Sarah
There’s a growing rumor in the marketing world that email is falling out of fashion, but this isn’t the case at all. OptinMonster recently reported that 99% of people with email accounts check them every single day, and businesses that utilize email marketing and email drip campaigns see significant benefits and can average around 3,500% ROI, according to Constant Contact.
It takes time and effort to set up a successful email drip with awesome copy and high click-through rates, but reaching your online audience is worth it. This article will give an overview of what an email drip campaign is and provide tips on how to create the most effective email drip possible.
What Is an Email Drip?
An email drip is a type of automated marketing campaign that involves sending out pre-created emails to your email list at certain times. These automated emails can go out based on a schedule or if they are triggered by a prospect’s actions. An email drip can be used in so many different situations—they don’t have to be limited to any particular format or touchpoint in the customer journey or sales funnel.
For example, someone that signs up to receive a free trial might get an automated “warm welcome” email and then a scheduled “limited time offer” email a week later reminding them to look through your product or service catalog and make a purchase.
In another scenario, someone may receive the same welcome email and then make a purchase a day later. In this case, they could be sent an automated email thanking them for their purchase and directing them to any necessary FAQ pages or helpful resources. The next week, they might get a scheduled product or service suggestion email based on their previous purchase.
The point is, email drips can be useful for more than just initial contact or general product pushes—your imagination is the limit.
The Basics of Creating an Email Drip
There are a few things you should do to get your email campaign started if you haven’t already. Check out the basics of creating an email drip below.
Know Who You’re Writing For
If you have an extensive drip campaign planned, be prepared to write email copy for numerous scenarios. The first step of creating a killer email drip is planning who will receive your emails and when. This can usually be separated into two categories: scheduled emails based on a specific date, and emails that go out based on a user’s action.
Here are some examples of important dates that you might schedule emails for:
- The launch of a product or feature
- The starting date of a big sale
- A user’s birthday
- A user’s join date
Here are some examples of important actions or triggers that might result in an email being sent:
- A user joins your email list
- Signs up for a free trial or a newsletter
- Buys a product or service
- Visits your website a certain number of times without buying
- Downloads an eBook or webinar
Understanding your customer touchpoints in-depth will help you decide which sub-audiences you want to target and how to create the tone and contents of the emails you write
Define Your Goals and Plan the Campaign
Next, you should define your goals so you can plan your campaign effectively. You might want to make more sales, get more people to download something, or increase your percentage of repeat customers. Your overall goals will guide you as you build your campaign and create content for your distinct target users.
As you’re planning your email drips, it can be helpful to map out the user experience from beginning to end for multiple different scenarios. For example, create an email journey for someone that:
- Signs up for a free trial then peruses your site for the next month.
- Makes the same purchase frequently.
- Provides you with their email and then ceases all interaction with your brand.
- And so on.
This will help you decide what kinds of emails to send at what times and what user actions should trigger an email. Organizing your campaign in this way will also make it easier to track your email drip’s success down the line.
Some things to consider when planning the logistics of your campaign are the frequency of your emails, the overall message, and your CTAs. Now it’s time to write or get content from an awesome content writing service like Content Cucumber.
Launch and Analyze
Using your own systems or a third-party email marketing software, you can set up your emails to go out automatically when the time is right. Like any campaign that you put time and effort into, you’ll want to track its performance. One of the best ways to do so is by using UTM parameters to ensure your data is available on Google Analytics.
As is the case with any kind of written content, it won’t be perfect the first time. With consistent measuring and tracking, you can A/B test different email formats, delivery times, and more to improve your drip’s effectiveness.
Tips for Creating an Effective Drip
It’s frustrating to put so much work into an email campaign and see lackluster results. To bring your email drip to the next level and increase your click-through rates and conversions, try implementing some of the tips outlined below.
