Winning high-quality clients is not a matter of luck.
It comes from a combination of great timing, transparency, building real relationships, demonstrating relevant results, and making the on-boarding processes seem effortless for the client.
In this article, we’ll be discussing what drip campaigns are, and how a successful one efficiently incorporates all of what listed above in order to land you more clients.
You’ll also get to see examples of a full drip campaign sequence that I personally used to bring in clients for my social media marketing and content agencies.
What is a drip campaign?
Whether you know it or not, you have most likely received a drip campaign before.
People are often added to email campaign lists after purchasing a product, downloading a free guide, signing up for a free trial, and much more.
By definition, a drip campaign is a sequence of emails sent over time that becomes progressively more promotional — the whole purpose of these campaigns is to eventually sell a product or service, while first offering value and building a relationship with the prospective customer or client.
What makes a successful drip campaign?
The primary goal of a drip campaign is to attract your target clients and encourage them to purchase your product or services through a series of emails.
A successful drip campaign is very similar to a traditional sales cycle, as it can take time to nurture leads and get them ready to “close”. Like sales cycle strategies, drip campaigns are not one-size-fits-all and requires consistent tweaking and analysis to find winning sequences.
In the following sections, we’ll be walking through an example of a successful email sequence used by social media and content agencies to secure clients for their main services — management and content creation.
However, these principles and structures can be applied to any business.
Email #1: Warm Introduction
Being the first email your prospective clients will receive from your email list, it needs to be the friendliest and most organic, and not at all “salesy.”
You wouldn’t want your first conversation with a stranger end with them trying to offer you an exclusive promotion, and your prospective clients don’t either. This is your chance to begin to build your relationship with the client and start to provide value.
Hello (customer name),
Thank you so much for subscribing to our newsletter! I’m always thrilled to spread the word on the benefits of social media marketing and appreciate that you want to keep in contact with us.
As a token of my gratitude, over the next few weeks, I’ll be sending you the most effective SMM strategies I’ve learned in my 10+ years in the industry. I know you’re super busy, which is why I’ve handpicked only the best strategies you won’t be able to find on my blog, website or social media.
Thanks again for signing up, I’m always available at ([email protected]) if you ever have any questions.
Best,
(You)
Email #2: Transparency
The second email of the sequence is where you should begin to really provide value to the customer, again without any hints of a promotional tone. This not only helps build the relationship but increases your credibility as an industry leader.
Hey (first name),
Our agency was founded shortly after the initial widespread launch of today’s most popular social media networks, meaning we’ve had a lot of time to experiment, drive results, and learn important lessons to succeed in this digitally controlled world.
I wanted to use this email as an opportunity to send you a document with compiled resources that I wish I had when getting started with social media marketing. You can check it out here: (Insert Link)
If interested, take some time to look through it and don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions regarding the material, or are looking for advice on the next steps to take.
Best,
(You)
Email #3: Building Personal Trust
Since the previous two articles in the sequence have been educational focused, it’s important to give the customer a chance to get to know you at a more personal level outside of your direct industry.
This will increase trust and can eventually lead as a gateway to selling your products or services.
Hey (customer name),
This isn’t a typical email that I send, but I thought you may be able to appreciate it!
I recently conducted an interview about my productivity habits and how I stay focused with a variety of projects on my plate. I have learned so much about myself and my capabilities through this experience, and feel you may too.
If interested, feel free to check out a video recording of the interview here: (Insert Link).
I hope you enjoy it and would love to hear your thoughts if you thought it was useful.
Best,
(you)
Email #4: Case Studies
By now, there should be a solid relationship between you and your prospective client with a good level of trust. This is the perfect time to show the customer your results that are extremely relevant to their industry or business.
This is best done through targeted case studies, where the prospective client can easily picture themselves in the shoes of the company you produced results for.
What’s going on (name)!
We at (company name) have had the opportunity to work with some amazing businesses in the (prospective clients industry) over the years and I wanted to show you just how powerful the results can be for these types of companies.
Attached I have a few success stories from some of our oldest (and happiest!) clients, and I would love for you to get a chance to see the results that are possible first hand.
If you have any questions regarding these case studies, feel free to reach out and I’d be happy to walk you through them and answer any questions.
Best,
(you)
Email #5: Free trial offer/Phone call request
This is the email that the rest of your sequence has been building up to. By this time, you’ve gained the prospective client’s trust, they’ve gotten to know you personally, and have seen the results you’ve brought to businesses just like theirs.
Depending on your main goal, this email may be different for everyone. In this example, the main goal was to simply get the customer on a phone call to make a more effective sales pitch in real-time. However, another common end goal is getting the customer to sign up for a free trial.
Hey (name),
I hope you have been enjoying and getting value out of the emails I’ve been sending you the past few weeks!
Beyond creating content to help businesses like yourself get off the ground with social media marketing, we offer full-service social media marketing solutions that I think (customers business) would be a perfect fit for.
If you have 15 minutes to chat about the results this could mean for your business, I would love to go into a bit more detail.
If interested, just respond to this email with “Yes, I’m ready!”, and I’ll personally get a call scheduled for sometime that works for you this week.
Thank you again for following along this far!
Best,
(You)
Conclusion
Sales doesn’t have to be hard, and it doesn’t have to feel like sales either.
Building relationships, trust, and communication with your clients and perspective customers is all that’s needed for long term success.
Email drip campaigns can revolutionize your sales process if written and executed correctly. I hope these examples have given you inspiration and a direction to take for marketing your own products or services, no matter what industry you’re in.
operations & marketing. cofounder @hoo.be / @ImMakingADifference
