Offline Drip Campaign - SMS & Voice Engage Audiences Better than Email

Have you heard about drip campaigns? The term “drip campaign” is widely known in the marketing world as a strategy employed to continuously engage a target audience. It is also known by its other names like drip marketing, waterfall marketing, autoresponder, and marketing automation. However you call it, the idea is to have a flow of messages going out to your customers automatically over a period of time.

This marketing technique is commonly used in email marketing like when you sign up for a website. A series of automated emails are then sent to you over a course of time. Right after you sign-up, you get a welcome email. Two days later, you get another email introducing you to a specific product or feature the website offers. Then, you will receive another email a week after, a month, and so on.

Problems with Current Drip Campaigns

However powerful your email drip campaign is, you are barely scratching the surface of the total market for reasons like:

Open-Rate

Not everyone who receives a marketing email ends up opening it. Based on DMA’s Email benchmarking report 2018, B2C emails open rate is at 19.7% while it is at 15.1% for B2B.

Offline Market

Even with the current technological advancements, not everyone is online. According to ITU’s latest statistics, only 51% of the world’s total population were online by the end of 2018. Which means you are still missing out on the other 49%. Plus, at least 20% of those who are online only have limited internet access, for example, when at an Internet cafe or at a mall with wifi. But they are normally not online because they can’t afford to always have a data plan.

With the low open rate on emails and a large percentage of people who are not (constantly) online, reaching people offline becomes necessary. This is where the offline drip campaign comes into play in reaching a larger audience through their mobile phones. Some mobile users do not have internet access, which makes SMS (text messages) and Voice (automated phone calls / IVR) the only way to reach them, especially in developing countries and emerging markets in Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America.

What is an Offline Drip Campaign?

The concept is still the same as in email drip marketing only that the Offline Drip makes use of SMS and Voice Messaging. The Offline Drip Campaign sends “drips” of pre-recorded voice or pre-written text messages over a period of time. Each person enrolled in the Offline Drip gets the first message when they are added to the Campaign and then continue to receive the rest of the messages in the Drip according to the relative schedule that you pre-created, e.g., they get Message 2 three days after Message 1; Message 3 one week after Message 2, and so on – according to whatever schedule you set for the Drip. Your contacts remain engaged and your organization or business stays top of mind. Your audience will never miss a message.

An Example Scenario

Anna, a regular employee, is enrolled in a year-long SMS drip campaign today for financial management; she receives the first SMS text message welcoming her to the program. Two days later, she receives an SMS providing tips on budgeting and saving for future emergencies. She receives another SMS a week after the second SMS about small business ideas to help her earn extra income. She continues to receive messages for the entire year-long campaign, with the messages spaced out according to how the Drip Campaign was set up.

Now Jane, an employee from a different company, is enrolled in the same campaign but one day after Anna started. Jane receives the same welcome SMS that Anna received but one day after Anna received her welcome message. Then, the remaining messages go out at the same time delay schedule as Anna’s: Jane receives her second SMS 2 days after she received the first one and received the third message one week after the second, and so on. Jane’s campaign started one day after Anna’s, so it also ends one day after Anna stops receiving the messages.

Both employees received the same series of SMS at their respective time delays, relative to when they started.

Note: Start creating your first SMS Drip Campaign Click here

Advantages and Benefits of Offline Drip Campaigns

Offline – Your recipients don’t need internet to receive your messages and can get it with whatever phone they have – smartphone or feature phone.
Convenience – You can create your SMS or Voice drip campaign with a series of messages in one sitting. Also, your recipients can receive it wherever they are at the scheduled time.
Higher Open Rate – Messages arrive immediately and are read instantly upon receipt. People answer a call right away so you get results almost instantaneously.
Personal – People bring their mobile devices wherever they go and receiving a call or an SMS creates a more personal and intimate connection.
Top of Mind – Your contacts remain engaged over a period of time and puts you and your program on top of their mind every time.
Refresh – People can re-read SMS messages on their phone any time of the day and receive calls they missed from a previous period.
Opt-in/Opt-out – People can opt-in to and opt-out of your campaign anytime they want by simply texting a keyword (e.g., Join, Stop) to a phone number.

Offline drip campaigns can be used in a variety of use cases. It is just a matter of deciding what you need and finding what suits your audience.

See the full infographic by Pardot, a marketing automation company.

SMS Drip vs. Voice Drip: Which Offline Drip Is Right for You?

Both SMS and Voice are powerful offline tools in engaging your target audience. Deciding on whether to use SMS drip or Voice drip depends on your goal and the type of audience you have.

Ultimately, we are here to guide and help you achieve your goals. Interested in trying out offline drip? Send an email to HelpTeam@engageSPARK.com or chat with us using the live chat button on the bottom right of your screen.

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