Welcome to part two of our exposé on drip marketing! You can find part one here.

In the second part of this series, we will cover more advanced techniques for drip marketing, including some of the softwares you can use and some case studies of successful examples other companies have produced.

Automated Emails

Sending automated emails is a big part of drip marketing. These programs will allow you to create different lists of your customers and potential customers, with each list able to have its own unique automated email. 

This is helpful when segmenting your customers, as we touched on in part one of this series. For example, you can set up automated emails based on purchase history. A customer who has purchased a pair of shoes from your website before would likely be more receptive towards a coupon for 20% off footwear than a 20% off clothing coupon, boosting your open rate and ultimately increasing the likelihood of another conversion. 

Automated emails should also be engaging and prompt a response from the recipient. This type of strategy could mean teaching new visitors how to use your product or service, encouraging existing customers to leave feedback or a review, or providing a disinterested customer with an incentive to return.

Another way automated emails can help you is by creating and reinforcing brand loyalty. When you connect with your customers in a personable way and not a cookie cutter, generic email, they see your brand in a more favorable light. A welcome email can make a new customer feel like they belong and you care. A birthday email can show you are still invested in your customers and are willing to celebrate with them by offering a discount or coupon. These small things won’t impact your day to day sales drastically, but the intangible trust and relationship you develop with your customers can be infinitely more valuable!

Software

So now that you understand the value of automated emails, where do you go from here? There are plenty of different softwares you can choose from for your business or brand. However, it is important that you properly vet the email service you go with thoroughly before committing. There are several factors you should “grade” these softwares on, such as:

• Email marketing features like support for multiple email lists, A/B testing, etc.
• Cost vs. Value provided
• Ease of use and user interface
• Quality of analytical tools and data reporting 
• Customer Support

You can find a list of the top 10 automated email softwares here. Most of these softwares provide the features listed above, however some are strong in one area and may be weak in another. Do your research on what works FOR YOUR BRAND!

Success Stories

Sometimes it helps to be able to see real tangible results for a strategy you are thinking about implementing. After all, it’s great reading about a new business tactic, but there is no substitute for seeing it for yourself!

One of the most well known instances of drip marketing is by none other than the e-commerce giant, Amazon. In the example pictured here, you can see a great example of how to send a promotional email to an existing Kindle e-book customer. 

The verbiage is clean and concise, with bolded formatting on all the important parts. There is a deadline, which forces the customer to act on the promotion quickly before it expires. There are also hyperlinks to other services relating to the promotional offer, making it easy for the customer to learn more about your products and services.

Here is another example by the popular monthly subscription box, Dollar Shave Club. In this drip marketing campaign, they use several different tactics to try and re-engage with the customer. First, they give them an incentive to come back with a discount for one of their products. This is an effective measure to recapture a lost customer who may be priced out of your product.

The campaign then continues by letting the customer know about some of the new features they may not have heard about yet. If a customer sees you have improved your product or service in some way, they may be more interested in coming back to using your brand. 

When you have completed a drip marketing campaign or notice some customers that just don’t open your emails anymore, it may be time to clean up your contact list. Removing non-responsive customers from your list is best for both parties at this point. This will help your open and engagement rate, and will help optimize your strategy even more. You can’t know what works and doesn’t work if half your contact list isn’t opening your emails!

Conclusion

Drip marketing can be a powerful tool when used correctly. Some of the customers that you feel as if you have “lost” could be a coupon code or follow up email away from re-engaging with your brand. A drip marketing campaign could be the perfect thing to draw them back in, and with the tips outlined in part one of our series combined with some of the software we outlined above, you can be well on your way to recapturing your lost market!