A well-developed email drip campaign can turn prospective clients into customers.

You just have to gradually reel them in. 

The whole concept of drip email writing is to keep them on the line, keep them engaged with your product, and show them that you offer what they need at the time they need it. 

Automating this process can maximize efficiency so that you and your sales team can better focus your efforts without losing out on those potential clients. 

Let’s go over drip email writing, why you need one, and how to turn those already-generated leads into paying customers.  

What is an Email Drip Campaign?

An email drip campaign is a series of emails that are triggered by a specific user action, behavior, or characteristic that qualifies them to become a prospective client. 

Perhaps you’re a mortgage lender and a potential new customer has downloaded your online guide for first-time homebuyers. 

They are then added to your target audience and begin to receive your emails — dripped to them —  over a defined period of time.

These campaigns can be as simple or as sophisticated as you’d like. Some software programs allow you to further customize your drip emails and the user actions that prompt them. 

But no matter which approach you go with, the objective is the same — create an efficient way to fully automate a relatively personal email dialogue with each individual prospect within a large, but relevant audience. 

Designed correctly, an email drip campaign will help you and your company to quickly build broad market awareness and consistently generate highly qualified leads for your sales team.

Sales Automation vs Marketing Automation

Your drip automation can be separated into two methods. 

Sales automation assumes some already-existing show of intent. The customer called, filled out a lead form, or downloaded an ebook, and you’re trying to engage them in a sales conversation. 

Marketing automation is used to engage your target audience and generate that show of intent. This is more of a general education approach that prompts them to make that call or fill out that form in the first place. This could include content like your blog posts or an email newsletter.

So an email drip campaign is used to generate a response from the prospective client, even if it’s a “no.” 

The campaign is a tool to gather responses and proactively sort your sales pipeline. 

You can then identify the highest priority leads while keeping the rest of the pipeline warm for future (stronger) intent.

When Should You Use a Drip Email Sequence?

Anything that can be automated, should be automated. Especially things that can be repeatable and still effective such as an email drip. 

Use a drip email sequence when you want to sort the serious, high-priority leads from the casual-interest leads. 

Inquiries into your business should prompt you to set up your drip campaign. 

You’ll want this in place for those who have already moved past the product research phase and into the reaching out phase. 

Consumer actions that show interest in your product should trigger the drip. This will keep them engaged and interested, leaving the door open for a sales conversation. 

You don’t want to jump on a lead before they’re ready, and an email drip is the best way to cultivate that relationship without losing it. 

Having your sales team approach these potential customers before they’re ready to make a purchase will only eat up the team’s time, with nothing to show for it. An automated email drip will warm up the leads for you.

Automating this experience will also help you to segment your prospects. 

This segmentation process will help you to serve them more appropriately, answering their specific questions, providing use cases and success stories, and helping them build a business case for your solution, all the while keeping them out of the sales queue until they are considering a purchase.

5 Essential Elements of Writing a Drip Email Sequence

Now that you’ve made the decision to automate, let’s go through what makes a well-designed drip campaign. 

You will need to answer these questions to start crafting an effective drip. 

1. Target Audience (Personas) 

Who are these people? What do they want and need? What are the pain points in their own business? Create audience personas you can recall and speak directly to each time you’re creating content for your campaign.

2. Trigger Event (User Behavior)

What actions will they take, or can we encourage, to alert us that they are ready for the next step? Should we provide a Call-to-Action (CTA) to call, open, click through, download, or respond? Make the next action clear so they can actively move through the sales funnel.

3. Segmentation

Who are the different types of prospects or stages in your pipeline? Think in terms of stages of the sales process, not necessarily product or intent. 

Often this includes consideration of the following customer journey:

• Start with a definition of their challenge or pain point
• Explain they’re not alone and there is a proven solution
• Increase their level of awareness of your product or service
• Outline how your solution can effectively address their specific problem
• Educate them on the benefits and features of your solution
• Educate them on how your solution might fit into their process/needs
• Support building confidence in your solution or developing a business case or Request For Proposal (RFP) to acquire your solution 

4. Drip Email Sequence

Write short and relevant emails that attempt to move their intent forward and build interest in your product or service. 

A good technique to start with is the Soap Opera Sequence. 

Tell them your story, prove your credibility, and build trust. 

5. Cadence (Frequency and Timing)

Determine the right cadence for your sequences. 

Too long and the prospects go cold. Too frequent and they get frustrated and opt-out.

We recommend 2-3 times a week in the first couple of weeks and then back down to every 10 days for the balance of 60-90 days. 

Then switch to a weekly or bi-weekly marketing automation, more of an educational newsletter approach. 

Level Up Your Marketing

Let’s recap.

Through an automated process, drip email writing can help you nurture your leads before they’re ready to make a purchase. A well-designed drip will offer your product as a solution to their common pain points and build their intent to buy. 

Now that you know why you need one, have an experienced lead generation agency help you level up your marketing and implement your first drip. 

Kaleidico has over 20 years of experience and expertise in digital marketing, particularly for mortgage lenders and law firms. 

Set up a discovery call with us to learn how we can help with web design and development, lead generation, content marketing, and brand strategy.