Lookup Multiple E-Mail Addresses at Once in Act!
If you are using Swiftpage E-Marketing, Constant Contact, MailChimp or some other outside service to send broadcast e-mail based on Act! contacts, then you need a place to look them up. Let's say you get a spreadsheet of 20 bounces, and you want to update Act! with that result. Rather than looking up each contact one at at time, this free tool will lookup multiple e-mail addresses at once.
It works with the primary e-mail address field of Act! versions 2010+
E-Mail Marketing Content Ideas
One of the biggest hurdles has been content creation. Here is a summary of 6 ideas along with a complete list of 15 ideas.
- Develop a branded guide or tutorial like this
- Interview an Industry Professional
- Re-Purpose Blog Commentary like this
- Host a Webinar Featuring Industry Experts
- Record Those Webinars for Future Prospects & Clients
- Offer a Video Training Series (Free or Paid)
If you are stuck on writing the content, there are reasonably priced content writers on upwork.com, elance.com or fiver.com
E-Blast Checklist
No matter which CRM or e-mail service provider this checklist applies. Here is a quick summary, along with the full article.
- Promise Something Specific in The Subject Line - And Deliver
- Craft a Succinct Header viewable in the Preview Pane
- Make it Mobile Friendly
- Test Timing & Wording Frequently as Visual Design
- Learn What Motivates You to Read Incoming E-Newsletters
- Create One Topic at a Time
Avoid These 5 E-Mail Marketing Mistakes
Citing a columnist for The Huffington Post, we tell our clients to avoid these problems:
- Create periodic changes in graphic design
- Focus on one message per email
- Balance text with graphics
- Clean out the bounced addresses from the mailing list
- Acquire help from a writer. We found sites like upwork, oDesk and Fiver can help at a pretty good price.
Segmenting The Database Increases Open and Click Through Rates
To increase your open and click rates, it's a best practice to use Act!, or whatever CRM system you use, to create a smaller list with greater precision rather than a "spray and pray" approach where one offers goes to anyone in hopes the numbers make up the difference.
I proved this by segmenting the database by "areas of interest" based on a survey I sent along with re-examining my database to see what features of Act! they inquired about. Once I targeted my list, my open rate went from 11% to 64% with two messages sent the same day to Act! users. One list is "Tips and Tricks" if I don't know more about them while the second list contains tips on "Automating Act!" based on my clients' feedback.
In addition to traditional CRM training and support services, we offer a service to help you build proper surveys and to properly segment the database before you send your next e-blast.