2016 was an exciting year for Voodoo. We released many new features and loads of new content for our customers use in their campaigns. Here is a quick recap of our most popular changes and additions:

Exclusive Voodoo Telecom Prospecting Videos

Your account gained value with new videos lovingly created by Voodoo's award-winning video production team. In 2016, we proudly announced 6 exclusive videos (+ companion email campaigns) to boost your VoIP, telecom and Unified Communications prospecting efforts.

All 6 videos are available in standard personal and Digital Business Card (DBC) frames. 
 

Install Your Own YouTube Videos 

Voodoo Business Builder users now can choose any YouTube video, then frame it, share it and track it. Add any YouTube video to your Video Library, then use your branded, personalized Voodoo version for prospecting and customer nurturing.

You can even record a video on your smartphone, then instantly frame it with your logo and contact information. Click the image above to see how this feature works. 

  
Thumbnail Images for High-Impact Social Posting 

To save time with your social posts and website galleries, we've created a standard set of images for our Exclusive Telecom Prospecting Videos. Use these images in your social media accounts to increase click-through rates.



Click here to access our dropbox folder and download the image thumbnails.

We've also created a set of thumbnail images for Mitel videos.  Click here to access these images. 


 

Automatic Bounceback Handling

Voodoo implemented a new, vital, time-saving behind-the-scenes feature in all user accounts called Automatic Bounceback Handling. This essential feature allows you to:

• keep your lists cleaner
• improve deliverability rates
• protect your sender reputation
• save time!

This new feature keeps all bounced emails out of your personal inbox. It also helps keep your lists clean and gives you more accurate statistics on how your campaigns are performing. 

To learn more about Automatic Bounceback Handling, check out our blog post here. 
 

We are now at work building out new features for 2017.  If there are features or improvements you'd like to see in Voodoo, please shoot us an email: support@voodooviral.com. 

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Have lots of contacts in a CRM or Excel spreadsheet?  Use Voodoo's Import Wizard. 

Import Contacts from any file in CSV (or comma-separated) format. Click Manage Contacts for the Current Contacts list you want to populate. You’ll see 0 Contact(s) Found.

Start by exporting the list from your current email or contact management application. You might need to explore your current app’s help menus to learn how to export your selected data in CSV format. Most apps do this in their sleep!  Just Export or Save As a CSV file.

NOTE: You only need three database fields for a standard Voodoo Contact List: First Name, Last Name, and Email Address.   However, with Voodoo’s complete contact management features, you can also import other information about your contacts including: Company Name, Title, Address, City, State, Zip, Phone, Mobile Phone, Fax, Website URL, even Custom Fields you create.

How does Voodoo do that?

Voodoo keeps a hidden Master Contact List on your behalf, maintaining the unique Contact Data for each and every person in all of your Contact Lists, based on their unique email address.  You can even add and remove a contact from various lists very easily. 

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To really leverage the power of Voodoo, you need high-quality Contacts in your system. In the past, we've explored various sources for contact lists such as LinkedIn and your CRM.  One source of contacts that is easily available to you (but often overlooked) is the group of personal contacts in your address book.  

Every now and then, it's a good idea to reach out this personal list.  Send a campaign to them occasionally to let them know what you and/or your business has been up to.  

This QuickTip will walk you through the easy steps of connecting with your personal contacts.  

Voodoo QuickTip #435 - Reaching Out to Your Personal Contacts

1)  Start by importing your Address Book from your current email contact manager. Voodoo has an easy, time-saving feature that allows you to import directly from the most popular email systems including:  Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, Outlook and Apple Mail. Check out our blog post on how to use this feature: Import Contacts Directly from Your Address Book.  

2) As you import the list into Voodoo, use the check boxes to review and "scrub" the list by removing non-business contacts and contacts who would not be interested in what your business is doing. This allows you to import only the contacts you want.

3)  Next, craft and send a personal email that says hello, catches your contacts up on how you're currently helping your clients, and explaining how your business could possibly help them. Make sure to include a pass-along referral request something like this: "If you know anyone else who might benefit from what I do, please pass this message along. I really appreciate your help, and I'd enjoy helping them."
We've seen simple referral requests like this yield many thousands of dollars in new business. So go ahead and ask!     

