Email drip campaigns are a set of pre-written marketing emails that are sent out automatically on a schedule based on specific timelines or user actions. These emails work together to move customers towards a final conversion point.
Businesses use email drip campaigns to keep in touch with their customers and prospects in a personalized and targeted way.
They're called "drip" campaigns because they provide a constant value to email subscribers by periodically "dripping" useful information, updates, products, and notifications over time.
At a glance, you may not understand the importance of email drip campaigns or even how to implement them in your business. In this article, we will discuss all this in detail, so read on to find out more!
Why Use Drip Campaigns
Increase Brand Reach
Email drip campaigns can be a great tool to help you increase the reach of your business. A series of highly relevant emails to your prospects and customers alike keep your brand at the top of their minds. Quick recognition and easy recall will guarantee that your business remains relevant at all times.
Even if a prospect or lead doesn't end up buying your product or service, a series of highly informative and relevant emails sent frequently will ensure that your brand remains alive in their minds.
They will ultimately come back to your website if you're selling something they require. Whenever a prospect decides that they're ready to engage, the first place they'll visit is the business they remember and trust.
Email drip campaigns allow your business to keep in touch with your customers and prospects, and in the process, this helps establish a positive relationship with them. As a result, you’ll be right there when the customer/prospect is ready to buy.
Having a welcome email series is a good way to start off your email drip campaigns. If anyone subscribes to your newsletter, you can take the opportunity to introduce your business and connect with the prospect. This can be a good way to increase your brand's reach.
Revitalize Customer Engagement
The open rate for email drip campaigns is usually higher than normal email campaigns. Emails triggered based on user actions usually stand a better chance of getting a response than standard email campaigns.
The biggest benefit of email drip campaigns is that they allow you to engage with your prospects better and much more efficiently. Whether your contact extends their subscription or purchases a new product, you can use email drip campaigns to engage your customers during the renewal or new purchase stages.
Email drip campaigns can help you re-engage customers and lead them back to your website's "buy" button. Whenever visitors to your website leave an unpurchased product in their cart, you can use an email drip campaign to follow up and let them know that the product is still available for purchase.
With the use of an automated email drip campaign, you can promote relevant content to all your customers at any stage of the sales cycle. This content will help you engage your contacts and also help boost their loyalty to your business.
Capture Abandoned Carts
Even with a foolproof email marketing campaign, getting prospects to buy your product or service doesn't always work. We've all abandoned carts at one point or another, either willingly or due to unavoidable circumstances.
You can use email drip campaigns to target customers or leads who abandon their carts and don't end up purchasing at all. You may have done your bit to get them to the checkout page, but even with a discount available, you may not be able to convince them to make a purchase.
It isn't enough to simply send a reminder email with no substance. When creating a drip campaign for users who've abandoned their carts, always remember to ensure that your email resonates with your brand.
Firstly, confirm that the item or promotion is still available. Make sure that the email catches your reader's attention and instills enough curiosity that they decide to go back to your website.
If you can, offer a discount code to entice them. In recent research by Hubspot, it was found that 72% of users who make a purchase returned to their cart within the first 24 hours. This was mostly due to compelling emails sent at the right time.
Promote Content
When you know where your lead fits into your sales cycle, it becomes quite easy for you to send them content that is tailor-made to their needs and move them to the next step.
Email drip campaigns allow you to be especially relevant to your contacts by delivering the right content at exactly the time they're interested in seeing it.
For example, you can schedule emails with content that answers common questions if they are a prospective customer. If they are a customer, you can provide emails that will show how other customers are using your product or service.
You can also use email drip marketing campaigns to share content related to a product or service a customer has already bought. You can notify them of another product or service they may want to purchase next.
This pre-written content is usually triggered by where your contacts are in your sales funnel or how they're interacting with your website.
How to Implement a Drip Campaign
Reach Out on Important Dates
Date-based email drip campaigns make it possible for you to communicate with your audience on the days that matter most to them. You can use these drip campaigns on many kinds of occasions, such as:
Subscription Renewal or Reordering Prompts
This works well if your business has any products on a subscription or membership basis. An email drip campaign can help notify your audience when their subscription is due for renewal.
Jog their memory on the value of your business and how they have benefited from your services. If possible, entice them with new offers that are in the works.
Birthdays, Anniversaries, and other Occasions
An email to your subscribers on their birthday, the anniversary of their first purchase, or any other relevant date can be a great way to reinforce your brand's value and even prompt a purchase.
Rely on User Behavior
Drip campaigns can be set off by an action someone in your audience takes or doesn't take. Here are a few examples of drip campaigns based on user behavior:
Welcome Emails
When someone new joins your audience, it's important to make a good impression. With these emails, you can share what your business is about.
This can prove to be an effective way to keep new audience members posted on upcoming sales, events, and other activities.
First Purchase Emails
When someone makes their first purchase from you, email drip campaigns can come in handy. They can prove useful to thank them for their purchase, remind them of the product features and quality, and give them tips on how to get the most from their purchase.
You can also take the chance to reinforce that they've made a good decision. This will help build the relationship between them and your business.
Product Recommendations
When someone makes a purchase, you can boost sales by suggesting related items. You can include this in an order confirmation or shipment notification email.
Abandoned Shopping Carts
Online shoppers usually put something in their cart and then remove it before purchase or even abandon the purchase altogether. A well-scripted abandoned cart email can encourage them to reassess the purchase.
Lead Nurturing
Interest from prospects is great for drip campaigns. If someone shows interest in a webinar or a content element like a white paper or interactive tool, this is the right time to reach out to them with relevant content. This can be anything like giving them more details about product features, educating them on your online service, etc. A lead nurturing campaign can increase your sales and purchase value as well.
Conclusion
In the age of social media and other sophisticated marketing strategies, email remains one of the most effective tools. Drip campaigns are an effective way for you to leverage the power of email marketing. This can help provide a personalized experience for all your customers and prospects.