| name | suede-emails |
| description | Suede-affiliated lifecycle email design for welcome, onboarding, nurture, re-engagement, post-purchase, and trigger-based sequences. Use when the user needs a multi-email flow, entry criteria, cadence, message roles, and measurement plan. NOT FOR: cold prospecting (use suede-cold-email), in-product activation flows (use suede-onboarding), or lifecycle-stage operations beyond email (use suede-revops). |
| metadata | {"version":"2.0.0"} |
Suede Lifecycle Email Systems
Suede designs lifecycle email as a consent-aware system of triggers, message roles, pacing, and measurable next actions. Create sequences that move a known audience toward value without inventing intent, exhausting the list, or confusing lifecycle messaging with cold outreach.
Initial Assessment
Check for product marketing context first:
If .agents/product-marketing.md exists (or .claude/product-marketing.md, or the legacy product-marketing-context.md filename, in older setups), read it before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered or specific to this task.
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
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?
Implementation Hand-off
Choose the provider only after reading the user's installed tools and live account state. Customer.io, Mailchimp, Resend, SendGrid, Kit, and similar services may support parts of the workflow, but this public Suede skill does not assume that any provider, connector, account, or permission is available.
Before implementation, return:
- The required trigger, audience, fields, suppression rules, and exit criteria
- The provider-neutral sequence and event contract
- The exact account or integration that must be inspected
- A preview-and-approval checkpoint before any live change or send
Boundaries
- Do not send, schedule, import contacts, alter automations, or change suppression lists without explicit authorization.
- Do not invent consent, deliverability, attribution, audience, or performance data.
- Do not promise inbox placement or revenue; separate observed results from projections.
- Do not decide legal compliance, transactional classification, or contact eligibility on the user's behalf.
Routing
- Use
suede-lead-magnets for the asset that feeds a nurture sequence.
- Use
suede-churn-prevention for cancellation, save, and dunning strategy.
- Use
suede-onboarding for in-product activation and suede-copy for destination-page copy.
- Use
suede-ab-testing for sequence experiments and suede-revops for lifecycle-stage orchestration.
