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E-mail Addresses are an Important Resource
Anytime you capture a web-surfer’s e-mail address is an instant opportunity to establish a dialog with that person. An e-mail address is a valuable resource to communicate with the individuals in your audience as potential customers and repeat visitors.
When do people "surrender" their e-mail addresses?
Generally surfers are averse to providing their e-mail address. However there are situations where they are more than happy to give you their e-mail address. Generally offering anything for free can generate a significant number of sign-ups. Examples are:
- Signing up for a free download of software.
- Getting a free e-mail address.
- Signing on to a List Server.
- Access to free or charged membership areas.
- Signing up for a newsletter.
- Proactive interest in your offerings.
Many web sites will send e-mail confirming the action and maybe sign the person up on a mailing list. However, if this is all you do, then you are wasting an opportunity to establish a personalized dialog with follow-up e-mail which can engage and attract them to your products and services.
In what situations is a personalized, follow-up e-mail campaign useful?
- bring them back to your site again and again.
- convert free-downloads to paid-for product.
- establish loyalty to your brand.
- many other benefits limited only by the uniqueness of your offering and your imagination.
When a visitor leaves their name at your site, that is the time to press the advantage. If you get back to them regularly, they'll know you care and will buy from you.
How can I achieve this?
Subscriptions to list servers, regular newsletters, and frequently updating your web site with new and compelling content can all contribute to creating an audience and building loyalty.
A follow-up e-mail campaign can point your visitors to these attractions, leveraging your investment. But a personal follow-up e-mail campaign can be extremely resource-intensive. One way to defer the expense is to use ocxQmail. With minimal cost and setup on your part, you can create a unique dialog that your visitors can appreciate. With a timed sequence of targeted, personalized e-mails, you can really capture your audience.
What tools do I need?
Some cutting edge on-line marketing companies are already offering this as a kind of bureau service, however if you already have in-house ASP software, and you want the flexibility to change and update your e-mail sequences at anytime, ocxQmail from Flicks Software with its "FollowUpMail (TM)" capability is the perfect tool for the job.
It's easy to install, very cost-effective and comes with samples to help you get started.
What do I do now?
- Download the free evaluation software
- Install it.
- Design your follow-up mail campaign.
- In the ASP file where you capture the e-mail address (examples below) add the calls to start the e-mail campaign based on your design for each and every user.
- If you're happy with the results, register the software.
Design Examples
As a premier supplier of Universal online data-widgets you have products available for free trial download. Users can download a 30-day trial edition of your software. And you've designed the following e-mail campaign, which begins with the initial signup for download:
Example 1
- Immediate: Acknowledgment message.
- Day 2: Appreciative, personalized letter from tech support to help with any installation or operation issues.
- Day 5: First Installment of a five-part extension course on how to use the your software.
- Day 15: Tips and tricks.
- Day 20: Second Installment of the five-part extension course.
- Day 28: Software about to time out!
Example 2
That's a bit ambitious to start with, so the example below has just three parts and is compressed into a campaign lasting 12 minutes
- Immediate: Acknowledgment and thanks for downloading.
- Minute 6: Have you tried it yet? Tell us what you think.
- Minute 12: Warning: time out! Tip of the day.
With a 12 minute follow-up e-mail campaign, you can test out how it feels, and refine the messages without having to wait 30 days to experience the full cycle! When you are happy, you can extend the periods to real-world intervals.
