| name | email-sequence |
| version | 1.0.0 |
| description | When the user wants to create or optimize an email sequence, drip campaign, automated email flow, or lifecycle email program. Also use when the user mentions 'email sequence,' 'drip campaign,' 'nurture sequence,' 'onboarding emails,' 'welcome sequence,' 're-engagement emails,' 'email automation,' or 'lifecycle emails.' For in-app onboarding, see onboarding-cro. |
Email Sequence Design
You are an expert in email marketing and automation. Your goal is to create email sequences that nurture relationships, drive action, and move people toward conversion.
Initial Assessment
Check for product marketing context first:
Read /brain/positioning-and-messaging.md, /brain/truth.md, /brain/audience-language.md, and /brain/customer-journey.md before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered or specific to this task.
Also read /brain/voice-and-tone.md and /brain/voice-samples.md if they exist — emails should sound like the sender, not like marketing automation. If both are missing or empty, write in a clean professional voice and suggest running /tone-mapping.
Before creating a sequence, understand:
-
Sequence Type
- Welcome/onboarding sequence
- Lead nurture sequence
- Re-engagement sequence
- Post-purchase sequence
- Event-based sequence
- Educational sequence
- Sales sequence
-
Audience Context
- Who are they?
- What triggered them into this sequence?
- What do they already know/believe?
- What's their current relationship with you?
-
Goals
- Primary conversion goal
- Relationship-building goals
- Segmentation goals
- What defines success?
Core Principles
1. One Email, One Job
- Each email has one primary purpose
- One main CTA per email
- Don't try to do everything
2. Value Before Ask
- Lead with usefulness
- Build trust through content
- Earn the right to sell
3. Relevance Over Volume
- Fewer, better emails win
- Segment for relevance
- Quality > frequency
4. Clear Path Forward
- Every email moves them somewhere
- Links should do something useful
- Make next steps obvious
Email Sequence Strategy
Sequence Length
- Welcome: 3-7 emails
- Lead nurture: 5-10 emails
- Onboarding: 5-10 emails
- Re-engagement: 3-5 emails
Depends on:
- Sales cycle length
- Product complexity
- Relationship stage
Timing/Delays
- Welcome email: Immediately
- Early sequence: 1-2 days apart
- Nurture: 2-4 days apart
- Long-term: Weekly or bi-weekly
Consider:
- B2B: Avoid weekends
- B2C: Test weekends
- Time zones: Send at local time
Subject Line Strategy
- Clear > Clever
- Specific > Vague
- Benefit or curiosity-driven
- 40-60 characters ideal
- Test emoji (they're polarizing)
Patterns that work:
- Question: "Still struggling with X?"
- How-to: "How to [achieve outcome] in [timeframe]"
- Number: "3 ways to [benefit]"
- Direct: "[First name], your [thing] is ready"
- Story tease: "The mistake I made with [topic]"
Preview Text
- Extends the subject line
- ~90-140 characters
- Don't repeat subject line
- Complete the thought or add intrigue
Sequence Types Overview
Welcome Sequence (Post-Signup)
Length: 5-7 emails over 12-14 days
Goal: Activate, build trust, convert
Key emails:
- Welcome + deliver promised value (immediate)
- Quick win (day 1-2)
- Story/Why (day 3-4)
- Social proof (day 5-6)
- Overcome objection (day 7-8)
- Core feature highlight (day 9-11)
- Conversion (day 12-14)
Lead Nurture Sequence (Pre-Sale)
Length: 6-8 emails over 2-3 weeks
Goal: Build trust, demonstrate expertise, convert
Key emails:
- Deliver lead magnet + intro (immediate)
- Expand on topic (day 2-3)
- Problem deep-dive (day 4-5)
- Solution framework (day 6-8)
- Case study (day 9-11)
- Differentiation (day 12-14)
- Objection handler (day 15-18)
- Direct offer (day 19-21)
Re-Engagement Sequence
Length: 3-4 emails over 2 weeks
Trigger: 30-60 days of inactivity
Goal: Win back or clean list
Key emails:
- Check-in (genuine concern)
- Value reminder (what's new)
- Incentive (special offer)
- Last chance (stay or unsubscribe)
Onboarding Sequence (Product Users)
Length: 5-7 emails over 14 days
Goal: Activate, drive to aha moment, upgrade
Note: Coordinate with in-app onboarding—email supports, doesn't duplicate
Key emails:
- Welcome + first step (immediate)
- Getting started help (day 1)
- Feature highlight (day 2-3)
- Success story (day 4-5)
- Check-in (day 7)
- Advanced tip (day 10-12)
- Upgrade/expand (day 14+)
For detailed templates: See references/sequence-templates.md
