So you want to set up personalized drip campaigns for your SaaS company, but don’t want to get buried in marketing fluff or endless configuration screens. Good news: you don’t have to. This guide is for SaaS folks—product managers, growth leads, technical marketers—who want to actually use Customer.io to send smarter, more personal emails, not just set-and-forget mass blasts.
You’ll get the real steps, honest advice, and some pitfalls to avoid. Let’s get into it.
1. Figure Out What You Actually Want to Happen
Before you touch Customer.io, get clear on your goal. Drip campaigns can do a lot—onboarding, feature adoption, win-backs—but if you try to do everything at once, you’ll do nothing well.
Common SaaS use cases: - New user onboarding (walk them through the product) - Feature or plan upsell nudges - Trial conversion reminders - Churn prevention (catch users before they disappear)
Pro tip: Pick one flow to start. Don’t try to automate your entire lifecycle in one go. You’ll just end up with a spaghetti mess.
2. Map Out the Key Events and Data
Customer.io is powerful because it connects to your product data. But you need to know what to track.
What to map: - Events: Actions users take (signup, invite sent, feature used, payment failed) - Attributes: Who they are (plan, company size, last login)
Don’t overthink it: You don’t need every possible event. Focus on what actually matters for your drip (e.g., for onboarding: “signed up,” “invited teammate,” “created first project”).
What to skip: Vanity data you’ll never use (like “clicked FAQ link”). It just clutters things up.
3. Get Your Data Into Customer.io
You have a few options here, and this is usually the most technical step. If you’re not the dev, grab one.
Options: - API: Best if you want total control and have dev resources. You’ll POST events and attributes as users interact with your app. - Segment/analytics integration: If you already use Segment, you can pipe data directly into Customer.io. - Manual CSV upload: Only use this for tests or small lists. Painful and not scalable.
Pro tips: - Start with just a few key events/attributes—don’t wait for the “perfect” schema. - Make sure your user IDs match between your product and Customer.io, or you’ll get a mess of duplicates.
4. Build Your Drip Campaign Workflow
Now you’re ready to build the actual drip. This is where Customer.io’s workflow builder comes in.
How to keep it simple: - Start with a trigger: Usually an event (like “User signed up”). - Add delays: Wait a day or two between emails. Don’t blast people immediately. - Branch as needed: If you want to personalize, use filters (e.g., “If plan = Pro, send this version”).
Example: New user onboarding sequence 1. Trigger: User signs up. 2. Email #1 (Immediate): “Welcome! Here’s how to get started.” 3. Delay: 2 days. 4. Email #2: “Have you invited your team yet?” 5. Delay: 3 days. 6. Email #3: “Pro tip: Use [feature] to save time.” 7. Exit: If user completes key action, stop the sequence.
What not to do: - Don’t build a giant, 10-email flow before you’ve even sent the first one. - Don’t try to personalize every single message right away. Start with a few key segments.
5. Write Emails That Sound Like a Human
This is where most SaaS drips go off the rails. Your users can spot a generic, “Dear valued customer” campaign a mile away.
How to write better drip emails: - Use the user’s name or company if you have it. But don’t overdo it—“Hi {{first_name}}” is enough. - Focus on one thing per email. Don’t cram three CTAs in. - Be direct: “Here’s how to start a project,” not “We hope you’re enjoying the platform.” - Use plain language. No buzzwords, no fake excitement. - Test your emails by reading them out loud. If you cringe, so will your users.
Skip: Fancy HTML templates. Simple, text-based emails usually get better results (and feel more personal).
6. Add Personalization and Branching (But Keep It Manageable)
Once your basic flow works, you can get clever. Customer.io lets you send different messages based on user data.
Ways to personalize: - By plan: Free users get upgrade nudges; paid users get advanced tips. - By activity: If they haven’t used a feature, send a how-to. If they have, skip it. - By company size: Small teams get different advice than big ones.
How not to overcomplicate: - Each new branch doubles the complexity. Only add branches if you’re sure they’ll make a difference. - If you’re not measuring results, you’re just guessing. Don’t create segments you can’t track.
7. Test Everything (But Don’t Wait Forever)
Don’t assume your emails work. People ignore more emails than they read.
How to test: - Use Customer.io’s built-in test/send-to-yourself features. - Send to a test segment before going live. - Monitor for broken personalization (nothing kills trust like “Hi {{first_name}}”).
A/B testing: - Test one thing at a time (subject line, CTA, or timing). - Ignore tiny lifts (1–2%) unless you have a huge user base. Focus on big, obvious wins.
8. Measure Results and Prune Ruthlessly
Don’t set it and forget it. The magic is in iteration.
What to measure: - Open rates (mostly for sanity check—Apple Mail privacy makes these less useful) - Click rates (better, but still imperfect) - Actual product actions (did they finish onboarding? Upgrade? Churn?)
What to ignore: - Vanity metrics like “delivered” or “unsubscribes” (unless you see a spike) - Overly granular data—if nobody’s reading your fifth email, drop it.
Ruthless pruning: - Delete emails nobody opens. - Cut flows that don’t move the needle. - Iterate on subject lines, timing, and copy based on real feedback.
Common Pitfalls (and How to Dodge Them)
- Trying to do too much at once: Start small. It’s easier to add than to subtract.
- Over-segmenting: If you have more segments than users, you’re overthinking it.
- Ignoring product data: The best drips react to what people do, not just time passing.
- Letting things get stale: Review your flows quarterly. Outdated info = lost trust.
- Chasing “best practices” over your own data: What works for SaaS giants may not work for you. Trust your numbers.
Keep It Simple, Ship It, Then Iterate
You don’t need a 20-email, AI-powered, hyper-personalized journey to get results. Most SaaS teams see real gains from a basic, well-timed drip with a few smart branches. Start with one flow, get it working, then build from there. Overcomplicating kills momentum.
Remember: the best drip campaigns feel like they came from a real person who knows what you need, right when you need it. Use Customer.io’s tools, but don’t let the tool run you. Ship something simple, watch what happens, and improve as you go. That’s how you win.