8 Best Drip Campaign Examples in 2023
Last update: 13 November 2023 at 03:57 pm
Drip email campaigns are like a secret weapon in a marketer’s arsenal. They’ve been known to make the most significant impact on the bottom line.
Drip campaigns register a 119% increase in clickthrough rates compared to a regular email marketing campaign. When it comes to sales, drip campaigns generate 80% more sales at a 33% lower cost.
It work for all industries; you need to add them to your email marketing strategy. In this blog, let’s look at some of the best drip campaign examples to inspire you to launch an email drip campaign for your business.
What are Email Drip Campaigns?
Drip email campaigns are automated series of emails triggered based on user action. Drip campaigns are:
- Pre-written and designed to be sent on a future date or event;
- Scheduled using an email marketing solution;
- Configured based on a pre-decided schedule, behavioral triggers, or milestones in the buyer’s journey;
- Designed to encourage action on the part of the end-user;
Drip campaigns are usually personalized based on user activity and include sending multiple emails at regular intervals.
For example, a welcome email that gets triggered as soon as someone signs up for a newsletter or an abandoned cart email series nudging the visitors to complete their purchase when they leave without checking out on an eCommerce website.
Drip campaigns can be structured and planned for different kinds of user actions, such as:
- Completing an order;
- Signing up for an email list;
- Registering for an event or webinar;
- Inactivity for a particular period;
- Abandoning their eCommerce shopping cart;
- Signing up for a free trial;
Why Create Drip Campaigns?
Drip email marketing is a popular and rewarding tactic that helps you stay relevant and contextual and deliver personalized communication at the right time.
When done well, it boosts conversion rates and helps you to:
- Drive revenue: Drip campaigns are personalized and sent to a segmented list, which helps build trust, stay relevant, and lead to higher conversions and revenues.
- Save time: Drip campaigns are automated. So, they don’t require constant attention once planned and configured, saving a lot of your time.
- Promote upselling and cross-selling: Behavioral trigger-based drip campaigns allow you to set up upsell and cross-sell campaigns for your existing customer base.
- Nurture leads: Personalized and contextual emails sent strategically help move leads further into the buyer’s journey and convert them into paid customers.
- Increase brand awareness and recall: Regular emails that share relevant info to engage buyers to help increase brand recall and awareness about product offerings.
Best Drip Campaign Examples
Drip campaigns sound cool and something you should try next. Isn’t it? Let’s fuel your imagination with some interesting drip campaign examples to help you get started.
Re-engagement Drip Campaign
You need to keep your subscribers and users interested in your brand constantly. Re-engagement drip campaigns are designed to start a discussion, reignite their interest, and make them curious about the brand again.
A re-engagement drip campaign is triggered based on user activity (or rather inactivity), such as the date of the last order, last login, or email opened. These emails usually nudge the buyers to give you another chance or remind them of something. Take the example of the following email by Postable:
Image Source: Postable
Postable is a greeting card mailing service that sends this email to remind users to update their address book for the holidays.
In a way, it’s an attempt at reactivating inactive customers (who’ve not logged in). The email timing is perfect (just before the holidays), which would’ve motivated many buyers to log in and start using the platform again.
Lead Nurturing Drip Campaign
Lead nurturing drip campaigns are one of the most popular kinds of drip campaigns out there. They’re literally a conversion machine, trying to nudge buyers to move to the next level — buy a product (and drive revenues for you).
A lead nurture campaign is behavior driven, designed to persuade the buyer to make a purchase decision. They’re sequential and personalized, and consist of incentives/offers to encourage a potential buyer to try your product or solution.
Here’s an example of an automated lead gen drip sequence by Sender:
Source: Sender
The drip campaign sequence sends a newsletter to all subscribers, and the subscribers who click any link within are sent another email. The ones who didn’t click anything are added to a separate list for retargeting and nurturing further.
Abandoned Cart Drip Campaigns
An abandoned cart is a nightmare for eCommerce store owners. A drip campaign targeting visitors who abandon their carts is a great way to register incremental sales revenue. Abandoned email carts are usually time-based and triggered after a few hours of the visitor abandoning their chart.
