How to Set Up Automated Drip Notifications in WordPress (2023)
Looking to welcome new subscribers, boost engagement, promote products, or build customer relationships on your WordPress site? Automated drip notification campaigns are a highly effective way to achieve those goals. By "dripping" a series of pre-scheduled push notifications or emails to your subscribers over time, you can keep them informed and gently guide them through your marketing funnel.
In this ultimate guide, we‘ll walk you through exactly how to set up automated drip campaigns in WordPress in 2023 using both push notifications and email. We‘ll share tools, tips and best practices to help you get the most out of your drip campaigns.
Let‘s dive in!
What Are Drip Notification Campaigns?
A drip campaign is a series of automated messages that are sent to subscribers over time on a pre-defined schedule. Rather than blasting your entire message at once, you "drip" it out gradually to keep your brand top-of-mind and avoid overwhelming subscribers.
Drip notifications are most commonly sent as web browser push notifications or email messages. The content can range from educational to promotional, but the goal is to build engagement and guide users toward taking a desired action.
Some common applications of drip campaigns include:
- Welcoming new subscribers or customers and introducing your brand
- Onboarding new users on how to use your product or service
- Promoting a new product launch or upcoming sale
- Showcasing your most popular blog content
- Educating prospects on an online course
- Recovering abandoned shopping carts and driving repeat purchases
- Sending location-specific promotions and offers
The possibilities are endless. When done right, drip campaigns can form strong customer relationships, boost engagement with your WordPress site, and ultimately drive more sales and conversions for your business.
Now let‘s look at how to actually implement drip campaigns on your WordPress site. We‘ll start with push notification drip campaigns.
How to Set Up an Automated Push Notification Drip Campaign
Push notifications are clickable messages that are delivered straight to a user‘s web browser or device, even when they don‘t have your site open. Subscribers opt-in to receive notifications from your WordPress site, which gives you a direct channel to bring them back and re-engage them.
To set up automated push notification drip campaigns in WordPress, we recommend using PushEngage. It‘s the leading web push notification software, used by over 30,000 businesses. Their workflow builder makes it easy to set up drip sequences.
Here‘s how to get started:
Step 1: Sign Up for PushEngage
First, head to the PushEngage website and click "Get Started for Free". They offer a free plan for up to 200 subscribers, or you can unlock more features with a paid plan starting at $9/month. Choose the one that fits your needs.
Create a free account by entering your details, or register instantly with Google Sign-In.
Step 2: Connect PushEngage to Your WordPress Site
Once your account is created, log into your PushEngage dashboard. To integrate with WordPress, you‘ll need to install the free PushEngage WordPress plugin.
From your WordPress admin area, go to Plugins → Add New and search for "PushEngage". Install and activate the plugin, then click the new PushEngage tab that appears in your WordPress menu.
Click "Connect Your Existing Account" to bring up a popup window. Select the website you created in step 1 from the dropdown menu and click "Let‘s Get Started". PushEngage will now be connected to your WordPress site.
Step 3: Create Your Push Notification Drip Campaign
Now for the fun part – creating your automated push notification drip sequence. From the PushEngage tab in your WordPress dashboard, click "Drip" and then "Add New".
Give your drip campaign a name, like "New Subscriber Welcome Series". Then you can begin crafting your series of notifications:
Welcome Message (Immediately) – Greet new subscribers and set expectations for what kinds of notifications you‘ll be sending. You could link to a getting started guide.
Featured Content (1 day later) – Highlight your most popular blog post, podcast episode, or other content to instantly provide value and showcase your expertise.
Product Intro (3 days later) – Briefly introduce your flagship product or service and how it helps solve your audience‘s problems. Link to more information.
Social Proof (5 days later) – Share a glowing customer testimonial or case study to build trust and credibility with your new subscriber.
Promotion (7 days later) – Present a special discount or promotional offer to convert your engaged subscriber into a paying customer. Create urgency with a time limit.
Of course, your sequence may look different depending on your specific goals. The key is to plan out value-packed content that warms up subscribers before going for the sale.
PushEngage provides a visual drag-and-drop workflow builder to map out your sequence. For each notification, you can craft the message, add images, buttons, set a time delay, and enable advanced features. Take advantage of personalization and segmentation to make your drip campaigns as targeted and relevant as possible.
Step 4: Launch Your Campaign and Analyze Results
When your drip sequence is ready, simply toggle it from "Paused" to "Active". PushEngage will start delivering the notifications to your subscribers automatically based on the schedule you set.
Be sure to monitor your key metrics like opt-in rate, open rate, and click-through rate to gauge the effectiveness of your drip campaign. Learn what content resonates best with your audience and continually optimize your messaging. PushEngage provides detailed notification stats right in your dashboard.
Automated Email Drip Campaigns for WordPress
Email is another highly effective channel for drip campaigns that keeps your brand in front of subscribers and drives them back to your WordPress site. Let‘s walk through how to set up an automated email drip campaign.
Step 1: Choose an Email Marketing Service
To send automated emails from WordPress, you‘ll need to use a dedicated email marketing service provider. They‘ll ensure high deliverability and provide you with the tools to craft your drip campaigns.
