What Your Drip Messages Are Missing (You Might Be Surprised)

In a past Only Influencers article Automated Marketing: Drip vs. Nurture, the author argues that there are drip campaigns and there are nurture campaigns.

I wouldn’t necessarily argue that point, but I would take a different perspective.

Your drip marketing isn’t primarily missing the differentiation between being a drip or a nurture. Instead of looking at your messages from the point of view of what content you should put in them, look at your drip campaigns from the perspective of the audience who will read them.

The author also presents four different types of messaging, but I would suggest that a combination of two of them will get the job done the best for any messaging to all of your different types of customers.

#1: Viral/emotional state (the type of content that appeals to your prospects’ emotions and shows you understand their needs, goals, and pain points)

#2: Lead (the type of content that educates your recipients through free eBooks, webinars, or blog posts and moves them along in the buying process/keeps your brand top of mind and an authority in your subject area)

You can combine these two types of messaging in different ways for each audience you want to reach with your drip marketing campaigns.

Cold Prospects

Ah, the sales email. When done wrong, it can be offputting. When the time is taken to craft the right message, though, people on the receiving end get a potentially huge benefit.

• Keep it short and sweet.
• Break copy up so it only displays on one line each - keep it readable.
• Appeal to the person’s emotions right away by giving social proof or relating to a pain point.
• Tell them how you solve that pain point in one sentence. One short sentence.
• Link to a piece of content where they can learn more through a blog post, video or even a landing page.

Example:

Hi Natalie,

95% of staged homes sell on average in 11 days or less and for 17% more.

With my home staging business, you can sell your house faster and for more money while staying within your budget.

Learn how home staging works by visiting this page on my website.

Let’s talk soon?

Marketing Nurture Messages

Nurture campaigns to keep prospects warm shouldn’t be that different from the sales email template. For example, keeping it concise is still a best practice; however, dropping it over one line isn’t going to hurt. Additionally:

• Cover a different pain point or perspective on an issue in each email in the nurture campaign.
• The copy should be centered around the piece of content you’re sending them to, rather than your solution.
• No hard sell or link to a landing page is required, especially if you’re asking for email addresses on your website.

Example:

Hi Natalie -

Your house is on the market. You’ve had a few showings. But no one is expressing interest.

Here are 10 reasons from real estate experts why your home isn’t selling and simple fixes to get the best price in the least amount of time.

As always, I’d be happy to chat.

Customer Nurture Messages

When someone becomes a customer, it’s becoming more and more typical to send them through a time or behavior-based nurture campaign. And why not? It helps customers onboard, as well as get set up and become better educated about your product and service.

• Content can be longer, even html-based emails with images.
• There can be more than one link in each email. People receiving these messages already know you, and you’re trying to provide them as much information as possible.
• Remind them why they said yes to you: Show them how you can help them resolve their pain points. Make good on your promises!
• Ask them to subscribe to your blog and email marketing. Tell them about your latest webinar or eBook. Make sure they follow you on social media.
• In the last email in your nurture, upsell them a product or service.

It Takes All Kinds of Messages

Sales, marketing and customer messages are the ones I’ve most frequently written (and rewritten) in my time. I’m currently experimenting with drip campaign message for PR and influencer marketing using some of the same concepts above. But there’s no empirical evidence about specific messaging that works well just yet, which is why I didn’t share about it specifically in this article.

Have any of these messaging concepts worked for your drip marketing? Did I miss any? Would love to hear your thoughts.