Drip Campaign

A drip campaign is a sequence of pre-written emails or messages delivered to a recipient on a defined schedule or in response to specific behaviors. Messages can include email, SMS, or push, used to nurture leads, onboard new users, re-engage lapsed customers, or guide conversions, typically built and executed inside a marketing automation platform. The name comes from drip irrigation, where small amounts of water are delivered consistently over time rather than in one flood.

There are two structural types: time-based drips (the recipient receives email 1 immediately, email 2 three days later, email 3 a week after that, regardless of behavior) and behavior-based drips (each email fires only when a triggering event occurs or fails to occur, e.g., "send email 2 only if email 1 was opened" or "send re-engagement if no login for 14 days"). Modern best practice favors behavior-based or hybrid sequences because they keep the messaging relevant and protect sender reputation; pure time-based drips fire the same message to everyone in the cohort and train disengaged recipients to ignore the brand, which over time pulls down deliverability for the whole list. Typical drip campaign lengths: onboarding sequences run 5 to 8 emails over 14 to 30 days, sales-nurture sequences for B2B run 8 to 12 emails over 4 to 8 weeks, and re-engagement sequences run 2 to 4 emails over a tight 5 to 10 day window. The metrics that matter at the sequence level: open rate per email (should hold above 20 percent for warm lists), click rate per email (2 to 5 percent for marketing, higher for transactional), unsubscribe rate per send (should stay under 0.2 percent), and the conversion or activation rate at the end of the sequence (the only number that ultimately justifies running it).

What founders get wrong: Building drips once and never auditing them. The first 90 days of a sequence are usually fine; performance decays over the next 12 months as the messaging goes stale, the product changes underneath it, and segments evolve. Audit every active drip quarterly. Kill anything that is sending without converting. The metric to watch is unsubscribe-per-send-rate trending up; that is the list telling you to stop.

Related: Email Marketing · Marketing Automation · Lifecycle Marketing · Conversion Rate

FAQ

What is a drip campaign?
A sequence of pre-written emails (or SMS, push messages) delivered to a recipient on a defined schedule or in response to specific behaviors. Used to nurture leads, onboard new users, re-engage lapsed customers, or guide conversions, typically executed inside a marketing automation platform.

What is the difference between a drip campaign and an email blast?
A blast goes to a list once at the same time. A drip is a sequence that unfolds over days or weeks, with each message timed by schedule or triggered by behavior. Drips are personalized in delivery cadence; blasts are not.

How long should a drip campaign be?
Typical lengths: onboarding sequences 5-8 emails over 14-30 days; B2B sales-nurture 8-12 emails over 4-8 weeks; re-engagement 2-4 emails in a tight 5-10 day window. The right length is shortest-that-still-converts; pure time-based long drips usually train recipients to ignore the brand.