Josh Cassel

My guess is that most of you who read this that are involved with any kind of internet or information marketing have some sort of drip campaign set up to periodically touch your prospects and opt-ins. If you don’t, maybe this will give you a nudge to get something going.

Let’s start with the basics. What is a drip campaign? The premise is that most people will not buy a product or service in their first opportunity, so if they don’t buy, but leave you their name and e-mail address, you still have a chance. In short, a drip campaign is a series of e-mails that are sent out to prospects on a regular basis in order to keep your company or product in the front of their mind while also providing them with something. It could be a tidbit of information, a product review, or a variety of other things. The frequency of a drip campaign differs from business to business, but maybe an e-mail goes out every week or every other. Each person has different needs and each person’s prospects need to be touched differently to make them more likely to convert to a customer. It’s important to note, though, that we are not trying to bombard these people with e-mails. That is surely the best way to get them to unsubscribe from your list.

So once you decide to incorporate a drip campaign, how do you effectively use it? The best way to use a drip campaign is to provide your prospective customers with relevant content that they are interested in reading. It will most likely be relative to the product or service you are selling. Along with this information, you want to subtly remind the prospect of you and your company. When it comes time for them to buy, they should already know that they are coming to you to do so. For example, in one of my drip campaigns, I include in each e-mail one of the 101 Key Strategies to Attract More Clients. My business is helping people attract more clients to their business, so I give them information about doing that. Each point is short and quick to read, but provides good, relevant content. I also mention in each drip that if they have questions or would like more information on how to implement a certain strategy that they shouldn’t hesitate to contact me. I don’t push a hard sale, rather just let them know that I’m there if they have any questions. It keeps me fresh in their mind without hassling them.

I subscribe to quite a few lists of successful marketers and receive drip e-mails on an almost daily basis. I like to see what other people are doing and see how it looks on the other end. Many of them are great. If I was interested in their product or service, I would definitely go to them for it. Others however, are not so good. I get some drip e-mails that are just “Hey, how are you?” and “Just touching base with you to see…”. They provide virtually no content, do not hold my interest, and really give me no reason to believe that they are the authority on whatever topic they are talking about. For me, they are perfect examples of what not to do in my e-mail marketing.

So what about your drip campaign? Does it add up to anything?

With all the melting going on after the last few snowstorms we have had here in PA, there are a lot of icicles hanging around. They remind me a lot of drip campaigns. The more they drip, the longer and stronger they get. That’s what a good drip campaign should look like. Each e-mail adds interest and makes the recipient just a little more interested in buying.

OK, so it isn’t the best analogy ever invented in the world, but you get my point! If you don’t have a drip campaign, set one up! You’ll convert more prospects. If you have one, check the quality of what you are sending to your list. Is it relevant and interesting information? Do you subtly remind that person that you are the authority in your field and that they should buy from you when they are ready?

Most importantly: Does it add up to anything?