Imagine this: You open your email inbox in the morning, full of motivation and ready to conquer the world. In addition to the usual spam mails, you will also find a number of emails that will pique your interest. News from your industry and, fortunately, emails from companies that seem to offer potential for collaboration.

Chances are, some of those emails were part of an automated drip campaign, while others might have been personally written one-off emails from an ambitious sales rep. And this is where it gets interesting: Which of these two strategies actually performs better in B2B? Spoiler alert: It depends!

Choose wisely!

As you might guess, it all depends on the situation… your goals, your target audience, and let’s be honest … also your resources.

In this article, we’ll dive into the two heavyweight contenders of email marketing:

  • The drip campaign: Highly automated, well-structured, efficient. Like a finely tuned sales robot.
  • The one-off email: Personal, flexible, charming. Like a handwritten love letter to your lead.

We’re not just scratching the surface, we’ll explore the psychology, the mechanics, and the real-world applications. So by the end, you’ll be able to confidently choose the right strategy for your B2B business.

What is an Email Drip Campaign?

A drip campaign is a sequence of pre-planned emails sent automatically after the first cold contact, triggered by specific actions (e.g. registering for a webinar or downloading a whitepaper). The goal is to build trust gradually, share valuable content, and qualify leads over time.

Think of it like a digital watering system for your plants: With each email, you “drip” information and arguments onto your lead until they finally “bloom” and convert.

Advantages:

  • Scalable with minimal manual effort
  • Time-controlled and repeatable
  • Ideal for long-term lead nurturing
  • Enables A/B testing and analytics
  • Perfect for warm contacts (e.g. inbound leads)

Disadvantages:

  • Less flexible for individual queries
  • Risk of the “generic effect”: May feel impersonal
  • High initial effort for setup and planning

One-Off Emails – The Art of the Handcrafted Message

Unlike the automated sequence, a one-off email is manually written and sent. It’s often the very first touchpoint between sales and a prospect, and that’s exactly why it feels so personal and relevant.

Here, it’s about the human, not the tool. A clever opening line, a reference to the recipient’s industry, a real reason for reaching out: These all signal real relevance!

Advantages:

  • High level of personalization
  • Authentic and direct
  • Very flexible in timing and tone
  • Ideal for high-value deals or strategic prospects
  • Effective for highly specific target accounts

Disadvantages:

  • Not scalable
  • Time-consuming
  • Limited automation and analytics

When Does What Make Sense? Let Your Goals Be Your Guide

The key question is: What do you want, or need, to achieve?

Your strategy should be based on clearly defined goals, not gut feeling. And that’s exactly where the paths of drip campaigns and one-off emails begin to diverge.

Typical goals for drip campaigns:

  • Building relationships over time
  • Automated nurturing
  • Training or onboarding emails
  • Consistent content delivery

Typical goals for one-off emails:

  • Cold outreach to niche audiences
  • First contact with key decision-makers
  • Follow-ups after events or calls
  • Invitations to exclusive demos or meetings

Our Quick Guide for you:

  • Many contacts + limited time → Drip
  • Few contacts + high value → One-off email
  • Lots of content to share → Drip
  • Personal relevance is key → One-off email
  • Bancomail address lists are an ideal basis for drip and one-off emails

The Hybrid Approach – Best of Both Worlds

Like so many things in life and work, it’s not always black or white. So what if you can’t, or don’t want to, choose just one? That’s fine! A smart hybrid approach can combine the best of both strategies. For example, start with a drip campaign to build trust and awareness, and then follow up with a personal one-off email once the lead shows signs of interest.

A potential hybrid scenario:

  • Lead downloads a whitepaper of your first cold email → drip campaign starts
  • After 2–3 emails, the recipient clicks on an offer → personal email follows with a meeting proposal
  • No interest? Drip continues or ends with a closing message

Advantages of the hybrid model:

  • Time-saving through automated pre-qualification
  • Personalized contact at just the right moment
  • Ideal for scalable sales processes
  • Software tools reduce manual workload

Tools, Resources & Implementation – What It Takes in Practice

Success isn’t just about strategy, it’s about execution. And that depends heavily on your company’s technical infrastructure, content resources, and manpower.

Key questions to ask yourself:

  • Do you already have quality content for drip sequences (e.g. whitepapers, case studies)?
  • Are you using a CRM or marketing automation tool?
  • How many leads do you need to manage each month?
  • Do your sales reps have time for personalized one-off emails?
  • What is the average value of a single deal?

Conclusion: It’s All About Balance …and Intention

Both email strategies have their place, and both can be extremely successful in B2B. The decisive factor is not what is currently trending, but what suits your business, regardless of whether you work with a cold email list or whether your email lists already consist of warm contacts.

If you have lots of leads to nurture, drip campaigns are your best friend. But if you want to win over high-value, high-relevance contacts, personal one-off emails are the way to go. And if you want to scale while keeping it human, the clever hybrid approach is your path to email marketing success.