ThenameoriginatedfromAutomatedWebAssistantandlatergotshortenedtoAWeber.Sinceautomatedandwebweretwowords,whenweshortenedthename,wekeptthecapital‘W’.Italsojustlooksbetterfromagraphicdesignpointofview.
OriginallyAutomatedWebAssistantstartedin1997andwesoldwirelessmodemsforconnectingtotheinternet.IwouldgotocomputershowswhereIrepresentedtheproductsandwouldgetsalesleadsfromthere.
Asallsalespeopledo,youneedtofollowupwiththosefolks.Iwasdoingthatalotmanuallyviaphone,postalmail,andemail.Intheprocessofjusttryingtomakesomeofthatmoreefficient,Idevelopedanautomatedemailprocessandautomatedemailfollowupthatwouldsendaseriesofemailmessagesoutovertime-itworkedwell,andIshareditwithseveralotherpeoplethatweresellingthesameproductwiththesamecompany.Wecollaboratedonwhatcopytousebasedonthemessagesthatworkedbestandthequestionsthatcustomersaskedetc.
Iwasincollegeatthetime,andIendedupleavingthatcompanytofocusoncollege.PeoplecontinuedtousemyautomatedemailprocessandIhadpeopleapproachingmeaskingiftheycouldbuyitfromme.Onethingledtoanother,andIstartedAWeberasasidethinginbetweensemestersofcollege.23oddyearsorsolater,Istillhaven’tfinishedschool.So,it’sworkedoutprettywell.
Whatisthemainproblemthatyousolveforyourcustomers??Themainproblemthatwe’resolvingisconnectingpeople.Ithinkthatmanypeoplelookatemailmarketingasasale-onlytool,andit’ssomuchmorethanthat.
Ifyouchopofftheword‘marketing’andjustleave‘email’there-Therearesomanydiverseusecasesthatgobeyondsellingstuff.Asanexample,itcanbeusedforeducation:
Imagineyouhavejustboughtanewsetofgolfclubsfromsomewhere.Youcangetanemailseriesthatteachesyouabouthowtobestutilizethosegolfclubs.Alongwiththesideelementsthatcomewithyournewpurchase-wheretobuyaccessoriesandwhereyoucangotoplayetc.
Anotherexampleisthatofdoctors/surgeons.Theymightuseemailtohelpprepareapatientfortheirprocedure-letthemknowwhattoexpectandwhattheyneedtodointheleaduptotheirappointment.
So,therearelotsofusecasesthatgobeyondjustsellingthings.It’softenthestuffthathappensafterthesalethat’sthemostvaluableuseofemail.Theseemailseducateyourcustomeronhowyourproduct/businessworksandallowsyoutobuildarelationshipwithyourcustomersandprovidethemwithsupportwhichultimatelyencouragesfuturesales.
Theuncontrolledsocialmediaalgorithmsareprobablyoneofthebiggeronesthatyousee.
WhenpostingsomethingtoFacebookyouareluckyif10%ofyouraudienceseesit.ItissimilarforYouTubesubscribers-onlyasmallpercentageofyouraudienceisevergoingtohaveyourvideosshowupintheirfeed.
Whereaswithemail,ifweonlysent10%ofyouremailstotheinbox,we’dbequicklyoutofbusiness.Withemail,therelationshipismuchmoredirect.AsaYouTuber,ifyougetpeopletosignforyouremaillisttohearaboutyournewvideos-theyaregoingtohearabouteverysinglenewvideo.
So,itcanbegreattoolsforconnectingwiththataudienceandgettingtheminfrontofyourvideos,whichcanhelpspurtheactivitythatthesocialalgorithmsneedtodisplayyourvideotomorepeople.IfyouremailsubscribersclickonyourlinkanddrivetraffictoYouTube,itcreatesmoreorganictrafficontheYouTubealgorithm.So,there’salotofadditionalconnectionsthatpeoplecanmakebyusingemailinwaysthatyoumightnotinitiallythinkabout.
Ithinkthatthesedayswhenbusinessesthinkaboutgettingtheirbusinessinfrontofconsumerstheythinksocialwhichisabigcostwitharelativelysmallpayback.Thestatsonemailpaybackarethatyouget$20_$30perdollarspent-whichmakesitextremelycost-effective.
HowhasemailmarketingevolvedsinceyoustartedintheMarTechindustry?Well,whenIstartedoutyoucouldonlysendplaintextmessages.Meaningnobold,italics,images,hyperlinks,etc.Nowyoucansendanicelyformattedmessagethatlookslikeapicture-perfectbrochure,andthisisconstantlyevolving.
EmailnowhasanewspecoutcalledAMPforemail.Basically,whenyousendanemailnowyoucansenditasplaintext,HTML,orAMPforemail.
AMPforemailisaprotocolthatcameoutofGoogle,anditessentiallyturnsemailintoawebpageinsideofyouremailclient.Itisonlysupportedbycertainemailplatformsrightnow.Gmail,Yahoo,mail.ru,andabunchofothersmallerones.Alotofpeopledon’tknowaboutityetandalotofemailplatformsdon’tsupportit.AWeberdoessupportit,wewereoneofthefirsttodosoandithassomereally,interestingusecases,suchas:
IfIsendoutastockmarketnewsletter.NormallyIwouldwritethenumbersintotheemail,andtheyarestatic.WithAMPforemail,Icanqueryaserverandhavetheup-to-datestockpricesshowndirectlyintheemail.
AnotherexampleissomethingthatwesetupwhereanEtsystoreownercanlistwhattheircurrentinventoryisintheiremailnewsletter.Asthecustomersellstheseproductsthenumbersintheemailwillchange.