Check out our Blog Post, Sources for Your Contact Lists for more ideas on where you can get more contacts for your Voodoo system. 

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New Voodoo feature:. Both Business Builder and eVideo users now have a dynamic, system-generated contact list called All Contacts. You'll find the list in your contact lists area (My Contacts). This new read-only list shows all the contacts in your account (including opt outs and contacts used in QuickSends). 

Since the All Contacts list is a system-generated list that constantly changes, you can't attach it directly to a campaign. You can't run Contact List rules on it either.

So what do you use it for?

First, it gives you an easy way to see how many contacts your account is actively managing, and to remove specific contacts from all your lists.

Second, it gives Business Builder users an easy way to create and maintain your own Master Contact List. Then you can set up and run rules to segment your contacts, for example:  

• to segment contacts by sales rep name, zip code, etc.
• to segment by any custom fields (i.e. product type, customer type, lead source, etc.)
• to remove opt-out contacts for an accurate snapshot of your active contact list

This QuickTip shows how easy it is to keep an updated Master List to turbo-charge your list segmentation and eVideo marketing results. 

Voodoo QuickTip #381 - How to maintain an updated Master List

To create your own Master Contact List, simply create the empty list, then import all contacts from your system-generated All Contacts list into your new Master List. 

1. Access My Contacts and click Add New Contact List.


2. Name your list Master Contact List and click Save. 



3. You will be taken to the Contacts tab where you click Import Contacts from Another List. 



4. From the Source Contact List option select All Contacts and for Destination Contact List select your new Master Contact List then click Copy. You now have an editable Master Contact List and you can run rules on it.



If you want to remove the contacts who have opted out from this new Master Contact List and get an an accurate count of active contacts:

eVideo Users can sort their Contacts by the Opt-Out column and manually move them to a new Unsubscribe List.  

Business Builder Users can automate the management of your Opt-Outs by creating a rule: 

1. From the My Contacts page click Manage Rules.



2. From the Manage Rules page click Add New Rule. 



3. Add the new Rule Name (i.e. Remove Opt Outs from Master). Select the Master Contact List in the Apply Rule to contacts in this list. Then click Save Rule Info. 

4. Now you can add your conditions and actions: 

5. For Conditions, add a new condition: Optout = True 

6. For Actions, add a new action: Remove Matching Contacts from List. And add Master Contact List to Contact Lists Applied To.



7. Be sure to Save, Enable and Run Rule.  Once the rule is enabled it will run continuously. No need to come back into your rules and manually run the rule - it is automatic! 

Business Builder users, create your new Master Contact List now by logging into your Voodoo account.

eVideo Launcher users, let us know if you'd like to upgrade to the full-featured version of Voodoo to have access to all the advanced features that save time and make you more successful.

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One of your goals this year may be to clean up the contacts in your Voodoo account.  In our 3-part series on Deliverability we wrote about how you can use non-delivery email messages to clean your contact lists. There are many ways to clean up your databases and this QuickTip focuses on the best way to remove a contact.  You may wish to remove contacts because: 

• You've received a non-delivery (bounceback) message
• You no longer wish to send email to this contact (not a lead)
• The contact has informed you that you have the incorrect person at a company

Before you delete a Contact Record or remove a Contact from a Contact List, please learn about this important tip:

Voodoo QuickTip #488 - How to Delete a Contact Record without affecting Stats

Voodoo Reports and Statistics are compiled based on the Contact List a Campaign was sent to, compiling data for each individual Contact Record in that list.  If you remove a Contact Record from a Contact List, the statistics associated with that contact will be removed, permanently altering campaign stats.  In other words, the Reports and Statistics for the Campaign will not include that record in its counts anymore (sent, open, etc).  



For some users, having individual Contact Records drop out of Reports and Statistics for certain Email Campaigns doesn't much matter.  In those cases, they can delete the Contact if they wish to. But for other users, it may be important to maintain accurate statistics by keeping all Contacts in the Campaign Statistic counts.

