Drip Marketing Part 2: Don’t Suck.

A few weeks back, I posted part 1 of the drip marketing series: Who Cares? Which, in reality, turned out to be an article on how to generate leads.  Novel idea, right?  Before you can drip, you have to have an audience to drip on.  Well, if that concept seemed too rudimentary for you, then you should probably stop reading now.  My advice this week is even more basic: don’t suck.

I wrote my first ever drip campaign about 13 minutes after I released the drip marketing features in AddressTwo.  No really, I did.  I wrote a program, then thought, “ah, what the heck, I guess I’d better use it.”  I spent about another 30 minutes writing a series of long-copy emails for every free trial lead.  Guess what.  They sucked.

Since that time, I have learned everything I know today about drip marketing from Lorraine Ball.  What did I learn?  Her content didn’t suck.  It was good.  Really good.  So good, in fact, that if you sign up for her e-course on how to write a business plan, the result is remarkable: you actually learn how to write a business plan.  You don’t get teasers week after week about how you could learn to write a business plan.  You don’t get pumped with hype about how you’re good enough, you’re smart enough, and doggone-it people like you.  You don’t find out that you too can learn to write a business plan for just 4 easy installments of $19.95/mo.  No, her content doesn’t suck.

If you’re writing drip marketing, don’t suck.  Give your best content.  You need to acknowledge that people signed up for your drip to get some value, and if they don’t receive it, they’ll unsubscribe.  So, as you write your drip content, keep these principals in mind:

• Why did the recipient agree to receive this content?  What are they hoping to receive in exchange for the cost (yes, cost) of getting your email in their inbox?  Then… are you meeting that expectation?
• How will the recipient benefit from getting this message?  Not how will YOU benefit by them receiving it, we’ll get to that later.  First, answer how they benefit.  If there’s nothing in it for them, they’ll cease to receive it.
• How will you benefit from the recipient getting this message?  Yes, we can ask that question, but notice the order in which it’s considered.  What you look for here is content that you can teach or share with the recipient that (1) benefits them while (2) simultaneously benefiting you by them having known it.  Contrary to sales training experts, educating the buyer is not always giving away free information.  An educated buyer can be a better prospect/client.  What is it that you wish every prospect knew before you engaged with them?

If you suck (that is, share only shameless string-alongs and promotional content) you may have a positive result: sales.  If you don’t suck, however, you will get sales, too.  No, really, you will.  It can be done, and done well.  Bigger sales.  Happier sales.  And one more thing: more subscribers.  People forward good content, not good ad copy.  Suck and you may still sell.  Don’t suck, and you’ll sell again and again.  You decide.