The Power of Association Email Drip Campaigns

Drip campaigns are at the core of some of the most effective nonprofit email marketing campaigns. By finding a rhythm, associations can actively engage new members, inform event attendees, support continuing education participants, and much more.

The reason why email drip campaigns for associations are so effective is because relationships are built on consistency. When you show up for your friends in the good times and the bad times, it clicks that you aren’t going anywhere.

And because your association is here for the long haul, it’s time to leverage drip campaigns in establishing that devoted, engaged community. 

We’re going to start off with the basics of what modern drip campaigns can do and discuss why they’re so vital when crafting association email marketing strategies. Then we’re going to highlight four ways to make the most of your upcoming email drip campaigns.

What are email drip campaigns?

Drip campaigns are emails on a schedule. Emails are sent either after a certain amount of time has passed, or based on behavioral triggers. Say someone renews their association membership. It’s customary to send a thank you the same day, but drip campaigns take it one step further.

The next day or even the next week, you can set up an automatic email to further explain all the benefits of their membership. 

PwC found that 73% of people "point to customer experience as an important factor in their purchasing decisions."

This report may have had for-profits in mind, but your members and event attendees deserve an incredible experience too! And that experience is going to go a long way in ensuring they continue engaging with all your association has to offer, year after year.

But that’s not even the end of a drip campaign.

If someone clicked through that second email, you can follow up with a third and fourth, reminding them of their interest or commitment. But say they didn’t open the second or third email. You can now set up triggers so that these people receive a different fourth and fifth email. 

The magic of email in the digital age is that it can be personalized for the recipient, based on their behaviors. 

By building out an email drip campaign, instead of needing 100 people writing thank you letters and personal follow ups, you can build an email journey for many types of supporters.

Now that we’re all sold on the value of association email drip campaigns, let’s talk about four ways to make sure yours is set up for success!

Tips for a Successful Association Email Drip Campaign

1. Stay on topic

Here’s the first key to content that resonates: Stay personal. The recipient of your email had a reason for the action they took with your organization. They didn’t become a member or register for your event by accident. So consider how best to continue that unique conversation.

A new association member might receive a series of emails that speaks to their type of membership, outlining the community and resources available to them. Consider something like this:

Trigger action: New association member sign up

• Email #1: Thank you for joining! (note from the Executive Director)
• Email #2: Instructions to access the Community Portal
• Email #3: Events calendar
• Email #4: Continuing Education Opportunities (expert level segmentation: only include courses relevant to the type of membership they purchased)

Of course, a new member will receive a different experience than a returning member. For example:

Trigger action: Membership renewal

• Email #1: Here’s to another year! (note from the Executive Director)
• Email #2: Member Benefits overview (anything new and exciting should be at the top of the email)
• Email #3: Events calendar
• Email #4: Extra-early bird Annual Conference registration info for returning members

And finally, an email drip series will look more like this when it's designed for your Annual Meeting attendees:

Trigger action: Conference registration

• Email #1: We can’t wait to see you at Annual!
• Email #2: What’s New this Year
• Email #3: Know Before You Go logistics
• Email #4: Bring a colleague! (discount code for one additional registration)

Why is this level of customization meaningful? Because getting signals crossed or overloading them with generic information isn’t going to clearly communicate how important they are to you.

Consider the needs of each person that will open your drip emails, and build every email sequence with those unique relationships in mind.

2. Don’t be too selfless 

It’s good to keep other people top of mind, but sometimes it’s time to think about you. And by you, I really mean your organization. You are changing your industry (and thus, the world) for the better, so don’t waste a good chance to invite someone into a larger commitment!

There’s a time to say thank you… like one day after they become a member… and there’s another time to say please… like 3 months later, when you ask them to refer a colleague in return for a discount on registration for your annual conference.

Drip campaigns can simultaneously make your supporters feel seen, while also leading to meaningful results for your organization. And sometimes that requires you to make a simple, direct ask.

3. Make sure it’s a drip, not a pour

It’s called a drip campaign for a reason. It should be constant, but not a downpour.

I’ve signed up for a newsletter before, and before the end of the week, I’ve unsubscribed. Why? Because I received five emails during the week, and I signed up on a Thursday!

Unfortunately, there’s no magic number for emails, and that’s mostly because people are very different from one another. But the real magic number is based on how many emails you can send that offer real value.

If I got five emails that week that made my life better, I wouldn’t have unsubscribed. But be honest with yourself — your recipient may care about your association, but they might not care as much as you do (you care about it all day, everyday!).

So be cautious about sending multiple emails a week, unless you have good reason to think your audience (or a segment of them) is into that sort of thing.

4. Follow your head

You hear people telling you to follow your heart everyday, but I’m here to recommend following your head. When it comes time to build your second drip campaign, use the things you learned from the first time around.

When you don’t have good data pointing the way, follow your gut. But when you do have good data, please follow your head instead.

Complimentary Guide

Good data starts with a Single Source of Truth (SSoT)

This educational guide from iMIS highlights how a Single Source of Truth (SSoT) is the key to trusting your member data and the detrimental effects that data silos can have.

I want the guide

Listen carefully to what’s working and what isn’t. Maybe it’s time to build a specific drip campaign for highly engaged members and a separate, slower campaign for those who aren’t doing much (and lucky for you, you can see and do all of that in Feathr!).

Making emails automatic

There are two important things going on with association email drip campaigns. First, you’re engaging with your people in a long-term, consistent way. And second, you’re doing this in a way that doesn’t require your small team to work 80 hours every week.

Email automation is a good thing when it’s used by organizations that care about their communities. You’re better meeting your supporters’ needs, and you’re doing it in a strategic and sustainable way.

If you’re busy writing individual thank-you emails to your members, or you don’t know where to begin with audience segmentation, we think it’s time for you to level up your email marketing software. And we hope you'll consider putting Feathr in your corner.

We’re passionate about seeing associations soar, and part of that happens by finding the right email automation software for your organization. In my (admittedly biased) opinion - a tool specifically designed for associations is the way to go. Talk with us today and see if Feathr is the right fit for your mission!