What Are Drip Campaigns? The Only Guide You Need In 2023

January 31, 2023
by
Ammar Mazhar
What Are Drip Campaigns? The Only Guide You Need In 2023

Table of contents

Ever wondered why a drip campaign is called a drip campaign? As the name suggests, the idea is that the messages, preferably emails, will be released in a steady, controlled manner, like a drip from a faucet, which can help to maintain engagement and interest over time. So basically, a drip campaign is called a drip campaign because it is a marketing strategy that sends a series of messages or "drips" to a target audience over time rather than all at once.

In this blog post, we'll examine drip campaigns in detail and demonstrate how to set up one that will help achieve your marketing goals. Before that, let's take a sneak peek into the concept of drip marketing and how it works.

What is a drip campaign?

A drip campaign is a marketing technique that disseminates several tailored messages to a particular audience over time. The objective is to gradually forge relationships with users to keep them in touch with the product, eventually converting them into repeat customers and, of course, your brand advocates at a later stage.

After users use your product they tend to look towards other options for the next time. Creating a bond with the customer by sending out messages and emails to customers between the time of purchase and their next purchase to help keep them in touch with the brand. Making your user remember from time to time that you have an offer that they shouldn’t miss is one of the purposes drip campaigns serve.

As compared to traditional one-time campaigns, drip campaigns let you present relevant, targeted content to your audience at the right moment, increasing engagement and, ultimately, the number of conversions.

What is drip marketing?

Drip marketing is a powerful marketing strategy that aims to nurture leads and convert them into loyal customers. In business-to-consumer marketing models, companies need to understand customer behavior, identify specific needs, and respond to these factors appropriately. To address your customers in all phases of the customer lifecycle journey, drip marketing is the key. Customers can be reminded of the brand by setting goals and developing a strategy for your drip campaign, which will keep the connection between the brand and the customer alive.

A successful drip marketing campaign can be set up by segmenting your users and creating a series of customized messages, showing relevant ads, and engaging customers on social media with eye-catchy offers or by sending them out emails. 

Drip marketing campaigns can be aligned with a customer's lifecycle journey. Different campaigns can be designed to target different segments of your customers, i.e., awareness, consideration, and conversion, by providing relevant information through social media posts and messages and offering some value that moves the customer towards a desired action.

Your target audience can be defined by researching your potential customers' demographics, interests, and general behavior. Decide your campaign's goals, such as increasing website traffic, generating leads, or increasing sales. 

Based on the target audience and campaign goals, segment the audience into smaller groups to personalize the messaging. Monitoring the campaign's results on a regular basis and making adjustments as needed can be assured that the campaign is meeting its objectives. 

7 Types of drip campaigns

Depending upon the objective that has to be achieved and the trends that different segments of people follow, various drip campaigns can be designed. Let me give you a brief overview of some types of drip campaigns. 

1. Onboarding campaign

Onboarding drip campaigns are typically launched to provide value and increase engagement and retention by guiding new users through the product or service and highlighting key features and benefits. 

An onboarding drip campaign usually starts with welcome emails that include the branding and describes the key benefits that users can expect from the product or service. Usually, welcome emails also contain manuals and other valuable information or files, such as the yearly plans of the commercial skyscraper that are out for rent or sale. 

These messages also could contain resources, such as tutorials and guides, to assist new users in making the most of the product. The target market and the product will determine the timing and frequency of the communications. Still, the objective of your onboarding drip campaign is to maintain the new user's interest in the product over time.

Drip campaigns that are mainly designed to achieve the goal of onboarding new customers can bring some of the following benefits to your business: 

  • By guiding new users through the product and highlighting key features and benefits of the product, an onboarding drip campaign can help build engagement and increase retention.
  • An effective and timely onboarding drip campaign can enhance new users' overall product experience by enabling new users to get up to speed quickly.
  • Onboarding drip campaigns can boost customer satisfaction and reduce churn by delivering value, offering resources, and answering queries or concerns.
  • An onboarding drip campaign can enhance the let the users adopt the features and drive user engagement by showcasing specific features and benefits in a tailored and targeted manner.
  • By tracking the results of the onboarding campaign, you can gather valuable data and insights into how users interact with the product, allowing you to continuously optimize and improve the experience and quality of your product. 

