Timing is Everything – Why Marketing Automation Helps You Grow

By DANIEL LUISE – October 4, 2017

When it comes to making a decision to buy, most people like to take their time to compare products and prices and decide on the best purchase for them. Customers like to have all the information so they know your product or service is the right choice for them. The buying process takes time and so should your marketing automation efforts.

Marketing automation helps you grow, as a business, association, agency or whatever you may be. But, it all comes down to timing. Hence, timing is everything.

That’s where a well-timed drip campaign comes in.

Like a Play

While there is a lot that can go into marketing automation, drip campaigns are a prime example. You can think of a drip campaign a little like a play. You have your opening scenes, your action-packed middle, and a satisfying conclusion. When planning your drip campaign, you are looking to create an engaging introductory email or two, followed by a series of relevant messages, ending in the prospect deciding to sign up to join your association.

In a play, if you skip right to the action the audience loses out on getting to know your cast. If you take too long to get the point, the audience could lose interest. Again, just like your drip campaign. If you immediately try to sell, sell, sell, without getting to know your audience, your audience won’t know you and those selling tactics will not be as effective. If you take too long and send too many boring messages, your prospects will lose interest or choose another product or service.

Timing is Everything

The information in your drip campaign should always be fresh – messages shouldn’t be repetitive – with each message building on the information in the previous one. By the end, your prospect should have a clear idea of what you do, and why it matters to them. Most importantly, they should have a desire to sign up with you and a sense of your organization as trustworthy and worth investing in.

But, even if your information is all there, it still needs to come at the right time. Before going for a hard sell or shoving tons of features and benefits down your prospects throat, you need to understand them. You may know all the benefits of your product or service. But, just because you believe it is a benefit, does not mean it is a benefit to your individual prospect.

Start by sending some more general and intriguing content. Tips and tricks, industry updates, etc. are all beneficial because they are informative and can be useful. That is how you begin to learn about your prospect. Which messages did they interact with? Did they click certain links in your latest social post or blog? Are they visiting your site at night? Use that to send a more personalized message at the right time.

When your drip campaign is sent at the right time, it can mean the difference between a lost prospect and a loyal customer.