What is drip marketing?
Drip marketing is an automated sequence of messages sent over time to leads or customers, usually by email or messaging, to nurture relationships and move them towards a specific action.
How does drip marketing differ from a one-time campaign?
A one-time campaign sends a single blast to everyone at once, while drip marketing delivers a series of targeted messages based on timing, behaviour, or lifecycle stage.
What are the common goals of drip marketing?
Typical goals include educating new leads, onboarding new users, re-engaging inactive contacts, nurturing prospects towards sales conversations, and driving adoption of specific features or services.
Which channels are used for drip marketing?
Email is the most common channel, but drips can also run through in-app messages, SMS, WhatsApp, push notifications, and even retargeting sequences when integrated with automation tools.
How is a drip marketing sequence structured?
A sequence is usually planned as a series of steps with defined timing (for example, Day 1, Day 3, Day 7), each message having a specific purpose—welcome, education, proof, objection handling, and call to action.
What makes drip marketing effective for B2B and SaaS?
In B2B and SaaS, buying cycles are longer and more complex. Drip marketing keeps brands top-of-mind, answers questions gradually, and delivers tailored content to different personas without requiring constant manual follow-up.
How does segmentation improve drip campaigns?
Segmentation ensures that different groups—such as industries, roles, lifecycle stages, or product tiers—receive content relevant to their context, which increases engagement and conversion.
What metrics are used to measure drip marketing performance?
Key metrics include open rates, click-through rates, unsubscribe rates, reply or response rates, conversion to the next journey stage (for example, demo request or activation), and overall revenue influenced by the sequence.
How does drip marketing connect with marketing automation platforms?
Marketing automation tools manage triggers, timing, and branching logic for drip campaigns—for example, sending different follow-ups based on whether someone opened, clicked, or ignored a previous message.
When should a drip sequence be updated or optimized?
Drip sequences should be reviewed regularly when performance drops, new content or offers become available, or buyer journeys change. A/B testing subject lines, content, and timing helps keep sequences effective over time.