Creating your ASP files
GetE-mail.htm is an example of how to capture an e-mail address:
GetE-mail.htm
<HTML>
<body bgcolor=white>
<TITLE>Get E-mail</TITLE>
<HTML>
<HEAD>
</HEAD>
<P>
<FORM METHOD="GET" ACTION="signMeUp.asp">
<PRE>
Please enter your e-mail address:
<INPUT SIZE=30 NAME="recipient" MAXLENGTH=200>
</PRE>
<INPUT TYPE=submit VALUE=" Sign Me Up ">
</FORM>
<P>
</HTML></BODY>
</HTML>
And this is the ASP file that captures the e-mail address,
and initiates the follow-up e-mail campaign:
signMeUp.asp
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Send Mail</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<body BGcolor=#FFFFFF>
<!-- By Kevin Flick, kevin@flicks.com -->
<%
Set mailer = Server.CreateObject("ocxQmail.ocxQmailCtrl.1")
%>
<CENTER><H2>Send Mail</H2></CENTER>
<P>
<%
mailServer = "mail.yourserver.com"
fromName = "Kevin"
fromAddress = "kevin@yourserver.com"
'priority = "Low"
returnReceipt = ""
recipient = Request.QueryString("recipient")
' make sure the user has not typed in obvious garbage
result = mailer.PreScreenE-mailAddress(recipient)
If "" <> result Then
response.Write("E-mail address is not ok, " &_
"because the e-mail address " & result)
response.End
End if
toAddressList = recipient
' optional
'ccAddressList = "partners@netcom.com"
' optional - useful if you want to secretly
' see your stuff being e-mailed out
'bccAddressList = "sales@widget.com"
' not often used in this context
'attachmentList = "z:\zip\addurl.zip"
whenToSend = now ' redundant - the default is now
mailer.SendAt(whenToSend)
messageSubject = "Universal Online Data Widgets Tip of the Day"
' we construct the message here so you can see it
' we could just as easily pull it out of
' a file using CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
messageText = "Dear " & recipient & "," & vbCRLF & vbCRLF & _
"Thank you for downloading the free 30 day trial " & vbCRFL & _
"version of Data Widget from Universal Data Widget" & vbCRLF & _
"Congratulations, you've made an excellent choice." & vbCRLF & _
"This version is a complete, full-featured product." & vbCRLF & _
"It will operate for a 30-day period from the time" & vbCRLF & _
"of your download. Try it out and discover how " & vbCRLF & _
"easy it is to widgetize your data." & vbCRLF & _
"" & vbCRLF & _
"TIP O' THE DAY- ONE BUTTON STICK" & vbCRLF & _
"=====================================================" & vbCRLF & _
"Data Widget 3.0 includes the Widget Revolving Skewer Stick" & vbCRLF & _
"built in. Simply press the Skewer Stick button" & vbCRLF & _
"the tool bar and instantly see the changes to your widget." & vbCRLF & _
"" & vbCRLF & _
"FREE TECH SUPPORT " & vbCRLF & _
"=====================================================" & vbCRLF & _
"We are always happy to answer any questions you may" & vbCRLF & _
"have about out products. Send your comments and " & vbCRLF & _
"non-technical questions to us." & vbCRLF & _
"" & vbCRLF & _
"Thanks again for choosing Data Widget and " & vbCRLF & _
"Universal Widget Co." & vbCRLF & _
"" & vbCRLF & _
"Mr John Reed Universal" & vbCRLF & _
"Universal Widget Co." & vbCRLF
result = mailer.Q(mailServer, _
fromName, _
fromAddress, _
priority, _
returnReceipt, _
toAddressList, _
ccAddressList, _
bccAddressList, _
attachmentList, _
messageSubject, _
messageText)
' response.Write("<BR> Sent mail, " &_
' "scheduled for " & whenToSend & "<BR>Message is " &_
' <br>" & messageText & "<P>")
' one day divided by 24 divided by 10 - Six Minutes time
whenToSend = now + (1/240)
mailer.SendAt(whenToSend)
messageSubject = "Create a rotation in the default Widget"
' we construct the message here so you can see it
' we could just as easily pull it out of a
' file using CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
messageText = "Dear " & recipient & "," & vbCRLF & vbCRLF & _
"Have you tried the 30-day trial version of the" & vbCRLF & _
"Universal Data Widget that you downloaded " & vbCRLF & _
"15 days ago? If so, what do you think of it? Please " & vbCRLF & _
"use the address below to send us your reactions. If " & vbCRLF & _
"you haven't tried it yet, please do so soon - there" & vbCRLF & _
"are only two more weeks before it expires. " & vbCRLF & _
"" & vbCRLF & _
"TIP O' THE DAY- CREATE A Rotating Widget" & vbCRLF & _
"=====================================================" & vbCRLF & _
"From the Rotate Menu on the right go to Rotator" & vbCRLF & _
"Now Enter the number of degress per minute you want." & vbCRLF & _
"" & vbCRLF & _
"EXTENSIVE HELP! " & vbCRLF & _
"=====================================================" & vbCRLF & _
"Check out our excellent help section. Our extensive " & vbCRLF & _
"help file shows you everything you need! " & vbCRLF & _
"" & vbCRLF & _
"SPECIAL OFFER" & vbCRLF & _
"=====================================================" & vbCRLF & _
"To reward your interest in our products, here is a " & vbCRLF & _
"special offer for people who have downloaded the trial" & vbCRLF & _
"version. When you purchase Universal Data Widget for $22,489.95 " & vbCRLF & _
"plus $9.95 shipping and handling, we will include " & vbCRLF & _
"BlowOut, an easy to use Java Widget kit that" & vbCRLF & _
"helps add excitement to Rotation and Widget Manipulation " & vbCRLF & _
"operations. " & vbCRLF & _
"" & vbCRLF & _
"EASY PURCHASE" & vbCRLF & _
"=====================================================" & vbCRLF & _
"1) Visit https://orang-utang.widget.com/weborders/promo/promo2.htm" & vbCRLF & _
"" & vbCRLF & _
"Thanks again for choosing Data Widget and " & vbCRLF & _
"Universal Widget Co." & vbCRLF & _
"" & vbCRLF & _
"Mr John Reed Universal" & vbCRLF & _
"Universal Widget Co." & vbCRLF
result = mailer.Q(mailServer, _
fromName, _
fromAddress, _
priority, _
returnReceipt, _
toAddressList, _
ccAddressList, _
bccAddressList, _
attachmentList, _
messageSubject, _
messageText)
' response.Write("<BR> Sent mail, scheduled for " &_
' whenToSend & "<BR>Message is <br>" & messageText & "<P>")
' one day divided by 24 divided by 5 - Twelve Minutes time
whenToSend = now + (1/120)
mailer.SendAt(whenToSend)
messageSubject = "Widget Expiration Alert!"
