With a few tweaks, could be great!
Overall Satisfaction with Robly
We are a tiny company making decorated glassware which we sell to retailers across the country. We maintain a list of retailers and use Robly to email them regularly with new product announcements, specials, display ideas, and to let them know if we will be exhibiting our line at a trade show. Using email to keep in touch allows us to maintain contact with minimal intrusion into their work day, and at very little cost to us. Our marketing budget is small and as the owner/designer/manufacturer/accountant/marketer, so is my time. Robly works well for us.
Normally, we use the entire list, but occasionally, it's more appropriate to use a segment of it - as when we want to make an announcement only to our current customers, so we use the segmentation feature from time to time.
Emails are fairly easy to design - though customization of fonts, placement and sizing is limited - and I know that they will display well both on a desktop screen and on a mobile screen.
Pros
- The cost can't be beat!
- Building an email is quick and straighforward. The templates are well done.
- The OpenGen feature is outstanding. Our emails get many more opens and almost no complaints when we use it.
Cons
- It's difficult to tell what "opens" have occured most recently. For the newest emails, opening them and checking on the "opens" is simple, but if a recipient opens an older email, we may never see that unless we click on each email and check. Can there be a way to flag an email that has had an "open" in the last 48 hours or so?
- The count of "opens" for each email on the dashboard is inaccurate and is only updated sporadically.
- In the categories of Opt Out and Spam, if one contact clicks more than once, each click is counted. So one recipient clicking repeatedly can skew the picture.
- The Segmentation feature is not very intuitive. I've used it several times and each time have to relearn it and then am not sure whether the results were what I was seeking.
- I'd like more fonts when creating an email.
- I'd like to be able to embed video when creating an email.
- In our business, a retailer may not order from a wholesaler/manufacturer the first time they see us, but after four or five times, they may. If a retailer has been receiving emails from us for several months, and then sees us at a trade show, they feel they already are familiar with our line, our tone, our feel and may be inclined to order. I've had several instances when a buyer at a show comes into our booth and says, "I know your line, I get your emails."
- When orders slow down, I sometimes create an email and send. That usually results in a few orders coming in, since retailers are "prodded" to think us us again and may remember to order. Emails are much more efficient than taking to the phones to call for orders, and much less intrusive.
Comments
Please log in to join the conversation