If you're like the average businessperson, your contact lists, email boxes, CRM platform, and business card holders contain a wealth of prospects, some of whom might quite willingly be converted into customers if they encounter the right marketing content at the right time. Unfortunately, not everyone reads blog posts or peruses online videos as voraciously as you might hope, cutting off possible paths to pursuasion. But don't throw in the towel just yet, because those same folks probably check their email just as regularly as you check yours. That gives you a golden opportunity to grab their attention, build their trust, and influence their buying decisions through an email drip campaign. Let's take a look at three key points you should absorb if you want to put the power of email marketing to work for your organization.
1. A Drip Campaign Involves Multiple Touches
Yes, in an ideal world you could send out one earth-shattering email article or sales message that would sparkk an instant firestorm of purchases or requests for further information. But in case you haven't noticed by now, we don't inhabit an ideal world. A traditional sales rep might have to knock on the same door or call the same prospect on the phone time and time again before getting a response. A successful email marketing campaign relies on multiple touches, with emails sent out on a regular, recurring basis until your respondents either capitulate or filter you into that electronic Twilight Zone cornfield, the spam box.
Of course, it doesn't make much sense to send the exact same email article or message to the same people over and over. In a drip campaign, you send out a series of email messages, with each email message building on the impact of the previous one by explaining some additional aspect of your products or services. Eventually the cumulative impact of these multiple touches finally sways the recipients to respond.
2. Cold Emails and Warm Emails Call for Different Approaches
If you want to mount a successful drip campaign, you need at least two sets of email messages -- one for cold prospects, and the other for warm prospects. Cold email messages don't presume any actual interest on the recipient's part, at least not at first. You might start with a friendly greeting that introduces your company and includes a casual call to action such as, "I'd like to tell you more about how we can help you. Please contact me and let me know when we can set up a chat." Subsequent emails address various problems you solve or features you offer, always closing with a request to communicate.
Once a prospect actually responds, that prospect "graduates" from your cold email list and starts receiving your warm emails. These messages can go into much greater informational depth and detail because you already know the prospect is at least slightly interested. Your calls to action can get a little more aggressive at this stage as well.
3. Email Content Should Intrigue, Inform, and Compel
What kind of content should you pack into your drip campaign emails? Well, as noted above, the warm prospects get more content per email than the cold ones. Generally, however, even the cold emails should point out this or that specific problem that your business helps its customers overcome. The warm emails can include the same kind of content you'd normally create for blog posts. At this point, you're composing mini-articles that can include case studies, industry statistics, and other information likely to hold your recipients' interest. By the time you've cycled through your entire set of warm email messages, you should start getting results as long as you've aimed the right content at the right people.
If creating all that email content sounds like a lot of work, well, it is. The good news is that you don't actually have to do it yourself or tie up your marketing team with it -- not when you can hire a skilled, experienced freelance copywriter. Contact me today, and let's capture your target market's attention!
