What Is a Drip Marketing Campaign?

A drip marketing campaign. Yes, you heard that right. It doesn’t have anything to do with water sales or leaky marketing. Drip campaigns are probably something you are already familiar with but have never explained. They are those emails you get from e-commerce sites, or businesses that inform you of promotions, recommendations or are there to welcome you as a new customer. Drip campaigns are a form of email marketing and are helpful and inexpensive—a plus for both small businesses and big brands alike! This article will discuss the different types of drip campaigns, why they are so effective, and tips on starting your drip campaign. 

drip marketing campaign

What Are Drip Marketing Campaigns?

A drip campaign, or drip marketing, is a direct marketing method that involves sending various marketing information to prospects (usually customers) over long periods. DRIP stands for Differentiate, Reinforce, Inform, and Persuade. Businesses use this method to acquire customers by cultivating leads via a personalized marketing funnel. Before we look at how to start a drip marketing campaign, let’s take a closer look at it.

Businesses use this specific method of email marketing through email automation. Email automation is a convenient way to send information without spending hours customizing and personalizing individual content. Because brands and businesses often have multiple promotions simultaneously, drip campaigns can come in many forms. For instance, someone constantly searching for headphones on an e-commerce site won’t be sent the same recommendation email as a customer browsing for socks. 

Why Are Drip Campaigns Important?

In terms of marketing, they are successful. 81% of B2B marketers say their most used form of content marketing is email newsletters. Small businesses, e-commerce sites, information websites, and even healthcare companies use email marketing. Drip campaigns are a thriving email marketing sector because of their personalization factor. Companies can’t pay people to personalize individual emails to every client they have, or they’d consume their entire email marketing budget.

Automation features of drip marketing can personalize emails without the big money you would otherwise spend. Overall, drip campaigns are very inexpensive, making them an ideal way to market to the masses, so marketing automation is recommended for businesses. Now that you know what drip campaigns are, let’s look at the different types you can use. 

email drip campaign

Types of Drip Marketing Campaigns

There are three types of drip marketing campaigns. However, email drip marketing is the most common. First, let’s look at the two less common forms of drip marketing. We will also discuss in what instance you would choose to use them. 

Social Media Drip Campaigns

This type of drip campaign is the least common of all three. Why? Social media marketing is influential through advertising new content on various platforms. It would be challenging to individualize responses and recommendations for these platforms, mainly if your audience varies. Drip marketing makes an impact because it concentrates on a specific target audience.

In saying this, a specific form of social media that presents an excellent platform for drip marketing is blogging. Blogs are a great way to market content and provide a medium for concentrated customer analysis. You can use blogs for information, e-commerce, and advertising, making them ideal for customers to view multiple forms of marketing at once. To incorporate drip campaigns into a blog, you must include a newsletter sign-up. Doing this means you can track what people view on your blog, send them reminder emails, and offer promotions through the newsletter. 

Direct Mail Drip Campaigns

Before there was email, there was good old-fashioned snail mail. This traditional form of advertising and marketing may be older, but research shows direct mail marketing is still an effective way of marketing.  Direct mail drip campaigns work similarly to email drip campaigns, but they are sent to an address, not to email. Sending customized promotions based on what consumers view is incredibly difficult when brands don’t have instant access to what a person is viewing.

This type of marketing relies heavily on advertising agencies paying for consumer insights which can be incredibly expensive. Direct mail brings about $7 for every dollar spent, while email marketing produces $38 for every dollar you invest. Businesses pay for customer information making direct mail drip campaigns more expensive than email. Direct mail, however, is deemed more trustworthy than email, which makes it a more personalized, consumer-friendly option. 

what is a drip campaign?

Email Drip Marketing Campaigns

This drip marketing is the most common type of drip campaign due to its instant insights, inexpensive cost, and high return rate. Email marketing generates $38 for every $1 spent, leading to a 3,800% ROI. You can send customers multiple emails to keep them engaged and active with the company.

An initial promotion is a great way to encourage customers to provide business with their email addresses. Once people subscribe to a company via email, drip marketing takes effect. A typical drip campaign consists of between four and 11 emails spaced between four days, one week, or two weeks apart. 

Although promotions are a great way to encourage subscriptions, they are not the primary marketing strategy for drip email marketing campaigns. Let’s look at drip marketing strategies that make email marketing successful. 

Welcome Email

You are probably familiar with the welcome email. It is a tactic that allows customers to feel noticed and appreciated. When a customer clicks on the welcome email, it gives the brand or business owner an idea that a customer is engaged. Engagement is the goal: the more clicks, the more customers can go to the website. You can also offer a quick survey or various sales in a welcome email. Welcome emails give a brand insight into what a customer likes, further narrowing down the email promotions that would catch their eye. 

Onboarding Email

This email is traditionally sent after the welcome email or sign-up and gives the consumer information about the business. Onboarding emails familiarize the consumer with your business’s content or products. You can make B2B and B2C connections out of loyalty, and onboarding emails bridge the gap between a welcome letter and a purchase. 

drip campaigns

Abandoned Cart Email

If you have an e-commerce site, you need to create a drip email with an abandoned cart notification. Customers will either forget they have products in their cart or are unsure about purchasing. Either way, a message reminding them of their cart brings their attention back to it. Be aware of the nagging effect that can come from constant emails. To make it effective, you will need to make it personalized and slightly nonchalant. A great example of this would be saying:

“Hey, Susan! We noticed you had had some items in your cart for a while. Would a discount help? We’re doing free shipping on all orders over $50, and it looks like your cart qualifies! When you’re ready to come back and save, we’ll be here!”

This email encourages the customer to return, offers a promotion, and doesn’t appear pushy. 

Promotional Email

Why are promotional emails so popular? It’s because they work! If people feel like they’re getting a discount, they are more likely to spend money. Some people might also not check websites a lot, so they have more access if they receive emails letting them know about sales. 

Recommendation Email

Recommendation emails are a great marketing strategy for drip campaigns because of the personalization feature. Businesses who use drip campaigns can see what their customers view and give them the best insight into what they want to buy. By sending them personalized recommendations, they are more inclined to purchase or search through the website because you’ve done the work for them. You can combine recommendation emails with welcome emails to gather insight into the early stages of the consumer’s email subscription. 

drip campaign

How To Start a Drip Campaign 

If you’re looking to start a drip campaign for your business, you need to do some research beforehand. Although drip campaigns take a lot of the time-consuming and demanding tasks out of marketing, you will need to start with a marketable objective. Here are things to do before starting a drip campaign:

  • Identify your target audience
  • Create your brand message
  • Devise an innovative, relevant campaign 
  • Begin your campaign
  • Evaluate your current campaign and adjust it if needed

Remember to utilize your tools and design your campaign for your target audience. Your drip marketing campaign will fail if you send mass, generic emails out to an extensive range of consumers who aren’t interested. They will end up unsubscribing. Follow these valuable tips, and you will create a dynamic drip campaign. 

FAQ:

  • What does drip stand for in marketing?
  • What are the different kinds of drip campaigns?
  • How do I set up a drip campaign?
  • Do drip campaigns work?
  • How long does a drip campaign last?

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