Today, Your Email is an Engagement Tool – PointDrive Makes Sure it Stays that Way

Gary Vaynerchuk repeatedly says that marketers need to do their thing in the year we live in. In other words, we need to focus on strategies that work today, not those that worked 10 years ago – or even just 2 years ago. It sounds like obvious advice, doesn’t it? Well, not quite.

Engaging email marketing

The funny thing is, so many of us are still doing what worked 10 years ago: buying lists, cold calling, sending spammy sales emails. These strategies are not nearly as effective as they once were.

You see, 10 years ago, your simple text-only e-mail newsletter would deliver stellar open rates. While it varied greatly depending on the size of the company and industry, email open rates in 2012 averaged nearly 20%, while the click-through rates were around 5%. (source). Do you know how these stats compare to 2002? The open rates were over 37%; the clickthrough rates were about 8% (source).

It is much more difficult now to have your message heard. The main reason? Gary Vaynerchuk suggests, “marketers ruin everything.”

Marketers are continuously sending sales emails in a spam-like manner. As we learn to ignore the noise and manage our inbox differently, those emails are becoming less and less effective. It’s time we find a better solution, a way to better engage and delight the recipients.

The Big Question is How?

Improved open rates and click through rates will not be achieved using the same impersonal email strategies. You must turn to well-designed, interactive and informative emails that your recipients want to receive.

To maximize the potential of my customer emails, I primarily leverage two tools. For mass email marketing, where each recipient can benefit from receiving the same message, I use MailChimp. But when I am sending a more targeted email, I recommend you to use PointDrive.

Here’s an example demonstrating how it can help make a difference for you too.

Case study: Meet John, a Sales Rep

John, a sales rep, recently attended a conference and met 20 valuable prospects that he needed to follow-up with. He spent an entire day crafting emails to each of the prospects, slightly adjusting each one with a personal greeting and details he could recall from their brief interaction. He was relieved once they were all finally sent.

But John wasn’t done. How did he go about getting each prospect to the next step? Did they receive the emails? Did they read them? Unfortunately, he had no idea whether the email recipients really received the e-mails, actually opened them or were interested in what he was pitching. So to keep the ball rolling, John needed to send another round of generic emails. He would then blindly call them all back, hoping they pick up the phone and confirm they received his email messages.

John’s sales process is a real mess.

Enter PointDrive

With this tool, John can craft one interactive presentation and send it to each of the 20 people. PointDrive automatically customizes the email and creates unique tracking links for each email sent out. Better yet, John can now leverage PointDrive Insights to decipher who received the emails, if and when they looked at the presentation and more. He will be prompted once a prospect views the presentation, allowing him to strategically follow-up while the information is fresh on their minds. He can even quickly send a reminder email to those who didn’t open the original.

This is exactly what PointDrive is offering you. PointDrive replaces your lame, long multi-attachment e-mails with an interactive presentation. Here’s how it works.

Here’s what it looks like (click on the image for the actual demo):

Stryker sample newsletter powered by PointDrive

I recommend you sign up for a free account to truly experience the power of PointDrive (no credit card required).

From my personal experience, here’s what I discovered.

First, go to https://app.pointdrive.com/register. Fill in your name, e-mail and password. You will immediately be taken to the clean and intuitive dashboard where you begin.

Creating your first PointDrive presentation couldn’t be easier. You simply type where the template indicates and then add your content: documents, images, web links, videos and more. You can customize the theme of your presentation by adding your own logo, background cover image, and accent color. Once you’re happy with your presentation, you can share it by sending an email to the list of contacts.

PointDrive will automatically track their engagement and notify you once each recipient views the presentation for the first time. You can login and learn more in the Insights reporting section.

Simple, yet powerful.

Verdict

Tracking the performance of your emails is crucial. I recommend you give PointDrive a try. Sign up for your free account today!

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