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Email Marketing Glossary.

Clear, no-fluff definitions of every email marketing term that matters—from open rates to double opt-in. 

 

Email Campaign

An email campaign is a coordinated set of one or more emails sent to achieve a specific goal—like promoting a sale, nurturing leads, or announcing a product. It's the basic unit of email marketing.

Also known as: email marketing campaign, campaign

An email campaign is any purposeful email effort aimed at a goal. It might be a single broadcast or a multi-email sequence, but it always has an objective and an audience in mind.

What types of email campaigns are there?

Promotional campaigns, newsletters, welcome and nurture sequences, abandoned cart and other automated flows, re-engagement campaigns, and seasonal campaigns are all common types.

Campaign vs. automation

A campaign is often a scheduled, one-time send to a segment; an automated flow triggers per subscriber based on behavior. Both are campaigns in the broad sense—the difference is timing and trigger.

What makes an email campaign successful?

A clear goal, the right segment, a compelling offer or message, one focused call to action, and measurement against the goal—then iteration based on results.

Related terms

Re-Engagement Campaign Seasonal Email Campaign Product Launch Email Cross-Sell Email Upsell Email Referral Email Promotional Email Email Blast Cold Email Broadcast Email Email Newsletter

Related reading from Drip

Create a Single Email Campaign (Help Center) The Guide to Email Marketing in 2026

Frequently asked questions

What is an email campaign?
An email campaign is a coordinated set of one or more emails sent to achieve a specific goal, such as promoting a sale, nurturing leads, or announcing a product. It's the basic unit of email marketing.
What are the types of email campaigns?
Common types include promotional campaigns, newsletters, welcome and nurture sequences, automated flows like abandoned cart, re-engagement campaigns, and seasonal campaigns.
What's the difference between a campaign and an automation?
A campaign is often a scheduled, one-time send to a segment, while an automated flow triggers individually per subscriber based on behavior. Both are campaigns broadly; the difference is their timing and trigger.
What makes an email campaign successful?
A clear goal, the right audience segment, a compelling message or offer, one focused call to action, and measurement against the goal—followed by iterating based on the results.
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