Drip Marketing is the process of consistently staying in front of your client or prospective client for brand building over time. The idea comes from the "Law of 29". Some marketers believe a prospect will not turn into a client until they have received 29 (marketing) contacts from you. I'm not sure what the number is, but I can tell you that your prospects are bombarded with marketing messages everyday.

In order to stand out you certainly have to be in front of someone on a regular basis.

This is more of a soft sale technique where you plan on sticking around for the long-haul. You see this is a similar technique to the development of a stalagmite. A stalagmite is the limestone formation that grows up from the limestone deposit of water dripping from a caves stalactite. The average rate of growth a year of a stalagmite is .005 inches a year. Drip marketing is similar in the fact that you are drip, drip, dripping on a client/prospect. Obviously the key to build a brand instead of a water torture program is the quality or relevancy of your message.

So why would you want to do a drip marketing program? 

• to be in front of a prospect when they have a need for your product/service
• to build a reputation as a company that is going to be around for a long time
• to prove you are very adamant about helping the prospect
• to prove you are a trustworthy vendor
• to prove you trust in your quality product/service so much that you are willing to invest in promoting it

When people think of branding they think of Coca-Cola, Nike or Starbucks. Their next thought is "I'll never be able to be the next Starbucks". What they do not understand is that Starbucks is dripping their logo and brand experience all over you when you go into their stores. Logo on the sign, logo on the door, 75+ retail items with their logo on– all before you get to the counter to order your coffee that comes in a logo cup with a logo belly-band hand cooler. Starbucks decided to create their drip marketing through in store experience.

What can you do to create this brand building drip marketing for your company? 

• Define your target audience or most profitable audience
• Define what their problems are and how you solve them
• Define what's the best approach to reach this audience (in store like Starbucks since you have a captive audience, direct mail, advertising, TV, Radio, blogging, social media)
• Develop an annual budget that you can afford (maybe 2-10% of annual income)
• Develop a strong message and start getting it out there
  

Ok, maybe you do not have Starbucks marketing budget right now, but keep in mind every company starts small. The key is starting a campaign like this, sticking to it and growing it as your business grows.

How can you do drip marketing on a budget?

• Direct Mail to a targeted list & house list
• eMail or print Newsletters (giving industry tips not product sheets or "look how cool we are"content)
• Blog articles through RSS Feeds, email sign-up
• Social Media activity - Linked, Facebook, Twitter etc.