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A well-crafted drip email marketing campaign can be a great tool for nurturing leads, increasing engagement rates and conversion rates, as well as enjoying more customer loyalty. Think of it as a way of reaching people with more personalized automated emails sent at the right intervals using email automation software.
To help you craft successful campaigns of this type, I have compiled 10 best drip email campaign examples that you can use as inspiration, and that will help you better understand what is a drip campaign in the context of email marketing. Let’s dive in!
Take notes from these 10 email drip campaign examples
1. Cart abandonment: Brooklinen
With almost 70% of online shoppers abandoning their shopping carts, sending cart abandonment emails is crucial, especially for eCommerce stores. The goal of these types of emails is to persuade the potential customer to come back and finish the transaction. In other words, move them further down the sales funnel.
To leverage the power of drip campaigns and cart abandonment emails, you can send out a campaign offering potential customers a small discount, similar to what Brooklinen, the retailer of high-quality textile products, is doing.
To get more email opens, Brooklinen gives a small hint in the subject line of the first email.
Upon opening the email, the recipient can immediately see the available deal.
In this case, it’s a small discount that can act as an incentive to get potential customers over the final hurdle.
In the second cart abandonment drip campaign email, Brooklinen goes a step further by offering free shipping on top of the 10% discount.
But what if it’s just not your style to offer discounts to potential customers in cart abandonment emails? Don’t worry, it’s not the only option!
Cart abandonment drip campaign emails (especially the first one) can simply serve as reminders using which you build trust with your customer base. This is how this approach looks when done by Brooklinen:
Using its own brand style, Brooklinen shows the email recipients some reviews left by other buyers.
In your abandoned cart email drip campaign, you can include up to 2-4 emails, and in each email, add social proof, such as positive comments or mentions gathered from social media, and maybe even an incentive, for example, a small discount.
2. Limited-time offer: Torrid
The lifetime of temporary offers can vary from a few hours to a few weeks, but for each one, the key is to create a sense of urgency and motivate people to take action.
These limited-time offers can be sent in a single email campaign or spread across multiple drip-fed email reminders.
Torrid, the American retail chain, is known for offering frequent limited-time sales and promotions, and this summer has been no exception.
One of their limited-time offer drip campaigns starts with an email with a subject line sprinkled with FOMO (fear of missing out) to entice people to open it.
Within that same email, there is a GIF intended to grab attention and then a large text explaining the details of the sale.
What’s also interesting about this email is that it includes a lot of incentives to shop. For example, there is a banner that says, “Earn 3x points on all purchases.”
Then, just below that, we have another interesting offer for BOPIS (buy online, pick up in-store), where any customer purchasing from Torrid online can get an extra 10% off their order by picking the order up in their local store.
On top of that, customers would get another 10% off coupon for their next order.
But just in case the first email didn’t get the job done, Torrid sends a reminder about 8 hours later on the same day.
The subject line of this email hits all the right notes.
Not only does it grab your attention with “LAST CHANCE” (albeit a riskier move as far as subject lines and spam filters go), but it also has two emojis to help it stand out in a noisy inbox.
The email copy follows the same pattern as the copy of the first email, except now there is the line “FINAL HOURS” to add a bit more FOMO.
3. Order confirmation: Notebook Therapy
A customer has gone through the checkout process and placed an order. Now it’s time to send them a post-purchase email that confirms their order and explains what the next steps are.
For most businesses, this should be a single neutral order confirmation email, not a sales pitch. But, it can also be in the form of a drip campaign, just like the one sent by Notebook Therapy.
In the body of the first drip campaign email, to bring clarity to customers, Notebook Therapy explains that the items may come in separate packets. And if customers have any questions, they can effortlessly contact their team by replying to the email.
Notebook Therapy takes its order confirmation drip campaign a step further by adding two more emails, which play a distinct role in the customer’s post-purchase experience.
The same day you get your initial order confirmation email, you also get a welcome email that explains a little more about Notebook Therapy and what it does. Plus, within the same email, added are a few popular product recommendations to get existing customers thinking about their next purchase.
Next is where this drip campaign gets really interesting.
As the third email, Notebook Therapy sends you tips for bullet journaling – a popular activity done with the stationary they sell.
The subject line of this email even fuels the anticipation many customers feel just after having purchased online.
Inside the email itself, Notebook Therapy adds another thank you for ordering, as well as resources that go with the customer intent.
