I love a lot of things about the Internet.
Access to new ideas…
The ability to do research without having to go to the library and sift through microfiche…
The connectivity…
The entertainment…
But, one of the things that’s not great about the Internet is how it warps our sense of time.
We have this notion that, because we can communicate so quickly, response times should be immediate.
This puts us at a disadvantage as freelancers. It’s easy to assume that, if we send an email or a connection request, the person receiving it: a) sees it immediately; b) opens it right away; and c) will get back to us right then and there.
If we don’t get a response within 24 hours, we figure, heck, they must not be interested.
But, you miss so many opportunities if you don’t follow up on your prospecting emails, the pitches you send, and the connection requests you make.
It takes time for a person to get to know you, to even recognize your name. And, it especially takes time for them to see how you might make their life easier and bring value to their business.
To help the process along, you need a multi-touch marketing system.
Now, you might be wondering just what I mean by that. In essence, a multi-touch marketing system is one where you connect with your prospects through a planned sequence of connections, or touches.
You can do this through a single channel like email or LinkedIn, or you can do it across several channels.
Single Channel: All Your Communications in a Single Place
When you use a single channel, you connect with a prospect multiple times through the same means.
LinkedIn is a great single-channel venue for a multi-touch marketing system.
Your system might look a bit like this…
You would start by sending a connection request to a marketing director at a company you’d like to work with. Of course, you’d send a personalized note letting them know why you want to connect.
Once your request is accepted, you would send a brief note introducing yourself, telling them a bit more about what you do, and paying them a compliment about something they’ve published or accomplished recently.
Then you’d make a point to reach out every week or two with something interesting to share, a question about their business, or a reaction to something else they’ve published.
After two or three nurturing notes, you might send a pitch about a blog post you’d like to write for them.
And then, you’d settle into a routine of saying hello or sending a pitch every month or so.
Email can also work as a single-channel, multi-touch medium. And, so can snail mail.
We’ll look at some more examples in a moment, but first, let’s look at how a multi-channel system might work.
Multi-Channel: Popping Up “Everywhere”
You can use a single medium, but you don’t have to. You can also connect with your prospect across different channels.
In this case, as your first point of contact, you might send an email introducing yourself. Then a couple of days later, you might follow up with a LinkedIn connection request. After that, you might follow your prospect on Twitter. And then, you might share one of their Instagram posts with your audience.
This has the advantage of giving your prospect the feeling that you’re active everywhere they’re active and that you’re an expert at what you do. Showing up consistently in a lot of places to talk about your niche or specialty is a fast way to build a reputation as an authority.
The drawback is that this takes more work and monitoring. It can increase your perceived value, but it can also take longer for your prospect to really feel like they know you. It’s the difference between having several small encounters with a person and having a single longer conversation. The single channel feels more like that long conversation. They both produce results, but the long conversation produces a bigger result faster. On the other hand, several small encounters provide multiple new opportunities to deepen the connection.
Both single-channel and multi-channel approaches can work very well. It’s really up to you to decide which one is the better fit for your needs, personality, and the market you want to focus on.
Now, let’s look at a couple of examples of how you can use a multi-touch system for outreach. The goal is to connect and cultivate relationships with a variety of prospects and, ultimately, to have some of those prospects become paying clients.
Example 1 – Single Channel: LinkedIn
It usually takes five to seven touches for a person to start feeling like they know you. At that point, they recognize your name and, if you’ve been providing value and you’ve been a good conversationalist, they’ll readily open any messages you send to them. This only happens if you personalize your messages and give more than you ask.
For LinkedIn, a five-touch process might go like this…
The Connection Request
A natural place to begin is by asking someone to connect. Make sure you include a note about why you’re connecting. You might have connections in common whom you can mention… if you use their product, you can mention that… you could thank them for something they posted or published recently that you found value in… or you can just mention you share an industry.
Keep it short. Say something like, “Hi John, I came across your post about advances your company is making in the medical device industry. I really appreciated the insights you shared. Would you like to connect?”
But, instead of saying, “your company,” you would use the actual company name. And, instead saying, “the insights you shared,” you’d write about a specific insight.
The Meaningful Comment
A couple of days later, you check in on John’s activity. He’s shared another article. This time, you make a comment on his article responding again to specific information within the article and, if you can, building on it with your own insight.
The Introduction Message
Within a week of John’s accepting your connection request, you send a message to further introduce yourself. You thank him for connecting, and let him know what you do. You don’t have to turn this into a pitch; just keep it matter-of-fact. Then, you could ask a question about John or his company. Will they be at an industry event? How did John come to be in that industry? What’s the thing John is looking forward to in the coming quarter? Something that will spark a conversation.
If a conversation is sparked, let it unfold naturally, which will result in additional touches.
The Shared Post
You continue to check on John’s feed, and the next time he posts something, you share it with your audience, giving some lead-in commentary about what you liked and why you think your own connections will enjoy reading it.
A Nurturing Note
Based on the types of things John shares, a week later, you send him a link to an article you found that you think he might like. You also mention that, based on the article, you have an idea for his company’s blog, and you ask if he’d like you to send that over.
John may say yes or no. But, if he responds either way, it means you’ve started to develop a relationship with him. Continue reaching out to him every month or so and see where things go.
If John ignores you, you can repeat the “comment, share, note” process another time or two… but, eventually, you might decide to focus on other prospects.
Example 2 – Multi-Channel: Email, LinkedIn, and Print
Using a multi-channel approach, you could create a 5-touch process that involves email, LinkedIn, and postal mail.
The Introductory Email
Your first touch could be through email, LinkedIn or print mail — that’s one of the fun things about this kind of system. You get to choose the channels, the order, and the basic approach for each message.
But, for this example, let’s say you start with email.
In your first email, you might highlight a common interest or connection — this could simply be that you both work in the same industry. Next, you could speak briefly about who you are and what you do. Then, you could ask if your specialty is something they need at the moment, inviting them to reply if they do.
The LinkedIn Connection
A few days later, follow up your initial email with a LinkedIn connection request. In this case, you can personalize the message by mentioning you reached out to them recently through email. You could also restate your shared connection or interest, and then ask to connect.
The Post-Connection LinkedIn Message
If they accept your connection request, your next step could be to send them a quick message thanking them for connecting and paying them a compliment on something they published recently.
Sharing a Resource
If you have an article or report your audience can use to solve a pain point, your next step might be to email them and let them know that’s available to them with a link to where they can find it.
Sending Your Information Packet
If you’ve gotten a response to any of your messages, your next step might be to send them your information packet through the mail. You might include a handwritten note saying you’ve enjoyed connecting with them and want them to know a little more about what you do.
Just as with the single-channel approach, make note of anyone who responds, and stay in touch with them monthly or quarterly. For those who don’t respond, move on.
Start Building Your Network
The purpose of a multi-touch marketing system is to build your name recognition and create meaningful connections with people in your target audience. Some of them may become clients. Many of them won’t.
But, when you make it a point to build and deepen your relationship with each prospect by connecting with them more than once (and in a systematic but personal way), you’ll get more yeses to your pitches… and more referrals, too. It all adds up to more work… and it’s an enjoyable way to land new clients.
