VerticalResponse Email Marketing Blog for Small Business

Add a VerticalResponse Opt-In Form to Your Facebook Pages

I’ve posted before that you should put an email opt-in form on each page of your website. In today’s world your social media profiles like your Facebook fan page are becoming extensions of your websites. Well, thanks to Return on Subscriber, I have found a way to add that opt-in form to your Facebook fan page.

We just created a video for how to do this if written words bore you!

I did this in just under 10 minutes and I promise it isn’t hard at all. But before you start, it is good to know that FBML, the application that allows you to do this, requires you to have a personal profile. So if you don't have one of those find someone who does, or join us on Facebook!

Step 1: Create a FREE VerticalResponse opt-in form

• Go to the ‘List’ section in your VerticalResponse account.
• Click to create a new opt-in form
• Name it
• Design your form, don’t worry we make the design part very simple
• Choose a pop-up thank you page, Facebook will not let you redirect to another site.
• Choose if you want new registrants to be added to an existing list or if you would like a new list created
• Set up any alerts 
• And publish. Need a tutorial?

Step 2: Add the Static FBML application to your Fan Page

• Search "Static FBML" in the Facebook search bar or click here
• Click Add to my Page
• In the window that pops up select your page

Step 3: Customize for your Facebook fan page

• Click to edit your fan page
• Click to edit the FBML application within your page 
• Paste the VerticalResponse opt-in form code into the empty box
• Change the title of the box, maybe "Newsletter Sign Up Form" or "Email Sign Up"
• Save these changes
• Go back to your fan page
• Click on the ‘+’ icon on your navigation bar
• Move your newsletter sign up form around on your navigation bar so it is in an appropriate place

We have added this application on to our fan page so check it out if you would like to see what it looks like before you begin.  We also have a short video tutorial that walks through Steps 2 and 3.  You can watch that tutorial here. 

VerticalResponse Is Integrated with BigContacts: Contact Management for Small Businesses

I'm pretty excited to announce that BigContacts, an online contact management system that allows small businesses to manage EVERYTHING on one screen, has integrated with VerticalResponse. You can manage customer emails, meetings, files, tasks, notes, history, opportunities, photos and more. Their lowest pricing is about $15/month/user. That's pretty affordable.

Once you've gathered your customer data into your BigContacts online account, you can filter and sort lists by any criteria you have and then package the results into lists for your email marketing campaigns. The lists are then automatically published in your VerticalResponse account for future management and outreach – and stored there for free, no matter much you send your email campaigns.

In your VerticalResponse account you also have immediate access to the results of the campaign, including opens, clicks, bounces, unsubscribes, purchases, and more. Your contact records in BigContacts are automatically updated to reflect when your campaign was sent so you can keep track of them.

So there you have it, it's super-easy to get your customer lists FROM BigContacts. Another time-saver for your business.

If you use BigContacts log into your account and go to the Marketing tab, there you'll be able to start building your email list using the Advanced Search. If you don't use BigContacts but want to try them on for size, they have a ton of great video tours and a quick overview video.

VerticalResponse Now Available on the Intuit® Workplace!

You wanted a simple integration with your QuickBooks account? You got it!

You know you deliver professional looking email marketing, postcards and online survey campaigns, with VerticalResponse, an intuitive and affordable web-based marketing solution. Now we're making it even easier for you to grow your business.

Tired of downloading your data from QuickBooks and uploading it into VerticalResponse? Now with the Intuit Workplace, you can create an account and  easily transfer your QuickBooks Customer data with standard fields into your VerticalResponse account. Watch the videos for step-by-step instructions.

Already an existing VerticalResponse User?

If you already have a VerticalResponse account, all you need now is to install the VerticalResponse for Intuit Workplace app into your Workplace account and set it up to use your QuickBooks data.

Installing VerticalResponse for Intuit Workplace - You Only Have to Do This Once!

1. Go to the VerticalResponse for Intuit Workplace Application 
2. Click on the "Signup Now" link that will take you to the Workplace login page. If you haven't yet, create a Workplace account now. It takes just a minute.
3. Once logged in to the Workplace, you'll be asked to "Choose a Subscription Plan". Select "Free Trial" and click on "Next".
4. When you've agreed to the Terms Of Service, click on "Subscribe".
5. From the Confirmation page, click on "Go to this application".

Setting Up Your App To Use QuickBooks data

1. You'll be asked if you'd like to use your QuickBooks data. Go ahead and select "Use QuickBooks Data" and click on "Next". 
2. A Java installer will download the Workplace Sync plugin and install it on to your PC (Sorry not available for Mac). Depending on the number of records you have in your QuickBooks Company file, it may take Intuit a while to sync your QuickBooks data in to the Workplace. i.e. 1000 records takes about 15 minutes.  Download Workplace Sync FAQ Document
   
   
   
3. Once you've completed installing the Workplace Sync app, go ahead and proceed to the VerticalResponse for Intuit Workplace app.
4. Enter your VerticalResponse password and you're ready to mail to your QuickBooks customers. Make sure you bring over your data often so you'll always have an up-to-date list in your VerticalResponse account.

* For security purpose, you'll only need to enter your password the first time you access your account through the integration.
* Works with QuickBooks: QuickBooks 2008, 2009 (QuickBooks Pro, Premier, Enterprise)

Direct Marketing that Gets Results

My friend, John Jantsch at Duct Tape Marketing, asked me to be on a panel for a free webinar, Direct Marketing that Gets Results, and I thought it sounded like a great idea. We will be discussing ways to generate leads using direct marketing tactics such as email marketing, direct mail and direct response advertising.