This serves as a perfectly timed move, as a customer is never going to open one of your emails quicker than when they’ve just made a purchase from your business. In other words, the second or third email of your order confirmation drip campaign is the perfect opportunity to get important messages across to your customers, along with any content you create on how to use your products to begin the “onboarding” process.
4. Welcome: Three Sips
While email marketing is known for bringing an ROI of $35.41 for every $1 spent, it is impossible to get new leads from it without properly greeting new subscribers and customers. This is where welcome emails come in handy.
A welcome email is the first message that a company or organization sends, typically after a person has subscribed to a mailing list or made a purchase. And if the welcome email is a well-crafted one, it can set the tone for your entire customer relationship strategy.
The eCommerce business Three Sips offers a great example of how to implement a welcome email drip campaign.
Everything starts with a simple “Welcome to Three Sips” subject line.
Then, once you open the first email, you’re introduced to the brand, including its core values.
In this copy, instead of trying to impress everyone, Three Sips uses relevant content that addresses the pain points of their target audience – women who are looking for natural beauty products. Smart move, right?
Then, in order to build trust, added is also an image of the founders.
In the second and third emails of this welcome email drip campaign, Three Sips goes even further into brand values, provides valuable email content, and shares stories of customers who have used their products or services.
5. Engagement: Warby Parker
Engagement emails are used to connect with email list subscribers who have already interacted with your brand but haven’t made a purchase or engaged with your email content in a while. They can also be used to re-engage potential customers who have abandoned their carts or haven’t completed their first purchase in the buyer’s journey.
In its engagement campaign, Warby Parker introduces its new frames collection. And to increase customer engagement and click-through rates, it made the campaign related to the fall season.
The campaign provides an exclusive feeling right from the subject line to make the recipient feel included and like they’re part of something special.
Inside the email, the VIP customer appreciation is reinforced even more by offering a sneak peek at the latest collection.
With an approach like this, you can make even customers who aren’t VIPs feel like they are getting special treatment. And even if they can’t buy your products right away, you can still get them thinking about potentially making the purchase.
As the second email in the campaign, Warby Parker sends the full “Fall product drop” the next day, revealing what they teased in their previous email.
So, how does a drip campaign like this capture attention?
Everyone loves a sneak peek, and that sneak peek can also get customers thinking about a purchase.
I mean, who wouldn’t want to see a new product line? Especially if you make accessing it something exclusive. This will build excitement and also get customers anticipating the next email from you.
Also, considering how long a normal customer journey takes from acquisition to purchase, you’re jumping ahead several stages at once by sending an engagement drip campaign.
6. Customer appreciation: L’Occitane
Customer appreciation email campaigns are used to build stronger relationships with customers, increase brand loyalty, and ultimately achieve higher rates of customer retention.
These campaigns can consist of emails like birthday reminders, thank you messages, exclusive discounts, and similar.
As part of its email marketing strategy to increase sales by sending targeted emails, L’Occitane sends an appreciation drip campaign to its customers consisting of up to two birthday-themed emails.
To hook customers in, the first email has a subject line with the customer’s first name and a birthday reminder.
When the customer opens the email, no time is wasted, and the email reveals that the customer has received a gift.
L’Occitane customers can choose between two gift options if they make a purchase of over $50. And to make things even better, they also get free shipping when they use a discount code at checkout.
While the first email is sent before the birthday, the second email is sent directly on the day of the birthday.
This email is quite simple and just gives a sweet birthday congratulations.
7. Loyalty program: Sephora
One of the most effective ways to increase the lifetime value of your old and new customers is through a loyalty program email campaign.
These campaigns are designed to reward customers for their continued loyalty. And to get customers to take specific actions, they can include a variety of incentives such as discounts, exclusive access to new products, and special rewards.
This is exactly what Sephora is doing in its loyalty program drip email campaign.
Using the first email, Sephora addresses their loyalty program members and explains to them that they earn one point per every dollar they spend.
To get more points, customers can click on the website and make purchases.
As the first email acts as an introduction to how the system works, the second drip campaign email updates you on your progress and how many points you have.
Both the second and third emails list the products that you can buy with the points.
You’re not able to implement a point system like the one Sephora has? Simple things like free shipping and small discounts for loyal customers can also work wonders!
