- Contest Factory
- July 20, 2021
You’ve heard the hype about drip campaigns – how they can keep your sales pipeline full, automatically converting relevant leads into loyal customers with no direct interaction needed on your part. Sound too good to be true?
Read on…
When done correctly, drip marketing will streamline your sales process into an automated converting machine…but there is a method to the magic. Here’s how to build a drip campaign that will have your audience swooning and your conversion rates soaring.
What is a Drip Campaign?
A drip campaign consists of a series of automatic emails sent out at strategic times to accomplish a specific goal. Drip campaigns are primarily used with the aim of leading customers further down the sales funnel, but they are also used for other purposes, such as welcoming new customers, reconnecting with inactive ones, or increasing following.
Although typically email-based, drip campaigns can also incorporate other communication channels, such as text messages and social sites.
How Does a Drip Campaign Work?
Drip email marketing campaigns can send messages or other content based on parameters like time or action. For example, a time-based drip campaign would include a series of emails sent out in relation to specific event dates.
In contrast, an action-based campaign would create automated responses based on customer behavior or triggers. A scenario might include when a customer leaves a site without purchasing the item in his or her cart. You might schedule an email reminding them they left something behind, and then follow up with a text message offering a limited discount code to complete the purchase.
A second example might look like this: a new subscriber signs up and immediately receives an email with a clickable discount offer. Once clicked, the subscriber is added to a new customer list that receives periodic emails with special offers.
Why are Drip Campaigns Effective?
The best reason to use drip campaigns is because they’re effective. Market research shows that targeted emails generate 18x more revenue than generic emails with an increased click rate of 119%.
- Increased brand recognition through reiterated contact
- Strengthen customer relationships through increased, meaningful engagement
- Build trust with valuable content
- Result in 45% higher ROI for businesses
5 Ways to Perfect Your Drip Campaign
There are a lot of moving parts to an email drip campaign, but here are the principles the most successful campaigns have in common:
1. Zero in on your target
This one goes without saying but can’t be left out: your messaging, timing, and trigger points should target your ideal customer based on customer data and research. From the type of offers that you include to the time and day you send them, every detail of your drip campaign should be centered around your specific demographic. Otherwise, you risk wasting your effort or worse, annoying (and losing) your customers.
2. Start Slow & Steady
Pace yourself when implementing your drip campaign. You want to establish consistent contact, but also leave customers wanting more. The idea is to slowly build trust with new customers, sweetening the deal until they are ready to make a purchase. Ultimately, you want your new followers to experience the best of what your brand has to offer with the feeling of instant VIP status.
3. Keep content short & sweet
You want your content to be valuable and on point to avoid losing your reader in the details. This goes for the headline, as well. Grab the reader’s attention with a captivating statement or intriguing question that makes your email impossible to delete. Keep the content length to 2-3 paragraphs so the reader arrives at your CTA as efficiently as possible. But be careful not to push too hard before you establish sufficient trust with your new subscriber.
4. Make your CTA count
This leads us to the star of the show- your call to action. There should be a clear CTA at the end of every drip email that aligns perfectly with each stage of the buyer’s journey, both in content and timing. Whether you want readers to visit your website, sign up for a newsletter, or buy a product, they should know exactly how and what to do at the end of every message.
5. Test, test, test…
Your drip campaigns are automated, but they shouldn’t be on autopilot. Continuously test your emails to see which performs the best so you can continue to improve your results. Testing not only allows you to determine the best time and day to send your emails, but it also allows you to see what word choice and format works best for your CTA. You will be amazed at how dramatically you can improve your results by simply replacing a word in your CTA!
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There’s no question, successful drip email campaigns require patience, nuance, and skill. But the end results will be well worth the effort. And before you know it, your conversion and revenue rates will take on a life of their own…just like magic.
