Drip marketing: Importance of staying in touch
We are familiar with the fact of – “Out of sight, out of mind”. Think about what must be happening to your prospects who have not heard from you for months. In Inside Sales, we often hear prospects telling us “Call us back next year”/ “May be next spring will be a good time” / “Will keep you in file, but no requirement right now”. We often tend to do a common mistake, mark our calendars for the next year and we call them accordingly. But that often ends being another cold call and then we realise that we are back to square one.
The mechanism to curb this easily is by doing Drip marketing. Drip marketing is the process of sending messages to prospects and customers at regular intervals based on certain behaviours or lead status.
The term drip marketing refers to the steady process of ‘dripping’ your messages to your prospects. It originates from the common phrase used in agriculture and gardening called “drip irrigation.” This is the process of watering plants or crops using small amounts of water over long periods of time. If you dump a bucket of water on a plant, the plant will drown and die. Yet if you give the plant drops of water over time, the plant will get the water it needs yet it won’t be overwhelmed.
The idea with drip marketing is by sending regular messages at appropriate intervals, you won’t overwhelm your prospects but you’ll successfully nurture each one until they’re ready to buy what you’re selling.
It was developed in response to the “Law of 29” in which many marketers believe that an average “prospect” will not turn into a client until they’ve viewed their marketing message at least 29 times.. There are way too many competitors out there, there is a definitive need to stay in touch with your current and prospective clients in order to convert those leads into opportunities.
The most common mediums that are used for drip marketing campaigns include:
· Email: Email marketing is cheap and with the use of auto-responders, can be programmed to send specific emails to specific individuals over time.
· Direct Mail: Although it costs a little more, sending your prospects and customers communications through snail mail is still very effective.
· Social Media: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn can be used in drip marketing campaigns by scheduling and timing updates to post at certain times.
Tips for Drip Marketing
If you’re not sure how you can use drip marketing in your business, the following are a few tips that will help you keep your prospects interested until they’re ready to get their credit cards out.
· Keep Your Name Out There: When sending out perfectly timed messages, make sure your company’s name is prominent and you may want to use visually themed email messages so as to create a visual cue for your prospects and customers. The more your customers remember you, the more likely they are to choose your company when they are ready to buy.
· Benefit Your Prospects and Customers: Make sure your drip campaign includes benefits for your customers and prospects. If you are sending out email messages, you may include tutorials that they can use in their own businesses. This will cause your prospects to look forward to your communications, and that’s just what you want with drip marketing.
Marketing Automation
· Drip marketing doesn’t sound all the difficult, unless of course you’re talking about hundreds or thousands of leads in a database who are all at different stages of the buying process. With drip marketing, you need to send timed messages to various demographics and various leads depending on their behaviours and activities. But when you have that many leads, it’s nearly impossible to keep all of your messages straight. That’s why many business owners choose marketing automation software that comes with drip marketing capabilities already installed. With lead management and lead scoring, your drip marketing campaigns can be planned perfectly across many demographics and across many platforms.
· Drip marketing is extremely effective, just as using drops of water works beautifully when it comes to irrigation. With drip marketing, you will remain on your prospects’ and consumers’ minds and you’ll be more likely to secure their business when they’re ready to become actual buyers
Smart Retail: Inevitable choice for Retailers
Smart Phones have invaded our life and outsmarted every strategy a retailer could possibly think of for engaging & retaining their customers. The days of clipping coupons, paying through a traditional checkout lane and even handwriting shopping lists are coming to a close.
With growing smartphone adoption, shoppers are charging ahead with increasingly high expectations that are centered on their mobile devices.To keep customers engaged, grocers and other retailers need to provide customers with value, convenience and innovation – or risk losing them entirely. This sounds like old news, but the truth is, many retailers might think they are in the passing lane when they are really still stuck on the on-ramp.
These growth rates have had a heavy effect on retailers. According to comScore/Mobilens, as of July 2011, nearly 82.2 million people in United States own a smartphone and there is a possibility of the number going up by 10% every month.
Mobile shopping growth is at a whooping 25% every year. In a marketplace flooded with mobile applications and endless offers, retailers are eager to jump on the mobile bandwagon and deliver mobile commerce solutions that provide true and fundamental value to the shopper. Consumers are rarely without their mobile devices, opening new market opportunities for time- and location-specific services.
For retailers, that means shoppers must be engaged wherever they are – both in the store and out of the store. With smartphones nearly always on, the mobile platform is a channel like no other – if done correctly, the possibilities for customer engagement and brand building are virtually without limits.
Retailers are still learning, however, that mobile technology should augment the traditional shopping experience – not replace it. Mobile’s strength in retail is that it can be complementary – it is more personal, location-aware and delivers a wealth of on-the-spot information.
Analysis:
In June 2011, Forrester Research reported that 43 percent of retailers had not yet defined their mobile commerce strategy. By answering a few preliminary questions, retailers can save themselves from making a mistake that could easily alienate shoppers downloading apps with high expectations.
• What do shoppers want? And what are they using today?
• What will drive loyalty?
• Which tools will deliver the most effective results and best shopping experience?
• What is their cost and implementation?
• What capabilities are required to support this strategy?
Consumer behavior researcher Ryan Partnership offers interesting guidance through its recent study of more than 5,000 retail shoppers and their expectations of mobile apps.
