[Free Template] How Your Small Business Can Implement Email Drip Campaigns

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Photo by Georgia de Lotz on Unsplash

When someone gives you their email address, are you adding them to your general newsletter list, or putting them into a campaign based on their relationship with your brand? How are you converting them into loyal customers?

If you’re not sure, or are just adding them to your general email list, keep reading. We’ll introduce one way to further solidify your brand’s relationship with that customer or potential customer, also known as a prospect.

We’ve already discussed some best practices on building, segmenting, and nurturing your small business’ email lists. One way to nurture your prospects is to implement an email drip campaign.

What is a drip campaign?

A drip campaign is a timed series of automated emails sent to a prospective customer that are designed to convert them into customers. Think of it like slowly “dripping” information to them to gradually warm the lead up to your brand by creating trust. Rather than being salesy or assumptive right off the bat, they are designed to inform, educate, and bring value.

If the thought of “automated emails” sounds out of your budget, consider this: automated trigger emails have the potential to drive 24x more revenue than “batch and blast” emails, according to BounceX. This is because these emails are more tailored to the experience of that particular customer. 

You should consider a drip campaign for your small business if you want to get the most out of your email marketing strategy. When done right, these types of campaigns are an easy way to boost email engagement, website traffic, and, ultimately, sales.

If you don’t currently use an email platform with automated capability, do some research on pricing. Platforms like Mailchimp, HubSpot, and Drip are affordable options with this capability. If you still feel these are out of budget, you can do a manual drip campaign by keeping track of who is getting the emails you’re sending and when.

How do I implement a drip campaign?

Here are the questions you should answer to create your first drip campaign.

1. What is the goal? Are you trying to promote a new product, service, or event? Do you want to re-engage with previous customers? Do you want to win over new customers? As always, make sure this goal is specific, measurable, and attainable. 

2. How will you get the emails? A better question is: what will you give your prospects in return for their email address? This could be from a free content offer on your website, a giveaway on your social media, or from a sign-up sheet at an event. You can also develop a drip campaign that is designed to turn your blog subscribers into customers.

3. How many emails will you send, and how often? You don’t want to send each email too often, as that can come off as spammy. A good place to start is to send an email once a week. You will also need to decide how many emails are in your drip campaign. This number might become more clear once you write the content, but shoot for a number between 4 and 10 to start.

4. What will your emails say? Keeping in mind that your goal is to develop a relationship with the prospect, write your emails as if they were coming directly from you (or one of your salespeople). Scroll to the bottom of this post for a free template to get some ideas. Also, make sure every email you write has a call-to-action that you’d like the recipient to do so that you can answer...

5. How will you remove people from the campaign? One reason you want a call-to-action in every email is so you can understand which recipients you have won over. These people should be removed from your drip campaign once this has been determined. That way, you’re not continuing to send them emails asking them to take an action that they’ve already taken, such as testing out your new product.

Free Template: Sample Customer Re-Engagement Campaign

Here is a sample re-engagement drip campaign that you can repurpose for your small business! Check out the diagram below to see the workflow of this email series.

Email #1: Warm Introduction

Subject: Thank you again for your support!

Hi [Previous Customer],

I just wanted to take the time to reintroduce myself. My name is Maria and I am the owner of Maria’s Events & Gifts. 

I wanted to thank you for shopping with us this past [month]. As a small business, each and every purchase helps us to continue supporting and thriving in the [city/town] community. 

I hope you continue to think of Maria’s Events & Gifts for your event needs. And with Mother’s Day quickly approaching, we just added some very unique and creative gifts to both our retail and online stores.

Please feel free to give us a call at [phone number], or visit our website at [website] to view our newest gifts and supplies. 

Take care!

Maria

Email #2: Cool Resource

Subject: Here’s a little something extra for you!

Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash

Hi [Previous Customer],

I hope you’re doing well and enjoying the spring weather! 

Since my last email, we added a new post to our blog that I think you might find helpful in your gift search. We’ve listed the top 10 most unique gifts this spring, and they’re great for the whole family!

My personal favorite is this new board game called “The Chameleon”. My friends and I had a blast playing it the other night. 

Anyway, I hope you have a fabulous weekend. As always, please give us a call at [phone number], or check out our other blog posts and products on our website!

Best wishes, 

Maria

Email #3: Case Study / Testimonial

Subject: Don’t just take it from me...

Hey there [Previous Customer],

Do you have any big events planned for this summer? I’m sure you’ve made the connection, but Maria’s Events & Gifts offers affordable event planning services too!

I started Maria’s Events & Gifts in 2014, with the mission to provide our community with affordable event planning services so that they could focus on the most important part: spending quality time with their family and friends. Event planning is my passion, and I would love to share what I’ve learned with you!

I could go on and on about what we can offer, but I thought you might want to hear from one of our previous customers. Here is a little testimonial from our dear customer Rhonda:

“I wanted to plan a fabulous retirement party for my mother, but I was on a tight budget. I was so glad to have found Maria at Maria’s Events & Gifts! What I loved was that Maria was just as dedicated to staying under budget as I was, but she had some amazing ideas to make my mom’s party an absolute bash!”

If you’re planning an event, please give us a call at [phone number], or fill out the contact form on our website at [website]. Let’s make it an event to remember!

