Drip email campaigns, which educate and nurture leads though the early stages of the sales cycle, are one of the most effective but underused tactics in the B2B world.
Join us to analyze case studies of successful drip email campaigns and learn how to cost-effectively develop and implement one for your business. We’ll cover:
• When a drip email program can help you – and when it can’t
• Creating effective message maps and content
• Timing and number of efforts
• How to effectively track and report on multi-effort drip campaigns
Whether you’re looking to start using drip campaigns or already have some in place that you want to optimize, this is a session you won’t want to miss.
7. #b2bsummit
Copyright2010Itisillegaltodistributethispresentation.
Copyright2010Itisillegaltodistributethispresentation.
Case Study: PRWeb
• Challenges
• Many visitors signed up for a
free PRWeb account, but few
went on to use the service
• No revenue is generated until
the registrant uses PRWeb to
send a press release
• Goal
• Increase the free-sign-up to
paying-customer conversion
rate
• Campaign Elements
• Existing Website content
• Email drip campaign welcome
series
• 4 effort series sent to all new
registrants over a 4 week
period
Source: Client Case Study, JeanneJennings.com, Inc.
8. #b2bsummit
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Copyright2010Itisillegaltodistributethispresentation.
• Key Features, Benefits and Advantages
– Reach beyond just journalists, also search engine visibility
– Extensive tracking and reporting to quantify results
• Overcoming Obstacles to Using PRWeb
– Ability to write a press release
– Determining which service level fit their needs
• Testimonials
– Didn’t include these but should have!
• Incentive
– Significant upgrade on first press release send
• Urgency
– Deadline to quality for the upgrade
Source: Client Case Study, JeanneJennings.com, Inc.
Drip Campaign Message Map
11. #b2bsummit
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Copyright2010Itisillegaltodistributethispresentation.
Case Study: Nortel
• Challenge
• Nortel had recently filed
bankruptcy and was in the
process of being acquired
• Goals
• Overcome prospects’
temptations to “wait and see”
what would happen with the
company before buying
• Keep prospects eager to buy
from signing with competitors
• Campaign Elements
• New microsite
• Paid search and social media
• In-person and online events
• Email nurturing
• 4 effort series sent to new
prospects over a 6 week period
Source: Marketing Down the Sales Funnel: How Nortel’s Q4 Push Touched 30% of Pipeline and
Helped Close Deals, MarketingSherpa, March 3, 2010
12. #b2bsummit
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Copyright2010Itisillegaltodistributethispresentation.
• Assurance
– Alleviate concerns about adopting Nortel tools and technology
– Highlight recent company growth and product innovations
• Rebuild Trust
– Focus on Nortel’s reputation for quality equipment, service offerings,
market share and history of innovation
• Urgency
– Emphasize strong product discounts and the importance of staying
current with technology to overcome the “wait and see” obstacle
• What’s Next for Nortel
– Give prospects a sense of the future of Nortel, including insights into
technology development, industry consolidation and other trends
Source: Marketing Down the Sales Funnel: How Nortel’s Q4 Push Touched 30% of Pipeline and
Helped Close Deals, MarketingSherpa, March 3, 2010
Drip Campaign Message Map
13. #b2bsummit
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Copyright2010Itisillegaltodistributethispresentation.
• Assurance
– Nortel’s role in providing communications infrastructure for the
2010 Vancouver Olympic winter games
• Rebuild Trust
– Third-party analysis of the value of implementing VOIP
networks
• Urgency
– Reminders of the special deals and discounts being offered for
Q4
• What’s Next for Nortel
– An analyst report about trends in the IT industry, and how CIOs
should evaluate the impact of mergers and acquisitions
Source: Marketing Down the Sales Funnel: How Nortel’s Q4 Push Touched 30% of Pipeline and
Helped Close Deals, MarketingSherpa, March 3, 2010
Drip Campaign Content
18. #b2bsummit
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Copyright2010Itisillegaltodistributethispresentation.
Strategic Plan
• 10 email messages; 2 phases (5 messages each)
– Each phase includes:
• 1 general email to set the tone (all 4 key requirements)
• 4 additional emails, each focusing on one key requirement
– Speed | Value | Transparency | Accountability
• Sent weekly over the course of 10 weeks
• Only 6 email messages were actually sent
– Phase 1, email 1
– Phase 2, emails 1 through 5
Source: Client Case Study, JeanneJennings.com, Inc.
21. #b2bsummit
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Copyright2010Itisillegaltodistributethispresentation.
• It’s important to look at the performance of each effort
individually
• And also the average performance over the entire campaign
Tracking and Reporting
Phase Effort # Date Sent Send Q Bounce Rate Open Rate
CTR
(Unique)
CTOR
(Unique)
Forward
Rate
Unsub
Rate
Spam
Complaint
Rate
NA 5.9% 29.1% 6.4% 22.0% NA < 0.5% NA
1 1
7.21.09 - 7.24.09
(staggered) 52,621 13.4% 14.3% 1.0% 7.2% 0.01% 0.2% 0.00%
2 1 8.4.09, 3:00 PM 52,514 15.4% 12.6% 0.7% 5.9% 0.00% 0.2% 0.00%
2 2 8.18.09, 2:00 PM 52,410 16.1% 12.6% 0.7% 5.2% 0.00% 0.2% 0.01%
2 3 9.1.09, 1:52 PM 47,426 6.5% 13.8% 0.6% 4.6% 0.00% 0.2% 0.00%
2 4 9.15.09, 2:00 PM 47,338 7.5% 13.3% 0.6% 4.7% 0.01% 0.2% 0.00%
2 5 9.29.09, 5:05 PM 47,265 8.1% 11.9% 0.4% 3.4% 0.00% 0.1% 0.00%
AVERAGES 49,929 11.2% 13.1% 0.7% 5.2% 0.00% 0.2% 0.0%
Epsilon Q1 2009 Email Trends and
Benchmarks; Business Products and
Source: Client Case Study, JeanneJennings.com, Inc.
