Did I mention in a previous post that I was was actually a VR for AppExchange customer
before I started working here? Well, it's true, I was. And one of the features that really jumped out at me was reporting. As a marketer, I'm always looking for any reconnaissance I can collect that will inform how to optimize my marketing campaigns to keep the people in my database engaged, and the VR for AppExchange reports played a crucial role in that mission. And now I'm going to share my marketing decoder ring with you.
There are two different VR for AppExchange report folders: VR Email History Leads, and VR Email History Contacts. These folders basically contain the same reports, only one shows you just the Leads associated with your VR Email campaigns, and the other your Contacts. To keep this blog post short and sweet, I'm going to focus on the VR Email History Leads folder, but please note that the same goes for the reports in the VR Email History Contacts folder, too.
Leads: Bounced
Nothing cryptic here; this report will show you all of the email addresses that bounced when you sent your email campaign. And you might think to yourself, "well, the email bounced, so that's the end of that." But wait, there's more! If you have a postal address associated with that Lead, why not send out a direct mail postcard to try to get your marketing in front of them? Or perhaps create a call down report from the bounces, to check in and make sure you have the correct information - it's possible that an email bounced due to a typo in the Email Address field in Salesforce. Who knows, you might even make an additional contact at the company this way.
Leads: Clicked
I used to do a lot of trade shows, and would inevitably come back with a giant stack of business cards for the sales team to contact. The problem was, there were only a few reps, and a ton of new leads to call. To help prioritize the list a bit, I'd send out an email campaign to the show leads when I got back to the office, and and then used this report to determine the level of interest. For example, if the recipient clicked on a link in the follow up email, we might rate that Lead as "warm" or "hot", since they had clearly opened the email and taken some action. Needless to say, these leads quickly made their way to the top of the sales team's "To Call" list.
Just as a reminder, email marketing best practices do indicate that you should remind the folks on your list where you met them, so be sure to mention the show by name (maybe even in the subject line). It's also not a bad idea to include some kind of offer, even if it's nominal, to make them feel like they are getting a deal for having attended the show.
Leads: Opened
Remember that email campaign I sent out to the show leads to determine their interest level? You might be wondering who the sales team should contact next. Well, the people who opened your email of course. Sure, these recipients didn't take as much interest in the email as those who clicked, but something in the subject line spoke to them, so hit them up next!
Leads: Non-Responders
Did you send out an email campaign to some Leads and Contacts who are playing coy, and not even opening your emails? They're trying to tell you something, and that something is you might need to sweeten the deal to entice them. So, test it out: swap out the subject line the next time you mail them. Did they not respond to "10% off"? Try "15% off" instead. Sometimes a dollar amount makes all the difference (even if the actual savings turns out to be less than the perceived savings).
Leads: Unsubscribes
Breaking up is hard to do, especially when you're the one getting broken up with. Something to keep in mind: just because someone unsubscribes from your emails doesn't necessarily mean that they don't ever want to hear from you again. It simply means they don't want to hear from you via email (and sometimes, yes, it does mean they never want to hear from you again). You could take this as an opportunity to try to win them back with a direct mail postcard.
Now, I know that we had a comment on the blog last time about direct mail not being eco-friendly. And we totally get it; we're based in San Francisco, and we love trees as much as the next guy...maybe even more than the next guy. In fact, our CEO did a blog post recently about all of the ways that we are greening our office and our business. But the bottom line is that if someone unsubscribes from your emails, we simply will not send to them again. So, if that Lead or Contact is important to you, direct mail might be a good, legal option for you. And hey, VerticalResponse postcards are made from recycled material, so that's a postcard you can feel good about sending.
Leads: Full VR Email History
This report is simply an aggregate of all of the reports outlined above, detailing every email campaign that you've ever sent. So, if you prefer reading the entire dossier to just taking a peak at a Post-It note, this report is for you.
Now, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to share how you use VR for AppExchange reports to optimize your marketing efforts. This message will self-destruct in....
Agent Jess Greene-Pierson, Marketing Programs Manager
Recent Comments