If they don’t respond to the first email, there’s another email after a few more hours (or even a day), trying to nudge them to complete a purchase with an offer or additional discount. Look at this quirky email by Rudy’s
Image Source: Rudy’s Barbershop
The witty headline is sure to grab the attention of the abandoner. It might even push them to check out, looking at the additional discount coupon within the email. The expiry reminder creates an urgency to check out or lose the ‘Free shipping’ and discount benefits.
Welcome Drip Marketing Campaigns
Welcome campaigns are meant to welcome your subscribers, readers, and customers to your email list or when they make their first purchase. Consider a welcome email like the first impression of your company in the minds of your subscribers.
The emails should really be thoughtful, inviting, warm, and value-rich. Set up an autoresponder drip campaign with a compelling welcome email template for everyone who signs up for your list, thanking them for their interest. Add details about what you do and what they should expect next. Give them an instant benefit, right off the bat, like an offer or a unique coupon code.
Here’s an email from Detour Coffee Roasters that’s the perfect example of a welcome drip campaign that is triggered every time someone signs up as a subscriber:
Source: Detour Coffee Roasters
The email has all the elements of getting them hooked to ‘good coffee’ by the brand — something a good welcome email should always do. The email is warm and welcoming right from the start, giving the reader a sense of belongingness. Plus, the coupon for the first time is a cherry on top — it makes them feel valued plus improves the odds of closing a sale.
Cross-Selling Drip Campaign
You must have received emails from a brand recommending products that complement your recent purchase. These are all part of cross-selling campaigns. A cross-selling drip campaign analyzes your purchase behavior and sends emails that have personalized recommendations to nudge you to buy more.
Cross-selling drip campaigns significantly increase a brand or business’s customer lifetime value (CLV). Here’s an example of a cross-selling campaign by Dollar Shave Club:
Source: Sender
Notice how smartly the brand has recommended complementing products while creating an urgency (before they ship) to make you buy more from them. Cross-selling and upselling are powerful tactics to help you increase your revenue from your existing customer base.
Black Friday Drip Campaign
Black Friday is the biggest shopping event of the year, and a strategic drip campaign can bring additional revenue your way. Black Friday campaigns can make your customer feel the FOMO and encourage them to check out quickly.
Many brands plan Black Friday drip campaigns that keep teasing the subscribers week in advance. Check out this Black Friday campaign email by Withings:
Source: Withings
This email was sent as a part of a drip campaign that reminds users about everything they’d miss if they forgot to shop this Black Friday. The clever Black Friday subject line (Last Hours to Get up to $100 off) and header work like a charm to create the FOMO effect.
Onboarding Email Drip Campaign
Onboarding emails are sent after someone has signed up for your service, but they differ from welcome emails. Welcome emails thank the customer, and onboarding emails tell them how to use your product/platform efficiently.
Onboarding emails are educational and can be sequenced right after the welcome email drip campaign. Designed as a tutorial, guiding users about the next steps, these are sent in a sequence of 3, 5, 7, or more. Look at this example from FilmSupply:
Image Source: FilmSupply
Notice how the email opens up on a friendly note that reflects how FilmSupply can make their lives easier.
The different blocks tell the user how to use the product’s features to save time. Ending with the contact information of the support team, the email is an excellent example of how to make the user feel that you’re approachable anytime.
Win-Back Drip Campaign
Winback campaigns are designed to nudge inactive subscribers or revive lost customers. These campaigns try to invoke nostalgia and target a segmented group of users who’ve read your emails, bought from you, or previously visited your website.
Look at this interesting example from Cuisinart:
Image Source: Cuisinart
This drip campaign is triggered on an event when subscribers stop opening the email. The straightforward copy with cute illustrations is a great way to clean up your list and win-back subscribers who’re still interested in the brand.
Add Drip Campaigns to Your Email Strategy Today
Brands use all sorts of interesting ways to engage their email subscribers, and drip campaigns are one of the best ways of all. They are perfect for boosting engagement and driving revenue using email.
While we’ve shared several drip campaign examples to help you get started, you will still need email marketing solutions to harness the true potential of drip campaigns. So, start your drip campaign journey by choosing a powerful email marketing automation solution now.