email-sequences

# Email Sequences

Plan and write email campaigns. Sequences (multi-message flows triggered by events) and broadcasts (one-off sends). Stack-agnostic. Works with any email service provider.

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## When to use

- Writing welcome and onboarding email sequences
- Planning lifecycle campaigns (activation, retention, win-back)
- Writing transactional emails (receipts, password resets, notifications)
- Newsletter design and writing
- Abandoned-cart or re-engagement flows
- Writing a one-off broadcast, launch announcement, or news email
- Drafting email subject lines and preview text for any send

## When NOT to use

- Landing pages and conversion pages (use `landing-page-copy`)
- Long-form articles (use `content-and-copy`)
- Brand voice work (use `brand-voice`)
- Analytics setup for email (use `analytics-strategy`)

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## Required inputs

- The audience (segment or list)
- The trigger or context (signup, purchase, abandonment, time-based, manual)
- The goal of the email or sequence
- Brand voice
- Any technical constraints (provider, deliverability requirements)

If the audience is undefined, define it before writing. Generic emails to "everyone" perform worse than targeted ones.

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## The framework: 6 sequence types

Most email programs run a handful of standard sequence patterns. Each has its own goals, structure, and pitfalls.

### 1. Welcome / onboarding

Triggered by signup. Goal: get the user to first value.

**Typical structure (5 emails over 14 days):**

- **Email 1 (immediate):** Welcome. Confirm they're in. State what happens next. Single CTA: the next obvious action.
- **Email 2 (day 1 or 2):** First-value step. Help them get to a quick win or core action.
- **Email 3 (day 4 or 5):** Education. Show them something they probably haven't discovered yet.
- **Email 4 (day 8):** Social proof. Customer story or use case relevant to their segment.
- **Email 5 (day 14):** Outcome reminder. Where they could be in 30/60/90 days. Soft commercial cue.

**Common failure:** Front-loading product features. Users don't care about features yet; they care about getting to value.

### 2. Lifecycle / activation

Time- or behavior-triggered. Goal: move users from signup to engaged user.

**Patterns:**
- Sent when a user completes a milestone (first project, first invite, first export)
- Or sent when a user has NOT completed a milestone after N days
- Each email targets a specific next step

**Best practice:** Trigger on behavior, not just time. A user who has done 3 onboarding steps doesn't need an email telling them to get started.

### 3. Retention / engagement

Ongoing. Goal: keep active users engaged.

**Patterns:**
- Newsletter (weekly or monthly)
- Product updates
- Tips and tutorials
- Customer-only content (community, behind-the-scenes)

**Cadence rule:** Frequency that earns the read, not frequency that fills the calendar. Weekly newsletter that is genuinely useful beats daily newsletter that gets archived.

### 4. Re-engagement / win-back

Triggered by inactivity. Goal: pull a lapsed user back.

**Typical structure (3 emails):**

- **Email 1:** "We miss you" framing or value reminder. What's new since they were last active.
- **Email 2:** Specific incentive (discount, feature unlock, content offer).
- **Email 3:** "Last call" or list-cleaning email. "We'll stop emailing you unless you click this."

**Best practice:** Honor the unsubscribe. Aggressive win-back damages deliverability. A clean list of engaged subscribers beats a large list of inactive ones.

### 5. Transactional

Triggered by actions: receipts, password resets, notifications, order confirmations, shipping updates.

**Best practices:**
- Confirm the action that triggered the email at the top
- Include all relevant detail without padding
- Use plain language ("Your order shipped" not "Your shipment notification")
- One primary CTA (track package, view receipt, view account)
- Subject line states the action ("Your receipt for order #12345")

**Highest open rates** of any email type. Use sparingly for marketing nudges; over-marketing transactional emails damages trust.

### 6. Broadcast

One-off sends. Announcements, launches, news, time-sensitive campaigns.

**Best practices:**
- Subject line earns the open
- Single clear message per send
- Specific audience targeting (do not blast the entire list for narrow announcements)
- Clear CTA in the first screen-height
- Mobile-optimized (most opens are mobile)

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## The 5 components of every email

Regardless of sequence type, every email has the same components.

### 1. Subject line

The deciding factor for whether the email gets opened.

**Patterns:**
- **Specific** ("Your week 1 progress: 3 of 5 steps done")
- **Curiosity** ("The mistake most teams make in week 2")
- **Direct** ("Your invoice #12345")
- **Personal** ("Quick question, [name]")
- **Urgency** ("Last day for the team plan discount") - use sparingly

**Avoid:**
- ALL CAPS
- Excessive punctuation (!!!)
- Click-bait that doesn't deliver
- Generic ("Newsletter #23")

**Length:** 30 to 50 characters. Mobile clients truncate longer.

### 2. Preview text (preheader)

The line that appears below or beside the subject in most email clients.

**Best practice:**
- Treat as the subject's wingman
- Add what the subject line couldn't fit
- Avoid wasting it on "View this email in browser"
- 50 to 90 characters

### 3. Opening

The first line of the email body. The reader is deciding whether to keep reading.

**Strong openings:**
- Reference the trigger ("You signed up yesterday for...")
- Get to the point ("Here's what changed this week...")
- Personal ("Saw your team just hit milestone X. Nice work.")

**Weak openings:**
- "I hope this email finds you well."
- "Welcome to our amazing platform."
- Long throat-clearing before the actual content

### 4. Body

The substance.

**Length guide:**
- Welcome and transactional: under 100 words
- Lifecycle and activation: 100 to 250 words
- Newsletter: 200 to 800 words depending on forma