The study found two key factors: when considering mobile apps it is back to basics and how to save shoppers time and money.
The results of a recent Forrester mobile commerce report found that 38 percent of retailers surveyed believe they do not have the right skills and expertise to approach mobile. Choosing the right partner to pair with your strategy is critical to capitalize on the window of opportunity that is now open.
In considering strategic partners, seek out a partner with:
• Direct experience and a track record of successfully bringing innovation to an industry slow to change
• Ability to integrate with existing systems, processes and people
• A commitment to continuous innovation
How does Future Look?
Mobile commerce allows retailers to build loyalty by providing a superior experience with their brand.
For the retailer, that means delivering a single solution that:
For the retailer, that means delivering a single solution that:
• Enhances the shopper experience from the moment that customer enters the store through checkout
• Learns shopper preferences over time, delivering targeted offers aisle-by-aisle
• Anticipates a customer’s needs and wants, for example, giving them new ideas for meals and recipes based on learned preferences, thereby encouraging the purchase of new products and increasing incremental sales
To keep up with consumers and their on-the-spot, on-the-go shopping, it is critical for retailers to invest their future in mobile commerce.
As mobile commerce continues to rise, so does the importance of the in-store shopping experience.
Along with convenience, personalization and savings, retailers need to start planning for what is next: the push for sustaining customer loyalty and mobile payment solutions. The right mobile commerce strategy begins with fundamental utility: saving your shopper time and money.
Social Media Marketing
In todays world of communication advancement through internet [specially with the emergence of Web 2.0], communication has taken a new moulded shape. Today it is very difficult, [if not impossible] to stay away from communication or messages that are directed towards you. With the emergence of social media, one would have never imagined that life in all form, will be controlled by their clicks. And the organisations, who used to put but big board banners and hoardings on your way to school, college and work, are now taking the easy way in to your cell phones, emails and even to your facebook walls.
I read a blog recently about brands that failed in the global market in the last decade, and ofcourse, windows Vista, was one among the top few. But very reluctant analysis also says that Microsoft went away easy with that as the “Hate” button or Twitter culture had not engulfed us completely by then.
Social media in the form of networking portals like Facebook [Heading the list], Twitter and others have given a new dimension to marketing. Marketing, as defined by The Chartered Institute of Marketing is the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably. From time immemorial, Market is considered as the Institution where society reaches to satisfy its wants and needs. Today Marketing, in this age of Web 2.0, with the help of social media, is reaching out to its target groups with lot of ease and precision.
A few case studies that I have read recently, shows that the dependency of an organisation on its Facebook page is more that it actually depends on the accuracy at which its portal reflect it to its target group of prospects. It is even argued in the social media communities whether facebook pages will gradually take over company portals. If we go a little further into analysis then the reason for the transition becomes very obvious. What can Facebook provide that a normal company portal cannot do?
Well to start of, When a company is trying to target a a predefined group of prospect, it can avail the data very easily on Facebook whereas to do the same on its own portal, it would require a long questionnaire to be filed by every lead who visits the page, which obvious is a downsized possibility. OK, lets look at a practical scenario, do you know you can book air-tickets on Facebook in much shorter time than you can on the airlines portal? After you book your ticket, if you are lucky, you will even be prompted that that one of your friend is also travelling to the same destination on the same day and if you guys would like to seat together. Wondering how will the airline company know about the possible fact about you two being friends? Well your Facebook profile provided the data. Similarly only NRI communities get real investment opportunity proposals and young executives get distance education details.
Social media is a new specialized tool which ofcourse is scripting a new dimension in marketing. So next time you want something new, don’t forget to mention it on your wall and you will be found.
I read a blog recently about brands that failed in the global market in the last decade, and ofcourse, windows Vista, was one among the top few. But very reluctant analysis also says that Microsoft went away easy with that as the “Hate” button or Twitter culture had not engulfed us completely by then.
Social media in the form of networking portals like Facebook [Heading the list], Twitter and others have given a new dimension to marketing. Marketing, as defined by The Chartered Institute of Marketing is the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably. From time immemorial, Market is considered as the Institution where society reaches to satisfy its wants and needs. Today Marketing, in this age of Web 2.0, with the help of social media, is reaching out to its target groups with lot of ease and precision.
A few case studies that I have read recently, shows that the dependency of an organisation on its Facebook page is more that it actually depends on the accuracy at which its portal reflect it to its target group of prospects. It is even argued in the social media communities whether facebook pages will gradually take over company portals. If we go a little further into analysis then the reason for the transition becomes very obvious. What can Facebook provide that a normal company portal cannot do?
Well to start of, When a company is trying to target a a predefined group of prospect, it can avail the data very easily on Facebook whereas to do the same on its own portal, it would require a long questionnaire to be filed by every lead who visits the page, which obvious is a downsized possibility. OK, lets look at a practical scenario, do you know you can book air-tickets on Facebook in much shorter time than you can on the airlines portal? After you book your ticket, if you are lucky, you will even be prompted that that one of your friend is also travelling to the same destination on the same day and if you guys would like to seat together. Wondering how will the airline company know about the possible fact about you two being friends? Well your Facebook profile provided the data. Similarly only NRI communities get real investment opportunity proposals and young executives get distance education details.
Social media is a new specialized tool which ofcourse is scripting a new dimension in marketing. So next time you want something new, don’t forget to mention it on your wall and you will be found.
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