Does your drip marketing leak? In the stampede to corral leads, B2B marketing efforts can lose momentum as soon as the prospects have moved into their sales cycle. Once you’ve got them in, how do you establish a lead management cycle that nurtures the leads you worked so hard to get?
Using drip marketing is a valuable way of keeping your prospects engaged and creating credibility as a resource. By sending regular targeted email messages, you keep your company at the top of your buyer’s mind.
But stay clear of these three mistaken assumptions to be sure your drip marketing is lead-tight:
1. More info means more response.
Actually not true. Rather, relevant information generates increased response rates.
Once prospects have given you their information and are locked in the drip cycle, don’t overcrowd their inbox with irrelevant information.
Provide contextual information to first help them answer questions, solve problems or navigate to products of interest. Just don’t assume that more contact will equal more action.
2. It’s all about the email.
Email is just the start. The ideal drip marketing process incorporates unique offers that connect the email to specific landing page.
Think through where you are linking the prospect and ask yourself ‘does this make sense’?
For example, if your email marketing campaign is offering details and images about a specific product – i.e. 500 count Egyptian cotton sheets, then the image should link to a page specific to 500 count Egyptian cotton sheets.
There are few email marketing no-no’s more irritating than getting excited about a product, only to click on the image and be routed to a homepage.
3. Drip marketing is a one-way street.
Effective drip marketing will reduce spam rates when prospects expect and appreciate your messages but it doesn’t stop there. The lead nurturing process must be measured to determine email open rates, click through rates from offers, and opt out rates.
Compare drip campaign lead numbers for purchasing frequency, amount and time in relation to prospects not in the campaign to understand ROI success. And remember that consistent interaction results in a higher level of customer engagement.
Today’s consumer drives the sales cycle with their online habits and research behavior. No longer can companies make sales by relying solely on the messages “We are here” or “Come to us because we’ve been around for twenty years”.
A solid drip marketing campaign is essential to keep in contact with prospects over long periods of time because of the infrequency of purchase and long buying decisions.
The best practices use message mapping to align lead nurturing goals and content before the actual work begins. Put together a basic list of goals coupled with key messages and you will be on the right track to create a successful campaign. Combine that with automated software for improved deliverability and you’ll plug unwanted leaks and improve your results.
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