The short definition
A drip campaign delivers pre-written emails at set intervals after a trigger.
Day zero, day three, day seven, day fourteen. Everyone follows the same path at the same pace, regardless of how they respond.
Drip versus nurture
The terms overlap and different people draw the line differently. The most common distinction:
Drip — purely time-based. Fixed intervals, same for everyone.
Nurture — may branch on behaviour. Someone who clicks the pricing link gets a different next email from someone who did not.
For a small local business the simple time-based version is usually correct. Branching logic adds complexity, more messages to write, and more places for something to break — and the gain is small on a list of a few hundred people.
What drip campaigns are good for
Steady, predictable situations where the same information helps everyone:
- After an enquiry that did not book
- Between booking and the visit
- After a job completes
- Before a season, to people who used that service last year
Long consideration periods. Planned work — remodels, pool builds, larger installations — where the customer is deciding over months and a monthly touch keeps you present.
What they are bad for
Urgent work. Someone with a burst pipe is not on a fourteen-day journey. They need a phone call now, and dropping them into a drip campaign instead is a serious misread.
Anything requiring judgement. A high-value quote should be followed up by a person, with the automation only reminding that person to do it.
The exit rule
The most important setting and the most often missed: someone who books must stop receiving the campaign.
A customer who has already paid you continuing to receive "still thinking it over?" emails is a small, avoidable insult, and it makes the whole operation look automated in the worst sense.
Check this before switching anything on, and test it by booking yourself through your own process.
Length and spacing
Three to five emails over two to three weeks suits most local service situations. Longer campaigns produce unsubscribes faster than bookings.
Spacing should widen as it goes — days apart at first, then a week, then a longer gap for the final check-in.
Reviewing it
Once a year, read the whole campaign as a customer would, and confirm the exit rule still works after any platform change.
Where it sits
Sequence builds are part of email marketing setup at $650 a month.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a drip campaign and a nurture sequence?
The terms overlap. Drip usually implies purely time-based intervals; nurture may branch on behaviour. For a small local list, the simple time-based version is normally the right choice.
What is the most important setting?
The exit rule — anyone who books must stop receiving the campaign. A paying customer still getting "still thinking it over?" emails is avoidable and looks careless.
How long should a drip campaign be?
Three to five emails over two to three weeks for most local service situations, with the spacing widening as it goes. Longer produces unsubscribes faster than bookings.
When is a drip campaign the wrong tool?
For urgent work. Someone with a burst pipe needs a phone call now, not a fourteen-day email journey. High-value quotes also need a person, with automation only prompting them.