Marketing how many touches

Want a geeky reason why? For example, hindsight bias makes us believe that our past successes with customers took fewer touchpoints than they actually did because, in the end, they became our customers.

How hard could it have been? We assume if we had over-marketed to them, they would not have purchased. But this is generally an unfounded fear, because if a customer genuinely was annoyed by your marketing, they would unsubscribe, or tell you in no uncertain terms. Today that number can run as high as 5, to 10, marketing messages a day. In other words, marketing has become noise to most of us. Studies have found that as much as two-thirds of the buying process has already taken place before a buyer reaches out to a potential provider of services or products.

You think you know what you want, but now you want to see it in person, perhaps to verify that your research is correct. However, they have access to tons of information about your firm and your competitors , and they can do much of their research when you are not around, thanks to online content.

Marketing messaging is all about channels, and today there are so many channels to reach your clients and perspective clients:. And the list goes on and on.

Sometimes, one channel can be highly effective. In some cases, a blog, article, or website can provide a high-quality lead that ultimately leads to a contract. Often, however, it is a combination of several of these channels that lead to an opportunity and eventually a sale. Maybe you connect with a prospect on LinkedIn, they see your post about a company blog, and click through to read it. In this scenario, it has taken multiple touch points between you, your prospect, and your company just to get to that face-to-face meeting, which may or may not lead to a real opportunity.

So the Rule of 7 is more concept than rule. For instance, you might send a short tip in one email and link to a helpful ebook in the second. In my experience, connect rates rise as the day, week, and month advances. According to this maxim, here are the ideal times to reach out:. Most salespeople make their prospecting calls early in the morning and early in the week.

However, this is precisely the time when buyers are planning out their workload and prioritizing their tasks -- they don't have time for a sales call. You'll have better success when the day is winding down, and the prospect has more bandwidth for an unexpected request.

In terms of email, you can write messages at any point in the day, but be careful not to send them until five minutes before or five minutes after the hour. Since you want your email to be no lower than 12 messages from the top, you'll need to send it at the precise moment when the buyer opens their inbox.

Five minutes before and after the hour is the span of time when buyers walk to and from meetings and check their email. Hitting "send" in this minute window dramatically increases your chances of getting a response. So, how should you distribute your touchpoints? Over the span of a month, most reps skew early. They might reach out two times the first day, once a few days later, once a week later, and then one final time a few weeks after that. But this pattern communicates to the buyer that your request isn't urgent.

To express urgency, I recommend skewing your touchpoints the opposite way. I wait quite a while after making my first attempt to follow up -- anywhere from 12 days to two weeks. Your prospecting message mix should be just that -- a mix.

The specific divide between calls and emails should be determined by you and your manager based on what works best in your industry. That said, in my experience, leaning on the phone slightly more than email generates the best results.

What I don't recommend is all emails or no calls, or four calls and one email. Keep it as balanced as possible while playing to the preferences of your buyers. How can you use social media -- and use it well? I get this question a lot.

Social media can be a great tool for prospecting if used correctly. Find Mezzanine on social:. Why is content marketing important for manufacturing companies? Manufacturing companies have a lot of information to share. They tend to focus their marketing efforts on content about If your company has an ambitious marketing plan for the year, which includes the launch of new products that are poised B2B Marketing Blog.

Subscribe to Email Updates. Search Blog Posts. Popular Stories. Search Categories Subscribe Most Popular. Written by Lisa Shepherd on February 25, Why Do Touches Matter? You may also like:.