All the best,

Maria

Email #4: Special Offer

Subject: A gift just for you!

Hi [Previous Customer]!

I hope you have been enjoying the emails I’ve been sending over the past few weeks!

As a thank you for your time, I’m giving you a special offer: 30% off any regular-priced gift in our store. You can use this on our website by entering the code, or come visit us in the store and show us this email to redeem your offer.

Code: THX30

Whether you have an event to plan or attend, I hope you keep Maria’s Events & Gifts in mind for your supplies, planning, and gifts. 

Please always feel free to reach out to us at [phone number]. 

Thanks again, and have a great weekend!

Maria

Five Marketing Strategies to Help You Reach and Engage with Your Gen Z Audience

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Photo by Laura Chouette on Unsplash

Generation Z, defined by Statistica as those born in 1997 or later, is the largest generation in the US, making up over 90 million of the population. This group is on track to become the most financially influential generation ever. 

Gen Z already has an estimated purchasing power of $44 billion per year, which means now is the time for small businesses to adjust to this group’s behaviors and values in their marketing strategies.

However, it’s important to understand what makes Gen Z-ers unique. As the first generation that was born into this digital age, Gen Z is excellent at shutting out the more traditional, disruptive advertisements that offer them no value or personalized experience.

In general, this group of consumers seem to be much more responsive to:

• Genuine reviews from experts or influencers

• Personalized ads and experiences

• New, interesting, and up-to-date content

• Corporate social responsibility

• Connectedness (both in-person and digitally)

With this in mind, here are some strategies that your small business can utilize to help you reach a Gen Z audience.

Influencer Marketing

According to a report by Morning Consult, nearly 75% of Gen Z-ers follow at least one influencer on social media. An influencer is loosely defined as anyone with a large following that can, obviously, influence the decisions of that following. 

Have you ever seen a YouTube makeup artist do a special unboxing or demo video of a package of product sent to them by a major brand? What about an Instagram post spotlighting a product with the hashtag “#ad” in the caption? These are examples of influencer marketing. 

As a small business, you might think that influencer marketing is way out of your budget; this simply isn’t true. You can identify micro-influencers who have a smaller following of people more related to your industry or product to create ads that are much more organic and appealing to your Gen Z audience, who appreciate more personalized and genuine content anyway.

Personalized Communication

Speaking of personalization, this is something to keep in mind when creating content for Gen Z consumers. According to Mobile Marketer, Gen Z prefers to see online ads and communication based on their browsing history.

This might open up the idea of remarketing through Google Ads or another platform, but remember that this generation has been looking at online ads almost their entire life already and have gotten really good at ignoring them.

To cater to Gen Z’s personalization preference, use it as much as possible in email marketing and other communications. Rather than send a newsletter with a list of new products, send a coupon code for a recently viewed item, or spotlight an item related to one that was already purchased. 

Video Marketing

What do YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok all have in common? They’re not only three of the most popular social media platforms for Gen Z users, they are primarily video-sharing platforms. Video is a great way to not only grab the attention of your Gen Z audience, but also quickly and effectively communicate with them before they move on to the next thing.

Your small business doesn’t need expensive equipment to start creating video content, either. Even a video shot on a smartphone can get your message across—just make sure you have some sort of tripod or stand to hold it in place.

Create videos that explain your product or service, show customer testimonials, or that simply tell a great story. Don’t be shy—get in front of the camera and tell people how your business can help them.

Photo by Louis Hansel @shotsoflouis on Unsplash

Social Responsibility

Experts report that corporate social responsibility (CSR) is huge for both Millennials and Gen Z. As Sarah Cavill writes for Digital Media Solutions:

Gen Z, in particular, looks at the world with a side-eye stemming from having grown up amid recessions, fractured politics and often unexpected job transitions for their Gen X parents, leading to decreased trust in businesses.

If you’re looking for more ways to appeal to potential Gen Z customers, consider implementing a CSR program for your small business that aligns with your vision. Choose a cause that you or your staff are passionate about, and find ways to contribute and/or bring awareness to that cause that incorporates your mission, products, customers, and employees. 

Still not sure where to start? Your cause could be as simple as sourcing your materials or supplies from other local or sustainable businesses. What are other changes you can make to your business model that support this cause? Are there any hands-on opportunities to volunteer with your staff? Is there a way to donate a portion of your sales to this cause?

Once you have that sorted out, make sure to communicate this with your customer base in a variety of ways. Make it clear to all potential customers—not just the Gen Z-ers— that by supporting your business, they are also supporting this cause.

Social Media Marketing

Unsurprisingly, out of all the other generations, Gen Z spends the most time on social media—two hours and 55 minutes each day, on average. This makes social media a great way to reach this age group. However, keep in mind that they’re not logging on to social media with the intention to connect with brands, but to connect with friends, peers, or just for entertainment. This means that your small business’ approach on social media should be less purchase-driven and more focused on one or more of the previously mentioned strategies.

If we know anything about Generation Z, it’s that they can see right past the forced, synthetic messaging that comes with traditional marketing tactics. As children of the digital age, they have the ability to ignore so many types of advertising. One thing to keep in mind when marketing to this very influential age group is to be as genuine, personable, and non-disruptive as possible.