One best practice that we recommend to Voodoo users is to create a separate Contact List for each and every Campaign and Funnel. For example, if you set up a campaign for January 2015 Promotions, it is best to create a Contact List specifically for that Campaign (and name it January 2015 Promotions Contacts). This will help keep your contacts and campaigns organized and allow for permanent and accurate stats.

Opt-out instead of Delete

Voodoo recommends that users opt-out individual Contact Records that they no longer wish to send email to. By opting-out instead of deleting, all Reports and Statistics will stay unaffected and the Contact will no longer receive email from you.

To opt-out a single Contact from your Voodoo system, follow these steps:

1.  Voodoo Business Builder users access My Contacts from the nav bar, eVideo Launcher users access Contact Lists from the Manage Contacts button.

2.  Search for the Contact's email address using the Search for A Contact button



3.  Click the Pencil icon to edit the Contact Record 

4.  On the Contact Info Tab select the box for Optout  

5.  Click Update to save your changes to the Contact.

Your Contact is now opted-out of receiving any further email from your Voodoo system.  

When a Contact is opted-out they will also appear in the automatically generated Opt-Out Contact List maintained by the Voodoo system.  You can view this list by accessing your Contact Lists.



To opt a Contact back into receiving email, simply access this Opt Out Contacts List, edit the Contact and uncheck the Optout box. 

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This is part 2 of a 3 part QuickTip email series that focuses on email deliverability. In this series we will talk about: 

• What are undeliverable and bounceback emails
• Using undeliverable emails to clean your lists
• Other aspects of email that affect deliverability

Voodoo now uses Automatic Bounceback Handling. To learn about how this feature works please visit our blog post at http://voodooviral.com/Tips/post/Voodoos-Automatic-Bounceback-Handling.aspx

In part 3 of this email series we will talk about other aspects of email that affect deliverability.

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Voodoo is excited to announce that Contact List Rules are now available to all Voodoo Business Builder users.  

Contact List Rules offer unlimited opportunities to process and sort your data, and to automate the addition and removal of contacts to and from specific lists based on the most often used criteria.  You can run a rule one time to generate a targeted list, or you can leave a rule in place and running in the background ALWAYS moving and sorting contacts as required for your success. This QuickTip will walk you through the basic steps of creating a Contact Rule. 

Voodoo Feature #58 - Contact List Rules now available to ALL Voodoo Business Builder users

Voodoo Business Builder users, just follow these steps to set up a Contact Rule:

1.  Log into your Voodoo account and access My Contacts.


2.  Click the Manage Rules button

3.  Click + Add New Rule.  Give your rule a name, for example, Segment by Region. In this example you can pull out all your contacts in Arizona and put them in another Contact List.  (You can add a Description if you'd like, so you can easily recall the purpose of the rule.)



4.  Next, select a Contact List next to Apply Rule to contacts in this list.  Your rule will be applied only to contacts in this list—this will be true both now and in the future, if you leave the rule in place.

5.  You also must check the Enabled box, and Save Rule Info.  Once these steps are completed, your Conditions panel will open. 



Ask yourself: What Condition(s) must be present for a desired action to take place?

6.  Click + Add New Condition to add the first condition.  Select a Field, such as State (assuming you have addresses for your contacts) from the pull-down list, then choose a Qualifier, such as <>, Contains, Starts With, Ends With or Doesn't Contain. For example, selecting State = AZ would result in every email address containg AZ in the state field to be selected.  

7.  From here, you can add one or more additional Conditions using AND or OR.  Using AND means BOTH conditions must be satisfied for an Action to be taken.  Using OR means that either condition will result in an action.

Finally, ask yourself: What Actions should take place if the required Conditions are met?

8.  Click + Add New Action and select whether to Add or Remove Contacts from one or more selected Contact Lists when the required conditions are met.



9.  IMPORTANT: Once your rule is all set up, always click Save Rule Info, then Run Rule Now.

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