Florian Fuehren

Engaging customers through email marketing is crucial for boosting your brand awareness and driving higher ROI. If you’re looking to step up your game, you should consider using email drip campaigns. These personalized emails work by sending a series of messages over time to nurture and engage your audience, whether you’re trying to re-engage inactive subscribers or turning a new subscriber into a potential customer.

We’ll be honest with you. Here at Brafton, we have a problem. We gobble up drip marketing like Cocoa Puffs. Once you get a taste of marketing automation, you’ll understand where we’re coming from; this promotional style is hard to resist. It’s like putting your homework on autopilot. You just add a certain number of contacts into your intro drip campaign and let it run. It’s like letting your faucet drip, except you’re not flooding the kitchen; you’re being contacted by new customers every day.

Curious how you can do it? Let’s get you ready for your first marketing campaign! 

Drip Email Best Practices

One of the best things about an email drip campaign is its ability to keep your brand on top of your audience’s mind, whether they’re an existing customer or just found you on social media. You can automate an email sequence, ensuring that each welcome email and product recommendation is tailored to your customer’s interests and behavior. This not only enhances engagement but also builds long-term relationships with your subscribers.

To get to that moment where a recipient clicks on your call to action (CTA) with the loyal customer’s battlecry saying, “Finally someone gets me,” you’ll have to define clear marketing strategy objectives.

Personalization is key to the success of any drip campaign. By tailoring every subject line and greeting to your target audience, you can significantly improve engagement and conversion rates. Personalized messaging shows that you understand each subscriber’s needs and preferences. 

For instance, you can use insights from social media demographics or Google Ads to create emails that address specific pain points or interests. An individualized re-engagement email can increase your open rates and reduce bounce rates. This personal touch goes a long way in building customer retention and loyalty.

By the way, we get that automating your drip email campaign might remind you of the first numbers you punched into your TI-82, tempting you to equal automation with good emails. Please resist that temptation. While email marketing software will save you a lot of time, they’re still called nurturing emails for a reason. The goal should always be to learn more about your subscribers to provide more helpful, funny or educational content.

Success Metrics

To measure the success of your drip marketing campaign, focus on key metrics such as: 

  • Open rates. 
  • Click-through rates. 
  • Conversion rates. 

Tracking these can help you understand how well your campaign is performing.

If you’re still considering open rates a vanity metric, just put yourself in Mark Watney’s Martian boots. Granted, your stakes may not be as life-and-death as those of an astronaut feasting on his last potatoes, but it does remind you of the people behind the metric. 

You can’t really speak of an effective drip campaign if you don’t know your numbers. High open rates show effective subject lines and good timing. Click-through rates, on the other hand, measure how many people clicked on the links within your emails, highlighting the content’s effectiveness.

Your conversion rate, though, is what counts. Just like during an interaction at your front door, you won’t engage with every stranger who rings the bell. Your conversion rate indicates how many recipients completed a desired action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form. Monitoring these metrics helps you optimize your drip campaign emails over time to achieve better results.

For maximum impact, make sure each automated email is sent at the right frequency and time. Testing different timings can help you find the best schedule to reach your audience.

Creating a successful drip campaign involves thoughtful planning, effective CTAs and engaging email templates. Speaking of which …

Nobody Wants To “Click Here”

If you want to fine-tune something that most marketers ignore, get your CTAs right. They guide your audience to take the desired action. A strong CTA should be clear and direct. For instance, “Try Now” or “Get Started Today” are simple yet effective.

Consider using CTAs in strategic parts of your email, like at the end of a paragraph or prominently in the middle of the email. CTAs should stand out visually, so using buttons with contrasting colors is a good practice. Moreover, align your CTA with the goal of your email marketing campaign and make sure to switch them up.

Remember to test different CTAs to see which ones yield higher conversion rates. Monitoring key metrics like click-through rates and conversions will help you refine your approach over time.

Types of Email Drip Campaigns

Drip email campaigns come in various forms, each designed to achieve specific goals. Some common types include welcome and onboarding emails, cart abandonment strategies and re-engagement techniques.

1. Welcome/Onboarding Email Campaign

When someone new signs up for your service or downloads your app, you want to make a good impression. Welcome emails are great for this. They introduce new users to your brand and tell them what to expect from being on your email list.

Onboarding emails take it a step further. These guide users through important steps, like setting up their account or using key features. This helps increase engagement and ensures that new users get the most out of your product while taking a load off your help center.

Key elements of an effective welcome/onboarding email drip campaign include:

  • A brief introduction: Start with a warm welcome and an introduction to your brand.
  • Links to helpful resources: Provide guides, tutorials or FAQs to help new users.
  • A clear CTA: Encourage users to complete essential steps or explore features.

2. Retargeting Email Campaign

Even loyal customers can sometimes drift away. That’s where re-engagement or retargeting campaigns come in. This type of nurture campaign is used to reconnect with inactive users and reignite their interest in your brand.

