When you send a marketing message you hope that it will arrive at its destination at a time when the recipient is open to hearing it.
That could mean a time when their postal mail box or their inbox isn’t so full that they toss everything possible without looking. 
That could mean a time when they actually want to take the time to read what you sent. You can’t predict that either, but it’s one reason that email marketers tend to avoid first thing Monday morning or late on Friday.
If you’ve chosen your list well, your message should arrive at time in life when they’ve already been thinking about what you have to offer.
But even with a well-sorted list, you have no way to predict that that they won’t be distracted by other things at that moment. That’s why sending multiple messages to the same list is the recommended method of reaching new clients.
Statistics show that:
- 2% of responses come from the first contact with a prospect.
- 3% of responses come from the second contact with a prospect.
- 5% of responses come from the third contact with a prospect.
- 10% of responses come from the fourth contact with a prospect.
- 80% of responses come from the fifth to twelfth contact with a prospect
That’s why most of my prospecting letter sets contain anywhere from 5 to 10 letters, designed to be sent over weeks or even months.
It’s also why your messages need to have some substance. Your very first sentence needs to show that it’s about the reader – not about you. Then it needs to give promise of something good to come.
Those old “Here I am, hire me” messages just don’t cut it any more. (Actually, I’m not sure they ever did, but real estate agents have certainly spent tons of money on them.)
Image courtesy of iosphere | freedigitalphotos.net
