Planning your first drip campaign? Or maybe you’re looking to improve upon your email marketing strategy? We can help with that. Email is one of those rare internet technologies that has lasted the test of time. On average people will check their inbox at least 1-to-3 times a day. That makes email campaigns a great way to keep your brand top-of-mind, but it also means you’re competing with hundreds of other emails that flood inboxes on a daily basis.
So, how do you make sure that your emails stand out from the crowd? Last week, we wrote about what drip campaigns are and how you can use them to nurture and ultimately convert leads. Today, we’re expanding on that topic to cover best practices for crafting email sequences that drive conversions.
What are drip campaigns?
Drip campaigns are a type of email automation triggered by events or when users complete a desired action on your website like signing up for your email list or making a purchase. These email sequences are written ahead of time and typically include 4-to-10 emails.
The content in these campaigns is usually:
- Prewritten and automated
- Uses personalization
- Sent on a preset schedule in response to audience actions
- Mapped to important engagement points
Importantly, drip campaigns are designed to communicate with your audience at a steady cadence that won’t overwhelm recipients with emails. Generally, emails should be sent at least 3 days apart.
How to create successful drip campaigns
Before you start planning out your next drip campaign, here are some best practices to help create campaigns that resonate with your audience.
1. Define Your Audience and Segment Wisely
Proper segmentation is crucial for tailoring your message and offering to specific groups of recipients. Consider factors such as:
- How recently they interacted with your brand
- Their position in the sales funnel
- Demographic information
- Past purchase behavior
2. Set Clear Objectives and KPIs
Before launching your campaign, define your goals and establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure success. This will help you track progress and optimize your efforts.
3. Craft Relevant and Targeted Content
Be sure your messages are:
- Personalized to address specific pain points and needs
- Succinct and easy to digest
- Timely and relevant to the recipient’s stage in the buyer’s journey
4. Optimize Email Timing and Frequency
Space out your emails to create a smooth flow without overwhelming recipients. The ideal drip campaign typically consists of 4-10 emails sent 4-14 days apart.
5. Implement Clear and Compelling CTAs
Each email should have a clear call-to-action (CTA) that guides recipients towards the next step in their journey. Make CTAs visible and aligned with your campaign objectives.
6. Use Automation and Triggers Effectively
Set up action-based and demographic-based triggers to ensure timely and relevant communication. Examples include:
- Welcome emails for new subscribers
- Follow-up emails after specific actions (e.g., downloading a resource)
- Re-engagement emails for inactive users
7. Maintain Brand Consistency
Make sure that all elements of your emails, including layout, imagery, and tone, align with your brand identity.
8. Monitor and Optimize
Continuously track your campaign’s performance and be prepared to make adjustments. Analyze metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and conversions to refine your approach.
9. Provide Value in Every Interaction
Focus on delivering valuable information that addresses your audience’s needs and challenges. This could include educational content, exclusive offers, or relevant product recommendations.
Common metrics from track campaign performance
As is always the case with marketing efforts, tracking performance is key to succeeding. That’s why you should outline the metrics you’ll use to measure performance well before you launch a campaign. Below, we’ve put together a list of the most commonly used metrics.
Common metrics for tracking drip campaign performance:
- Open Rate: The percentage of recipients who open the emails in your drip campaign. A healthy open rate is typically above 20%.
- Click-Through Rate (CTR): The percentage of recipients who click on links within your emails. A click rate above 15% is considered good.
- Conversion Rate: The percentage of recipients who complete the desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a service.
- Delivery Rate: The percentage of emails that successfully reach recipients’ inboxes.
- Bounce Rate: The percentage of emails that couldn’t be delivered to recipients’ inboxes.
- Unsubscribe Rate: The percentage of recipients who opt out of receiving future emails.
- Revenue Generated: The amount of revenue directly attributed to the drip campaign.
- List Growth Rate: The rate at which your email subscriber list is growing.
- Response Rate: The percentage of recipients who respond to your emails.
- Mobile Click-to-Open Rate: The percentage of recipients who open and click links in your emails on mobile devices.
The metrics you choose will depend on the specific objectives and goals you’ve outlined for your campaign.
Email marketing and your CRM
We would be remiss if we didn’t talk about CRMs and how they make drip campaigns and other marketing automation possible. CRMs like HubSpot have a wealth of features not just for collecting data about your audience, but for using that data to supercharge your marketing efforts through advanced automation, segmentation, and personalization.
Here are the key features that make drip campaigns most effective:
- Automation
Robust automation features let you set up trigger-based email sequences, schedule emails on specific timelines, and automatically add leads to campaigns based on their behaviour. - Segmentation and targeting
You can create targeted email lists using system tags and contact data, as well as segment your audience based on criteria like demographics, location, or stage of the buyer’s journey. - Personalization
With personalization features, you can tailor messages to specific customer segments and use dynamic content to personalize emails based on recipient information. - Email creation and templates
CRMs offer user-friendly tools for creating visually appealing emails that match your branding and style guidelines. - Performance tracking
The biggest advantage to your CRM is the detailed tracking and analytics that allow you to accurately gauge campaign performance and identify areas for improvement.
What’s the takeaway
Drip campaigns are incredibly useful for building lasting relationships, nurturing leads, and driving conversions—so long as they’re well crafted and optimized. The most successful campaigns rely on understanding your audience, setting clear goals, and using the right tools to automate, personalize, and track your campaigns.
By following the best practices we’ve outlined here, you’ll be well equipped to create campaigns that stand out in crowded inboxes and deliver measurable results.
