The short answer:  you need to stay in touch,  talk about things that really matter to those you want to remember you, and remind them that your business is a valuable resource they can tap in each of the areas where you’d like to work with them.

Drip campaigns reinforce your brand

The problem is that you want them to think of you for multiple products or services, not just the one with which they currently associate your business.  To do so, you need to communicate a lot of information–but your audience are too busy to absorb much that isn’t directly relevant to whatever is now top of mind.

You need to them to notice your communications–and to read them.  The solution is a “drip campaign“:  a series of concise messages that together accomplish your objectives and reinforce your brand.

One advantage of a drip campaign is that the individual communications are brief and easy to absorb.  A second advantage is that even if your target audience misses one communication, you have multiple opportunities to make an impression.

Most important, however, is that a drip campaign creates the multiple impressions it takes to make an impact–and motivate others to change their behavior.  Here are 5 steps you can use to develop compelling drip campaigns:

1. Identify a pressing concern

One of the best ways to identify a pressing concern is to monitor news in your target audience’s industry.  Is a new competitor entering the market?  Are there pending regulatory changes?  Has someone announced a disruptive technology?

In short, look for change, because change demands action.  Then, zero in on changes that offer opportunities for your company to add real value.

2. Make it personal

Share the news tip, but make it personal.  Let your correspondents know that when you heard what was going on, you immediately thought of them.

3. Create a sense of urgency

Tell them why you thought of them and how the market disruption will affect their business.  Point out opportunities you believe it will create for them–or consequences they may now face.

This step is essential, because this is where you add value.  Even if they were aware of the new circumstances, they may not yet have thought about what it will mean for them and their business.

4. Offer a solution

Strike while the iron’s hot–and before they have an opportunity to consider alternatives.  Describe the solution you will provide to make the problem go away.  Offer enough detail so that they can visualize its impact and get excited about the results.  Consider using a case example of how others have benefited from a similar solution.

5. Add a call to action

Highlighting a problem, and even offering a solution, is just the beginning.  If you don’t ask people to act right away, they often don’t.

So, ask for an appointment.  Or, if you don’t think they’re ready to meet, offer to send them more information.  Once they accept, you can “drip” on them again–and create one more of the impressions you’ll need to motivate action.

A great example of one drip in an ongoing campaign

Here’s an example of a “drip campaign” (identifying details changed to maintain anonymity) that my colleague, Laura Duffy, Principal at Laura Duffy and Associates, sent to a client to motivate him to move forward with a campaign.  She sent this after learning that one of his competitors had merged with a larger medical practice.

The goal was to remind him that he needed to emphasize the unique benefits his own practice offers to retain the competitive edge–and that our team is uniquely qualified to help.  Tight and well written, I believe it will hit the mark.

“Jane’s on vacation, Barbara’s back, and I leave tomorrow.  But that doesn’t mean we haven’t thought about the shifting landscape of dermatology!

In response to the new world order, we suggest you increase your practice’s visibility with a smart marketing initiative–perhaps a mailing every other month that presents a featured case on a nicely designed sheet, accompanied by a letter from you.

The featured case should be interesting–even intriguing–and might include the patient’s presenting symptoms, the referring physician’s name and preliminary thoughts, your recommendations, and the patient’s outcome.

Maybe the designed sheet has room to tout what’s going on at your practice–your new partners, your convenient location, the product lines you offer, etc., things that keeps your brand in front of readers and remind them that your practice is at the leading edge.  Your letter could provide interesting commentary on the state of dermatology, such as staff publications and news from professional meetings.

By hitting your universe of people on a regular basis and making the communication strategic–educational, interesting, useful, but also featuring the John Doe they know, love and trust–you’ll keep them aware that your practice is first-rate, available, and dependable.

Please give this some thought.  If you want to sit down and discuss this, please let me know some good times for us to meet.

Enjoy the rest of the summer!

Laura”

What do you think?  Would a campaign like this work for your business?  If you’re already using drip campaigns, what are your secrets to success?

Related posts:

1. Shorten the sales cycle: one marketing message at a time
2. Digital Marketing: 4 steps to success
3. How to create a compelling value proposition: Do it yourself in 3 steps
4. Good lead generation campaigns are much more than a shot in the dark

First impressions count, but don’t do the job

When it comes to others, we only form a general impression. At this point, despite the fact that you may have told them much more, prospective buyers are likely to remember only one thing about you at best. It may the first thing you said; it may be something they heard about from someone else; or it may be the thing that resonated most with their top concern the day they encountered your company. Whatever it is, they need to know a lot more before they buy.

The problem is that prospective buyers are still too busy to learn about your company and its services. In fact, one of the greatest obstacles to a sale is getting your marketing messages through to the intended audience. Hopefully, you’ve made enough of an impression, to elevate your company’s marketing communications above the clutter. If so, your next challenge is staying in touch so that you can help prospective buyers move through their buying process. Any missteps and they’re likely to buy from someone else.

Brand building one step at a time

Before they ultimately buy, decision makers will need to:
• Become aware of all the services you offer
• Associate their needs with these services
• Think of your business as the “obvious” choice
• Remember your company when it comes time to buy

The best way to move prospective buyers through these steps is sequentially: one message per communication. Again, they don’t have the capacity to take in more than one detail about your company at a time.

Email marketing may be the answer

One of the best vehicles for your “drip” campaign is a newsletter—conventional or email depending on your audience. Nevertheless, each communication must be directly relevant to their concerns; else it too will remain unopened.

So, in preparing the subject lines and headlines of your missives, return to the four marketing questions we discussed last week. To increase the relevance to readers, and memorability, consider adding a story that illustrates your point and resonates with what you’ve learned about their experiences. Examples of how your accounts have triumphed using your solutions is often the best way to advance your agenda.

A typical email newsletter might describe a service you offer, provide a case study of how one of your accounts benefited from its application, and appear under a headline mentioning both the company that deployed the solution and the impact it had on their business.

Assuming that the featured business is in the same industry—and has the same issues—as your reader, your readers will be anxious to read all about it so that they, too, can achieve success. The following newsletter will follow a similar format but for a different service. One communication at a time, you’ll ensure that prospective buyers:
• Become aware of all the services you offer
• Associate their needs with these services
• Think of your business as the “obvious” choice
• Remember your company when it comes time to buy
For an example of how to implement this strategy, see this article on clinician marketing. As a bonus, you may be able to apply some of the techniques I’ve described to help your physician clients market their practices.

A drip campaign can shorten the sales cycle

So how does a drip campaign shorten the sales cycle? Although your target audience may contain thousands of people, only a few of them are ready at any point in time to buy. Moreover, even if you had the staff, it would be very expensive to follow up with them individually on a regular basis. Done well, your newsletter is likely to reach a small percentage of your audience just as they are ready to buy. If these companies contact you, you’ve generated a qualified lead—and reached someone who is ready to buy right away–without investing in expensive one-to-one prospecting or in manually helping them through their buying process.

Using an email newsletter or conventional print newsletter serves a second purpose. It serves to brand your company as a helpful and authoritative resource. Even if these companies go out to bid, your organization will stand above the crowd. You may even be able to bypass the time-consuming due diligence that companies use to evaluate prospective providers—because they already feel confident in your ability to deliver.

Related posts:

1. Shorten the sales cycle next year: Year end marketing planning
2. Shortening the sales cycle starts with getting into buyers’ minds
3. How search and social media will shorten the B2B sales cycle.
4. Maximizing Sales Productivity Depends on Meeting Marketing Requirements