' we construct the message here so you can see it
' we could just as easily pull it out of a
' file using CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
messageText = "Dear " & recipient & "," & vbCRLF & vbCRLF & _
"Warning - your Widget trial version is due" & vbCRLF & _
"to expire tomorrow. You'll want to avoid the " & vbCRLF & _
"inconvenience of interrupted service. Now is the " & vbCRLF & _
"time to take advantage of our purchase Special Offer." & vbCRLF & _
"" & vbCRLF & _
"TIP O' THE DAY - TIP-O-MATIC" & vbCRLF & _
"=====================================================" & vbCRLF & _
"Another great tip!" & vbCRLF & _
"" & vbCRLF & _
"SPECIAL OFFER" & vbCRLF & _
"=====================================================" & vbCRLF & _
"When you purchase THE WIDGET for peanuts, plus " & vbCRLF & _
"$115.95 shipping and handling, we will include a free hat." & vbCRLF & _
"" & vbCRLF & _
"EASY PURCHASE" & vbCRLF & _
"=====================================================" & vbCRLF & _
"1) Visit https://orang-utang.widget.com/weborders/promo/promo2.htm" & vbCRLF & _
"" & vbCRLF & _
"Thanks again for choosing Data Widget and " & vbCRLF & _
"Universal Widget Co." & vbCRLF & _
"" & vbCRLF & _
"Mr John Reed Universal" & vbCRLF & _
"Universal Widget Co." & vbCRLF
result = mailer.Q(mailServer, _
fromName, _
fromAddress, _
priority, _
returnReceipt, _
toAddressList, _
ccAddressList, _
bccAddressList, _
attachmentList, _
messageSubject, _
messageText)
' response.Write("<BR> Sent mail, scheduled for " & whenToSend &_
' "<BR>Message is <br>" & messageText & "<P>")
%>
<% If "" = result Then %>
<P>
Please check your mail
<% Else %>
<P>Mail was not queued, error message is
<H2>
<%= result %>
</H2>
<% End If %>
<P>
<HR>
<P>
<EM><B>
<a href="http://www.flicks.com/">Flicks Software</a>.
</B>
</EM>
</FONT>
</BODY>
</HTML>
How do I use the FileSystem Object again?
Just so you don't get frustrated trying to mess with all the double quotes, here is a fragment of code that allows you to read the message text out of a file.
Set readWriteFS = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set readMessageFile = readWriteFS.OpenTextFile("c"\messages\message1.txt", 1)
readIn = readMessageFile.ReadAll
messageText = messageText & readIn
readMessageFile.Close
Summary
Follow-up e-mail campaigns can be an important contributor to the effectiveness of your web site - whether you choose to implement them or decide to outsource. Excellent bureaus can create, setup, customize and manage your follow-up e-mails for you - Lassoo is among the best.
Another good choice is to use ocxQmail with "FollowUpMail (TM)" and the examples provided above.
Don't waste the opportunity to create that personal touch, and carefully pamper your surfer signups with appropriate tips, tricks, pointers and information. Remember that a hard sell isn't necessary between friends!
Kevin Flick
Kevin Flick is the owner and founder of Flicks Software http://www.flicks.com and also the author of AuthentiX
and AuthentiX ISP for IIS directory protection via ODBC.
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