You’re thinking or getting Infusionsoft, and you want to start preparing for when you’re ready to move.
Here are some of our suggested actions you can start taking today to prepare to make sure the move is as smooth as possible.
Clean Up Your Database
A new system is a perfect time to have a data clean up and import the right list of contacts from the get go.
As they say bad data in, bad data out…. Don’t start out that way!
Take the time to clean your data before you import it.
Firstly, you want to determine what systems is your contact data stored in?
For example, Mailchimp, SalesForce, Active Campaign etc.
To import the data, you ideally want to create one clean list as a CSV file with only ONE entry per person.
If you use multiple systems that contact data is stored, then you will need to consolidate this contact data together.
When the import happens in Infusionsoft, you will need to confirm that you have permission to send email marketing to your contacts.
So please don’t think that you can export all your contacts from LinkedIn and add them to Infusionsoft and send them an email.
You shouldn’t!
Only import those contacts that you’ve got their permission to send emails to.
Once you’ve found all your contacts and consolidated them, review all the information to make sure that their details are up to date.
Have they moved? Do they have a new phone number? Did they get married and change their name?
Someone with knowledge of your database should do this.
Another recommended action is getting the segmentation right.
In Infusionsoft you will be able to import tags to indicate the contact’s segmentation.
Here are some examples – Optin – Free Report, Customer, Prospect – Steak Knives, Event Registered – April 2017 etc etc.
Take time if you haven’t already to determine what segmentation is important to your business, work out the tag names and then apply them in one cell in your data import list.
If you’ve got this in a bit of a mess, it’s recommended that you spend time getting the segmentation right, so that you don’t import 2000 contacts and not know who the hell these people are?!?!
Finally, DO NOT forget to remove anyone from your import list that has opted out of your database.
It’s best to not import them as you no longer have permission to send them emails.
Email Your Existing Database
If it has been a little while since you’ve communicated with your database, don’t wait to do this in Infusionsoft!
It’s best to send them an email from your existing email platform, that way if people want to unsubscribe, they can do that from your existing platform.
Do this ASAP, particularly if it has been a while.
That way by the time you import your contacts, you can say that you have communicated with them within the last 3 months which decreases the potential of deliverability and spam issues.
Branding
A lot of people think that when changing systems, it is a great time to change your email branding.
In fact, it’s the worst 🙁
Whether you move to Infusionsoft or another system, you need to build your relationship between Infusionsoft’s server and the contact recipients server.
By making major changes to your branding at the same time of sending from a new server, you can increase the risk of respondents not getting your emails and not recognising your emails as familiar and marking them as spam.
Important Deliverability Notes
Infusionsoft cares about deliverability and you should too!
When you send out your first broadcast in Infusionsoft, the system typically throttles it.
This means that they send your email to a small group of people first in batches to prove that you’re not getting large spam complaints before sending more emails.
Do yourself a favour and follow the suggested actions above.
And remember, when you send out your first broadcast, don’t make it date specific or important, just in case it gets delayed.
Also, try sending your first broadcast out from Infusionsoft to a section of your database that is more engaged with your content first.
This will help build your reputation with Infusionsoft servers with the recipient’s servers.
Optins From Old Email Providers
Have you got any old optins on your website or in other areas that are feeding into your old email system?
We highly recommend getting this setup in Infusionsoft as soon as possible, so that any new leads will go into Infusionsoft and not your old email platform.
If you don’t have time to review the automation you’ve got setup on your old platform, plan to transition what you currently have to Infusionsoft.
Where are some steps to help transition:
- How many optins do you need to setup?
- Are they all active and need to be moved across to Infusionsoft?
- What are the field requirements of all your optins e.g. First Name, Email?
- What automation needs to be setup behind each optin?
- Identify all the relevant website URLs that have the existing optin integrated
- Plan to update your website/s with the new Infusionsoft optins
Also, don’t forget once it’s all up and running, unsubscribe from your old platform so you’re not paying for something that you don’t need anymore.
Infusionsoft Priorities
Infusionsoft is incredibly powerful and it’s important to consider what is of the highest priority to begin work on right away.
What do you need most in your business right now?
Is it more leads, more sales, more time or something else?
How does this relate to your business goals?
Be honest with yourself here.
As you’ve probably got HEAPS of ideas of what you can setup. Start making a list of them.
We work closely with clients and have an ongoing list of ideas and parking lot items that we will get to one day, should there be no other more pressing priority.
By having a central list, you can continue to add and adjust it based on the current needs of your business.
This will help inform where you should focus your attention first to get going.
Alright, that’s a pretty full yet very important list for anyone considering or looking to implement Infusionsoft!
We hope that you found this article helpful.
If you’re considering Infusionsoft for your business and have any questions or want to sign up, we would be delighted to help!
Give us a call on 0432 763 706 or email us on [email protected].