Youmighthaveexperiencedthefinalexampleforyourself.IfyouhaveusedGoogleDocsorGoogleSpreadsheets,whensomeonecommentsinthesheet,yougetanemailwhereyoucantypeintheemailandreplyandhitSubmitdirectlyintheemail.ThatisanAMPemail,itbasicallyturnsthatemailinyouremailreader,intoaninteractivewebpage.
Anotherelementofemailthathasevolvedsignificantlyisthingsaroundautomationofwhatyou’resendingout.OriginallywhenIstartedAWeber,yousignedup,andyougotaseriesofmessages.Everypersonthatsignedup,wouldgetthesameseriesofmessages.Nowwithmarketingautomation,basedonwhatyouclick,orwhatyouopen,orwhatyoudon’tclickorwhatyoudon’topen,youwillreceivedifferentmessages.So,whatmightstartoutasonemessageatthetopmightturnintoafunnelof10or15differentsequencesofmessagesthatyoucanpotentiallyreceive.
Igenerallyusetheexampleofananimalsheltertoexplainthis.Youmightsubscribetothemailinglistandreceiveanemailcontainingalltheavailabledogsandcats.Youareonlylookingtoadoptacat,soyouclickonthelinktoviewalltheavailablecats.Basedonthisthesheltercansendtheirnextemailoutwithconditionalcontentwhichwilldisplayinformationabouttheircats.Essentiallytheshelterisonlysendingoneemailoutbutthecontentthatisdisplayedwillbespecifictoyourpreferences.Someonewhoisinterestedinadoptingadogwillreceivethesameemail,buttheircontentwillincludeinformationaboutdogs.
Ithinklikeanynewtechnologyittakestimeforittogetintoallthedifferentcompanies,productdevelopmentplans,andtoprioritizethesupportforit.
Ononehand,businessesdon’twanttosendit,becausenotasmanyplatformssupportit.Ontheotherhand,platformsdon’twanttosupportit,becausebusinessesaren’tsendingit_itissortoflikethechicken/eggscenario:Doyoubuildtoolstosendtheemailfirst/doyoubuildthetoolstoreceivetheemail?
Someonehasgottodoitfirst.Rightnow,thereisahugechunkofmostbusinesses’consumermailingliststhatalreadysupportAMP.30-60%oftheseareGmailaddressesandyouusuallygetanother10to20%,justfromtheYahooVerizonconglomerate.So,AMPalreadyhassupportfromaround50%ofconsumerinboxes.Nowitisjustamatterofbusinesseslearningaboutit,utilizingthetools,andbenefitingfromit.
ThebusinessesthataresendingAMPemailsnowaregettingsubstantiallyhigherengagement.Meaningalotmorepeopleopenandclickthoseemailsbecausetheyaremoreinteractiveandrelevanttopeople.
Whatmakesyourcompanystandoutfromothercompaniesthatofferasimilarproduct??Ultimatelyitcomesdowntohowyousolvethebusinessproblems.Alotofemailmarketingplatformsouttherehavethetools,buttheydon’tnecessarilyhavethewholepackageofbeingabletosolvetheuser’sproblem.
Asasmallbusinessowner,whenacustomerhasaproblem,Iwanttofindyouasolution_andthatisnotnecessarilyaproblemwiththeirplatform.Suchasyou,Ineedtofigureouthowtosendcatemailsanddogemails.Asabusinessowner,Imightnotknowhowtodothat,becausealotofsmallbusinessesthatweworkwithareOwnerOperatedwithaverysmallteamofpeople.Thesebusinessesarenotexpertsinemailmarketing,butweare,andwecansupportandcoachthemtowardsreachingtheirgoalsinthemostefficientway.
Thatisreallywhereoursupportandoursupportteamcomein,wehave24/7support.Itdoesn’tmatterwhereintheworldyouare,andwhereintheworldourteamis,wecanhelpyouaroundtheclock.Wealsodophonesupportforalllevelsofourusers,includingourfreeusers.Alotofothercompaniesdonotofferphonesupport,ortheyonlyofferphonesupporttotheirenterprise-levelplans.
Ialsoknowwehaveprettygoodeaseofuseoverall,oursolutionisquickaswellasourpageloadspeed.Wehaveseveralbigcompetitorsthathavegrownalotinthelastcoupleofyears,buttheirtechstackshaven’tkeptupandtheirplatformisslowtoload.Whenyouareclickingarounditispainfulwhenthingstakealongtimetoload.Thosearen’tthesortofthingsthatyoushopforupfront,theyarethingsthatyoujustkindofexpectasgravy,butitisnotalwaysthecase,andyoudon’toftenrealizeituntilyougetinthere.
Whatdoessupportlooklikeforyourcustomers?Wehave24/7emailchatandphonesupportacrossallplans.Wealsodofreemigrations.IfyouarewithMailChimpandyouwanttomovetoabetterplatform.Wehaveateamofexpertsthatdomigrationsallday,everyday.Theyarefamiliarwithourplatform,andthey’rereallyfamiliarwithalotofotherplatforms.Whereasmostbusinessownersprobablyonlymoveplatformseverycoupleofyears.Ourteammovesplatformsmultipletimesaday.So,wecanmakeiteasyforpeopletogetonabetterplatform.
Wealsohaveallthegravystuffsuchaswebinarsforonboarding,youcan,andwecanhelpyouifyouwanttomovethingsover/getsomefeedbackonthebestwaytoimplementstuff/haveuslookatyourlandingpage,etc.WealsohaveanactiveYouTubechannelandaFacebookcommunitywhereuserscanspeaktooneanotherandshareideas,suggestions,andbestpractices.