Email Sequence

Same Idea, One Word Choice

Most marketers use email sequence and drip campaign to mean the exact same thing, and honestly the overlap is close to total. If there is a shade of difference, it is that drip campaign tends to describe the older, purely time-based version, email one on day zero, email two three days later, regardless of what the recipient does, while email sequence is the term people reach for now that most of these are triggered and branched by behavior rather than a fixed calendar.

Behavior Beats a Fixed Calendar

In a welcome sequence, someone who clicks the product link in email one might get a completely different email three than someone who never opened email one at all. That branching logic, built into most modern email platforms now, is what separates a sequence that actually feels relevant from one that just fires on a timer regardless of what the recipient is doing.

The Sequences Worth Building First

A few sequences are worth building before any others.

• A welcome sequence for new subscribers or new customers
• An abandoned cart or abandoned form sequence for people who started but did not finish
• A post-purchase or post-consultation follow-up sequence
• A re-engagement sequence for a list that has gone quiet