Who likes to pack up and leave their current email platform for a new one?
I sure don’t!
I have contacts who are all organized into lists and funnel automations. That would simply be a nightmare to migrate.
When your emails aren’t getting opened
Recently I discovered some issues with my email service provider (Active Campaign) and considered packing my bags to find another one. In fact, I did start with another provider but didn’t close the existing account (just had a feeling not to close it).
In short, my emails weren’t getting delivered, opened, or clicked. Ha, what’s the point of an ESP, right? My emails were coded right but something on the backend was converting them to 404 errors for my leads.
Thanks to some amazing support (live chat during business hours), Active Campaign had everything fixed the issues and had everything up and running as it should.
If your getting started with email marketing
I’m sure you’ve heard or learned by now, but email is one of the BEST channels to pursue for your business. In fact, it’s the only channel you’ll completely own 100%.
Not only will you own your contacts, but you’ll be able to send them multiple offers down the road generating repeat revenue over time.
Here are some pointers for those getting started…
- Don’t start a newsletter unless you’re really going to send a newsletter
- Create a lead gen – something of value that your leads will want
- Don’t send broadcast emails. Try to send specific offers to specific lists
- Keep your emails limited to a single offer
- Always test your emails (proof read and click on all links)
Diving a little deeper into email marketing
I have some pretty intensive automation that I’ve built into my email funnels. It’s critical that my links work and that the emails are wanted by my leads.
If you’re considering migrating ESPs or want to start email marketing, consider your end goals and reverse engineer your goals.
Let me explain.
I have multiple forms on a single page that will subscribe the user to a specific list based on the form they submit. This requires specific validation scripts PER FORM in order to work correctly. Otherwise, if a user hits submit on one form, it will trigger the validation script on all the forms.
It’s important to either…
- Only have one form per page or
- Make sure you have an ESP that provides separate validation scripts per form
I’m happy to say that Active Campaign provides validation scripts per form which allows multiple forms to be installed or embedeed on a single page.
This helps me to have lead gens in multiple places on a single page AND to have an enticing exit pop offer if the user chooses to leave the page.
Here’s a quick checklist to follow while building your email funnels:
- On your lead gen page, add text to encourage the lead to add your domain or email to their email white list, safe senders list, or as a contact
- Also include this text on your emails to help bypass domain filtering and reduce spam placement of your messages
- Make sure you have an enticing lead gen so your leads open your email
- Always test your automations to make sure they’re working properly
There are many good email service providers on the market, but I highly recommend Active Campaign as one of the best. Their support was great and made me want to stay as a customer. They’re also very affordable. I’m shocked to see some of the other ESPs charge for less features.
You might not use Active Campaign, but do you have any questions or follow ups? I’d love to hear them. Leave a comment below.
