There are lots of opinions out there on the best email marketing and shopping cart systems to use. Infusionsoft is one of them – I’m sure you’ve heard of it. Some people love Infusionsoft. Some people hate it. And some people spend their every free moment obsessing over how cool it is. Our resident Go2Girls Infusionsoft expert is the last one, and she is going to try and convert us share some of the cool features and things thing you can do with the powerhouse that is Infusionsoft.
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by Go2Girls Technical Expert – Melissa Sullivan
I’m not going to tell you about what functions Infusionsoft has to offer. You can take the online demo to find that out. Instead, I am going to tell you about what you can DO with Infusionsoft (IS) that will save you time, money, and frustration – and how it will help you fine-tune your marketing plan to generate the most revenue possible.
“We’ve built everything you need—CRM, e-commerce, social media and email marketing—into a single, powerful system that automatically converts leads into new customers and grows sales from existing ones. So you can focus on your business or your life. Or both. Imagine that.” ~ Infusionsoft website
Because I don’t want to keep you too long (and believe me, I could go on forever about IS), I am breaking this into a series. So, with each article in the series, we will focus on a specific part of the average back-office setup of the coaching scene; how you can automate, streamline, and effectivize (yep, made that word up, which is why it’s bolded) the way you run your business.
First, let’s discuss the keystone of every business – marketing. To make the differences clear, I’m going to compare how non-IS users currently do business, and then I am going to tell you what it’s like using IS.
Email Open Rates:
The OLD WAY – You kinda’ sorta’ think that an email blast is pretty much done and everyone has opened the email after about a day or two, right? That’s what you heard anyway. So, you wait a day or two before actually expecting finalized results. You login and there you are staring, at two metrics, one that is the open rate and one that is the percentage. End of story. No idea WHO opened it – or WHO clicked WHICH links. But hey, I guess that’s enough. WRONG!
The IS Way – You log in and right there on your dashboard you see a running, real-time tally of exactly which contact is opening the email. Literally, as we speak! It’s like watching the stock market ticker! Then, you click on an arrow next to their name and see exactly which links in your Ezine they clicked on. Then, you happen to notice that while most of the people are opening from yesterday’s email, you also see that a lot of people are opening emails from last week. Hmmmm … So it seems that people need more than a couple of days, more like a week, to respond to offers in emails … Interesting!
So, why is this important? – Ok, so this is enough to make me all giddy because I am a TRACKER. I have to track and analyze EVERYTHING, looking for RESULTS. But you might not be so enamored with this. So imagine you are getting ready to launch a campaign. Before, you would be cool with sending a final reminder of that last special offer before the actual launch two days before it begins. That’s PLENTY of time, right?
Hmmmm … After you realize that, on average, it’s taking almost a week for email opens to start dying down, you realize that a day or two is clearly not enough time. So those last minute habits (and don’t worry, you aren’t the only one) have to hit the curb. Because, what good does it do anyone to have a coupon code to entice last minute buyers when, NOT ONLY is the coupon code expired by the time they click the link, but the program has already begun? How many potential buyers did you lose?
Hey, if that is not enough to get you excited, let’s talk about the next super-cool thing about IS. A very important, special, and magical word called a “tag.” This is a super-awesome thing in Infusionsoft that allows you to SUPER segment your list. Segmenting may not sound cool, but I’m going to show you how sexy it can be. So let’s go into the comparison and I’ll explain more.
Using tags in Infusionsoft
The OLD Way – You send out an email blast but you need to know who wants to attend a call, or maybe you want them to download something, but you want to know WHO downloads it so you can send a follow-up later, right? Unless you create a form for everything you want to track (or in some software create an ad tracker which is pretty useless by comparison), you won’t be able to track WHO is interested in WHAT. Instead, you peg your list constantly with forms they have to keep filling out, over and over again. For you, it’s simply a way to get them the info they want, right? Because if you are sending an email to them they are ALREADY on your list, so it’s not beneficial to you. But for them, it’s an annoyance – It’s a deterrent – It’s a reason NOT to respond. Plus, you wind up with 500 bucket lists that all have pretty much the same people in them, cluttering up your nicely organized space (or you wish it was).
The IS Way – With IS, you create your email. Then you create … (You know what’s coming!)… Tags to apply to every person that clicks a link. So instead of, “Hey, you want to join my call? Then “fill out this form.” YUCK! You have a nice little phrase like, “Hey, click this link and you will automatically receive the call-in information. No forms to fill out, I promise!”
Suddenly, worrying about losing them at the opt-in, or that they may never get to the “Thank you” page, is a thing of the past. You can use that tag as a catalyst to immediately begin a campaign sequence. Now just sit there for a second and consider that. Consider the possibilities of that. A follow-up campaign, as big or small as you want, starts immediately; simply from them clicking a link, since it already knows their email address.
Or, I’ve used it to simply get feedback. For instance, here is a real life example of the power of tags:
We sent out a broadcast launching a new program. We tracked who clicked the link to go to the Sales Page. We gave it a week, and then did a search by selecting who went to the Sales Page (using tags) but did NOT purchase. We took that list and sent them another email and said, “Yo’, how come you didn’t buy?” We also created the following links:
“Not enough money?”
“I need to make payments.”
“I have a question, please call me!”
Those who clicked on the “Not enough money?” link were automatically sent to a lower priced product. People who clicked on “I need to make payments” were sent to a payment plan. Those that clicked on the “I have a question, please call me!” link were sent to our scheduler … etc., etc. No forms, no muss, no fuss. Talk about COOL!
I’m sure you can see the vast possibilities and FUN you could have with that capability. Talk about targeting your markets!
So … That must be pretty complicated to set up, right? You probably need to know code.
NOT! It’s as simple as clicking a button, deciding what you want to name the tag, and make sure it’s associated with a campaign (I’ll get into how awesome campaigns are in another article), “Thank you” page, or webpage. It’s as simple as that. Uber-effective marketing like you would never have imagined!
Be on the lookout for the next email with more neat tricks in Infusionsoft to revolutionize your back office. Want us to whip your Infusionsoft into shape for you? Contact us and we can hook you up! It’s time to divide (i.e., segment) and conquer!