How to Build a Course Delivery Drip
Why Drip-Delivered Courses Work Better
When students get access to an entire course at once, most start enthusiastically and then abandon it halfway through. They get overwhelmed by the volume, skip ahead, or lose momentum when life gets busy. Drip delivery solves this by sending one lesson at a time, creating a natural rhythm that keeps students moving forward.
Drip-delivered courses also create anticipation. Students look forward to the next lesson, which keeps them thinking about the material between sessions. And because each lesson arrives in their inbox, students do not have to remember to log into a portal, reducing friction and increasing completion rates. Completion rates for drip-delivered email courses typically run 40-60%, compared to 10-20% for self-paced courses with all content available at once.
Step-by-Step Setup
Divide your course content into 5-20 standalone lessons, each covering one topic or skill. Each lesson should take 5-15 minutes to complete and include one clear takeaway or action item. If a topic is too complex for one lesson, split it into Part 1 and Part 2 delivered on consecutive days.
Email is the most common channel for course delivery because lessons can include formatted text, images, links, and attachments. The schedule depends on your course intensity: daily lessons for a 5-day crash course, every other day for a 2-week program, or weekly for a longer course. On this platform, set up the lessons as messages in the Email Broadcast app with the schedule matching your desired delivery pace.
The first message confirms enrollment, outlines what the student will learn, and explains the delivery schedule. "Welcome to [Course Name]! Over the next [X days/weeks], you will receive one lesson every [frequency]. Here is what we will cover..." Include a quick win in this first message, something the student can learn or do in 5 minutes, to build momentum immediately.
Each lesson email should follow a consistent structure: a brief recap of the previous lesson, the new lesson content, and an action item or exercise. Start with the lesson number and title in the subject line ("Lesson 3: How to [topic]") so students can find and reference lessons later. End each lesson with a teaser for what comes next to maintain anticipation.
Every 3-5 lessons, insert a check-in message instead of a new lesson. "How is the course going? Reply with any questions, and we will answer them in the next lesson." This keeps the course feeling interactive rather than one-directional. You can use an AI chatbot to answer student questions automatically, or route replies to an instructor.
The final message congratulates the student, summarizes what they learned, and offers a clear next step: a certificate link, an invitation to an advanced course, a community to join, or a product to purchase. "Congratulations on completing [Course Name]! Here is what to do next..." This is also an excellent place to ask for a testimonial or review.
Adding SMS to Course Delivery
Use SMS as a nudge channel rather than the primary delivery channel (lessons are too long for text messages). Send an SMS reminder when a new lesson is available: "Lesson 4 of [Course] just landed in your inbox. Today you will learn [topic]!" This is especially effective for daily courses where students might miss an email. See Combined Email and SMS.
Course Drip Examples
5-Day Email Course
- Day 0: Welcome + overview + quick win exercise
- Day 1: Lesson 1: Foundation concept
- Day 2: Lesson 2: Core skill
- Day 3: Lesson 3: Intermediate application
- Day 4: Lesson 4: Advanced technique
- Day 5: Lesson 5: Putting it all together + next steps
4-Week Course (2 lessons per week)
- Week 1: Lessons 1-2 (Mon/Thu) + check-in Friday
- Week 2: Lessons 3-4 (Mon/Thu)
- Week 3: Lessons 5-6 (Mon/Thu) + check-in Friday
- Week 4: Lessons 7-8 (Mon/Thu) + completion message Friday
Deliver your course content automatically with a drip sequence that keeps students engaged.
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