4 Secrets For A Successful Email Drip Campaign

Drip. Drip. Drip. That’s one of the worst sounds you’ll hear in your kitchen or bathroom.

But, it might just be the best thing to happen to your strategic marketing plan. If you aren’t already using a drip email campaign or are ready to refresh your efforts, check out our four secrets to a successful email drip campaign.

According to a recent study by The Radicati Group, Inc., nearly 350 billion emails will be sent and received PER DAY (!) in 2023. If your marketing consultant is still trying to tell you email is on the way out, maybe share this report with them. Clearly, it’s not.

To ensure you’re getting the attention of the more than 4.3 million email users worldwide, you’ve got to be mindful of making the best use of your email strategy. Compounding the task of breaking through the sheer volume of emails that land in your audience’s inbox every day is the growing concern of malware attacks and the anti-spam technology deployed to snare it.

A sound digital marketing strategy can help you avoid getting caught up in the spam filters, as well as injecting creativity and engagement opportunities, and keeping your emails at the top of the email inbox.

A drip email campaign is sometimes called an automated or lifecycle email campaign. Whatever you call it, the premise is the same:

1. An introductory email following some triggering activity by your target audience in which they share their email address with you.
2. A series of follow-up emails that “drip” out one at a time to that target audience based on their responses to each email.

4 Secrets Of Successful Email Drip Campaigns

1. Know your audience. Why were they willing to give you their email address in the first place? What do they want and expect from you? Did they download premium content (e-book, video, white paper, etc.) from you or give you their email address simply to earn a coupon for a one-time purchase? Is this an abandoned cart moment or are you onboarding them to your service? Answering these questions helps you determine the type of campaign and the call to action (CTA) that will drive your audience through your funnel. You’ll deliver the right offer to the right audience at the right time. Personalization is critical to any type of marketing success. The better you know your audience, the more personalized your campaign will be.
2. Determine how frequently you’ll be in touch with your audience. After you’ve analyzed your audience and established a relationship, you’ll want to nurture that relationship with ongoing, relevant communication that moves them through your funnel. The goal at this point in the process is to build a trusting relationship. They’ve taken the first step by trusting you with their email address. The next moves you make will determine whether they find you trustworthy enough to stick with you through to the point of accepting an offer or not. Analyze your previous email data and see which content has gotten the best results. Develop a sequence of emails based on that data. Keep an eye on the analytics as your audience moves through your drip campaign, if you see a sharp drop-off or a big uptick in engagement with your emails, respond accordingly.
3. Write that email! This can be daunting for many marketers. Partnering with a full-service digital marketing firm can be a benefit when it comes to crafting messages and the accompanying artwork. You can work from custom-created email templates from your marketing firm or use pre-formatted templates offered by popular design and email management software. Regardless of the path you choose, be mindful of the User Experience (UX) in both writing and design. Your audience should be seamlessly led through the email and know clearly what to do to achieve their desired outcome (download the white paper, use the coupon, register for their free subscription, etc). Work with a firm that knows UX and can help you send email messages that deliver on your campaign goals.
4. Analyze everything. Flowchart the options your audience can take through your email drip campaign and review your analytics regularly – daily, in some cases. Look not just at the open rates, but at who actually clicked through and took the next step. Who is non-responsive? Who is unsubscribing and at what point in the email sequence is this happening? Conduct some A/B testing with messages and timing. Learn and adjust as audiences move through your campaign.

An email drip campaign can provide you with valuable insights about what your audience expects from you and what you need to deliver to move them through your funnel. You can nurture your audience in small drips that allow them to initiate the next steps with only gentle nudges from you. The cadence of an ongoing campaign keeps you top-of-mind when the moment is right for the audience. You’ll reduce abandoned carts and be able to disconnect from those audiences who aren’t really interested, allowing you to be more efficient in connecting with audiences that are better prospects for you.

One simple call to the digital marketing experts at ACS Creative can help you evaluate and create high-performing email drip campaigns.