It is helpful to design and execute an onboarding drip campaign to ensure that new users get the most out of a product or service and boost engagement, retention, and income.

2. Retargeting campaign 

Churning users need to be re-targeted. There are a number of users that stop using the product due to various reasons. Re-targeting drip campaigns can target this segment.  

Various aspects can be tweaked in the retargeting campaign. A person may be tired of the same email pattern that he receives from your side, or they are not reacting and making a purchase; in this case, you can add a stunning offer in your retargeting campaigns that can persuade the users to make a purchase. 

Also, retargeting drips help retain users who were half-gone or planning to make a purchase but needed clarification.

Personalizing the messaging, making it meaningful and helpful to the specific individual, and providing incentives to tempt them to perform the desired action are all effective strategies for a retargeting drip campaign. To make sure the campaign is succeeding and producing the required outcomes, you also need to test and optimize your drip retargeting campaign

Some of the benefits of a retargeting campaign include the following: 

  • Compared to other marketing strategies, retargeting drip campaigns can produce a higher ROI by focusing on former users or consumers who have already expressed interest in the product or service.
  • Increased customer lifetime value (CLV): A retargeting drip campaign can boost CLV and generate ongoing revenue by enticing repeat business and cultivating customer loyalty.
  • Including a call to action or a free whitepaper, or a workbook can help you generate more leads and let you have insights into the demographics of your potential customers. 

To gain all these benefits, you need to design a successful retargeting drip campaign strategy that will ensure all the objectives aimed at the campaign are fulfilled. These campaigns can differ based on the objective that has to be achieved, for example, targeting the customers that left shopping with an empty cart while re-targeting a customer who left with a full cart to make sure that the customer makes the transaction eventually turning into revenue for your business. 

3. Post-demo campaign 

A post-demo drip strategy involves following up with clients or prospects participating in a product demonstration. A post-demo drip campaign's objective is to get in touch with the person and offer more details, respond to their inquiries, and persuade them to take the next step—making a purchase or setting up a call with a sales representative, for example.

It's important to reiterate the benefits of your product after a demo and to include business success stories. Also, you can send guidelines on how to convince higher-ups to support you in a post-demo drip campaign. The sales cycle can be shortened, and the time to purchase is accelerated with the help of a post-demo drip campaign by answering queries and providing more information.

Some key benefits of a post-demo campaign can be: 

  • Lead nurturing: Post-Demo drip campaigns assist you in keeping prospects in mind and gradually educating them about your offerings.
  • To undscore the worth of the product again in B2C sales, you can also build an abandoned cart email campaign.
  • Over time, post-demo emails foster more trust. Although they may appear to be straightforward check-ins, they have a much more significant function. They help leads become accustomed to and eventually like your brand.

Post-demo drip campaigns can help you keep in touch with your prospects and lets them put forth their concerns and queries about the product or service.  

4. Unsubscribe emails 

Unsubscribe emails are sent in an effort to keep the subscriber by providing reasons to stay, resolving any problems they may have had with prior communications, and offering a chance for feedback. This promotion is employed to raise customer engagement levels and preserve goodwill with subscribers.

Unsubscribe drip campaigns can help you achieve multiple goals, such as retaining subscribers or collecting feedback about the experience the customer had throughout the customer's lifetime journey. 

Before sending out unsubscribe emails to your subscribers, you need to define what goal has to be achieved. Once you are done defining the goal, like the other campaigns, segment your customers and start sending them unsubscribe emails based on what you want to achieve from each customer.

No matter how many subscribers are churning every day, if you know the art of writing compelling unsubscribe emails for your drip campaign, you’ll surely going to persuade them not to. 

Here is a template for a simple email drip unsubscribe campaign:

Email 1:

Subject line:Stay Connected with Us

Hi,

We hope you're finding much value in the content we've been sending you. However, if you feel like it's not quite what you're looking for, you can always adjust your subscription preferences by clicking the link below.[Unsubscribe Link]






Email 2 (sent four days after the first email):



Hey,

We wanted to check in and make sure you're still finding our emails valuable. If there's anything specific you'd like to see more of, or if you'd like to unsubscribe, you can do so by clicking the link below.

