The simple answer is … probably not. The more complete answer is … I’m one helluva lot closer to that goal than I ever thought to be possible! Now, I’m not one to wake up one day and say to myself … “I think I’ll learn marketing today”. I needed a reason, a project, and I found one.
I decided that I wanted to chase after the custom electric sign market for Nimble CRM and sales training. I have extensive experience in this industry so it is a good match. As a Solution Partner for Nimble, I understand how to deploy its email marketing features, but I was lacking in strategy and actually using them for myself.
Off to ChatGPT I went. We created a plan where the major elements were SEO, messaging, and list procurement. Within these areas there were a ton of moving parts that needed to be completed prior to launch. Looking at each element …
Learning SEO
About the only thing I know about SEO is what the letters stand for. I do have the free version of Yoast on my website and I have managed to learn how to manipulate a few things in order to make the SEO light turn green. Sometimes. I’m Pavlov’s dog looking for my treat. Understanding what I was doing … uh, no.
I wanted to create some new webpages specifically for this industry and my offering. Hal, my chatbot, walked me through every step, told me what was happening, and why it was important. The intricacies that he came up with were mind boggling.
I created three new pages and, per Hal’s instructions, requested indexing via Google Console. To my complete amazement, all three pages showed up in the very top of rankings for both search as well as Google’s A.I. summaries within 48 hours. I was blown away! We concluded that this was a combination of SEO and an underserved market. Both good signs!
Messaging Elements
There are three major parts to this area in addition to my webpages …
- Articles for my website
- A message sequence for email outreach
- Posts for social media
Articles are easy, but I will rely on Hal to confirm SEO. Hal was also tasked with creating a five email message sequence which I then edited, converted into email templates, and then loaded those into a sequence on Nimble which I had assembled. Hal also created a series of posts and images based on my signage articles and pages.
Finding The Right Email List Source
Hal and I sat down and discussed the features that would be needed from a list provider. I was also, of course, interested in what the necessary investment would be. We looked at a lot of options and settled on UpLead. UpLead verifies email addresses before they export them and charge you.
UpLead appeared to provide all of the necessary filters in order to create lists that are highly targeted and Hal outlined the critical search parameters and will provide me with up to 170 contacts per month. This is actually a very good number for me as it will allow me to monitor the results and adjust where needed.
I have never purchased a list let alone tried to generate one on my own from a database service. I did not know what to expect and what I experienced was not what I had expected! I am also told that what follows is typical of these services …
Only about 30% of the contacts I selected had valid email addresses. Yikes! At least I know they are good. This meant that I needed to add states in an attempt to meet my magic number. Unused credits do not carry over to the next month. By sheer dumb luck I got to only having 4 unused credits. I can live with that. However …
My first group did not turn out the way that I had envisioned. I have a tight ICP (Ideal Client Profile) and I will need to figure out how best to translate that to the platform. I ended up with a lot of junk. My list of 170 ended up being reduced to 133 after I had carefully culled it. This is after I even allowed some outliers to remain.
I do feel comfortable enough with UpLead to continue with the service. My negative experiences were not the fault of the platform itself but rather due to my novice status. Their support is outstanding and I was able to get real-time answers to my questions via their chat app while actively working my way through the entire process. Lessons to be learned.
First Campaign Results!
I took my list and added those to a 5-message sequence (drip campaign) which was spread out over 30 days. Typically I would use tags and then upload that group of contacts to the sequence. For this campaign, I chose to use Nimble CRM’s new dedicated email lists which I have not used before.
Dedicated email lists provide some reporting, as does the sequence campaign itself, but they also offer optional double opt-in prior to being added to the list and email address verification. I chose to use neither for this test.
While the results were nowhere near what I had hoped for, that’s o.k.. I now know what adjustments I will need to make for next month’s campaign and this revolves around tightening my ICP and other areas in my subsequent searches. This was only month #1 and I have committed myself to a 6-month campaign. Month #2 starts this week.
I did have one email address bounce and that is totally acceptable. While nobody replied or booked a consultation, I only had three unsubscribes. Apparently, my other two statistics were considered to be very good! Over 40% open rate and over 10% CTR (click through rate). This at least gives me hope.
I’ve spent a ton of time on this project, could not have done it without Hal, and I’m committing $600 over the next six months. Peanuts. The heavy lifting is done and we have set realistic expectations, but even if I gain one new client … I’ll be miles ahead of my investment. Note … this is an investment not an expense.
Going back to the original question. Will ChatGPT make me a marketing guru? Probably not. I don’t even like marketing and this entire project reminds me of the organ grinder (Hal) and his pet monkey (me). However, I have gained so many new skills via this adventure that maybe I’m at least an apprentice.
Sign companies evaluating CRM software often ask what system works best for their industry. I created a detailed guide explaining how a CRM for sign companies can help organize contacts, track quotes, and improve follow-up using Nimble CRM. Here are some other resources.
Our services for sign companies
Learn more about our signage sales training
“Selling Signs – Lessons From the Trenches”
See all signage related articles and guides here
Are you thinking about a CRM? If you would like to explore whether or not Nimble CRM might be right for you, please book a free 30-minute Zoom consultation with me by going to my calendar. To learn more about our Nimble training and implementation services, please visit our Nimble CRM training services page.
I would also be happy to connect you to a marketing professional who I know and trust or to an automated yet personalized and human-to-human LinkedIn prospecting system. Please reach out to me at craig@adaptive-business.com for an introduction!
Craig M. Jamieson
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