Maybe you’ve heard the term “Drip Email” or “Drip Email Campaigns?” Perhaps you’re not sure exactly what that is or how it’s one of the most effective ways to retain and convert leads.
First, let’s talk about the prospect himself. Before you can retain or convert a lead (more on that later), you need to acquire or generate a lead. That task is usually done in a few different ways. You can run pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns on Google or Facebook, these are the two most popular PPC platforms, you can run a mass email campaign (although that’s often counterproductive). for a variety of reasons) or you could increase your costs. Website SEO (search engine optimization) to increase your online search results. You can also combine your own SEO methods with websites that work to boost your online presence and give search engines more ways to reach your business and website. . Sites like Global Photographers Directory do it: provide an advanced SEO strategy to give search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo etc more than one way to reach your business. Not just an important way!
Enough about lead generation. Let’s talk about lead retention and conversion. Let’s look at each of these activities separately:
Hold the lead
Once you get a lead, you need to find a way to convert that lead into a paying customer. You also want to reduce or limit the number of competing businesses that the person (or business) is communicating with, the same way they initially contacted you. Most likely, they contacted you directly via email, via a form on your website, or maybe even through a PPC campaign as mentioned above.
Capturing leads is often the most expensive part of the marketing process. Lead retention and conversion will be minimal once you have your systems and processes in place. To keep leads means to keep potential customers actively interacting with you and your business with the goal of turning them into paying customers. Communicating regularly with potential customers via email and offering them something of value is a proven way to retain leads. As a photographer hoping to win over this potential client, the most valuable thing you can offer them is free information regarding the service they are looking to purchase (portrait photography, portraits, etc.).
This is where Drip Email comes in! Drip email is a method of delivering useful pieces of information on a regular and consistent basis. By sending helpful information about the service they’re looking to book, you can keep potential customers “warm” and at the same time assert themselves as an authority on the topic. And, once they appreciate that you’re providing expert information on a regular and consistent basis, for free, this is often enough to make them hesitate to seek out and communicate with your competitors. You will find that most of your competitors do not offer this level of service, and certainly not before booking!
So what is this information you give them for free? Well, if you were a portrait or portrait photographer, you would give them tips on how to best prepare for their photo session: hair, clothes, colors, makeup, etc. All of this information is emailed in a regular and consistent manner, be it weekly or on any schedule you choose. This is the essence of email drip. Do not rush! If it takes a few weeks, so be it. If they need it sooner, they will contact you and let you know. Slow and steady is the best way to nurture and retain leads.
Convert potential customers
So now that you’ve kept leads using a drip email strategy, it’s time to convert leads into paying customers. This process is aided by slightly changing the tone and context of the last email in the series. In your final drip email, you’re encouraging potential customers to contact you for more information or to book their session with you. While lead retention takes more time and is more volatile, converting leads is now simpler because you’ve laid the groundwork in your previous emails. An email and/or phone call to the prospect is appropriate at this point. They will now recognize you as the one who sent them all the information for free with no strings attached.
The hardest and most difficult part of this process is creating and writing mass emails yourself. You might ask: “how do I get started?” or “What should I say?” What information can I provide for free? How do I not sound like a liar? Well, you can scratch your head at first, try to write some stuff, then read, discard it, and start over until you’re completely frustrated. Alternatively, you can focus on your current job, the one that’s currently paying the bills, instead of writing a bunch of emails of the kind you’ve never written before.
I recommend using existing pre-filled templates that can be customized to fit your style rather than starting from scratch. In this case, the time-consuming task of creating content for each email is done, and you can do nothing but include your own business and contact information!
there are two Great business and marketing tool I’ve used them successfully in my business and I encourage you to check them out as well.
If you have any questions or comments regarding the drip email campaign or any other marketing strategy, feel free to get in touch in the comments section below. If you have used drip email before, please share your experience with it.
