My Life Journal

Successful email marketing tips from GetResponse customers. Part 1.

June 1st, 2010 , Kate Grochowska

Helping GetResponse customers is our top priority and we’re always searching for useful tips and ideas to help you market your business more effectively. Sometimes the best ideas come from you! So we recently asked users with the highest OR and CTR rates to share with the rest of us their keys to success.

We begin our customer tips campaign with Khanh Tran, owner of Sienna Home Loans based in Australia, and an enthusiastic GetResponse user with some great experiences and email marketing tips to share. We asked Khanh what approaches he uses when planning a new campaign or newsletter. What are the priorities?

Visualize your audience.
Before you do anything, think about who will be reading your message. Visualize yourself as the typical reader of mortgage newsletters when crafting your message. That will help make it relevant.

Always have a goal.
Think about what you want to achieve with your message. You want to be on top of readers’ minds  for the right reasons, e.g. we are a business they trust and want to deal with, an agency they would recommend to friends, family and co workers. Keep that goal in mind with every word you write.

Use quality (not quantity) leads.
Like many others starting out, I added anyone and everyone to my list. Now I’m very selective who I add to my email database. Some email addresses are like seeds − nurture them and they will flourish. Some are like weeds. So, ask yourself when sorting your database, is this the type of person I want reading my messages? Then, if they deliver high response rates, cultivate those contacts!

Get in the “zone”.
When I’m starting a big project, I like to create a rough draft first. I create an environment or find a place where I feel comfortable, then take to pen and paper. It’s got to be a plain white A4 paper, no lines, no border, no boundaries to restrict the creative flow. When the mind starts filling up with ideas, you want to capture the good, the bad, and the ugly, and worry about culling later.

Use media.
Words are fantastic but there’s something about adding a photograph, image, or even better, a video to your work that creates substance, as long as it’s relevant. For instance, when I’m doing testimonials, I use either a picture of myself and the client or a short video of the customer giving the testimonial. I uploaded one testimonial to my phone to show prospects what customers think of my service. It’s a great elevator pitch…a mini commercial in your pocket!

Keep your content organized:

•    Create a title that captures your readers’ attention. With GetResponse, I like to personalize my titles e.g. “Hi (name), come to our seminar and learn how to buy a home!” There’s something about using people’s names
that makes a positive and lasting impression. In sales, we are taught to use the prospect’s name at least three times to build rapport. I don’t know exactly why, but it works!

•    The introduction is the most important part of your message. Keep it short, and so interesting and exciting that they’ll have to read on. Link it to the objective of your message: for example, the goal of my messages is usually to find clients via referrals, so I might say, “John, you were referred to us by your co-worker Jane, a loyal and long-term client of ours.” This helps establish credibility right away.

•    It doesn’t matter if you are providing a service or a product − you are almost always solving a problem – so illustrate it with lots of details, make it totally realistic. Check out “Use media “for some tips!

•    Offer solutions. Make a big deal about your solutions! “If you don’t blow your own horn, no one will!” Generate some emotional fireworks, some “aha” moments, a sign of relief, or jump for joy! After all, you can solve their problems  − and that’s HUGE!

“In email marketing, like everything else, if you want to be good at it, you need to have an open mind and keep learning and trying new things. GetResponse is a great platform for being creative and customizing your marketing to your business. There are so many rich, easy-to-use features. And they really listen to SMB customer feedback. Like Lance Armstrong says “Feedback is what champions have for breakfast”!”, said Mr Tran.