Drip Marketing

What is drip marketing? Drip marketing is a direct marketing strategy that involves sending out several promotional pieces over a period of time to a subset of sales leads.

 

Is this process effective and how can you begin planning your drip marketing campaign?

 

The phrase drip marketing comes from the common phrase used in agriculture and gardening called “drip irrigation.” This is the process of watering plants or crops using small amounts of water over long periods of time.

 

It was developed in response to the “Law of 29″ in which many marketers believe that an average “prospect” will not turn into a client until they’ve viewed their marketing message at least 29 times. While I do not necessarily agree with the Law of 29, I do believe in the need to stay in touch with your current and prospective clients in order for them to purchase from you.

 

There are way too many competitors out there, not to.

The method of drip marketing can help you avoid the sell-produce curve. An effective way to use drip marketing is to consistently do something each month to keep your name in front of your current clients and prospective clients. By doing this you diminish the sell-produce curve and will find that you will have a steady amount of business coming in the door.

 

The best thing about drip marketing is it requires a plan of action. By creating this plan and following it throughout the year you can guarantee that you will be consistent with your marketing all year long. I suggest that you develop your drip marketing campaign when planning your yearly marketing calendar.

 

It all sounds great, but where do you start? To help you I’ve listed a plan of action to get you well on your way to developing a productive drip marketing campaign:

• Step 1: Develop your Plan (Plan something EVERY month)
• Step 2: Strategize the Execution of Your Plan
• Step 3: Decide who your Target is.
• Step 4: Create consistency by developing your slogan or phrase. Then place it on every promotional and marketing piece.

What methods can you use for your drip marketing campaign? Here are a few that will get you started:

• Postcards
• Newsletters
• Email Newsletter (You’ll have to be careful of spam filters)
• Promotional or Sales Brochures

Think of your drip marketing campaign as a way to nurture your current and potential clients. You campaign should keep them aware of your products and services. With this thought in mind your campaign will succeed.

Email to a friend.

About This Post
Published: March 10, 2008
By: George Seybold

This article is filed under:
Email Direct Marketing | Integrated Marketing | Tips & Tricks | Word-of-mouth

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How to put sizzle in your e-mail marketing

Many business owners by now have tried a round or two of e-mail marketing, and more than a few of you are less than satisfied with the results.

Perhaps you’re worn out by doing labor-intensive e-zines or special offers. Staying on top of ever-changing databases also can be exhausting. Guarding against spamming new or potential customers is a concern. Then there are those dicey e-mail metrics. Figuring out what really works is a challenge.

Nevertheless, you should know this: E-mail marketing remains such an affordable and potentially cost-effective channel that it’s foolish to let the whole thing slide. If you need convincing, check out these alternatives:

• Direct mail: 1% to 2% response rates from purchased lists.
• Telemarketing: Outbound calls are being met with ballooning customer resistance. Increasingly, telemarketing is being tied to online programs.
• Banner ads: Click-through rates (CTR) have slid to less than 1%.

By contrast, permission-based e-mails average a 3.2% CTR, according to eMarketer, a New York e-business research group. Internal customer lists often result in 10% to 20% response rates and sometimes run as high as 40%.

If you feel e-mail marketing is more trouble than it’s worth, reconsider how you’re going about it. Here are some ways to revamp for stronger return on investment.

