A newsletter blast reaches everyone at the same moment regardless of where they are in their relationship with you. A drip meets each person at their own day one, day three, day thirty. The new inquiry and the five-year client should not get the same message, and drips are how that stops happening without anyone managing it.
Welcome, which sets expectations while attention is highest. Post-delivery, which confirms, gathers the review, and plants the next booking. And win-back, which quietly re-invites customers who lapsed past their natural repeat interval. Those three cover the moments where money is actually decided; seasonal cleverness can wait.
Triggers tied to real events instead of arbitrary calendars, content that gives before it asks, and exits everywhere: a reply, a purchase, or an unsubscribe should immediately stop the sequence. The test we hold sequences to: would a great front-desk person have sent this message at this moment by hand? If yes, automate it forever.
As long as it stays useful, usually three to six messages. The goal is being helpfully present through a decision window, not filling a quota.
Triggered drips routinely double the engagement of batch blasts because timing carries relevance. Judge each message by the action it produces, not opens alone.
Yes, with tighter frequency and clear consent. Email carries the depth, SMS carries the time-sensitive nudges, and the two work best sharing one brain.
Everything in this glossary, we build and operate for real businesses. Thirty minutes maps it to yours.