Drip marketing campaigns are an extremely valuable addition to the marketer’s toolbox. According to DemandGen, B2B marketers who have successfully deployed lead nurturing programs (a popular type of drip campaign) average a 20% increase in sales opportunities from nurtured leads versus non-nurtured leads.
Drip marketing simply means sending marketing messages in a specific tempo. Like the drip irrigation systems, they’re named after, these messages land right where they’re supposed to go, over time, with a minimum of waste.
It is important to provide quality content to those at the top of your funnel so you can move them through the buyer's journey and towards the middle of your funnel.
- Define the top stage segment of your buying funnel
- Create your email content for this segment. Be sure to consider not only the content but also the cadence and conditions in which it will be delivered
- Focus on solutions and help your prospects evaluate buying criteria
- Send whitepapers, eBooks, analyst reports, videos, and checklists
Continue to provide compelling and targeted content to those at the middle of your funnel in order to move them through this step towards Sales Qualification.
- Defined your middle stage segment
- Create your email content for this segment. Be sure to consider not only the content but also the cadence and conditions in which it will be delivered.
- Nurture Middle-of-Funnel Leads with Content about Your Offerings
- Deliver a series of messages that present the products or services offered by your company that is looking for a specific call to action, such as a “view a demo” page or “contact us.” Direct engagement with one of these actions removes the contacts from this program and converts them to qualified leads.
Successful delivery of content targeted to prospects at the bottom of your funnel will help move them out of the funnel and get them ready for Sales Qualification.
- Define your bottom stage segment
- Create your email content for this segment. Be sure to consider not only the content but also the cadence and conditions in which it will be delivered.
- Convert Bottom-of-Funnel Leads with Sales Engagement
- Send a series of personalized messages from a real person, such as a sales representative or a business development manager requesting a meeting and providing more information. These programs can be set to trigger alerts to the sales team when key actions or behaviors are taken.
- Focus on building interest and engagement
- Identify which programs are effective
- Find out if prospects are dropping or stalling at a particular stage
- Identify content that increases engagement