Marketing can pump buyers into your business quickly. There are multiple types of marketing methods, from paid advertising to social media. One of the most efficient is called drip marketing.

Here is a quick guide to drip marketing, an effective way to nurture leads using the power of automation.

What It Is

Drip marketing is a system of sending content to your leads at different stages of the sales process. Also called an automated email campaign, its goal is to move the prospect from one point in the sales cycle to the next until they eventually reach the point of sale.

The emails are sent out using tools called autoresponders or email automation software. Popular ones include the affordable Aweber and Mail Chimp, or the more elaborate Infusionsoft and Drip.co.

By sending out a series of emails, one at each point in the sales cycle, you give your potential buyer the information she needs to stay interested. You can decide when to send them, based on several criteria. When your prospect takes a certain action, this can trigger an email. Or after a specific interval of time, the drip campaign can automatically send an email.

For example, you can send out an email at these points in the sales cycle:

When the visitor signs up for your email list

• A few days later
• A week later
• When a prospect clicks a link to get your free ebook download
• When he clicks a link to watch your video
• When he checks out your product page
• If he puts a product in the cart, then abandons it

3 Benefits of Drip Marketing

The overall benefit of drip marketing is how it increases sales. Your prospect gets the information she needs to stay interested. By nurturing your leads, you make sure that more prospects don’t drop out of your sales funnel. Instead, visitors continue on through to complete a purchase.

Here’s a look at 3 specific ways drip marketing helps you:

Saves you time. The emails are set up once. Then the email automation tools take over. You are not required to spend time getting the information out to each prospect. Instead of getting bogged down with tedious pitching, you can focus on closing deals and be running your business.

Nurtures your leads. Take the all-too-common occurrence of the abandoned shopping cart. According to the marketing experts at SalesCycle, sending a drip email automatically can rescue the sale. Buyers open these emails over 45 percent of the time, and over 13 percent click the links in them.

Informs your prospect. A drip email can give your potential buyer critical information at each step of the sales cycle. This can be the essential ingredient that gets her to move to the next step in the cycle.

Examples of a Drip Campaign

Wondering what to write in an email? You can target your prospect from a range of angles. Just ask yourself, “What type of questions would I be asking at this point in the sales cycle? What pain points would I have?” That’s what your buyer wants to know, and your email should provide.

There are 6 popular types of drip emails. Here is a summary of each:

• Competitive. Tell your customer why he should choose your product over that of your rivals.
• Educational. Give your buyer information about the product in general, his problem and how to fix it, or specific benefits of your product.
• Top-of-the-mind. This type of email reminds your visitor about the product and why he should be interested in it.
• Re-engagement. Many times visitors drop out of the sales cycle. A re-engagement email reminds him why he was interested and how your product can help him.
• Promotional. These emails offer special pricing or promotional bonuses that encourage them to buy.
• Training. Do you sell a course or training program? These types of email help your visitor move through the free training program you are offering.

Do It Right

To get the most out of your drip marketing campaign, experts suggest focusing your efforts on the needs of your target buyer, using your drip automation tools effectively and testing your emails.

Target your buyer. Give your buyer the information she wants at each point in the sales cycle. Personalize your messages as much as your email tools will allow. The more directly you answer your prospects questions and address their needs, the better click-through rates you will get.

Ask your buyer. Some people want multiple emails, some want just one or two. Don’t guess. Ask and let each person determine the frequency and what kind of content they prefer. Some want links to videos, others like to download an ebook, still, others want to get all the information right in the email. Customize your delivery to meet each person’s preferences.

Learn how to use your email automation software. Most let you segment your list, sending one type of emails to part of the list, a different email to another part. Find out how to your email tools incorporate social media—and use it! Learn how to decipher the metrics that your tools give you. This information makes it simple to make changes to meet the needs of your list.

Test your emails, over and over. Test each round of emails. If they are effective, keep them. If not, change them and test them again. Keep on top of your email campaign metrics, like how many people are opening your emails, clicking links in them, and how many emails are bouncing.

Drip marketing can save you time while increasing the number of people who buy from you. You do need to invest time and effort to learn how to use the automation tools, find out what your visitors need from you, and to test your emails. The result is worth it–prospects who are properly nurtured to become buyers. Drip marketing can be  especially worthwhile for direct sales business opportunities.