Yesterday’s post about multiple touch points received a lot of attention from you. I’m happy that it was a popular and revisited post so today I want to outline just a few keys ways to use it. Ultimately, having multiple ways to contact your community helps you to convert your ideal person into a client. I like to say it gives me the ability to chase a potential client without losing my breath.
I thought it might be helpful if I outline how I do this. Since they say it takes “at least” 5 points of engagement to convert someone, it’s important that you stay in touch and not consider yourself a nag. By showing you my way of using these I hope to give you a little snapshot of how the process works holistically, and you can tweak and tailor it for your own use. Here’s mine. I’m going to base this pipeline on getting a lead online, such as when someone requests a free report or download on my website. I call these warm leads:
Contact #1 – The user has filled out the form on my website requesting a free CD. In that form I have a field for “telephone number.” When the telephone number is provided I make it a point to call that person the same day or the next day. When I speak with them I try to find out how they found us (usually by referral, or on Google) and ask them if there were any resources they were looking for in particular that I might be able to send over… often a reader was looking for one piece of nugget, and I can send a worksheet or article about it. Otherwise, I tell them their CD will be shipped on XYZ day and to let us know if they have any questions
Contact #2 – I drop an email to them asking if they’re received the CD, if they’d like a transcript (I don’t have them receive the transcript automatically, they only get it by responding to my email) and if there was anything there that needed further clarification. I also ask them if I can add their birthday to my contact system. I log their birthday into Hallmark.com so that Hallmark will notify me when it’s time to send a card
Contact #3 – I have a weekly electronic newsletter that goes out every Sunday. I’ve also started to send a monthly paper newsletter to everyone I have a mailing address from. This person starts to get that newsletter. It’s just one page front and back. Now they get another tangible thing from me that adds value and doesn’t cost them anything
Contact #4 – I check in on the person through social media (if I’ve been able to find them through their email address” and share a resource or just comment and begin a discussion. For those that I don’t have social media connections with I drop a line and ask they if they’re on social media. I say “I’d love to connect. Are you on Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin? – for those that are social media shy, LinkedIn is usually the way to go. I make a connection for them or do an introduction to someone in their industry, or served by their industry
Contact #5 – I invite them to a live event, webinar or one-on-one strategy session. When they’re local they almost ALWAYS try to make it out to a live event. When they’re not, they go for the webinar or a one-on-one strategy session. My conversion rate from these is about 30%.
So, that’s my pipeline. I won’t pretend it’s perfect. Sometimes I fall off. There are weeks where I realize I’m behind and then I spend a whole day making calls and sending emails, and that takes the fun out of it. What I’ve found though is that if you combine online connection with off-line, tangible relationship, you build a stronger response and conversion.
That’s what I’ve got. Do you have any advice or insights you can share with me about this? I’d love to hear it. Comment below… and share it on social media for me, ok?
Today is President’s Day and I’ve spent much of it at my computer. I’ve been semi-working and semi-researching. A few weeks ago I had the grand idea to send surprise snail-mail to everyone in my database for whom I have a postal mailing address and it has me SUPER EXCITED.
You see, I love to get things in the mail that are not bill-related.
I like going to the mailbox and going “oh, wow, what’s this?” only to discover that someone actually thought to send me something without trying to sell me something.
I think that’s cool.
So today I’ve been online searching for cool things to send in the mail. It’s a bit tricky, because I want it to be personal, yet at the same time, fun and useful. I want people to get the mail, open the envelope and think “oh, today’s a good day. I feel special and I will NOT be throwing this in the trash anytime soon”
I want to spread joy, and maybe a bit of education and inspiration in the meantime. I’ve come up with a cool list of about 15 things I can send, depending on cost, time and degree of difficulty.
I need your help though. Without me exposing my list, can you tell me what cool things you’ve received in the mail before? It can be small or large, personal or practical. I need some input because left to my own devices and my tiny perspective I just might miss something awesome.
Can you share your thoughts below?
Thanks!
-Beatrice
So this year I’m looking to double my business, and my plan to do that is to double or triple my marketing efforts. In the two decades or so that I’ve been in branding what I’ve discovered is that the more you market a thing, even when it’s downright awful, the more money it makes. So I’m going full throttle in my direct mail efforts.
For starters, I’ve been offering a free CD on my website for over a year now, so I already have some direct mail marketing in place. I’m extending it thought, and I’m starting simple. That’s the best way I know how to test my ROI and get some weight and understanding to what I do without a) majorly regretting it or b) breaking the bank. The first drop will be a newsletter (a paper one) that I’m sending out to my database of contacts. I have about 300 of them with mailing addresses. The second one will be to the group of local entrepreneurs in my county. They’ll get a postcard. I’ll be sending about 1,000 of those. Basically wishing them a happy new year and offering them a good resource to help them with their branding for the new year.
I’m excited. Last year’s efforts to get offline a bit more and host some live events proved very fruitful, so I want to tether online and offline even more this year. After all, I actually like people, and I too, enjoy getting mail in my mailbox that’s not a bill or a catalog. I have two offices, one in New York City, and the other in New Jersey. I’m starting on the Jersey side (the offices are only about 8 miles apart) since that community is near where I live, and is a bit easier to manage considering the population of the area. Once I have enough understanding and results to move on I’ll expand to the New York side of my business.
I’ve successfully helped a lot of clients and employers with direct mail marketing in the past, so I’m no stranger to the process. I imagine some things have changed over the years, but the basics will be the same… it nurtures my old skool self. My campaigns will likely be a series of letters, postcards and freebies such as CDs and DVDs. Here’s what to consider (universal truths, so to speak) if you’re considering the same:
1) Have a very targeted and qualified list
2) Have an offer
3) Have enough information for a decision
4) Have a direct way to respond to that decision
5) Have a way to record the results
Sounds a lot like doing things online right? The words are different, the impact is different, but the behavior is similar. Except you are making that engagement a bit more personal (hopefully) and tangible (definitely). Have you had any experience in Direct Mail campaigns? What’s worked best for you?