Download our case study to learn how Ideal Introductions were able to drive over $15K in additional monthly revenue & increase engagement ten-fold with Vision6.
Find out how the Ideal Introductions team use Vision6 for their email & SMS automations to streamline communications and keep in contact with their clients at all stages of the journey. With Vision6, the organisation was able to:
- Increase their open rates ten-fold
- Drive over $15K of additional monthly revenue
- Use dynamic content to better-serve information to their clients based on interests
- Engage dormant prospects with personalised two-way SMS communications
Download the case study, get started with a free Vision6 trial or learn more about Ideal Introductions.
Introduction
The way people meet each other has changed drastically over the last few decades. In 1991 when Ideal Introductions was founded, people turned to matchmaking services if they were ‘new to towners’, were shy, or just weren’t very social.
Today, a proliferation of apps make it easy for people to connect – but as the team at Ideal Introductions has found, the more connected we become, the harder it is to actually ‘connect’ with someone for a more meaningful, longer-term relationship.
Many of us are time-poor, have chosen to put their career first or simply find it hard to engage with a new person – and while we all seem to have more connections than ever before, they’re all less personal on an individual level. With virtually everyone being ‘online’ in some fashion, one would assume that matchmaking services aren’t all that relevant anymore, but the opposite is true. In fact, Ideal Introductions are now more popular than ever – processing hundreds of leads a month in Southeast Queensland alone.
The Challenge
With hundreds of leads comes hundreds of new connections. Ideal Introductions needed a system that can handle the incoming data, allow prospects to be accurately identified and nurtured at all stages of their journey (including after a successful match) and to help automate communications and internal processes as much as possible.
As they deal with confidential information, it was additionally important to ensure that their email & SMS marketing provider was both SOC2 and ISO 27,001 certified, and able to offer Australian-based data storage, support and development.
The Solution
Linda Prescott, one of the founders of Ideal Introductions, has been using Vision6 at the firm since 2002. If you’re a Brisbane reader who listens to the radio on the way to work, you’ve probably heard Linda voicing Ideal’s famous catch-phrase; “Single, single and sick of it!” – which has been a big part of their radio & TV campaigns.
“Ideal Introductions have been using Vision6 for over 20 years. Initially we’d just use the platform to store data like a CRM, but we’ve expanded our use of the platform so much since then. Today, we use automations, SMS, contact tagging, dynamic content and more,” said Linda.
“Much like a good long-term relationship, there needs to be an underlying trust in each other to learn, grow, adapt and evolve with the times. Life changes, situations change, people come and go – but it’s always important to have an open line of communication – and that’s something we’ve enjoyed with Vision6. They have people you can actually talk to for ideas and support – and they’re right here in Brisbane,” she added.
Ideal Introductions use the Vision6 automations capability to engage their contacts in different ways, based on where they are within their customer journey.
For example, a new client who is meeting others through the service will receive timely emails based on their interests – whereas a client who has met someone and been together for a few months will receive content relating to ideas for a weekend getaway with their partner.
Similarly, the Vision6 automations are cleverly configured to factor this client data into the mix – ensuring comms are highly relevant and personalised.
Having been in the industry for over three decades, Linda has been able to distil her understanding of what makes a successful ‘match’ down to just six questions. Some of these questions are featured on the company’s popular ‘Online Compatibility Test’.
“This test is a Vision6 form, so the data’s going straight into the system and it means our staff can spend more time helping prospects and clients, and less time checking or double-handling data,” said Linda.
Ideal Introductions also use Vision6 automations at this early stage of the customer journey – sending out automated emails once a staff member has been able to ‘match’ (or even ‘not match’) the prospect. Similarly, if the phone number entered is incorrect or invalid, a different email goes out asking for more information.
For Ideal Introductions, it’s all about the data – knowing what someone is interested in, what appeals to them and what they’re looking for. “A good connection is made not only through conversation – but a shared interest in something. A level of attraction, shared values, a similar lifestyle, humour. Two people don’t have to be the same, but they have to align. This is why data is so important to us,” she added.
Linda and her team have also had great success in using SMS for communications. “We’ve just started using Vision6 for SMS communication as well. It really seems to suit our clients and prospects, as it’s more personal than email. We also make sure that SMS is a two-way communication channel – so if a previously-unengaged prospect replies to our SMS about their current status, we make sure we write back and have a bit of a personal interaction with them to try and reignite the conversation and keep our brand top-of-mind,” she said.
The Result
Since adding SMS communication in the mix, Ideal Introductions has been able to increase engagement ten-fold. “It’s early days, but SMS has helped us drive over $15,000 of additional monthly revenue,” said Linda.
“It’s that initial SMS that really helps engage contacts. Even if they’re happily in a relationship at the time, it allows us to keep their contact record up to date and then we can rely on the Vision6 automation to reach out to them again in half a year to see if everything’s still okay. Doing this manually with thousands of contacts would be a nightmare, but having that initial contact go out automatically is great – and we can then have a one-on-one personal conversation with them via SMS after they’ve responded,” she added.
Future Growth Opportunities
Linda and Ideal Introductions look forward to a continued relationship with Vision6 – adding Salesforce into the mix by synchronising more data points with the Vision6 email & SMS marketing platform.
Having seen a massive boost in engagement through SMS, Ideal Introductions are understandably keen to add more SMS-based touchpoints into the customer journeys. With the new AI Content Assistant, writing content for ongoing email touchpoints is quicker and easier too – allowing the team to rapidly produce new content for their regular newsletters.
“For Ideal Introductions, it’s so important to keep a customer engaged and keep our brand top-of-mind. A contact may not need us now, but life has its ups and downs – so you never know when we might be needed again – either for yourself, or a friend that’s going through some life changes. We look forward to building upon our success to date and we see Vision6 as an ongoing partner in that journey.”, Linda commented.
The team at Vision6 look forward to working with Linda and Ideal Introductions for many years to come!
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