8. Giveaway: Sunski
A giveaway email campaign is a good way to connect with your audience by offering them something valuable without expecting anything in return. And because participating in a giveaway is free for the customer, it helps increase word-of-mouth marketing, referrals, and brand awareness.
Sunski, the sunglasses and lifestyle apparel brand, frequently holds giveaways for its customers and notifies them via email. Just last summer, Sunski held what it called an “epic giveaway,” where it offered several prizes in multiple drip campaigns spread across several days.
To hook customers into opening the drip campaign emails, the subject line was kept simple.
And for the email copy, Sunski goes and explains what the giveaway is all about.
To increase the giveaway participation rate, Sunski promises a free list of the best ideas for sparking joy this summer. Also, it clearly explains the steps for getting a chance to win a weekend getaway.
The second email comes as a follow-up email teasing the first clue for the giveaway in the subject line.
Not only does this get recipients to open the email, but it makes them scour the entire email looking for the clue.
The email body reveals more gorgeous product photos, potential prizes you could win in the giveaway, and an “Enter to Win” CTA, which makes you feel like clicking it is all you need to do to get some of those fabulous prizes.
The second email is followed up with another email with a similar subject line.
And sure enough, once we scroll past all the lovely products they recommend within it, there is yet another giveaway.
It’s important to note that you don’t have to do a massive “epic” giveaway like Sunski, and if you do, you don’t have to do it all the time. But it’s always a good idea to promote something big with several emails over just one. No matter what kind of giveaway email campaign you create, make sure it’s easy to participate in, and there is a clear call to action button.
9. Reactivation: Anastasia Beverly Hills
Email reactivation messages, also known as win-back emails, are intended for customers who have previously purchased from you but have either lapsed or are about to lapse. Their objective? Get these customers to buy from you again.
With reactivation campaigns, the important thing is to provide extra value for the customer. Why? Well, unless you offer something valuable, why would they bother buying from you if they haven’t done so recently?
Anastasia Beverly Hills sends its own drip reactivation campaign titled “We Miss You”.
In its first email, it introduces the customer to a new collection of products along with their pricing.
If the email subscriber doesn’t convert into a paying customer thanks to the first drip campaign email, Anastasia Beverly Hills will give a 15% discount in the next one.
10. Re-engagement: Torrid
A re-engagement email campaign is designed for subscribers whose email activity has ceased based on the recorded metrics such as open rate and click rate. The goal of this type of campaign is to persuade customers to start opening emails and clicking on links within them.
How do you know who to send these emails to? With many email marketing automation tools and CRMs, you can filter your email list by activity and send re-engagement emails to subscribers who haven’t been active in terms of opens and clicks. Just make sure these emails don’t accidentally end up being sent to people who have clicked the unsubscribe button, as that would be against email-sending laws.
Torrid, for the subject line of the first email in its drip campaign, uses language that would appeal to a customer who hasn’t interacted with any emails in a while.
In the copy, heavy focus is put on explaining that Torrid’s 50% off clearance sale ends soon.
Such a big discount can be substituted with offering a new product line, introducing new payment options, or improving the customer experience if being too generous is just not an option for your business at the moment.
Torrid’s second email in the re-engagement drip campaign is sent on the birthday of the customer.
In the email, a promise is made of a $10 birthday reward with a clear CTA button for the customer to act on.
This is a great example of how to re-engage a customer by offering a small incentive (a $10 gift on their birthday).
Takeaways
While writing this article, I noticed that the best examples of email drip campaigns have the following things in common:
- Personalized emails are a must – In all types of drip campaigns, you can personalize everything from the subject line to the email copy, images, and even the landing page you link to within your emails. To start, small personalization touches are enough, such as adding the recipient’s first name. Then, you can move on to more elaborate things, like sending birthday reminders.
- Each email adds value – Whether it’s a small discount, cross-sell offer, upsell offer, giveaway, educational content (whitepapers, case studies, etc.), webinar invitation, or a deeper dive into the brand’s values, every message in a series of emails should offer something valuable for the reader.
- No one gets it right the first time – Not even the best email marketers can get their regular or drip email campaigns right the first time. For this reason, you should conduct A/B testing, do tweaks, and optimize your email template and copy.
And that’s it for this article on drip email campaign examples!
Make sure to take advantage of all the information I shared with you, and you’ll have no problem creating awesome email drip marketing campaigns/email sequences that will help your business stay top of mind.