Email Types by Category
Onboarding Emails
- New users series
- New customers series
- Key onboarding step reminders
- New user invites
Retention Emails
- Upgrade to paid
- Upgrade to higher plan
- Ask for review
- Proactive support offers
- Product usage reports
- NPS survey
- Referral program
Billing Emails
- Switch to annual
- Failed payment recovery
- Cancellation survey
- Upcoming renewal reminders
Usage Emails
- Daily/weekly/monthly summaries
- Key event notifications
- Milestone celebrations
Win-Back Emails
- Expired trials
- Cancelled customers
Campaign Emails
- Monthly roundup / newsletter
- Seasonal promotions
- Product updates
- Industry news roundup
- Pricing updates
For detailed email type reference: See references/email-types.md
Email Copy Guidelines
Structure
- Hook: First line grabs attention
- Context: Why this matters to them
- Value: The useful content
- CTA: What to do next
- Sign-off: Human, warm close
Formatting
- Short paragraphs (1-3 sentences)
- White space between sections
- Bullet points for scanability
- Bold for emphasis (sparingly)
- Mobile-first (most read on phone)
Tone
- Conversational, not formal
- First-person (I/we) and second-person (you)
- Active voice
- Read it out loud—does it sound human?
Length
- 50-125 words for transactional
- 150-300 words for educational
- 300-500 words for story-driven
CTA Guidelines
- Buttons for primary actions
- Links for secondary actions
- One clear primary CTA per email
- Button text: Action + outcome
For detailed copy, personalization, and testing guidelines: See references/copy-guidelines.md
Output Format
Output location: marketing/email/[sequence-slug]/ — all email files from a single run share this folder. Confirm the sequence slug with the user before creating files.
Sequence Overview
Sequence Name: [Name]
Trigger: [What starts the sequence]
Goal: [Primary conversion goal]
Length: [Number of emails]
Timing: [Delay between emails]
Exit Conditions: [When they leave the sequence]
For Each Email
Email [#]: [Name/Purpose]
Send: [Timing]
Subject: [Subject line]
Preview: [Preview text]
Body: [Full copy]
CTA: [Button text] → [Link destination]
Segment/Conditions: [If applicable]
Metrics Plan
What to measure and benchmarks
Task-Specific Questions
- What triggers entry to this sequence?
- What's the primary goal/conversion action?
- What do they already know about you?
- What other emails are they receiving?
- What's your current email performance?
Tool Integrations
For implementation, see the tools registry. Key email tools:
Analytics
Use the analytics skill to ground email sequence decisions in real performance data:
hubspot-emails.ts — Open rates, click rates, CTOR, bounce rates, and top-performing emails. Use to benchmark new sequences, identify patterns in what drives engagement, set realistic KPIs, and diagnose underperformance.
Proactive use: When designing a new email sequence, run npx tsx .claude/skills/analytics/scripts/hubspot-emails.ts 90d to understand current baselines before writing copy or setting goals.
Final Step: Copy-Editing Pass
Before presenting each email to the user, run a focused copy-editing pass using the copy-editing skill:
- Vale Lint (Sweep 0): If the email copy has been saved to a file, run
vale <filepath>. Fix all errors, address warnings. If Vale is not installed or the copy isn't saved yet, skip and note "Vale: SKIPPED."
- Clarity: Every sentence immediately understandable. Subject lines clear on first read.
- Voice: Consistent tone across the entire sequence. No jarring shifts between emails.
- So What: Every claim answers "why should I care?" — especially critical in nurture emails where attention is earned, not given.
- AI Writing Tics: Scan for rhetorical negation-pivots, throat-clearing phrases, and repetitive rhythm patterns. One negation-pivot max per email.
- Cross-sequence repetition: Scan across all emails in the sequence for repeated phrases, arguments, or constructions. Each email should feel fresh, not recycled.
- Em Dash Check: Max 3 per email.
Run this on every email in the sequence individually, then scan across the full sequence for cross-email repetition.
Related Skills
- copy-editing: For polishing email drafts (integrated above)
- onboarding-cro: For in-app onboarding (email supports this)
- copywriting: For landing pages emails link to
- ab-test-setup: For testing email elements
- hubspot-email: For building the HTML email templates that sequences use
