The Lifecycle of an Effective Email Marketing Drip Campaign

Social media may be the new kid on the block, but if you are looking for a way to send targeted content to a wide audience quickly, and with fantastic results, then email marketing is the way to go.

But there’s the problem: how do you avoid blasting your audience with too much information? Yes, you have a lot to talk about, but you don't want people to roll their eyes because they got yet another message from you.

Enter the world of drip marketing, an email marketing service campaign that you can set up to send messages automatically, on a schedule. You can either set them so that a specific action from your subscribers triggers the sequence, or you can schedule them to appear periodically in their inbox. The great thing about drip marketing is that it lets you stay in touch with people without seeming like you're pushing or sending spam.

Here’s everything you need to know about drip marketing.

When to Use It

With drip marketing, you are slowly giving your audience little “drips” of relevant information, so that people can stay connected to everything you do without feeling smothered by your campaign.

If you want to use this method, here are some instances that are suitable::

• For lead nurturing, where you provide specific information to get people to act;
• To catch their attention when you’re launching a new product or service;
• To welcome them after they’ve subscribed to your email list and tell them more about you;
• To promote your brand or products;
• To create awareness;
• To remind them to finish their order if they’ve placed some items in the cart, but did not complete the process;
• To confirm or renew information;
• To re-engage users that have not been active for a while.

The Benefits

As you can see, you can use drip marketing for a vast array of purposes, but what exactly do you get out of it?

Quite a lot, as a matter of fact:

• Grow sales and generate more revenue;
• Get more leads from your email campaign;
• Keep customers responsive and active;
• Become trustworthy by always offering relevant and essential information.

How to Do It

Like with any marketing campaign, you’ll need to have an excellent strategy to maximize its impact. If you're wondering how to create the basis of a drip campaign, follow these simple steps:

1. Set out Clear Goals

The first thing you need to do is to single out what you need from the campaign. Do you want more leads? Do you want to reach those customers who’ve abandoned the cart?

Understanding the purpose of your drip campaign will help you craft it.

2. Think of Your Audience

Then, it’s all about who you’re addressing. Create a profile of your customers concerning age, gender, interests, and other information that might be relevant. Since you’re creating a communication campaign, it’s very important to know who you’ll be talking to.

3. Create Quality Content

The actual emails you send to your list represent the most important bit of the campaign. Make sure that every email you send within the drip campaign is engaging and informative. Don’t bore people with unnecessary information, since the whole point of this campaign is to deliver short pieces of information when needed.

So keep your copy short and precise, give relevant links to your website, and always include a call to action.

4. Plan, Monitor, and Adjust

Then, think of a schedule to send the emails. Remember that when it comes to drip marketing, you can’t send the emails out multiple times of the day. Spread them out over a longer period to avoid annoying people. Lastly, monitor everything from the campaign, and single out its faults to fix them in the future.

Back to You

The secret to an excellent drip campaign is not to stray from its intended purpose. You may be excited to share the great news with your audience, but remember not to overdo it. Everyone hates spam, so tone it down.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes