Thoughts on Marketing…

The name “drip marketing” doesn’t sound very glamorous. In fact it sounds kind of, well, drippy. But its value in building relationships with your clients and prospects is far from drippy.

Used in a permission-based e-mail campaign, or in a postal mail campaign, drip marketing does more than remind your prospects that you exist.

It offers you a way to show your expertise and knowledge without being overbearing. If you offer one new tip or bit of advice each day, your prospects will gradually come to view you as the expert they need.

And, by offering that advice without promise of reward, you make another important statement about yourself. You silently state that you possess the qualities of generosity, helpfulness and good will.

Day by day, you’re building a relationship based on trust. And in this day of skepticism, trust is a priceless commodity. It’s something that can’t be purchased – it can only be earned.

Day by day, you’re also showing your prospects all the reasons why they need to turn to you when they’re ready to buy.

You could put those reasons why in one long letter, but I think they’re more effective when presented one at a time – over time.

Offering your information in small bites gives your readers time to digest and understand each reason. And, your drip marketing letters give you multiple opportunities to “touch” your prospects. Because you’re offering something new each time, you will interest rather than annoy those prospects.

If you simply sent the same message over and over, they’d probably toss or delete it as soon as they realized they’d already seen it before.

But because your message is different each time, and because you’ve let them know from the first that they’re going to receive some valuable advice each time they hear from you, they’ll read each message. In fact, they may look forward to it.

Just this week I got a note from a lady who was receiving some drip marketing messages from me. She said “Somehow I missed #4, could you re-send it?”

How many letters should go into a drip campaign?

Most experts agree that you need 7 “touches” to motivate the average consumer. Those can be email, postal mail, phone calls, or even in-person visits.

I think a better way to decide how many letters to send is to examine how much information you have to offer.

Decide what you want to tell them. Then break it down into small, logical bites. You could even write one long essay, then come back later and break it up.

Remember that you don’t want to offer TOO much information in each of your drip marketing letters. It’s more effective to keep them relatively short so your prospects can read and digest them quickly.

Of course you should include a call to action at the end of each message. Offer a free consultation or a free report. Or just say, “When you need me, call…” and list your phone number and email address.

Whatever you do, do ask them to take some action, even if it’s reminding them to be on the alert for your next message in X number of days.