Email Drip Campaigns: An Explainer

What Are Email Drip Campaigns?

An email drip campaign is a series of emails sent across a specified period, creating a “drip” effect over time. Drip campaigns are designed with specific goals and intents, so that each email nurtures the relationship with the recipient and leads them to complete a particular goal. 

How to Do a Drip Email Campaign?

The drip campaign is designed to “drip” nuggets of information over time to help lead the customer or subscriber where you want them to go, doing what you want them to do. Here’s how it works.

Identify Your Goal

The first step to success is to define your goal — it can be to upsell a current customer or nurture your relationship with a new one. There is no wrong answer here, but you must identify your end goal before you move forward.

Determine the Number of Emails

The next decision when creating this type of campaign is to determine the number of emails it will take for your recipient to complete the action. You may not get it right the first time, but you can adjust this number as you monitor how your emails are performing.

Decide on the Frequency and Duration

It’s now time to identify how long your campaign lasts and how frequently during that time people will receive emails. For example, if your campaign runs for two weeks, then you want to consider how often your emails drip into their inbox. 

Create the Content

Next, you will need to create the content for each email you plan to send as part of your drip campaign. For example, if your goal is to boost fundraising over a period of seven emails, then you have to decide what type of content is included. In addition, you will need to prioritize the order of content, so that it creates momentum toward the end goal. 

Segment Your Audience

Of course, you probably aren’t sending the same email drip campaigns to every one of your recipients. If you have a series of emails for new subscribers, then make sure only those people are receiving them. Likewise, only people who sign up for your trial should get emails nurturing toward sign-ups. 

Set Up Your Campaign

Once you nail down the goal, number of emails, frequency and duration, content, and segmentation, then it’s time to set up the campaign. Most email clients enable you to do this from within their platforms, but you can always consult an email marketing specialist for guidance. 

Monitor Performance and Adjust

Finally, it’s important to take note of how your campaign is performing, how recipients are responding to it, and then make any necessary refinements to improve performance. You may want to look at where people are dropping off. For example, are you getting fewer opens after the third email? Are people taking the desired action earlier in the cycle than you anticipated? Checking on these details will help you adjust the campaign until it’s just right.

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Try It for Yourself

Now that you know how an email drip campaign works, it’s time to give it a try. Consider areas of your business that could benefit from a nurture campaign. It could be an action that takes a longer period to complete, like a sale or an event registration. Every business is different, so base it on your needs and then start creating. 

If you want to learn more about the ins and outs of email campaigns, be sure to check out Simplilearn’s Email Marketing Certification Training. If you want to take a deeper dive into digital marketing, Simplilearn’s Post Graduate Program in Digital Marketing with Purdue University and expert input and instruction from Facebook could be your best bet to get ahead in this rewarding field!