Five Steps to Successful Drip Email Marketing Campaigns

What is drip marketing?

Drip marketing is a way to communicate with customers and prospects. A drip marketing campaign works by sending (‘dripping’) messages over time. The campaign uses a series of dripped messages, typically automated and timed to a pre-determined schedule, that focus on a specific behavior or status of the recipient. Drip marketing campaigns can be executed through various channels such as email, direct mail, and social media. Email, the most common form of drip marketing due to the low cost, is what we’ll be discussing here.

Why is drip marketing important?

A drip marketing campaign lets you build relationships that are important for success. It allows potential (and existing) customers to get to know, like, and trust you. Using drip marketing increases the chances of being chosen when it’s time to buy. Here’s some data about email marketing.

• There are 3.9 billion daily email users and it's expected to climb to 4.3 billion by 2023. (Statista)
• Active email accounts surpassed 5.6 billion in 2019. (Statista)
• Marketers using segmented campaigns saw as much as a 760% increase in revenue. (Campaign Monitor)
• 35% of marketers send their customers 3-5 emails per week. (HubSpot)
• 78% of marketers have seen an increase in email engagement over the last 12 months. (HubSpot)
• 31% of B2B marketers say email newsletters are the best way to nurture leads. (Content Marketing Institute)
• The U.S. spent over 350 million dollars on email advertising in 2019. (Statista)
• 81% of B2B marketers say their most used form of content marketing is email newsletters. (Content Marketing Institute)
• 16% of all emails never make it into the inbox. (Email Tool Tester)
• 87% of B2B marketers say email is one of their top free organic distribution channels. (Content Marketing Institute)
• 90% of content marketers say email engagement is the top metric they track to measure content performance. (Content Marketing Institute)
• Used by about 85%, the second-most common technology B2B organizations use to assist with content marketing is mail marketing software. (Content Marketing Institute)
• Mobile opens accounted for 46 percent of all email opens. (Litmus.com)
• 35% of business professionals check email on a mobile device. (Convince & Convert)
• Apple iPhone is the most popular mobile client for reading emails with 29 percent of all opens, Gmail is second with 27 percent. (Campaign Monitor)
• 59% of respondents say marketing emails influence their purchase decisions. (SaleCycle)
• With an open rate of 27.35 percent, emails related to hobbies are the most opened. (MailChimp)
• 59% of marketers say email is their biggest source of ROI. (Emma)

How to create a perfect drip campaign.

There are five steps to a perfect drip campaign, plan, schedule, create, track, and update.

1. Plan
   1. What is the overall purpose of your campaign?
      1. Are you trying to build trust and convert a lead into a customer?
      2. Are you trying to upsell or cross-sell something to a customer who has already purchased from you?
      3. Are you attempting to connect/reconnect with someone who hasn’t purchased or interacted with you?
2. Schedule
   1. How often and how many emails should you send?
      1. The frequency of messages (daily, weekly, monthly) should be based on your industry and the goals of your campaign.
      2. The duration, or series length (3 emails, 12 emails, etc.), should also be determined by your goals for the drip campaign.
3. Create
   1. What should your emails be?
      1. Attractive - People should want to read what you are saying.
      2. Simple - The person reading it should understand what you are saying.
      3. Useful - The person receiving it should get some value from it.
4. Track
   1. Is this drip campaign working?
      1. Tracking gives you the information you need to assess and refine your drip campaign to be more effective.
         1. Are your emails being ignored after a certain point?
            1. Should you condense the material?
            2. Why is interest dropping?
         2. Are certain emails generating more or fewer clicks?
            1. Should you alter the other emails in the series based on this knowledge?
5. Update
   1. How can I make this more effective?
      1. Don’t just set it and forget it! Left alone, the material in your messages will become stale, irrelevant, and ineffective.

Ellipsis Marketing can help!

Are you sold on drip marketing? Ready to put a campaign to work for you? We can help! Get in touch with us and we’ll create a campaign customized to your needs and goals.

Contact Us: Click to fill out a short contact form or call us at  (925) 344-6472

Tags: drip email marketing,scheduled emails