Key elements of an effective retargeting email drip campaign include:

  • Personalized content: Use data from previous interactions to tailor your message.
  • Special offers or discounts: Entice inactive users with exclusive deals or discounts.
  • Surveys: Ask for feedback to understand why they became inactive and how you can improve.

This email drip campaign example usually aims to revive interest and improve customer retention. Getting a lapsed customer back can often be easier and more cost-effective than acquiring a new one, making re-engagement essential in your email strategy.

3. Abandoned Cart Campaign

Abandoned cart emails are like the superheroes of e-commerce. They swoop in to save the sale when a customer leaves items in their cart without checking out. These email drip campaigns gently remind customers of their forgotten items and often include incentives like discounts or free shipping to encourage purchase completion.

Key elements of an effective abandoned cart email drip campaign include:

  • Friendly reminders: Remind customers of their abandoned items with a personalized touch.
  • Incentives: Offer discounts or free shipping to motivate them to complete the purchase.
  • Clear CTAs: Make it easy for them to return to their cart and check out.

4. Post-Purchase Campaign

A sale doesn’t have to end at checkout; A post-purchase email drip helps nurture the customer relationship after the initial sale. These emails can include order confirmations, shipping notifications and follow-ups asking for reviews or feedback. They can also suggest related products to increase customer lifetime value.

Key elements of an effective post-purchase email drip campaign include:

  • Order details: Provide clear information about the purchase and next steps.
  • Follow-up emails: Ask for feedback or reviews to engage the customer further.
  • Product recommendations: Suggest related items to encourage additional purchases.

5. Lead-Nurturing Campaign

For potential customers who aren’t ready to buy just yet, lead-nurturing campaigns are key. In many cases, this entails an educational email drip campaign that informs and engages leads over time, guiding them through the sales funnel until they’re ready to make a purchase.

Key elements of an effective lead-nurturing email drip campaign include:

  • Educational content: Provide guides, white papers or blog posts that address their pain points.
  • Consistent communication: Stay in touch regularly to build trust and keep your brand top-of-mind.
  • CTAs: Encourage leads to take the next step, whether it’s signing up for a webinar or requesting a demo.

6. Upsell/Cross-Sell Drip Campaign

Upsell and cross-sell campaigns target existing customers with recommendations for products that complement their previous purchases. By suggesting upgrades or related items, these emails can increase average order value and boost sales.

Key elements of an effective upsell/cross-sell email drip campaign include:

  • Relevant recommendations: Use purchase history to suggest products that complement what they’ve bought.
  • Incentives: Offer discounts or special deals to make the upsell or cross-sell more attractive.
  • Clear CTAs: Direct customers to the product pages with easy-to-follow links.

7. Renewal/Retention Drip Campaign

For subscription-based businesses, renewal campaigns are crucial. This type of email sequence reminds customers when their subscription is about to expire and encourages them to renew. Retention campaigns, on the other hand, focus on keeping existing customers happy and engaged to prevent churn.

Key elements of an effective renewal/retention email drip campaign include:

  • Timely reminders: Notify customers well before their subscription expires.
  • Incentives: Offer discounts or perks for renewing early.
  • Engagement: Provide value through tips, updates and exclusive content to keep customers engaged.

8. Event Promotion

If you’re hosting an event, drip email marketing can help boost engagement and, as a result, attendance. These emails can provide event details, share sneak peeks and offer early-bird discounts, ensuring that your audience stays informed and engaged.

Key elements of an effective event promotion email drip campaign include:

  • Event details: Clearly communicate the what, when and where.
  • Sneak peeks: Share exciting previews to build anticipation.
  • Exclusive offers: Offer early-bird discounts or VIP access to drive sign-ups.

9. Anniversary Drip Campaign

Anniversary emails celebrate milestones such as the anniversary of a subscriber’s first purchase or signup. These emails often include special offers or discounts to commemorate the occasion, fostering customer loyalty and goodwill.

Key elements of effective anniversary email drip campaigns include:

  • Personal touch: Celebrate specific milestones or achievements.
  • Special offers: Provide exclusive discounts or gifts to mark the anniversary.
  • Gratitude: Express genuine thanks to strengthen the customer relationship.

10. Thank You Drip Campaign

Thank you emails are essential for showing appreciation to your customers. These can be sent after purchases, feedback submissions or other significant interactions, reinforcing positive feelings toward your brand.

Key elements of effective thank you email drip campaigns include:

  • Sincere gratitude: Express genuine thanks to the customer.
  • Special offers: Include exclusive discounts or gifts as a token of appreciation.
  • Personalization: Tailor the message to make the customer feel valued and recognized.

By focusing on a variety of campaign types like welcome/onboarding, retargeting and abandoned cart strategies, you can optimize your drip campaigns to cover the key stages of the customer journey and keep your audience engaged and converting.

Start Your Next Drip Campaign

The best time to start your drip campaign is now! When you follow the best practices and use these ideas as inspiration, there’s no way you can’t succeed. Just be sure to pay attention to who your audience is and tailor your messaging to meet their needs.