How to Set Up an Email Drip Campaign
Before You Start
You need an active Email Broadcast app and a configured SMTP provider. If you have not set up email sending yet, see How to Configure SMTP for Bulk Email Sending and How to Set Up Email Authentication first. Your sending domain should have SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records in place before sending drip emails to ensure good deliverability.
You should also have a plan for your drip content. If you have not planned your sequence yet, start with How to Plan Your First Automated Drip Sequence.
Step-by-Step Setup
In the Email Broadcast app, create a new contact list specifically for this drip campaign. Give it a clear name like "Welcome Drip" or "Lead Nurture Series" so you can identify it easily. This list is where contacts will be added (manually, via import, or automatically through forms and workflows) to start receiving the drip sequence.
Create each message in your drip series within the Email Broadcast app. Each message needs a subject line, sender name, and HTML or plain text body. Write them in the order they should be delivered. Keep subject lines under 50 characters for best open rates. Include one clear call to action per message. See How to Write Drip Messages That Get Opened and Clicked for detailed writing guidance.
Assign each message to your drip list in the order you want them sent. The first message in the list is what new contacts receive first, the second message goes next, and so on. The system tracks which message each contact has received and automatically advances them through the sequence.
Set the schedule that controls when and how often messages are sent. You configure this through the scheduling settings: choose which days of the week to send (for example, weekdays only), which hours of the day are acceptable (for example, 9am to 6pm EST), and the minimum interval between messages (for example, one message per day, or one every three days). See How to Set Up Drip Schedules for detailed schedule configuration.
Turn on the schedule status in your settings to start the drip. The background scheduler runs every minute, checking for contacts who are due to receive their next message. When a contact is ready, the system sends the next message in the sequence and updates their position.
Add a test contact (your own email address) to the list and verify that the first message arrives with correct formatting, links, and sender information. If your schedule sends daily, wait for the next day to confirm the second message arrives on schedule. Check that unsubscribe handling works by clicking the unsubscribe link in your test email. See How to Handle Unsubscribes in Drip Campaigns for compliance details.
How Contacts Enter the Drip
There are several ways contacts get added to your drip list:
- Manual add: Add individual contacts through the admin panel
- CSV import: Upload a file of contacts. See How to Import Contacts From a CSV File.
- Signup forms: Embed a form on your website that adds subscribers directly to the list. See How to Add Signup Forms to Your Site.
- Chatbot capture: A chatbot collects an email address and a workflow adds the contact. See Trigger Drips From Chatbot Interactions.
- Workflow automation: A chain command workflow adds contacts based on any trigger event.
Monitoring Your Drip Campaign
After your drip is running, monitor open rates and click rates for each message. If early messages have high open rates but later messages drop off, the content may not be compelling enough to sustain interest, or the timing gap may be too long. Adjust individual messages or timing based on what the data shows. See How to Measure Drip Campaign Performance for metrics to track.
Set up your first email drip campaign and let automated follow-up work for you.
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