Looking to get more replies from your outbound emails without burning out your team or annoying your prospects? This guide is for salespeople, founders, or anyone trying to automate outreach that still feels personal. We’ll walk through setting up drip campaigns in Listkit — what actually works, where you can screw up, and how to keep things running smoothly as you ramp up.
Let’s skip the buzzwords and get into the nuts and bolts.
What is a Drip Campaign, and Why Bother?
A drip campaign is just a sequence of emails sent automatically over time. The idea: you reach out, follow up (because most people don’t reply to the first email), and do it all without manually chasing every lead.
Done right, it scales your sales outreach. Done wrong, you spam people and waste your time. Tools like Listkit help with the automation, but you still need a strategy.
What matters more than the tool: - Writing emails that sound human, not robotic. - Hitting the right frequency — not too much, not too little. - Keeping your list clean so you’re not spraying emails to dead leads.
Let’s get practical.
Step 1: Get Your Contacts in Order
Before you even touch Listkit’s drip features, you need a good list. “Garbage in, garbage out” is very real in outbound.
How to prep your list:
- Start with a targeted list. Don’t buy giant lists of randoms. Narrow it to your actual buyers.
- Clean it. Remove obvious junk, duplicates, and any “info@” or “sales@” emails.
- Enrich if you can. More context (like company size, job title) lets you personalize later.
Pro tip: If your bounces are higher than 2-3%, your list is probably bad. Fix that first.
Step 2: Set Up Your Listkit Account and Import Leads
Assuming you’ve signed up for Listkit, here’s how to get going:
- Log in and head to the dashboard.
- Create a new campaign or list. Name it something you’ll recognize.
- Import your contacts. Listkit typically accepts CSV files. Map your fields (first name, email, company, etc.) during import.
Watch out for: - Incorrect column mapping — double-check that “email” is really the email column. - Uploading the same person twice — Listkit flags duplicates, but it’s not foolproof.
Step 3: Connect Your Sending Email Account
You can’t run a drip campaign without an email sender. Here’s what to do:
- Go to Settings > Email Accounts in Listkit.
- Connect your work email (Google Workspace, Outlook, etc.).
- Authenticate and set sending limits. Don’t try to send 500 emails a day from a brand-new domain — you’ll land in spam.
Honest take:
If you’re using a new domain, warm it up first. Send some genuine emails before blasting out sequences. Otherwise, your whole campaign could end up in spam folders.
Step 4: Build Your Drip Sequence
Now the fun (and hard) part: writing the actual emails.
How to create a sequence in Listkit:
- Create a new drip sequence under your campaign.
- Add steps (emails):
- First email: Your introduction or pitch.
- Follow-ups: 2-4 spaced over several days. Each one should feel like a real person following up, not a robot nagging.
- Set delays between emails (e.g., 2-4 days is a good start).
What actually works:
- Short emails. No one reads long cold pitches.
- Personalization tokens. Listkit lets you use placeholders like {{first_name}} or {{company}}.
- Value in every message. Don’t just say, “bumping this to the top.” Give them a reason to care.
What doesn’t:
- Generic templates. If your email could go to anyone, it’ll get ignored.
- Too many follow-ups. More than 4-5 total emails is pushing it.
- Attaching files or links in the first email. This triggers spam filters.
Pro tip: Write your sequence in a Google Doc first. Read it out loud. If you sound like a spammer, so will your emails.
Step 5: Add Personalization (Without Losing Your Mind)
Listkit supports merge tags (like {{first_name}}). Use them, but don’t rely on them alone.
Easy ways to personalize at scale: - Mention the prospect’s company or recent achievement (if you can pull it in). - Reference a common pain point, not just “I saw you’re in tech.” - Segment your list and tweak the messaging for each segment.
Skip:
Trying to manually personalize every single email if you’re sending hundreds. Instead, make your templates feel human and relevant to the group you’re reaching.
Step 6: Set Up Sending Rules and Schedules
Don’t just let the campaign rip and hope for the best. Use Listkit’s controls to reduce the chance of annoying people (or getting blocked).
- Set daily sending caps. Start low (25-50/day per sender) and ramp up if response rates are good.
- Randomize sending times. Looks more natural than blasting everyone at 9:01am.
- Pause on reply. Make sure your sequence automatically stops if someone writes back.
Pro tip:
Avoid weekends and holidays. Response rates tank, and it looks less professional.
Step 7: Test Your Sequence (Seriously, Don’t Skip This)
Before you hit “start” on a big batch:
- Send test emails to yourself and your team. Check formatting, merge tags, and whether anything lands in spam.
- Check for broken links or weird formatting.
- Test with a small batch (10-20 contacts) before scaling up.
What to ignore:
Promises that AI or “smart send” features will magically fix bad emails. Automation can’t save a bad sequence.
Step 8: Launch and Monitor
Now you’re ready to actually send.
- Monitor replies daily. Respond fast — speed matters in outbound.
- Track open, click, and reply rates. If you’re getting less than 5% replies, your messaging needs work.
- Watch for bounce rates. If they creep up, pause and check your list.
Signs you need to tweak: - Lots of unsubscribes or complaints? Tone it down or rework your targeting. - No replies after 2 follow-ups? Time to test a new script.
Step 9: Iterate and Improve
Outbound isn’t “set and forget.” The best campaigns are constantly tweaked.
- Try A/B tests. Subject lines, intro sentences, call to action.
- Remove or replace underperforming emails.
- Update your list. Dead leads? Take them out.
Don’t be afraid to kill a sequence that isn’t working. Better to start fresh than keep hammering a bad angle.
Real Talk: What to Ignore and What Actually Matters
Ignore: - Hype about “AI-powered personalization” unless you’re sending at huge scale. It usually sounds fake. - Sending more emails just because you can. Quality > quantity. - Fancy HTML templates. Plain text works better for cold outreach.
Focus on: - Writing like a human. - Good targeting. - Consistent (but not overwhelming) follow-up.
Wrapping Up
Setting up drip campaigns in Listkit isn’t rocket science, but it does take some care and judgment. Keep your emails honest, your targeting sharp, and don’t worry about being perfect out of the gate. Start small, see what works, and tweak as you go. That’s how you actually get better results — not by buying into the latest hack or sending more, faster.
Keep it simple, don’t overthink it, and you’ll do fine.