Email Blasts and CRM

Salestrakr provides email capabilities directly within the service enabling you to find a contact, click on their email address and pull up a dialog box for an outbound mail.  And when you want to find a select group to email, you can use advanced search to find that particular group that may benefit from a specific message.  But, if you want to send out hundreds or even thousands of emails..............better get the right tool for the right purpose.  Salestrakr isn't an email blaster.  What applications or services do this well?  Below are a few to consider:

• Constant Contact - A very popular online service that allows you to send simple emails, newsletters, surveys and event notifications to a large list of addresses.  Salestrakr uses Constant Contact.
• MailChimp - A very easy to use online service developed by former Georgia Tech "Rocket Science Group" folks
• VerticalReponse - Lots of customers, easy to use, completely online.

These online services though would prefer you don't refer to their services as "Email Blast" services.  In fact, they are quite firm in their demand that you not spam people.  Yes, you can reach your constituents and lots of them.  But, the terms of service for these companies require that your list be populated with the email addresses of people who have opted-in to our list.  That is, they have requested to receive your emails destined for many people.

How can you use Salestrakr with these services?  Your initial list can be created by an export from Salestrakr.  Further, your email replies can be forwarded to a Salestrakr dropbox.

Don't let email marketing scare you.  It can play a big part in your marketing plan.  Use it too much though and you may turn people off.  Use it too little and people may ask "what's this?".

Comments

[Dr. Len Schwartz]

Email blats can be a vital part of your marketing campaign. But, make sure send emails out in a timely manner. You don't want to become a nuisance to your customer and begin spamming them.