22. #b2bsummit
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Copyright2010Itisillegaltodistributethispresentation.
• You should also look at overall campaign performance
• Average open rate over all efforts was 13.1% (11.9% to 14.3% range)
• The cumulative unique open rate shows the value of multiple sends
• A total of 12,772 unique people opened at least one email in the series
• This is 28.9% of the average number of email messages assumed delivered for
each send
• With each send, the cumulative unique opens grew by an average of 10.6%
Tracking and Reporting
Source: Client Case Study, JeanneJennings.com, Inc.
Send 1.1 Send 2.1 Send 2.2 Send 2.3 Send 2.4 Send 2.5
Unique Opens (cumulative) 6,541 8,547 9,944 11,199 12,068 12,772
Lift Send over Send (#) 2,006 1,397 1,255 869 704
Lift Send over Send (%) 31% 16% 13% 8% 6%
Average Lift 10.6%
Opens
23. #b2bsummit
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Copyright2010Itisillegaltodistributethispresentation.
• A similar analysis of key link performance drives the point home
• The link to the GSA Advantage landing page was one of the top four links
in all of the email messages
• Click-through rates on individual efforts ranged from .07% to 0.18%
• A total of 359 unique people clicked on this link during the campaign
• This is nearly 5 times the number of clicks from the first effort
• The cumulative unique clicks grew by an average of 25.2% per send
Tracking and Reporting
Source: Client Case Study, JeanneJennings.com, Inc.
Send 1.1 Send 2.1 Send 2.2 Send 2.3 Send 2.4 Send 2.5
Unique Clicks (cumulative) 73 150 220 284 334 359
Lift Send over Send (#) 77 70 64 50 25
Lift Send over Send (%) 105% 47% 29% 18% 7%
Average Lift 25.2%
GSA Advantage
25. #b2bsummit
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Copyright2010Itisillegaltodistributethispresentation.
• Challenge
• Find a cost-effective way to handle
an onslaught of leads
• Suddenly 25% of unique
Website visitors converting to
leads
• Sales reps with limited time
needed to focus on “hot” leads
• Goal
• Convert a higher percentage of
leads to genuine sales opportunities
• Campaign Elements
• Lead qualification system
• Targeted drip campaign based on
prospect segment
Source: Best Practices in Email Marketing Handbook (2009), MarketingSherpa
Case Study: XOsoft
26. #b2bsummit
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Copyright2010Itisillegaltodistributethispresentation.
Is the Lead Qualified?
Reps Contact all Leads -- 4 Questions
1. Existing Project
– Is there a real project in the works at the organization?
1. Budget
– Has the organization allocated a budget yet?
1. Tech
– Does the organization meet tech requirements?
1. Investigate Commitment
– Is the lead also examining our competitors?
Source: Best Practices in Email Marketing Handbook (2009), MarketingSherpa
Qualified
leads
immediately
rose from
4% to 17%
31. #b2bsummit
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Copyright2010Itisillegaltodistributethispresentation.
• Challenge
• Develop a successful lead
generation program for a start-
up without a strong brand or
established customer base
• Goals
• Create a powerful engine to
generate a consistent stream of
high quality inbound leads
from the Web
• Campaign Elements
• Sales and Marketing Alignment
• Social Monitoring
• Prospecting Tools
• Content Engine
• Destination Website
• Company Social Network Presence
• Ready, Willing and Enabled Sales
Team
• Email Drip Marketing
Source: How to use Social Media and Email for Prospecting: 8 Essentials, MarketingSherpa,
January 28, 2010
Case Study: BreakingPoint
37. #b2bsummit
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Copyright2010Itisillegaltodistributethispresentation.
Case Study: Jaspersoft
• Challenge
• Communicate effectively with
many different customer
constituent groups
• Open source developers
• Customers using open source
version
• Paying customers using
professional edition
• Goals
• Develop a better way to segment
the database and automatically
provide relevant information to
all groups
• Campaign Elements
• Customer profiling
• Database segmentation
• Automated/triggered/drip
campaigns
• Outbound promotions
• Lead scoring
Source: Lead-Gen Revamp with Automation and Scoring: 7 Steps to 190% Increase in Sales
Conversions, MarketingSherpa, November 11, 2009
38. #b2bsummit
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Copyright2010Itisillegaltodistributethispresentation.
Drip Campaign Strategy
• Trial download triggered
• Five emails over thirty day period
• Thank you/welcome
• Tools to help them use the software
• Links to online documentation and forums
for support
• Final email offering sales rep contact to
discuss professional edition
• Recipients sent into sub-campaigns
based on behavior (40 possible paths)
Source: Lead-Gen Revamp with Automation and Scoring: 7
Steps to 190% Increase in Sales Conversions,
MarketingSherpa, November 11, 2009