ACT!ion eNews> Spring 2010
Listen to Your ACT! Guru
How to Make More Sales with your ACT! Database
As the world has become more computerized, and addicted to email and the Internet, it is only logical that marketing would evolve to take advantage of that technology. E-marketing (short for electronic marketing) has proven to be the killer app for creating and getting our messages out to our clients and prospects. And the ROI is great. According to the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing earned $57.25 for every dollar spent in 20091.
Last fall, Sage released its most business-changing new feature in the 22-year history of ACT!: ACT! E-marketing. Now with ACT! 2010, companies have the holy grail at their fingertips: to launch a single lead generation, create follow-up email, and implement behavior-based drip marketing campaign… right from their own ACT! database.
What to Write in Your E-marketing
It’s never been easier and more affordable to email business-boosting campaigns to prospects and customers. However, the hardest thing about getting started with any marketing program is not learning the ACT! E-marketing technology, it’s what to say and how to say it.
You know... writing something that someone will actually read, enjoy, and then anticipate the next one!
Find Email Content Inspiration in Your Swipe File
Professional copy writers keep a swipe file… a folder (electronic or paper) that has samples of marketing pieces or messages that inspired them… or sometimes ones that they hated so they can remind themselves what not to do. Start one for yourself. Include your own messages and letters that you have used over the life of your business… where you wrote a great message (that you occasionally swipe from for other clients).
It’s not about plagiarism… it’s about inspiration. What did someone else do that made you want to call them? What links did you click in an email and why? What subject lines were intriguing to you? How could you rework that message to work for your own business or your next prospect?
Start with a few templates that you develop over time. If you are having trouble getting started with your writing, check out the series of pre-written drip marketing letter campaigns at http://www.dripmarketingletters.com. Don’t get overwhelmed with all of the templates that you know that you should have. Just start with one today and add another one next week.
Survey Your Database: A Case Study
Another way to get interesting and relevant content is to ask for it. The built-in survey tool in ACT! E-marketing lets you add questions to your list. A survey doesn't have to be long or "statistically valid." Three considered questions are often enough to generate excellent content ideas. Typically, if one contact is confused or opinionated on a subject, many more on your list will be, too. Their issues need to be addressed by you, the subject-matter expert, in a future drip marketing message. Answers can be downloaded into custom fields in ACT! for use in future database segmentation and personalization.
We just completed a customer survey for an ACT! client to help him identify topics for his monthly e-newsletter editorial calendar. To motivate his list to answer his survey questions, he gave away a fun mini-LED flashlight.
Here's a summary of his results:
- An open rate of 36%
- A survey completion rate of 15%
- Completed surveys were turned into on-site sales calls for reps to deliver the reward personally.
- Approximately 23% invalid or bounced emails (missed sales opportunities) were forwarded to sales reps for list cleanup.
- Several customers asked, "Do you carry X?" or "Why are you 2X higher than another vendor I buy from?" These queries indicated which products (out of the client's 20,000 SKU catalog) to focus on in the next e-newsletter and what product questions needed to be answered.
- Eight customers wrote unsolicited testimonials about their customer service rep. These were surprise morale boosters for the staff and will make great testimonials for the client's website or case study examples for future e-marketing content.
Leverage Your Number One Asset
You don’t need to write the perfect message, design a perfect campaign, or create perfect questions for your survey. Sometimes good enough is good enough.
AND, any marketing is better than no marketing.
Besides that… you already have the most important element of any marketing campaign right at your fingertips: your ACT! database of customers and prospects. It is one of the most valuable assets you have.
Do you believe that some marketing to that list will make you more money this year? Then… just get started.
ACT! Certified Consultants Lori Feldman and Susan Clark are veteran Swiftpage Gold Certified Drip Marketing Consultants and camp counselors at Drip Marketing Camp™.
Lori Feldman & Susan Clark
Gold Certified Drip Marketing Consultants
Drip Marketing Letters
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