APRIL 2018 • FOGHORN 21 WE LIVE AND BREATHE pAssENgER VEssELs, THAT’s THE KEY TO OUR sUCCEss Anders Rundberg, CEO of Carus We care about your customers Carus offers innovative solutions for the global passenger vessel industry, giving your customers a better experience before, during and after their journey. The Carus solution incorporates ticketing, reservations, check-in, port automation, on-board and relationship management. www.carus.com descriptions from your blog post to au- tomatically create regular newsletter emails sent to your database. You can schedule your automated blog emails to be sent out as often as you want, but once every four to eight weeks is probably best. 2. Drip Feed Emails The name ‘drip feed’ comes from watering plants, referring to water trickling down until it finally reaches the roots. In order to create a drip feed marketing campaign, you’ll need to sign up with an automated email platform, like MailChimp, SharpSpring, or others you’re familiar with, such as Constant Contact. A drip feed campaign, usually a campaign for new subscribers, is a series of four to six emails that slowly introduce the new subscriber to your brand. It is a soft sell, and therefore you don’t even need to push your products until later emails. Let’s quickly go through each email. Email #1 is the welcome email. Give the reader a reason to stay, like a discount, promise, giveaway confirma- tion, etc. (e.g. “Use this code for 10% off your next ferry ride!” Or “Thanks for entering the free dinner cruise giveaway!”). Build trust, remind your users why they signed up in the first place - and don’t ask for any money… yet. In Email #2, build trust by giving them something of value. Perhaps you wow them with your customer reviews, or you send them inter- esting blogs or articles about your industry (eg, “When is the Best Time to See a Whale?”). Make them view your company as a reliable source of industry information. Email #3 may introduce them to your social media, perhaps asking them to join. Or it may be a personalized message from your CEO, perhaps reiterating that new sub- scriber deal you sent in Email #1. Still avoid asking for monetary transaction. With Email #4, you can finally outline featured products. When you introduce your products, make your offer shine! Highlight the call to action - the button that leads to the sales page. Give them incentive to buy. You may choose to do one final ‘reminder’ email, especially for more expensive products that may take more convincing to purchase. Once a subscriber finishes the last drip feed email, you can now move them to your normal database. Or, you may choose to send a fifth email to only your most loyal readers, offering them a discount if they make a purchase within a specific time period (two to five weeks is best). And that’s it--you’ve now suc- cessfully built up a relationship with this potential customer who is now much more likely to view your brand as trustworthy and an industry leader, as well as make a purchase. 3. Giveaways to Grow Your Database It’s great to send out newsletters, write blogs, and update your social media regularly, but if you’re always MARKETING