1. Offload the burdens.
   In the past few years, the options for outsourcing some of the tiresome chores of e-mail marketing have become more effective then doing it in-house. For example, Forrester Research reports that companies that outsource both delivery and list management campaigns average a 6% conversation rate, compared to about 1.4% for internally developed solutions.Offerings are flexible. You can harness software that offers customizable templates to create and distribute your content.You can outsource selected components, such as editorial services for content generation. You can hire outside providers to track visitor behavior patterns and preferences, including what kinds of messages lead to high conversion rates or which search engines lead to traffic likely to opt in.
2. Get focused on your message.
   Effective e-mail marketing usually has one of three goals:• Make special offers, such as discounts or time-sensitive deals.
   • Send invitations to events, seminars or organizations.
   • Keep in touch or make contact, for information, transactions or on behalf of a community or organization.Before drafting messages or buying lists or meeting with designers, make sure you and everyone on the team is clear about the goal. Figure out why you’re sending the e-mail. Then define success. Is it when a recipient opens the message? Or clicks onto a landing page? Or is it a conversion measurement?Slightly different messages can lead to very different results. For instance, one online retailer tested three messages, one all text, the other with the same text and an image of a young, sexy woman and the third with the same text and an image of a young man. Demographics for the marketer were young men.The result? Click-through rates for the image of the woman were highest. Not surprising. But upon investigation, the message with the man, while lower in click-throughs, had the highest conversion rate — that is, more recipients actually purchased items. Peer persuasion, I’m guessing. But the moral is: Be clear about why you’re trolling and then test, test, test.
3. Try some next-generation ideas.
   Once you know what response you want, consider these 10 tactics.

• Cut through clutter. Using Flash animation, streaming media with embedded audio and/or sound files and innovative HTML design can help you stand out. “If you can afford cable advertising, you can afford rich e-mail,” says Tony Wright, a Web specialist at publicist Weber Shandwick in Dallas.
• Make subject lines count. Don’t get cute. Don’t be familiar. Don’t trick people into opening a message — you’ll make them mad. Promise a benefit or value in the subject line. Then make sure to deliver.
• Automate metrics and act on results. Set up a seamless cycle that leverages the data you collect. For instance, New York interactive ad agency True North has a closed-loop system for each client. “An e-mail goes out, click-throughs go to a specially designed landing page that controls the flow of information and drives orders,” says creative director Neil Feinstein. “Response data is then re-introduced into the database to enrich it with specific customer data. We don’t just measure opens, click-throughs and opt-outs. We can look at conversion rates, sales and ROI. And we can tie these numbers directly to a consumer.”
• Create a call to action. Ask the recipient to do something — it’ll get you a better response. Suggestions include: Click on a link for more information. Register to receive a special offer. Go a Web site to qualify. Download a white paper. You can also offer games or other Web downloads. “Tabasco includes new downloads for special screen savers, free to Web surfers, in its e-mail newsletter,” says Katie Eakins at S&S Public Relations in San Diego. “It’s helped the company get and keep attention.”
• Personalize, but don’t scare anyone. Inexpensive software now lets you identify returning customers and stay up-to-speed on buying history, likes and dislikes, geographic region and more. All that makes customers feel special — so long as you don’t cross any privacy lines.
• Target the message. Too many marketers send out messages with misspelled words, typographical errors or just plain boring stuff. “The e-mail should be written by a professional writer who understands the principles of human influence and the psychology behind how memory and eye movement through online pages can work,” says George Seybold at iLevel, an eMedia Marketer in Boise, Idaho.
• Time the message. When customers receive your message might make a difference, depending on the business. “People often e-mail for business products on Fridays,” says Carrie Williams at FinancialAid.com, an online student loan consolidator. “But these e-mails get buried over the weekend and are often discarded.”
• Invest in viral reactions. Most markets include a group of influential users who will spread the messages you craft. Mine your customer database and spend a bit more for high-quality e-mail lists. Then test a few times to find the world-of-mouth folks who will spread your glad tidings.
• Make it easy to subscribe (and unsubscribe). Don’t ask for a lot of information on registration forms. People will click off. And make it just as convenient to unsubscribe. Then be scrupulous about keeping lists up-to-date. Never send e-mail to recipients who don’t want it.
• Test! Any or all of these techniques will help your e-mail marketing program succeed. But remember, if you don’t test before you send, with a partial sample or a test group, you’ll never know what really works.

Email to a friend.

About This Post
Published: January 31, 2007
By: George Seybold

This article is filed under:
Email Direct Marketing

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