VerticalResponse for AppExchange Blog

A Friendly Suggestion to Our Competitor

I'm all about getting new business, but we've tried to steer clear of going after our competitor's customers because we think there are enough businesses out there that need  email marketing services. I will also say I don't think it's wrong to go after a competitor's customer either. We have a ton of respect for many of our competitors and find them very cool and friendly. So as a friendly competitor I have a suggestion for iContact: If you're going to target our customers, at least spell our company name correctly. Best of luck at Dreamforce!

Use Salesforce Reports to Send Targeted Follow-ups

It’s ridiculously easy to build a list from your Lead & Contact records using VerticalResponse.  Just search for the people you want and you’re done.  What’s not quite as simple is creating targeted follow-up lists based on the action a recipient has taken with an email you’ve previously sent out.

Let’s say you want to send a follow-up email to everyone who did not respond to your last email so you can try a different message or approach to get them to take action.  How do you do that?

I’m sure you’re already well aware that VerticalResponse tracks the opens, clicks, bounces and unsubscribes (as well as the non-responders who didn’t do anything) for all your emails.  We display this data both within your VR Statistics tab and in Salesforce’s own Reports tab.  And, as luck would have it, you create can create a list using any of your reporting data from either of these two places. 

Let’s take a look at both options, starting with the better of the two:

Use a Salesforce Report to Create a Campaign

If you have access to the Salesforce Campaigns module, then you add people from any of your email reports as members of a Campaign.  You can then use that Campaign as a list and be on your way. 

1. Go to your Campaigns tab and create a new Campaign.  Be sure to set it to “Active.”
2. Go to your Reports tab and use the Report Folders drop-down menu to select either VR Email History Lead or VR Email History Contact.  Note that Salesforce reports are separated by Leads and Contacts, so if you want to use a mix of both groups you’ll have to add two different reports to the Campaign.
3. Click the Contacts: Non-Responders report.  This will display a list of every email you’ve sent out and non-responders associated with each one.
4. Drill down to the email whose non-responders you want to use either by clicking the box next to the name of each email you want and then pressing the drill-down button at the bottom of the report or by using the Customize option to search for the email you want. 
5. You’ll now see only those non-responders from the email you’ve selected / found.
6. Click the “Add to Campaign” button and then choose the Campaign you created earlier.  Now all the Leads or Contacts from your report will be added to the Campaign.  Note again, if you want to add both Leads & Contacts to the Campaign, you’ll have to repeat steps 2 thru 5.
7. Now go to the VR Email tab and select New List from the Quickstart section.
8. Select to build your list using the members of a Salesforce Campaign and then choose your Campaign from the section that follows.
9. Finish up the few remaining list building steps and you’re done.  You now have a list of non-responders to mail.

And the other option I mentioned:

Use a VerticalResponse Report to Create a List

1. Go to the VR Statistics tab and find the sent email you want to use.
2. Click the “Actions” link to the right of the email’s name and select “Create Mailing List.”
3. Give Your New List a Name
4. Choose “Non-Responder” from the “What to Include” menu.
5. Click the Create List button.

Your list is now ready to go.  The second option is much easier, so why did I refer to the first option as the better of the two?  Because only the first option will allow you to push your reporting data back to Salesforce.  You’ll still see reporting in VerticalResponse if you use the second option, but you won’t see any reporting info within your Salesforce Reports tab or on your individual Lead & Contact Records.

Let me know in the comments if you have any questions!

Richard Huffaker, Education & Training Manager

Get More Sign-ups with an Improved Opt-in Form

There is no better way to gather sign-ups than through an opt-in form on your website.  I'm sure most - if not all of you - have a form on your site already.

But just because you have an opt-in form now, doesn't mean you can't make improvements.  Here are four tips to help you make those improvements and get even more sign-ups.

#1 - Make It Impossible to Miss

It's one thing to have an opt-in form - it's another thing entirely to make that opt-in form so easy to find that everyone who visits your website can see it.  There are very few people who want to join your mailing list so badly that they'll click around your site and search for your opt-in form to find it.   

So you should either:

Link to your form from the main navigation menu of your website that says something along the lines of "Sign-up for Our Newsletter" or "Get More Info."

OR

Include your form on every page of your website.  This can be done through the simple inclusion of a sidebar that stays on screen no matter which page is being viewed.

#2 - Keep It Simple

It can be tempting to ask for lots of information on an opt-in form - email address, phone number, postal address, etc.  The more info you collect, the easier it is to qualify your leads and the more avenues you have available for marketing to them.  

However, asking for too much info can discourage people from signing up.  So you have to strike a balance between getting the info you need and ensuring your form is not acting as a barrier to new sign-ups.  

Ask yourself how much info you actually need. Unless it's very important that your sales people have as much info as possible, you should limit your form to Email Address, First Name and Last Name (or some similar combination).  Or you could have 2 forms: a simple opt-in form for mailing list sign-ups and a separate form for more serious inquiries that requires potential customers to provide you with more info.

#3 - Explain the Value

Don't just ask people for their contact info, tell them what you're going to give them in exchange for that info.  Instead of "Join Our Mailing List" say "Sign-up for our twice monthly newsletter to get tips, hear about new products and get access to email only deals."

This approach should go beyond your opt-in form.  Everyone in your organization should be aware of the value of your email marketing program, so they can convey that value to potential customers.  It is always better to tell someone what you're going to give them instead of asking them to give you something.  "Can I send you our newsletter?" is better than "Can I get your email address?" just as "Would you like to buy that item?" is much better than "Would you like to give me 75 dollars?"

#4 - Market It

Use your non-email marketing to direct people to your opt-in form.  An ad in the newspaper, a postcard, an online ad - all these can be used to send people to a form.  

Why is that of any value to you?  Because once someone is on your email marketing list, you have a stronger connection and can market to them directly.  

Of course, sending people from an ad to a form with no extra incentive or explanation may not get you very far, since most people are unlikely to jump all over the chance to join some random company's list if they aren't already interested in the products / services of that company.  So you would likely want to combine the form with some other content or offer.

To provide an example of such a combination - I know of a pub / restaurant that sends out a postcard to people who move to their neighborhood.  This card asks the new residents to sign-up for the pub's newsletter and offers a 50% coupon for their next visit if they sign-up.  They do so many things right:

- They reach out to new residents who don't know the neighborhood yet and are therefore likely to want to try new places nearby.

- They ask people to sign-up for their newsletter which enables them to continue marketing to those folks who are clearly interested.

- They provide an incentive to both sign-up and come down to the pub.  So not only do people have a good reason to sign-up, they also have a good reason to become an actual customer.

Can you think of an approach to take with your own potential customers that could accomplish something similar?

Richard Huffaker, Education & Training Manager