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Timing How You Stay In Touch

By Mark Satterfield

If we look at marketing as a three-pronged initiative, the main components are lead generation, lead capture, and staying in touch.

Staying in ongoing contact is often the most difficult component of the process. Part of the challenge is uncertainty. How often should I be in contact? What should be the content of my messages? How does the frequency of messaging change over time?

Here's an approach that may be helpful in developing your own strategy.

Consider dividing the stay-in-touch sequence into two main groups: 1) Messages that you send in the first 90 days; and 2) Those you send later than that.

Before we discuss how to set up a messaging system, let's make sure that we are on the same page regarding exactly what auto-responders (or stay-in-touch systems) are all about.

An auto-responder system is first and foremost a database of contact information. The database is populated either by inputting information about your contacts, or automatically when people fill out a form to order your free information report.

Communications that you subsequently send are referred to as either “Timed” or “Broadcast” messages; both have their uses.

Timed messages are emails that you send out based on the number of days that have elapsed since the person initially signed up for your free report. For example, you might set up a schedule so that one day after the report is requested the reader gets a “Thank you” email. Then two days later, email message #2 goes out asking if the person has any questions. A week later, you send email #3, and so on.

You can set up a Timed series of emails on any frequency you desire. (I will share with you a sample strategy in just a moment.)

The advantage of the Timed sequence is that you can write the series of messages once, and then they go out automatically with no further effort on your part.

Not surprisingly, you'll need to make sure that these messages are either somewhat generic in content (“Thank you for requesting…”) or address issues that are "Evergreen.” By this I mean you want to focus on client problems that are currently relevant and likely to be so for the foreseeable future.

In contrast to Timed messages, Broadcast ones are sent to everyone in your database. The advantage of this type of message is that it can be topical and timely. For example, it might reference a current business article or mention an issue that is time-sensitive.

Both are powerful tools and, when you are setting up your stay-in-touch strategy, I recommend that you incorporate both types of messages.

Here is an example of one auto-responder sequence. Granted, it’s pretty aggressive.

For the first 90 days, people who request a free report get a sequence of Timed messages that are sent out every three days.

I know most of you would never consider sending out messages that frequently, but many marketers have concluded that this sequence works the best for them.

This decision is influenced by both pragmatic and philosophical considerations.

First, obviously there is an enormous amount of clutter out there—far too many messages chasing far too few eyeballs. Thus the majority of messages just get ignored.

A common strategy in the initial stages of marketing is to cement in the reader's mind who you are and what you stand for. Quite frankly, to accomplish that you need to be communicating very frequently.

Philosophically, many consultants take the position that it is extremely important to convert a high percentage of readers into paying clients. They have little interest in having a large group of subscribers who will never actually use consulting services.

Others take the approach that all they desire is to build new relationships. This more passive approach naturally dictates a less frequent contact schedule.

Thus there is a delicate balancing act between aggressively converting prospects into clients vs. focusing solely on building relationships.

My opinion, though, is that whether your readers continue to read your messages has far more to do with the content of what you are communicating than the frequency of the messages.

How often you communicate with your audience also has to do with your attitude. (And, by the way, attitude has a lot to do with your overall success in marketing your services.)

When you sit down to write something for your readers, your assumption should be that this will be of interest to them. Although you may communicate often with your readers, communication should never be for its own sake. You should write because you believe that what you have to say will be of relevance and interest.

If you approach your follow-up communications with this appropriate attitude, I think you will find that the question—“Am I communicating too often with my readers?”—quickly falls by the wayside.

However, if the idea of communicating with your prospects every three days is something that you just cannot imagine yourself doing, then develop a more modest schedule.

An example might be:

• Thank you email sent one day after report is requested.
• Follow up email asking for feedback three days later.
• Next email seven days later asking if the reader has specific questions about the type of work you do. (Best if you suggest some possible questions.)
• Next email seven days later. (This seven-day sequence continues for the next month.)
• Ongoing emails every 20-30 days until you reach 90 days.

This sequence will work. The only disadvantage is that it will take longer for the imprint of who you are and what you do to be lodged in your reader's mind. Since it is likely that your reader has an interest in your services, my personal advice is to communicate as often as possible in the first few weeks of the relationship.

After the first 90 days, the frequency of my messages changes. This is when I shift my messaging from Timed to Broadcast.

Many marketers send their Broadcast messages once a week. (You may want to use a longer time frame, but aim for at least every 20-30 days rather than once a quarter.) Often these messages will reference an article in the newspaper or some other timely information. Broadcast messages have the advantage of timeliness, but the disadvantage is that you cannot create them too far in advance.

What I've just described to you is just one system. Your approach may be different. One consultant sends out a message every 20 days as a part of a Timed sequence, and the schedule is two years (and counting) in length. This strategy yields her three to seven new clients a week.

So there are lots of variations on this theme. What's right for you will naturally depend on a variety of factors but, hopefully, this gives you some food for thought.

Want to read more by Mark Satterfield? Visit his author page.