What is a marketing track and how can you create one?

When it comes to marketing – both for CharTec and our members – we’re big on marketing tracks.  In fact, we usually have multiple marketing tracks running in one year, with each track serving different purposes, at different times, for different audiences.

But what is a marketing track and how can you create one?  It’s simple really.  Here’s what you should know.

This isn’t the only content you should be pushing out.  Learn how to build a comprehensive content strategy for your business.

How should a marketing track be structured?

Our traditional marketing track incorporates a variety of touches.  These touches are merely pieces (like postcards, emails, promo items, letters, and follow-up calls) that “touch” the lead on a consistent basis for a predetermined amount of time.  For example, if you have a 30-day track, your content might be structured like this:

Basically, this means that on the first day (which is really day 0), the lead will receive an email, and then five days later, that same lead will receive a follow-up call.  With this structure, the lead should receive one email every week and a half and a follow up call both at the beginning and end of the track.  Halfway through the track, a postcard is sent out, and the lead should receive it in conjunction with another touch.

What is the purpose behind a marketing track?

Take another look at the previous structure, and notice how the lead receives a piece of marketing content nearly once a week – but it’s not all going straight to their inbox or directly into their mailbox.  Even if they don’t open your emails, there’s still a chance they might pick up a phone call, listen to a voicemail, or read a physical mailer.  In other words, this type of marketing strategy hits a prospect from many different angles, at different times, over and over again.  It builds up your brand, and ensures that your business is always top of mind.

What types of tracks are there?

There are a variety of reasons to implement a marketing track, and the structure and style of the content should change depending on the given reason behind the track.  For example, the 30-day track shown earlier pushes out four emails, two calls, and one postcard – which is quite a bit of material in such a short amount of time.  This means that this style track would most likely be used for an event such as a Lunch & Learn.  Events typically can’t be pushed too far in advance and often rely on more aggressive marketing tactics.

Besides pushing an event, you probably want to push a specific product or your business as a whole.  On top of that, you’re marketing (or should be marketing) to a handful of groups – cold leads, hot leads, weird leads that may not be leads at all, current clients, lost clients… In other words, these groups are all in different situations.  They may already know who you are.  They may not.  They may already use your products.  They may not.  They may have another provider.  They may not.  To solve this, we strategically structure, write, and push out our content.

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For example, cold leads who aren’t familiar with our business or product lineup are put onto a 365-day track.  This track usually contains 5-6 postcards, 10-12 emails, and 8-10 follow-up calls, and this content is spaced out for an entire year.  These leads will receive an average of 2-3 touches a month, and the content is designed to introduce our business, build up our credibility, and explain what problems we can solve.

However, if these leads are considerably warmer – more targeted, and they’ve expressed interest in the past – they might go onto a 90-day track.  This track would be centered around one specific product and would really focus on pain points.  We skip the “who we are” part and immediately delve into “what we can do.”

How should these be written?

It’s important to remember that these tracks are pushed out to a specific audience for a specific purpose.  The way you write your emails and create your corresponding marketing material should change based on these two factors.

For instance, a strong call to action on a colder track might not make sense, but it will definitely make sense on an event track.  And again, an email explaining how you provide outstanding customer service and how your solutions differ from the competition doesn’t belong on a shorter track pushed out to hot leads; however, it does belong on a longer track pushed out to former clients.

When it comes to creating and pushing out marketing tracks, there are a few things to keep in mind:

• Consistency – push out material on a consistent basis
• Variety – push out material through a variety of methods
• Strategic – push out material in a strategic fashion

If you have any more questions regarding marketing tracks, shoot us an email.  We’d be happy to answer your questions.