I hate buying cars. Anything that depreciates THAT fast is criminal. I’m a lease guy - no down payment, minimize the monthly expense, and get a new car every 3 years. The lease on my current car is up this fall. My expectation was I’d get a letter from Infiniti telling me locations of dealers where I can drop my car when the lease is up & that’s about it. To my surprise, about a month ago, I received a direct mail piece from Infiniti. It was clearly marked as piece #1 of 4. I couldn’t believe it! Someone deep within Infiniti’s marketing department gets it! Well, almost gets it (no immediate call to action, no scarcity, no emotional selling, etc., etc.). I have since received piece #2 - another direct mail piece.I’m glad to see that even the often ‘out-of-touch’ big boys are attempting drip marketing (some call it multi-step or sequential marketing). Some do it better than others. The best incorporate different types of media; direct mail, e-mail, fax, phone calls, gifts, etc. They blend it all together into a sequence of anywhere from 2 to 200+ steps (yes, I have actually seen a drip campaign with over 200 pieces/steps).

Here are a few thoughts on why multi-media, drip marketing works:

1. Prospects typically need to hear your message 7 times before they really “get it”. Multi-step marketing significantly increases the chances of your prospects hearing or reading your message enough times so they understand the opportunity and can make an informed decision.
   
2. Think you only have a few direct competitors? Think again! In your prospects mind, you’re not only fighting against your direct competitors, but also a hundred other messages & thoughts his mind is processing. If you were to take a snap-shot of your prospect’s thoughts, you might see you’re also competing with a new boat purchase, personal relationship issues, major business transactions, employee problems, scenes from the latest Grey’s Anatomy episode, plans for the trip to Hawaii, and a bunch of other stuff! With drip marketing, you have a MUCH higher chance of hitting your prospect’s mind at a time when it’s a bit less cluttered.
   
3. Prospects buy when THEY are ready to buy… NOT when YOU are ready to make a sale. Timing is everything. Just because a prospect didn’t respond to your first couple of pieces in a multi-step sequence doesn’t mean he’s not going to respond in the future. My approach is to keep sending until the prospect either buys, or tells me to bug out. As long as you’re providing value in what you send, the chance of an opt-out is low.
   

***Takeaway***

Multi-step, multi-media drip marketing can turn you business into an inbound harvesting machine because your audience is better informed about your product or service, your message is on their mind, and they buy from you when they are ready.