Keep your Email Drip Personalized and Tailored to Recipients
Just because your email drip is automated doesn’t mean your emails need to be generic and cold. Personalizing your emails by adding your prospect’s name or adding a note about their latest purchase can make the emails feel more genuine and relevant to the user.
In addition to adding personal details, you can make your drips ultra-customized based on user actions. For example, imagine you own a pet store and a user orders food made for dogs with sensitive stomachs. You can add them to a drip that sends out weekly blog posts on best practices for supporting pets’ digestive health and related topics.
Have Clear Boundaries for Email Drip Recipients
In the same way that double texting can be a turn-off, getting the same email twice in a row can leave a bad taste in a user’s mouth—especially if the email no longer applies to them. In addition to having actions that trigger an email, it’s essential to have actions that trigger a user’s removal from the recipient list of a particular drip.
For example, if a user has finally purchased the “7-Day SEO Best Practices Training” you’ve been promoting, they shouldn’t receive another email a week later that prompts them to buy the same training.
Keep Things Short
In most cases, people aren’t reading your email just to read it. They want to see what it’s all about, and quickly. In other words, your email copy should be clear and informative, but short enough that people can get to the CTA quickly. It’s also good to keep in mind that people often read emails on mobile (47% of all demographics), which means there’s less space on the page and more scrolling is necessary to get to the bottom of your message.
Long-form emails and emails with infographics or one-pagers have their place, but it might not be in the beginning stages of your drip.
Never, Ever Forget a CTA
No matter the goal of the email, there needs to be a CTA of some kind at the end, or in multiple places throughout. This can be a button that leads them to your products page, a discount code with directions on how to use it, or a question that you want the user to respond to.
Depending on the recipient’s current location in the sales funnel and the intention of your email, the CTA doesn’t have to be prompting them to do something for you, but rather a helpful suggestion. For example, if you’re sending out value-packed blog posts to your users at a certain stage of the drip, end your email by saying something like “We noticed you have an interest in [topic], so we wanted to share this with you. Take a look!”
Test for Optimal Timing
There are so many varying opinions about the best day and time to send out emails. GetResponse reported that Fridays see slightly higher open and click-through rates, but their Head of Content Marketing & Partnerships, Michal Leszczynski, stated that “they aren’t that far different from what we saw on other days,” and it’s best to “stick to the [day] that works best for your business and your audience.”
The same study found that the best time of day to send emails is early in the morning around 4 am, likely because the professional world is just beginning to wake up and check their inbox.
There are many factors that go into optimal send times, and what works for one business may not work for another. You can use UTM parameters and your Google Analytics data to track and optimize your drip deliveries.
Analyze Your Data Regularly and Use it to Make Changes
The automated email marketing tool you’re using should have information on your open rates, click-through rates (CTR), and click-to-open rates (CTOR).
An open rate represents the percentage of people who open your emails ((unique opens÷sent emails) x 100). A click-through rate shows the percentage of users who click on something in your email, such as a link ((number of unique link clicks÷sent emails) x 100). A click-to-open rate is a percentage that represents the number of people that click on a link after having opened your email ((number of unique link clicks÷unique opens) x 100).
Looking at this data through the lens of email send times, email content, wording, design, type of CTA, etc., can give you insight into your drip’s strengths and weaknesses and help you optimize it for your audience.
Honorable Mentions
No response isn’t a failure—keep sending emails. You send them so that you’re top-of-mind when someone ends up needing something you’re offering.
Ask for feedback directly with surveys. If you’re finding no success with your email drip campaign, ask your prospects why they were uninterested.
Lay back and enjoy the benefits of content writing with a content writing service like Content Cucumber.
An effective email drip: In Conclusion
Like any marketing campaign, one of the most crucial steps to making an effective email drip is to A/B test your emails, track your data, and make strategic changes to optimize things as you go. Some other best practices include personalizing your emails, adding fitting CTAs, and ensuring that your users are only receiving the emails meant for them. If you use these tips, you’ll be on track to win over even the most click-hesitant customers!
