Email marketing comes in a seemingly endless variety of flavors – no one can argue this point. However, many organizations find that instituting a drip campaign serves as one of, if not the, most powerful and efficient ways to keep the conversation going with these audience members in the inbox. If you’re brand is looking to utilize this periodic method that builds a relationship over time via consistent and measured email content offerings, take a moment to review the five keys that can put your campaign in a position to succeed now and long into the future.
Your Goals Are the Foundation
According to Tim Asimos of Business 2 Community, building a winning drip campaign all starts with having a firm and realistic vision of what you want to accomplish. Cliché though this may sound at first, there’s a lot of truth in the notion that you need to view the big picture before hammering out the little details.Think of it this way: As enticing as it may be to just jump in headfirst and improvise the direction of your campaign as you go, what happens when you invest in content or research, only to find that you’re not able to use these assets? By exploring your overarching goals ahead of time, you can avoid inefficient and wasteful scenarios like this one, all while reducing the strain on your marketing bottom line.
Learn about the Audience
Once you’re ready to move out of the realm of the theoretical and start getting the digital cogs and gears in motion, it’s time to start talking about who’s going to be viewing this content. Essentially, the reason for starting here and not with the content or drip schedule itself comes from the need to build a campaign that fits the desires of these individuals in the first place.Much like generating goals and benchmarks ahead of the actual planning of the drip initiative, learning as much as possible about your audience now ensures that the message held within your emails and the timing of these offerings always generates the maximum amount of value and impact for your brand.
Finding the Right Blend of Content and Schedule Considerations
It’s no big surprise then that the next key to success comes in the act of applying what you’ve learned to the basic drip campaign structure. Molding unique content to the needs and wants of your viewers, setting up automated emails that trigger upon periodic intervals or important events, and tweaking all of the other little variables that go into this setup phase constitutes this next step in building a successful drip campaign.
Embrace Your Analytical Side
While most brands and marketers might call it a day after setting up the particulars of the campaign, Asimos goes on to explain that to truly keep the success rolling, you’ll need to remain vigilant and constantly evaluate the different variables that go into this inbox initiative. This means being ready to openly and honestly utilize inbox metrics and other key performance indicators.At the top of the list are the basic choices on this front, including changes in contact list numbers, raw sales, and open rates. However, there’s nothing stopping your brand from digging even deeper and searching for additional areas that could use a little improvement or enhancement. Hard and soft bounces, shifts in abuse complaints, and click-through rates all fit this billing and help emphasize the health of key segments of your drip campaign.
Think Beyond the Inbox
Finally, Social Media Today’s Anand Srinivasan suggests that a successful drip campaign isn’t just relegated to building influence in the inbox. If your brand is willing to expand these principles to other facets of its marketing operation, there’s no reason you can’t create a unified and overlapping consumer experience.In particular, Srinivasan notes that social media is the perfect conduit to extend the reach of this approach. Often, you can even employ the same concepts of timing and tailored content to capture the attention of consumers who would otherwise have missed out on the chance to join your email marketing sphere of influence. Considering how interconnected these two portion of the digital world are already, it’s not too surprising that this is the logical next step for any successful drip campaign.It doesn’t take much to see that winning on this front requires a bit of forethought and virtual elbow grease. However, if you’re brand is able to get these things right – from developing a vision for the future to exploring next outreach territory – then there’s nothing that can stop you from getting the most out of your next drip campaign.