The team at Blue Sky Factory recently conducted a study where we visited different Web sites, clicked on various advertisements and waited to see what communications came our way.
As interested consumers, we were surprised at the lack of follow-up from most of the organizations to which we sent an inquiry. While most sent an immediate follow-up via e-mail, only 30 percent followed that up with a second e-mail, and a disappointing 10 percent picked up the phone to call us.
People are busy. That exact consumer whose attention you're trying to reach may be thinking about what to buy for dinner, on a conference call and clicking on your advertisement — all at the same time. You may have caught his attention initially, but keeping it is just as important.
Our study found that it took some companies at least four days to send an initial e-mail, while a few didn't bother following up at all. People are on your site clicking on ads or other offers because they're interested. The hard part — getting their attention — is over. Now comes the easy part.
Here are three key tactics that allow you to make the most of your follow-up with customers and prospects.
1. Acknowledge people immediately. Send an automated notification e-mail to all inquiries that come through your Web site and/or landing page. Organizations that put this simple tactic in place make the most effective first impression to prospects.
2. Think about cross-sell opportunities. Prospects often engage with a brand to find out about a specific product or service. In both your automated and manual follow-ups, dedicate real estate to highlight other complementary services or products your company offers.
3. Nurture your prospects with a planned out drip campaign. Don't ignore prospects that engage with you but don't buy from you. Sending frequent e-mails — namely, monthly or quarterly — to these prospects keeps them informed of your company's products or services, allowing for the potential to work together in the future.
Greg Cangialosi is president/CEO of Blue Sky Factory, a Baltimore-based e-mail marketing solutions firm. Reach Greg at greg@blueskyfactory.com.
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