[Unsubscribe Link]

Email 3 (sent seven days after the second email):



Hi,

This is your final reminder to adjust your subscription preferences with us. We value your time and attention, so if you're no longer interested in receiving our emails, you can unsubscribe by clicking the link below.

[Unsubscribe Link]

5. Lead nurture emails 

Emails sent out to your potential customers or prospects over time to build trust, educate and provide value, and ultimately convert them into customers are called lead nurturing emails. 

By creating a visual representation of the different stages your prospects go through before becoming customers and crafting the content your prospects are looking for, you can build and run a successful nurture email drip campaign.  

6. Promotional campaign 

Promotional emails should be sent to the customers at the very right time. Else there is a chance that you might miss your potential customer. While mapping the customer throughout the customer lifecycle journey, you’ll evaluate the right time to send out promotional emails, probably when you have created the desire for your product. 

You may kick in with some offer or a discount tailored to their needs, which can compel them to place, order, and buy your product. 

7. Informational /educational campaign 

The goal of an educational/Informational campaign aims to establish thought leadership by providing expert information about the niche you serve or the industry you are working in. Consumers are always looking for valuable information from different sources. 

You can be their most potent source of information by running informational campaigns containing newsletters, whitepapers, case studies, and other valuable documents that can help businesses at a certain point in their customer journey. 

How to create a drip campaign?

Nowm you must be itching to know how to create a drip campaign? So, without further ado, here's how you can do it:

Infographic: How to create a drip campaign?

1. Identify the goals of your drip campaign

What objectives do you have for your drip campaign? Do you want to increase sales, educate your audience, or generate leads? It's necessary to have specific objectives in mind before setting up your drip campaign. 

2. Establish the number of touch points of your drip campaign

Establishing the number of touch points in a drip campaign involves determining how many emails will be sent and when they will be sent. Four to ten emails, spaced four, seven, or fourteen days apart, can make up your drip campaign. However, B2B businesses should only send up to five monthly emails.

3. Create and personalize the content

Depending on demographics, behavior, or other factors, divide your audience into smaller groups. You can then produce advertising and content that is more specifically tailored to each segment. To draw the recipient's attention and make the email appear more polished, use the recipient's name or other personal information in the subject line.

4. Know when to take someone out of it

Suppose a prospect is no longer engaged with your emails and doesn't seem interested in your product or service anymore. In that case, they may start marking your emails as spam, leading to decreased email deliverability and negatively impacting your brand. By removing the unengaged prospects, you can focus your efforts on engaging with those who are still interested and more likely to convert.

7 Best practices for your email drip campaign

1. Keep it short, keep it informative

Make sure the emails you send out are informative and do not just fulfill the purpose of being sent or delivered. People look out for content that is of value to them. Try making content that connects with your audience. Including irrelevant details to make it look longer is a con. Keep it simple, keep it fresh! 

2. Don’t forget to include the CTA

Once you’ve crafted your email with all the valuable information, you need to add a CTA button in the email so the recipient can choose to act on the spot. The goal of your campaign should be to make the user take the action you desire to take them; make sure your CTA is relevant and visible to the user.

3. Ask questions at the end of emails

Ending a drip email campaign with a question can help you get insightful feedback, forge closer ties with your audience, and boost the success of your subsequent efforts. Asking questions can help you gather information about your audience's pain points and needs, which can be used to create more targeted and effective campaigns in the future.

4. A/B test send times

The optimum moment for your business will rely specifically on your leads rather than on previous research. Where is the vast bulk of your users based? What sector do they work in? Do they frequently put in irregular hours and work from home? Do people prefer to read their email during lunch if they commute in the morning? A/B testing your drip email campaign can help you answer all these questions and impact the conversion ratio. 

5. Track metrics

5.1. Open rates

Based on the number of emails you’ve sent and the number of emails that have been read, you can calculate the open rates of our emails. Suppose you sent out 100 emails, and 50 were opened. Then the open rate would be calculated as 50/100 =  0.5. The open rate here would be 05 or 50%. 

