Company: GetResponse by Implix, Wilmington, DE
Entry Submitted By: Implix
Company Description: GetResponse is the leading provider of complete email marketing services. Since 1998, following its slogan “the world’s easiest email marketing”, it’s been successfully integrating the most advanced solutions such as: trigger emails, segmentation, landing pages creator, rss-to-email, mobile apps, social media integration, html-free email design, etc. with intuitive and user-friendly interfa
Nomination Category: Products & Product Management Categories
Nomination Sub Category: New Product or Service of the Year - Business-to-Business Services

Nomination Title: GetResponse's Responsive Email Creator

1. Tell the story about this nominated product or service (up to 525 words). Describe its function, features, benefits, and performance to date:

Business-to-consumer (B2C) marketers have led the drive toward mobile email marketing. As a result, 34% of consumers have made at least one purchase on their smartphone.

But what of business-to-business (B2B) marketers?

Selling consulting services is vastly different from selling Valentine’s Day gifts — diamond earrings look appealing even on a smartphone screen and can generate immediate sales. B2B marketers need to cultivate relationships over time. Mobile email marketing seems like an obvious winner, with 82% of mobile users checking email on a mobile device, including executives staying in touch outside business hours. The problem is compatibility. Email messages that look great on a laptop may be unreadable on smaller mobile screens. Studies indicate that 42% of subscribers delete emails that don’t display correctly on mobile phones. And yet, only 25% of marketers optimize for mobile.

Until now, marketers had few choices. They could try do-it-yourself mobile email templates, but styles and capabilities were limited. Or they could create separate mobile emails using HMTL coding, a choice many businesses could not afford. Some marketers avoided the issue by reverting to plain text. Others simply included a link to a landing page — which also might not be mobile-optimized.

GetResponse tackled this problem and developed the world’s first true Responsive Email Design. Each email runs a query that detects the size of the display screen then automatically adjusts column width, reformats multi-column layouts, and modifies the size and position of images and design elements. Responsive emails render correctly whether viewed on laptop, desktop, iPhone, iPad or Android. And no extra steps are required. Marketers create their email in the Responsive Email Design module using drag-‘n’-drop technology to add columns, text, images, video, social icons, action buttons, and design elements — all of which adjust automatically for screen size. Or they can choose from 500+ mobile-friendly templates, included free inside GetResponse. Each can be customized by adding or deleting design elements, changing colors, and including images and video. In both scenarios, their design renders in a reader-friendly format on all devices. Users can verify the rendering with Mobile Preview, a built-in function that displays the design as subscribers would see it in various mobile apps, so they can tweak the final output.

GetResponse made the decision to solve the mobile compatibility problem for two reasons.

First, the mission of the company from inception has been to deliver big-company capabilities for small businesses at affordable prices. Responsive Email Design is included free inside GetResponse.

Second, the company embraced the mobile revolution early, setting a goal of making mobile email marketing user-friendly for marketers and customers.

Now B2B marketers can tell their marketing story in words, images and video. And busy decision makers who blend work life with personal life need not carry their laptop to the ballpark; they can grab their smartphone and continue to cultivate important relationships. We believe this innovation is an industry changer destined to bring the benefits of mobile email marketing to B2B companies worldwide. As the mobile market continues its rapid growth, GetResponse users will be able to grab market share and position their business for greater profitability and lasting success.

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2. Provide a brief (up to 125 words) biography about the leader(s) of the team that developed this nominated product or service:

In 1997, 17-year-old Simon Grabowski founded GetResponse with capital of $200. He believed startup entrepreneurs were at a disadvantage and envisioned bringing big-company marketing technologies to small businesses. So he began creating GetResponse, a web-based email marketing program using the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model. His entrepreneurial experience gave him an insider’s perspective on the needs of B2B marketers. The result is a product user-friendly enough for novices, yet full-featured enough for experienced pros. GetResponse recently achieved an industry first: true responsive email.

“B2B marketers need to be part of the mobile revolution,” says Simon. "Responsive Email Design makes mobile email marketing possible for businesses of any size.” Headquartered in Poland, GetResponse markets primarily in Europe and North America, now serving 300,000 customers in 183 countries.