Idea to EXPLODE email sales

mrjosco · 31st May 2013, 04:35 PM

I believe the best way to sell mobile websites and services is cold calling and/or knockin' on doors.

That being said, there are only so many hours in a day. So if I can get additional opportunities by sending out an email during non business hours, that is my goal.

I know there are those that are doing it successfully, so I am trying as well.

HOWEVER, I had an idea - that I THINK is possible - that could be a huge boost to the system.

My goal is to include a link in the email that will lead the client to a landing page. On the landing page I want there to be a phone simulator with their current website showing and some other sales copy.

The challenge is, I want to do this in a mass emailing and not by sending out emails one at a time (defeats whole purpose of trying to maximize time)

Is there a way to set up a simulator on a page where the sales copy is the same for everyone, but the website in the simulator is personalized?

For example, I use #website# tag in the email and it pulls the information from my database and sends them to a url like "www.salespageurl.com/#theirweburl

WHere the #theirweburl is the URL that feeds into the simulator.

Does anyone have a setup like this? I think it would be a great way to get them to see what their website actually looks like.

Just a thought/question.

Brandon Tanner · 2nd Jun 2013, 06:37 PM

Depends on what you mean by "simulator", because you're not going to be able to get an accurate mobile device simulation on a webpage. But if you're content with just iframing your prospect's webpage inside of an image of a mobile phone, then the easiest way to accomplish what you want is to do something like this...

1) Use the following format for the email links you send out:

www.YourWebsite.com/?url=ProspectWebpageURL

^ The part after the ? is called the "query string". Also, make sure that the value of "url" starts with "http://"

2) Then use PHP on your webpage to grab the query string value and set it as the iframe's "src":

<iframe src="<?php echo $_GET['url']; ?>"></iframe>

^ Any page you use PHP code on will have to have a PHP extension (ie index.php).

Also, it's possible to "shrink" your iframe's content if you want to simulate the size in which a mobile device's webpage content gets displayed (ie tiny text, tiny images, etc). See this. I think 30% zoom (0.30 scale) looks convincing enough.

At any rate, the above solution is by no means the most professional way to accomplish what you want, but it's definitely the easiest. In my opinion, it would be more professional to send out the links in your emails in a format like this...

www.YourWebsite.com/?id=ProspectBusinessName

... but that would require looking up your prospect's business name in a database and then returning their website URL, which would require a lot more code, not to mention extra work for you each time you want to add a new entry to the database.

Regardless of which method you decide to go with though... if you mass-email, then make sure you comply with CAN-SPAM!

31st May 2013, 04:35 PM	#1
mrjosco HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: 2011 Location: USA Posts: 209 Thanks: 106 Thanked 99 Times in 49 Posts	Idea to EXPLODE email sales Share on: I believe the best way to sell mobile websites and services is cold calling and/or knockin' on doors. That being said, there are only so many hours in a day. So if I can get additional opportunities by sending out an email during non business hours, that is my goal. I know there are those that are doing it successfully, so I am trying as well. HOWEVER, I had an idea - that I THINK is possible - that could be a huge boost to the system. My goal is to include a link in the email that will lead the client to a landing page. On the landing page I want there to be a phone simulator with their current website showing and some other sales copy. The challenge is, I want to do this in a mass emailing and not by sending out emails one at a time (defeats whole purpose of trying to maximize time) Is there a way to set up a simulator on a page where the sales copy is the same for everyone, but the website in the simulator is personalized? For example, I use #website# tag in the email and it pulls the information from my database and sends them to a url like "www.salespageurl.com/#theirweburl WHere the #theirweburl is the URL that feeds into the simulator. Does anyone have a setup like this? I think it would be a great way to get them to see what their website actually looks like. Just a thought/question.

2nd Jun 2013, 06:37 PM	#2
Brandon Tanner Advanced Warrior War Room Member Join Date: 2006 Location: USA Posts: 1,907 Thanks: 237 Thanked 1,377 Times in 676 Posts	Re: Idea to EXPLODE email sales Share on: Depends on what you mean by "simulator", because you're not going to be able to get an accurate mobile device simulation on a webpage. But if you're content with just iframing your prospect's webpage inside of an image of a mobile phone, then the easiest way to accomplish what you want is to do something like this... 1) Use the following format for the email links you send out: www.YourWebsite.com/?url=ProspectWebpageURL ^ The part after the ? is called the "query string". Also, make sure that the value of "url" starts with "http://" 2) Then use PHP on your webpage to grab the query string value and set it as the iframe's "src": <iframe src="<?php echo $_GET['url']; ?>"></iframe> ^ Any page you use PHP code on will have to have a PHP extension (ie index.php). Also, it's possible to "shrink" your iframe's content if you want to simulate the size in which a mobile device's webpage content gets displayed (ie tiny text, tiny images, etc). See this. I think 30% zoom (0.30 scale) looks convincing enough. At any rate, the above solution is by no means the most professional way to accomplish what you want, but it's definitely the easiest. In my opinion, it would be more professional to send out the links in your emails in a format like this... www.YourWebsite.com/?id=ProspectBusinessName ... but that would require looking up your prospect's business name in a database and then returning their website URL, which would require a lot more code, not to mention extra work for you each time you want to add a new entry to the database. Regardless of which method you decide to go with though... if you mass-email, then make sure you comply with CAN-SPAM!