5.2. Click-through rates 

The click-through rate is the percentage of subscribers who click through to your page. You can determine the number of people clicking the links you’ve added to the email that can be available insight while measuring the metrics. 

5.3. Click-to-open rates

The click-to-open rate (CTOR) is a metric that compares the number of links clicked within an email to the quantity of distinct email opens. It shows how well the email's content worked to persuade readers to click on the links. Say, If an email was opened 100 times and 10 clicks were made, the CTOR would be 10/100 = 0.10, or 10%.

6. Implement a follow-up email sequence

Implementing a follow-up sequence once you’re done with the first emails is important. You need to send each customer a unique follow-up email based on the prospect's history. To implement a follow-up sequence, determine what will set off the follow-up procedure (e.g., no response to the initial email, specific link clicks, etc.).To assess the success of the follow-up sequence and make any necessary improvements, track and evaluate the outcomes.

7. Ask for feedback 

You can get feedback on your product by creating an email that asks for it clearly and concisely. You can even offer an incentive, like a discount or access to special content, in exchange for your user's comments.

Make sure the feedback system is accessible and straightforward to use. Reply to people who offer comments to express gratitude and, if required, resolve any issues. Examine the comments gathered to enhance subsequent campaigns.

11 drip campaign examples

1. Welcome/Onboarding Email Campaign

For launching an onboarding or a welcome drip campaign, this is an example from Universe is a great inspiration. The goal of the email is clearly visible, there is a link to a “learn more” section, and the CTA is clearly visible.

Drip Campaign example: Welcome/Onboarding
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2. Re-engagement campaign

Animoto’s re-engagement email is a fine example of how you can leverage drip campaigns to bring back churned users.

Drip Campaign example: Re-enagement campaign
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3. Lead nurturing campaign

The copy of this email is a great example of how lead nurturing is done. You can write a similar copy, and leverage drip campaigns, to nurture your leads.

Drip campagin example: Lead nurture campaign
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4. Upsell/cross-sell campaign

WIth a cool email copy, this example of an upselling email from Awesome Inc can be a great inspiration for your drip campaigns.

Drip campaign example: Upsell/cross-sell campaign
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5. Customer feedback campaign

Shopify’s customer feedback email is a great example of how you should interact with your customers, ask them about any issues they are facing, and also ask them about what improvements they suggest.

Drip campaign example: Customer feedback campaign
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6. Referral campaign

You can use drip campaigns for running referral campaigns, and this example from Busu is a great example of how you can do it.

Drip campaign example: referral campaign
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7. Promotion campaign

You can leverage seasons and festivals in your drip campaigns to run promotional campaigns. This example of a Christmas discount offering from Natural Resources Pest Control is a great example that can inspire you. 

Drip campaign example: Promotion campaign
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8. Webinar campaign

Drip campaigns can also be used to send webinar invitations. Just look at what ebouncex does with its webinar emails.

Drip campaign example: Webinar campaign
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9. Anniversary campaign

You can use drip campaigns to celebrate milestones that your users achieve. Moreover, milestone emails are a perfect opportunity for you to personalize your drip emails.

Drip campaign example: Anniversary campaign
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10. Loyalty program campaign

Drip campaigns are perfect for running loyalty programs. This email from JC Penny can is a perfect example of how you can incorporate loyalty programs in your email campaigns.

Drip campaign example: Loyalty program campaign
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Leverage AppFlows for your drip campaigns!

After all is said and done, drip campaigns are proving to be the most effective method of achieving your marketing goals. And if you want to achieve them faster, then you can leverage AppFlows for building your drip campaigns!

With AppFlows pre-built email workflows, you can intercept your users at any point in their journey. Moreover, with advanced segmentation features, you can increase the effectiveness of your drip campaigns.

Author Bio

Ammar Mazhar

Ammar Mazhar

Content writer by day and a book nerd by night, Ammar Mazhar has been writing for 3 years for B2B and B2C businesses. As a wordsmith, Ammar knows how to write SEO-optimized content that your users will find insightful, igniting results for your business.

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