Creating Marketing Email Drip Campaigns

A drip campaign is a series of emails and actions in a visual workflow or action group that are designed to nurture leads and prospects.

This type of automation is a great way to communicate with leads who are interested in your product or service, but not ready to purchase just yet. 

This article will go over how to create a basic behavioral drip campaign.

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Article Contents

• Creating Visual Workflows
• Optional: Adding Filters
• Adding Actions and Time Delays
• Example of an Advanced Drip Campaign: User Site Visit Drip Campaign

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Creating Visual Workflows

Drip campaigns are often built with visual workflows.

To create a visual workflow for a drip campaign, do the following:

1. Click Automation > Visual Workflows in the left toolbar.
2. Click Create > Visual Workflow.

   

3. Name the visual workflow and click OK.
4. Click + Add > Trigger under Start.
   
   
   
5. Select a trigger that can be used to start drip campaigns.
   • Note: Triggers that are typically used in drip campaigns include, but are not limited to:

     - fills out the form

     - visits the page

     
6. Enter the necessary information for the trigger.
7. Click OK.
   

Refer to Creating Visual Workflows for more information on creating visual workflows.

Optional: Adding Filters

Filters provide focus for a trigger and direct it to operate in specific ways.

While optional, consider adding filters to further refine who your drip campaign will send to.

To add filters to a drip campaign visual workflow, do the following:

1. Click Automation > Visual Workflows in the left toolbar.
2. Create or edit a visual workflow with a trigger.
   
3. Click + Add > Filter under the trigger.
   
   
   
4. Select a filter that can be used to refine your initial trigger.

   • Note: Filters that are typically used in drip campaigns include, but are not limited to:

     -has the field > State > location

     -lead score

     -visits the page

     
5. Enter the necessary information for the filter.
6. Click OK.
   

Adding Actions and Time Delays

Actions instruct a trigger to do something once the trigger conditions have been met. Time delays dictate how long it takes for an action to activate. When paired, they round out how a drip campaign sends to relevant individuals.

To add actions and time delays to a drip campaign visual workflow, do the following:

1. Click Automation > Visual Workflows in the left toolbar.
2. Create or edit a visual workflow with a trigger.
   
3. Click + Add > Action under the created trigger or an appropriate filter.
   
4. Select send the email under the Communication section.
   
5. Enter the name of the desired email to be sent in the Email Name text box and click OK.
   
   
   
6. Click + Add > Time Delay under the created action.
   
7. Enter the desired time parameters.
8. Click OK.
   
   
   
9. Repeat as necessary to add any other desired emails to the initial trigger and when finished, click the Active/Inactive toggle to set this workflow to Active.
   

Example of an Advanced Drip Campaign: User Site Visit Drip Campaign

There are many ways you can utilize the different triggers, filters, actions, and even action groups when creating a drip campaign. The following instructions are an example drip campaign for when users visit specific sites. This example is more advanced when compared to the above procedures for creating a basic drip campaign framework, but it encompasses all aspects of a successful drip campaign.

Scheduling Emails for Drip Campaigns

In order to create a drip campaign, you will need to first schedule emails for sending.

To schedule emails, do the following:

1. Click Email in the left toolbar.
2. Create or edit an email.
   
3. Schedule the email to the desired list of leads.
   

Creating Drip Campaign Action Groups

Once you have scheduled an email for sending, you can create an action group to track those recipients who click through your content.

To create a drip campaign action group, do the following:

1. Click Automation > Action Groups in the left toolbar.
2. Create or edit an action group.
   
3. Click + Add > Action under Start or an applicable group branch.
   
   
4. Select send the email in the Communication section.
   • Important: Lead Gen & CRM does not recommend that you build an automation based on recipients opening or not opening emails. Constant Contact aims for email clicks and not email opens.
5. Select the campaign email that was scheduled.
6. Click OK.
   

Creating Drip Campaign Visual Workflows

Once an action group has been created, you will need to create a companion visual workflow.

To create a drip campaign workflow, do the following:

1. Click Automation > Visual Workflows in the left toolbar.
2. Create or edit a visual workflow.
   
   
3. Click + Add > Trigger under Start or an applicable workflow branch.
   • Note: Lead Gen & CRM cannot trigger automations on email opens. Automations can trigger on click-throughs to a website or on media center asset views

     
     
     

4. Select visits the page in the Site section.
   
5. Type in the target website URL in the Page URL field.
6. Select 1 time in the How Often? drop-down menu.
7. Select exactly in the Comparison drop-down menu.
8. Click OK.
   

Adding Drip Campaign Filters

Once the initial workflow and trigger have been created, you will need to add the appropriate filters to the automation.

To create a filter which limit the recipients of the email drip campaign, do the following:

1. Create a drip campaign visual workflow.
   
   
2. Click + Add > Filter under the created visits the page trigger.
   • Note: While email opens cannot be used as a trigger, they can be used as a filter.
3. Select visits from the email in the Email section.
   
4. Enter the name of the initial drip campaign email.
5. Select 1 time in the How Often? drop-down menu.
6. Select exactly in the Comparison drop-down menu.
7. Click OK.
   
8. Add any other desired emails or actions to the workflow and when finished, click the Active/Inactive toggle to set this workflow to Active.