Email Marketing

[mschlange]

Looking for any advice for either constant contacts verses mail chimp.
Wanting to do some aggressive email marketing in several states.

Poking for any experience with constant contact or mail chimp. Pros and cons. Looking to do large email campaign in several states

Thanks
Mark

 

[djs]

The biggest question is where did you get your list from? Did they opt in with YOU? If not, both mailchimp and constant contact will shut down your campaign and stop you cold.

They are brutal (rightfully so) on that front. If you have a bounce rate that exceeds their threshold or more then 1 or 2 spam complaints, you will get tossed. Case closed.

Next thing is what is your campaign? Most of the time, agents are going straight to the sales pitch. This tends to not be successful at all, rather, you need to go to developing a nurturing relationship. Email marketing is not a one time event, but rather a part of a whole marketing plan.

My strong recommendation for running any sort of email campaign is to 'publish' articles that position you as an expert in the field of insurance. Give people a reason to value you as a resource, rather then see you just as a salesman. As an example, rather then sending an email that says "Save 40% on your car insurance" (which nobody believes anyway), try giving them information by answering questions, such as:

- Am I covered on my rental car?
- I have a new teenage driver, now what?
- How will a claim impact my rates?
- 10 ways to save money on my car insurance.

Just thing of the questions that get asked frequently (search FAQ's of carrier sites if you need topics) and use that as content. It will work better, but will take longer. You need to develop the relationship then you will get the sales.

Dan

 

[rievandesign]

That was some great input and advice. I have found that a double opted list is the only way to go but when you are just getting started and want to gain some traction with your list it's kinda important to test.

I have always been a proponent of testing with garbage leads while you gain your double opted traffic. you can also go all out and purchase a shared server and route your email through a company such as mail-gun. They provide you with your own ip that you can warm up yourself.

Your biggest issue I find before you can even begin to look at CTR (click through rate) or overall effectiveness of a campaign is going to be deliver-ability. You want your emails to get to the target. Best way to do that is always have double opted in lists.

If you are looking to upload small lists than my personal favorite is aweber. They are simple flexible and they have amazing delivery. They do gard their ip like a hawk so make sure your emails are good before you upload.

I hope that helps,

Regards

Alexander

 

[Glen Shelton]

Double opted in list. Everything else is garbage

 

[rievandesign]

I agree with the idea that double opt in leads are best. I also think that if you don't test you are not giving your lists a fair chance. Heck nothing beats sending to current clients but we are not all lucky enough to have 60,000 + current clients to send to every day.

 

[rievandesign]

I am looking for a great price on some good turning 65 email lists does anyone have any good sources?

 

[robtmccarthy]

Looking for any advice for either constant contacts verses mail chimp.
Wanting to do some aggressive email marketing in several states.

Poking for any experience with constant contact or mail chimp. Pros and cons. Looking to do large email campaign in several states

Thanks
Mark

Since no one actually answered your question.

I've used Mailchimp - very basic but does a great job at blast emails.

Looked at constant contact but wasn't impressed.

Currently I am using ActiveCampaign roughly the same cost as mailchimp but tons more features. But also a steeper learning curve.

If you are looking for simplicity mailchimp is the way to go. If you want more complex automations look into activecampaign. I took a Udemty course that really helped me get started with it.

 

[rievandesign]

I believe there were a few deleted posts on this thread and the question was answered well in the beginning. I have used both mail chimp and constant contacts.

Allow me to quickly give my personal feedback.

As far as usability constant contacts seems to have a much better user interface. It is a simple way to set up mailing lists auto-responders and create templates. But, this does come at a cost. At least a year ago it was a lot more expensive than mail chimp.

Mail chimp is a pretty flexible system that allows you to simply create emails and set up auto responders but again the user interface isn't as easy to use as constant contacts.

After using many email system including some of the big boys lilke Maro post. I still recommend aweber. I feel their system is the simplest for the price and has never failed me. for as little as 19 bucks a month you get un matched deliverablity auto res ponders opt in forms and great customer support. But really none of this matters at all unless you are getting the exact features you are looking for.

Please let me know if there is something specific you are looking to do. I haven't done it all but in my 20 years of web marketing I have done a lot.


Regards,

Alexander

 

[Cameron Lane]

Give people a reason to value you as a resource, rather then see you just as a salesman.

Dan

Great piece of advice for me. Really appreciate it.

 

[InfinityLeads]

The biggest question is where did you get your list from? Did they opt in with YOU? If not, both mailchimp and constant contact will shut down your campaign and stop you cold.

They are brutal (rightfully so) on that front. If you have a bounce rate that exceeds their threshold or more then 1 or 2 spam complaints, you will get tossed. Case closed.

Next thing is what is your campaign? Most of the time, agents are going straight to the sales pitch. This tends to not be successful at all, rather, you need to go to developing a nurturing relationship. Email marketing is not a one time event, but rather a part of a whole marketing plan.

My strong recommendation for running any sort of email campaign is to 'publish' articles that position you as an expert in the field of insurance. Give people a reason to value you as a resource, rather then see you just as a salesman. As an example, rather then sending an email that says "Save 40% on your car insurance" (which nobody believes anyway), try giving them information by answering questions, such as:

- Am I covered on my rental car?
- I have a new teenage driver, now what?
- How will a claim impact my rates?
- 10 ways to save money on my car insurance.

Just thing of the questions that get asked frequently (search FAQ's of carrier sites if you need topics) and use that as content. It will work better, but will take longer. You need to develop the relationship then you will get the sales.

Dan

welp this basically eliminates his question!

Follow all of the advice above ... the difference between Mailchimp and ConstantContact is irrelevant until those boxes are checked!