The panel will be Wednesday, April 15th at 9 am PDT. I will be joined by Brian Clark of copyblogger and Anita Campbell from Small Biz Trends.

You can join us by registering here: http://www.brighttalk.com/webcasts/3432/attend

After you register with BrightTalk you can also get access to two other webinars by John, Creating Marketing Materials that Educate and The “Truth” About Small Business Branding.

VerticalResponse Goes to the Zoo

VerticalResponse partnered with HandsOn Bay Area (HOBA) last weekend to improve our community through animal conservancy efforts.  Activities included planting and refurbishing various gardens and exhibits at the SF Zoo. In the wee hours on a Saturday morning you could find 24 VR team members cleaning up the new hippo exhibit! Go team!! Great job.

If you haven't read it yet, read Can Your Business Be Socially Responsible?

Email Marketing Guide

VerticalResponse launched our first email marketing guide. It's got a step-by-step process about how to use all of the features of VerticalResponse, as well as marketing tips for keeping your click rate high and your unsubscribe rate low.

New Features - Reporting

Here at VerticalResponse we work pretty hard to constantly make enhancements to our product. We took a look at your feature requests and decided that our reporting section was in need of some TLC. Here are some of the new features you'll find now in your VerticalResponse account.

New Campaign Dashboard

Consider this the “executive summary” for each campaign you send. Short on time? No problem, look at everything you’ll find on the main dashboard view:

Overall Performance – View the totals and percentages for Opens, Clicks, Bounces and Unsubscribes, as well as Forwards, Conversions, Sales and Non-Responders.

Top Performing Lists – If your campaign is made up of multiple mailing lists you can view the response rates for each individual list to see how they performed. Then use this information to then run targeted follow-up emails.

Top Performing Links – Quickly see the top 5 most clicked links for your email. Then dive into the Detailed Reporting (see below) for the even more click through stats.

Recent Email Comparisons – Quickly and easily compare the performance of your email to other recently sent campaigns.  Easily identify interesting trends in your campaigns and then make changes to increase your response rates.

Printable Dashboard – Print a summary of your response data to share with co-workers, colleagues or clients.

Detailed Reports

By drilling down into your campaign in the Detailed Reporting area you can now see what’s driving the statistics in your Campaign Dashboard.

All Events – View just the response stats for a particular campaign and compare it to your lifetime average. You can customize the view to show only the stats you’re interested in (i.e. opens, clicks, bounces, unsubscribes, forwards and non responders).

Click-Through Performance – View the total number of clicks and click-through percentage for all links within your email You can also filter this data to display HTML, Text and total clicks vs. unique clicks. It’s easy to see which links are working for you.

Compare Campaigns – Select up to 5 sent campaigns from any time period you choose and evaluate the performance. You can choose to view this data over time (i.e. first 24 hours) or the summary totals for Opens, Clicks, Bounces and Unsubscribes.

As usual, you'll find Domain reporting as well as your Download Center for you to have access to your reports. Get in there and tell use what you think of the new feature enhancements to reporting!

How Much $ Did Your Email Campaign Make You Today?

When you send out an email marketing campaign, you probably get a spike in sales, so you think it worked right? Right! BUT, wouldn't it be great to track the sale directly from those who clicked on your links in your email campaign?

We use our own feature for Click-to-Conversion tracking here and we love it, it can really be valuable.

If you've got a confirmation page, you can either use the VerticalResponse Click-to-Conversion tracker, OR you can use your free Google Analytics account. Here's how to use the VerticalResponse feature:

Log in > Account > Analytics Settings > Click-to-Conversion

The text for PURCHASE_AMOUNT is provided as a placeholder only in the ROI Calculator code snippet.  This will need to be replaced with the actual purchase amount of the sale, as captured from your website, and must be specially coded by you or your website designer.

Let us know how this tool is working for you!

New Features: List Management

A quick note if you're a VerticalResponse customer. Recently we released a range of exciting new list features for customers who have gone through our list consolidation process (it's free btw) . If you're wondering what you need to do, login to your account and follow the simple instructions there.

Upload a list for mass actions

This feature makes it easier for you to target emails, and clean your list.

• Suppress members - Great if you want to temporarily exclude some subscribers from your email marketing campaigns.
• Unsubscribe and Delete - Easily clean your list of data that you are collecting in other places or people you know don't want to get your emails.

Where to find it: Lists > All Lists, and select any list > Tools > Mass Update

More search options

Find email addresses in your account based on their opt-in status. It makes it easy to find subscribers who are single opt-in, mailable, bounced, or unsubscribed. Also easily search on suppression status.

Where to find it: Lists > All Members > List Members > Advanced > Select filter for Opt-in Status or Suppression Status

Get Set Up to Email Unlimited

If you want to join our monthly subscription program (you don't have to), you can send unlimited emails for a low monthly fixed fee. Just check out our pricing page to see where you fit in. Then consolidate your lists if you're an existing customer. (Did we mention it's free?)

It's easy, so what's stopping you?

Unlimited Emailing from VerticalResponse

Today we're pretty excited to announce some new features from VerticalResponse; you'll have access to unlimited emailing for a low fixed monthly fee. No, we're not kidding. It's tough in this economy and we want to give you the email marketing tools at the price that will keep your business growing. If you're happy on your current pay-as-you-go plan, feel free to stay put. Here are just a few of the new features you'll  have access to:

• Now you'll be able to view and edit one record that now exists across multiple lists.
• You can now download all unique list members with/without bounce and unsubscribe info.
• View one complete profile of all of your list members.
• Search on any field or partial email address.
• You'll have access to unlimited emailing for a low fixed monthly fee.
• And more!

Current VerticalResponse users will be notified within your account with more details on how you can get access these new features.