During my discussions with small business owners, I would mention the term “drip marketing” and 9 times out of 10 I would get the confused look. Let’s fix that:
Definition from Wikipedia
Drip Marketing is a communication strategy that sends, or “drips,” a pre-written set of messages to customers or prospects over time. These messages often take the form of E-mail marketing, although other media can also be used. Drip marketing is unique from other database marketing in two ways: (1) the timing of the messages follow a pre-determined course; (2) the messages are dripped in a series applicable to a specific behavior or status of the recipient.
Drip Marketing Mediums
E-mail. The most commonly used form of drip marketing is E-mail marketing, due to the low cost associated with sending multiple messages over time. Email drip marketing is often used in conjunction with a Form (web) in a method called an Autoresponder. In this method, a lead completes the form on a company’s website and is then enrolled in a drip marketing campaign with messaging appropriate to the form’s context.
Direct Mail. Although more costly, direct mail software has been developed that enables drip marketing techniques using standard postal mail.
Social Media. The principles of Drip Marketing have been applied in many social media marketing tools to schedule a series of updates. HootSuite, allows users to time messages and dissemenate via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and several other social media sites simultaneously.
CRM. CRM systems can automate the tactical delivery of the drip marketing message, triggering a system generated email, scheduling a follow up call or prompting social media posts.
How does the Get It Done Girl utilize Drip Marketing?
E-Mail. I utilize MailChimp to deliver my twice/month e-newsletter. It’s free for up to 1000 email addresses and the metrics are great (I can tell who opened the email, how many times and if they clicked on any of the links, for example). I have a sign-up form for the newsletter on my website and I include a link to a sign-up form in my e-signature and on all of my printed materials. I also automatically sign people up for my e-newsletter if we’ve met at a networking event and we’ve had a discussion which would lead me to believe that they may need my services, but aren’t quite ready to “buy” yet. Drip…drip…I’m reminding my prospects that I’m here…
Direct Mail. Haven’t used yet…
Social Media. My bread-and-butta. Whether you use HootSuite or Tweetdeck, finding a system that allows you to schedule messages you’d like to send to your followers/fans/connections is a great way to free up your time during the week. Don’t schedule engagement, just articles you’d like to share, announcements about your business or any other similar message. Drip…drip…I’m reminding my prospects about what I do and why I’m good at it…
CRM. I’ve got my own CRM system I’ve developed in-house. It’s a little bit of this and a little bit of that, and it works for me… If you’re a larger enterprise dealing with several projects, stakeholders and prospects OR are just completely unorganized and need some support, consider utilizing a pre-build CRM. A couple include Sales Force, Solve360 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Drip…drip…I’m demonstrating my brand even through how I follow-up with prospects…
Are you utilizing Drip Marketing in your business? If not, which of the concepts above would fit best with your skills and business model? Shoot me an email and we can discuss…
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Great comments….
We use another CRM web based software from called RedTail. You can find it at http://redtailtechnology.com We are in the insurance industry and this works well for us.
Good luck