We recommend Constant Contact, one of the largest and most established email marketing companies. Their drag-and-drop email builder and intuitive automation tools make it perfect for beginners and advanced marketers alike. Constant Contact integrates seamlessly with WordPress and WooCommerce.
Sign up for a free 60-day trial of Constant Contact to follow along. (After that plans start at $20/month for up to 500 subscribers.)
Step 2: Build Your Email List
Of course, to send email drip campaigns you need subscribers to send to! Constant Contact lets you manually import a list of opt-in contacts or integrate with your existing WordPress forms to automatically sync new sign-ups.
We recommend using a dedicated lead generation tool like OptinMonster to quickly grow your email list with high-converting forms and pop-ups. Their drag-and-drop builder lets you create all kinds of eye-catching opt-in forms, target them to specific content or viewer behavior, A/B test, and more.
Be sure to entice visitors to sign up by showcasing the benefits of subscribing, like exclusive content, discounts, etc. Constant Contact makes it easy to deliver a downloadable lead magnet as soon as someone confirms their email.
Step 3: Create an Automated Email Drip Workflow
Once your list is ready, head to the "Campaigns" tab in your Constant Contact dashboard and click "Create". Select "Email Automation" as your campaign type.
Constant Contact provides a library of pre-built email drip templates for common sequences like a welcome series, post-purchase follow-up, abandoned cart reminder, etc. You can customize any of these or start from scratch.
Using the visual automation builder, you can map out your entire email sequence with delays inbetween each message. For example:
Email 1: Welcome Message (Immediately) – Thank subscribers for signing up, set expectations and invite them to whitelist your email address. You could link to your best getting started content.
Email 2: Product Intro (3 Days Later) – Educate new subscribers about your products/services and how you help customers. Use an eye-catching image and clear call-to-action button.
Email 3: Customer Story (6 Days Later) – Share a relatable case study or success story to build desire for your offering. Testimonials are great for overcoming skepticism.
Email 4: Limited Offer (9 Days Later) – Entice subscribers to make a purchase with an exclusive, time-sensitive discount or bonus offer. Remind them of the benefits and create urgency.
Email 5: Last Chance (12 Days Later) – Give one final reminder before the special offer expires to move hesitant prospects off the fence. Reiterate what they stand to gain.
Adjust the timing and number of emails based on your audience and goals. The Constant Contact automation builder lets you fine-tune every aspect, from triggers to delays to tracking.
Step 4: Design Your Emails
With your workflow mapped out, you can dive into crafting each individual email. Constant Contact provides an intuitive drag-and-drop email editor so you can create professional looking emails without any design or coding skills.
Start with one of their mobile-responsive email templates, then customize it with your brand colors, logo, images and text. Focus on compelling visuals and persuasive copywriting. Constant Contact‘s editor lets you easily preview how your email will look before sending.
Be sure to Include a prominent call-to-action in each email, whether it‘s to make a purchase, download a resource, or book a consultation. Tie each CTA to the goal of that specific email.
Step 5: Activate Your Email Drip Campaign
When you‘re happy with your email designs and workflow, simply change the toggle from "Paused" to "Active". Your automated email drip campaign will start sending to new subscribers based on the cadence you set.
Constant Contact provides robust analytics so you can see how your emails are performing, including opens, click-throughs, unsubscribes and more. Use this data to continually refine your email content and timing. Consider A/B testing elements like subject lines, calls-to-action, images and timing to optimize engagement.
Tips to Grow Your Email List for Drip Campaigns
To get the most out of your email drip campaigns, you need a sizable and engaged email list. Here are some proven tactics to quickly grow your list:
- Offer a valuable lead magnet, like an eBook, whitepaper, checklist or discount code that visitors can access in exchange for subscribing
- Run a viral contest or giveaway using a tool like RafflePress to incentivize email sign-ups
- Use exit-intent pop-ups to convert abandoning visitors into subscribers
- Add opt-in forms to your highest trafficked pages and blog posts
- Promote an upcoming webinar or course to drive registrations
Get creative with your email opt-in offers and make it a no-brainer for visitors to subscribe. Then you can nurture them over time with relevant email drip campaigns.
Push Notifications vs. Email Drip Campaigns
So which channel should you use for your drip campaigns – push notifications or email? The answer is: both!
Push notifications and email have unique advantages. Emails tend to have 5-10X higher click-through rates than push notifications. So email is better for long-form content and generating traffic back to your site.
However, push notifications have up to 3X higher opt-in rates than email. So you can quickly build a larger subscriber base. Notifications also feel more timely and urgent, making them great for flash sales and real-time updates.
Ideally, use push notifications and email in conjunction to maximize your reach and engagement. You might use push notifications for time-sensitive promotions and email for long-term nurturing. Or start with a push notification to tease new content, followed by an email with more details.
Whichever way you go, automated drip campaigns are one of the best ways to engage your audience and drive more traffic and revenue for your WordPress site. Implement the tools and tactics we covered and you‘ll be well on your way to drip campaign success!
