Email and customers · Lesson 5.3
10 Email Automation Sequence Strategies to Choose From
Ten tips is too many to use and just enough to feel guilty about. So treat this list as a menu. Each strategy for an email automation sequence below says what it is, how to try it and what to watch. Pick two. Run them for a month. Then pick two more.
I am not going to attach made up results to each one. Your list, your offer and your readers are different from anyone else's, so the only result that counts is what you see after you try it.
Lesson 5.3 shows how to build the whole journey around these ideas: An email journey that keeps paying.
Change one thing at a time in your email automation sequence, or you will never know which change helped.
The ten strategies
1. Give each email one job
Write the job in one line before you write the email. "Introduce myself." "Solve one small problem." "Make the offer." If an email has two jobs, split it or cut one.
2. Send the first email straight away
Set the first email to send as soon as someone joins, not at the next batch time. They signed up a minute ago and your name is fresh in their head.
3. Lead with something useful
Mailchimp's guidance on welcome messages says to share content about what you offer but avoid a hard sell at the early stage. Put a real tip, checklist or answer in the first two emails.
4. Write one clear next step per email
One link, one button, one question to reply to. When an email offers four things, readers often do none of them.
5. Use proof you actually have
Real customer words with permission, a before and after you really produced, or a walk through of how you work. If you have none yet, describe your process honestly. Never invent a testimonial.
6. Ask a question people can answer in a line
Ending one email with a question gives replies, and replies teach you what your readers care about. Keep the question easy, such as "What is the biggest thing slowing your week down?"
7. Branch on behaviour, once you are ready
Email tools can send different follow ups depending on what a reader did or did not do. Mailchimp's journey builder describes this kind of branching. Try it only after your straight line sequence is running, since branches double the number of emails to write and check.
8. Stop the sequence when they buy
Someone who bought should not receive email four, the offer, a day later. Set an exit so a purchase removes them from the pitch emails and moves them to a thank you or onboarding message. Check how your tool handles this before launch.
9. Prune people who never engage
Keep an eye on the readers who never click or reply. Google's sender guidelines ask senders to keep spam rates reported in Postmaster Tools below 0.10% and to avoid reaching 0.30%. Sending to people who ignore you and then report you hurts that number. A gentle "do you still want these?" email, then removal, protects your list.
10. Review the weakest email monthly
Look at the sequence once a month, find the email where most people drop off, and change one thing: the subject line, the opening, the link. Then leave it for another month.
Which ones to pick first
| Strategy | Effort to set up | Best when |
|---|---|---|
| 1. One job per email | Low | You are writing the sequence now |
| 2. Send straight away | Low | Your first email goes out in a batch |
| 3. Lead with useful | Low | Your drafts open with a pitch |
| 4. One next step | Low | Your emails have several links |
| 5. Real proof | Medium | You have customers who would speak up |
| 6. One line question | Low | You want to hear from your readers |
| 7. Branching | High | The basic sequence already runs |
| 8. Stop on purchase | Medium | You sell something people buy once |
| 9. Prune quiet readers | Medium | Your list has been sitting for months |
| 10. Monthly review | Low | You want to improve with evidence |
If you are starting from nothing, strategies 1, 2 and 4 cost the least and fix the most common problems. If you already send a sequence, 8 and 10 usually matter most.
A note on measuring
It is tempting to judge each strategy by open rates. Be careful. Mailchimp's Apple privacy FAQ explains that with Apple Mail Privacy Protection, emails in Apple Mail are reported as opened regardless of what the contact did, so open rates are inflated. Judge by clicks, replies and sales. The post on email automation metrics explains how to read them each week.
A few cautions before you start
Two strategies in this list deserve extra care. Branching (7) and pruning (9) both change who receives what, so a mistake in either one can quietly stop emails reaching people who wanted them. Test each with your own contact before it touches real subscribers.
Also keep each change small enough to undo. If you rewrite a subject line and the numbers drop, you want to put the old one back in a minute, not rebuild a sequence. Save a copy of the old text in a notes file with the date before you edit anything.
Finally, be realistic about timing. A sequence only produces data as new people join it, so a quiet month on a small list tells you little. If very few people join, extend the test to two months rather than drawing a conclusion from a handful of readers.
How to run a two strategy month
- Write down your starting pointNote how many people joined, how many clicked and how many bought, so you have something to compare with.
- Choose two strategiesPick ones that do not touch the same email, so you can tell them apart.
- Make the changes in one sittingEdit the emails, check the links and send yourself a test.
- Wait a full monthShort waits give you noise, especially on a small list.
- Compare and decideKeep what helped, undo what did not, and choose the next two.
Questions people ask
Which strategy should I try first?
One job per email. It costs only thinking time and it improves every other email you write.
How big does my list need to be to test these?
Small lists give noisy results, so look for big differences and treat small ones as guesses. Do not change ten things on a list of fifty people.
Do I need branching to have a good sequence?
No. A straight line of five clear emails is a good sequence. Branching is an extra.
Where to go next
If you want these strategies built into a working journey, Lesson 5.3, An email journey that keeps paying, takes you from the map to five written emails and the timing. For a ready made layout, see the free template.