HN: Should I add developer-friendly features to my email service?
I imagine there is a growing segment of websites that are created in the hands of a developer and not a designer (or a "desingineer"). With an experienced coder, a hybrid service for handling both newsletter and transactional e-mails might be worth spending a few extra bucks.
For example, a developer creating a website for a restaurant could create a hook in to the CMS, where the restaurant automatically sends a templated email blast if the restaurant owner logs in and updates the "Seasonal Menu" page. A single API for handling your email could make some queries trivial, such as slicing and dicing your mailing list based on subscription date,[geo-]IP, referrer and adding custom tags.
I spoke to one marketing exec who told me it's not a bad idea. What do you think, web developers of HN?
[0] http://letterpush.com