Generating leads, nurturing prospects. There was a time when marketing did one and sales did the other.
As we look at today’s content marketing landscape, those lines have blurred. Consumers now expect to be able to engage with brands on their terms—especially online.
Whether it’s through blogs, social media, emails, white papers, e-books or videos, providing personalized, relevant content has become the key to not only pulling prospects toward your sales funnel, but keeping them there too.
Unfortunately, this multi-touch, multi-channel marketing can put a drain on time and resources. That’s where drip marketing can really help.
Drip marketing—or nurturing campaigns—is just what it sounds like: “dripping” relevant content or information to prospects over time. This can be done via email, direct mail, social marketing or a combination of all of the above—and can be automated and triggered to streamline workflow and maximize impact.
In this blog, we’ll look at a few of the benefits drip marketing can provide—and a some of the best practices to follow to ensure you get the most out of your efforts.
3 Reasons to Include Drip Campaigns in Your Marketing Now
1. Drip campaigns deliver relevance, right on time
Obviously, just because someone reached out to your company doesn’t mean they’re ready to buy. But by sending regular emails with relevant information that fits where your prospects are in the sales cycle, you can pull leads deeper into your funnel and ensure your brand stays top of mind when they are finally ready to make a purchase.
2. Drip campaigns provide more qualified leads
Because drip campaigns are tailored and triggered to nurture prospects through the sales cycle, they provide much more qualified leads for your sales team to convert. So by the time prospects are clicking on your call to action, they are softened and sale-ready—maximizing your chances to close the deal.
3. Drip campaigns free up time and money
With the help of marketing automation software, nurture/drip campaigns essentially manage themselves—blasting emails based on the triggers and cadence you set up.
As a result, your team can spend less of their valuable time and energy nurturing prospects along—and put more focus into developing strategy, managing your brand, tweaking offers and closing sales.
4 Great Ways to Use Drip Marketing
Drip campaigns can be used in any number of ways, including:
1. To keep your brand top of mind with prospects throughout the sales cycle, so that when they are ready to buy, you are their first choice
2. To provide relevant educational information that sets your business up as an industry leader in the minds of consumers
3. To retain current customers by building loyalty through useful resources, exclusive content and special promotions
4. To re-establish connections by providing helpful information or attractive win-back offers
That’s just the tip of the iceberg really. You can use the data you collect from all your inbound and outbound marketing to tailor campaigns that give you the biggest bang for your buck.
Targeting your messaging and design to your audience’s preferences will go a long way—from the type of content you provide to the frequency of messages and delivery format of the messages they receive.
Remember, the best drip campaigns capitalize on your strengths. Consider what has engaged customers about your product or service in the past—and use it to nurture prospects going forward.
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