Interactive Marketing and Driving Conversions With Alessandra Colaci

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As marketing becomes more untrackable, leadership needs to shift their mindset. Alessandra Colaci, VP of Marketing at Mailshake, shares insights into Mailshake’s focus on simplicity and deliverability in the crowded outbound tool market. She highlights using interactive content to personalize the customer journey and improve conversion rates.

Dark social is very much going to be really important. However, I think it’s one of those things that you can use your power for good or evil.

Alessandra emphasizes the value of a lean stack, training teams to be hands-on with tools, and being experimental in marketing strategies. She also discusses the importance of dark social and the challenges of measuring marketing efforts that cannot be tracked. She emphasizes the need for leadership to understand that dark social is not a magical solution but rather a demand generation driver that requires different measurement methods.

Updated 11/2/2023

Main takeaways:

• Dark social is an important marketing channel that can be used for both good and evil.
• Leadership must understand that dark social is a demand generation driver that may require different measurement methods.
• Mailshake differentiates itself in the crowded outbound tool market by focusing on simplicity and deliverability.
• Key marketing KPIs include traffic to high-intent pages, number of demos booked, and conversions to new customers.
• A weekly scorecard is important for aligning the team and measuring progress.
• Interactive content, such as Tolstoy and Write Message, can personalize the customer journey and improve conversion rates.
• Training teams to be hands-on with tools and to be experimental is important for success.

Mailshake’s Stack

• Google Optimize (RIP): A free (discontinued) tool for conducting A/B testing on website pages to optimize for specific metrics like email sign-ups and bounce rates
• HubSpot: A comprehensive CRM platform that facilitates the integration and management of marketing, sales, content management, and customer service to help businesses grow by focusing on customer relationships.
• HotJar: A product experience insights platform offering behavior analytics, user feedback tools, and visual representations of user interactions to help businesses understand and improve the user experience on their websites.
• Wynter: A B2B messaging and buyer intelligence platform that enables businesses to test and refine their messaging through feedback from the target audience, aiming to increase resonance and conversion rates.
• Tolstoy: An interactive video platform that allows for the creation and deployment of personalized video funnels on websites and apps for various purposes, including video chat support, prospecting, and user engagement.
• RightMessage: A website personalization platform that helps segment and survey visitors, sync data to ESP/CRM, and deliver personalized experiences across a website to increase conversions and engagement.

Introduction: The Rise of Dark Social and the Changing Marketing Landscape

Alessandra believes that Dark Social will be a game-changer in the marketing world. Dark social refers to the sharing of content through private channels such as messaging apps, email, and direct messages, making it difficult to track and measure. Alessandra acknowledges that dark social can be used for both good and evil, but she sees it as a powerful tool for driving demand generation and reaching new audiences.

However, the rise of dark social poses a challenge for marketers who rely on traditional tracking methods. Alessandra emphasizes the need for leadership to understand that Dark Social requires a different approach to measurement. While it may not be as easily quantifiable as other marketing channels, it still plays a crucial role in driving conversions and should be measured in alternative ways.

The Importance of Deliverability and Simplifying the Outbound Process

Deliverability is a key metric for Mailshake, as it directly impacts the success of their outbound campaigns. Alessandra highlights the importance of ensuring that emails are delivered to the inbox, as low deliverability rates can hinder open rates, click-through rates, and, ultimately, revenue generation. Mailshake focuses on simplicity and deliverability, prioritizing these factors over flashy features that may not contribute to the core goal of driving conversions.

Key KPIs and the Power of Scorecards

When it comes to measuring success, Alessandra identifies three key KPIs for Mailshake: traffic to high-intent pages, number of demos booked, and conversions to new customers. These metrics provide insights into the effectiveness of their marketing efforts and help align marketing and sales teams. Alessandra also emphasizes the importance of surrounding metrics that provide context and inform decision-making.

To track these metrics and keep the team aligned, Mailshake utilizes a weekly scorecard. This scorecard focuses on the number of inbound demos booked, cancellation rates, and opt-ins, among other metrics. By reviewing this scorecard in their weekly growth meetings, the team can identify areas for improvement and make data-driven decisions.

Leveraging Interactive Content to Drive Personalization

Mailshake has embraced interactive content as a way to engage with its audience and drive personalization. Alessandra explains that interactive video has been particularly effective in answering common questions and addressing specific use cases. By using tools like Tolstoy and Write Message, Mailshake can tailor their messaging to different roles and industries, providing a more personalized experience for its visitors.

Alessandra shares that interactive content has not only improved engagement but has also generated positive feedback from its audience. By allowing visitors to choose their own adventure and explore content that is relevant to their needs, Mailshake has been able to capture more leads and drive conversions.

I think the really, really important thing is for leadership to understand that it’s not like this magical fairy dust that we sprinkle and it’s like, oh, we’re doing dark social or we’re doing podcasting and we’re doing these things. That is still very much a demand gen driver, but it has to be measured maybe different ways.

The Power of a Marketing-Minded CEO

Alessandra considers herself fortunate to work for a CEO, Sujan Patel, who has a deep understanding of marketing. She believes that having a marketing-minded CEO makes her job easier and allows for more experimentation and innovation. Sujan’s background in SEO and content marketing has been instrumental in Mailshake’s success, and his support and involvement in marketing initiatives have been invaluable.

Recommendations for Building an Effective Marketing Stack

Drawing from her experience at Mailshake, Alessandra offers three recommendations for marketers looking to build an effective marketing stack:

1. Start with what you have and focus on answering the questions that are currently unanswered. Look for ways to improve existing tools and leverage external resources to enhance your stack.
2. Train your team to be hands-on with the tools in your stack. Encourage them to learn and use the tools rather than rely solely on external resources. This empowers your team to be more self-sufficient and fosters better communication and collaboration.
3. Be experimental and open to trying new tools and approaches. Don’t be afraid to step outside of the traditional marketing playbook and explore innovative solutions. Look for cost-effective options that allow for scalability and adaptability.

The Future Outlook: Embracing Dark Social and Returning to Marketing Basics

Alessandra predicts that dark social will continue to play a significant role in the future of marketing. As tracking becomes more challenging, marketers will need to find alternative ways to measure the impact of their efforts. This will require a shift in mindset and a focus on understanding the buyer journey beyond traditional metrics.

In addition to embracing dark social, Alessandra believes that marketers will need to return to marketing basics. With the changing landscape and the decline of certain tracking methods, marketers must focus on differentiation, messaging, and positioning. This will require more research, customer feedback, and experimentation to understand and connect with their target audience truly.

In conclusion, Alessandra’s insights shed light on the evolving marketing landscape and the importance of adaptability and innovation. By embracing dark social, simplifying the outbound process, leveraging interactive content, and having a marketing-minded CEO, marketers can navigate the challenges ahead and drive success in an ever-changing digital world.

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