Email and customers · Lesson 5.3
Email Automation Sequence vs Sending by Hand: Which Wins?
If you only get a few new subscribers a week, it is fair to ask whether an email automation sequence is worth setting up. You could just write to each person yourself. Sometimes that is the right call. This post compares the two honestly so you can decide for your own situation.
The numbers below are an illustrative example, not a measured test. Swap in your own.
Lesson 5.3 covers the automated route in full: An email journey that keeps paying. Read this first to decide whether you need it.
Sending by hand wins when you have very few leads and a lot to say to each; an email automation sequence wins once the same follow up is being written again and again.
The same job, done both ways
Say you run a small bakery that sells cake orders and a weekly bread subscription. People join your list through a form on your site. Your goal is that new subscribers try the bread subscription. The job: follow up with each new subscriber over about a week.
The manual way
When someone joins, you notice (eventually), write them a hello, and a few days later write a second note. You remember some people and forget others. When you are busy with a wedding cake week, nobody gets anything.
The automated way
You write five emails once. Your tool sends email one when a person joins, then the others on the delays you set. Everyone gets the same journey in the same order. You write nothing new for each person.
Side by side
| Question | By hand | Automation sequence |
|---|---|---|
| Setup time | None | A few hours once |
| Time per new subscriber | Several minutes each | Almost none |
| Consistency | Depends on your week | Same every time |
| Personal touch | High, if you do it | Lower, unless you work at it |
| Cost | Your time | Your time plus whatever your tool plan costs |
| Risk | Forgetting people | Sending something wrong to everyone |
| Best for | Under about a few leads a week | Steady or growing flow of sign ups |
The "few leads a week" line is a rule of thumb, not a verified threshold. The honest test is below.
A worked example with made up numbers
Imagine each manual follow up takes you ten minutes to write well, and you send three across the week. That is thirty minutes per new subscriber. If twelve people join in a month, that is six hours. If fifty join, it is twenty five hours, which no baker has.
Now imagine the automated version takes four hours to build once. At twelve sign ups a month, you break even in about two months. At fifty, you break even in the first month. These are invented figures to show the shape of the maths. Yours will differ, and the setup may take longer the first time.
The point is the shape: manual cost grows with every person, and automated cost mostly does not.
What you lose by automating
Be honest about the downsides.
- Less warmth by default. An automated email can sound like a template. Write them in your voice, use what you know about the reader, and invite replies.
- Mistakes spread. A wrong link in a manual email affects one person. In a sequence it affects everyone who joins until you notice. Always send yourself a test.
- It needs maintenance. Prices change, offers end and links break. Put a monthly check in your calendar.
- Rules still apply. The FTC's CAN-SPAM guide says commercial emails need your valid postal address and a clear opt out, and that you must honour opt outs within 10 business days. Automation does not change that. Your tool normally adds an unsubscribe link, but check that your address is in the footer.
What you lose by staying manual
- Gaps. People who join during a busy week hear nothing. Mailchimp's journey guidance makes the point that automations keep working around the clock, even when you are away from the office.
- Slow replies. Someone who signs up at night and hears from you three days later has often moved on.
- No pattern to improve. When every email is different, you cannot tell which message works. A fixed sequence gives you something to compare.
A hybrid that many small businesses use
You do not have to choose one. A common compromise is to automate the first few emails and keep the human part where it matters.
- Automate the welcome and the first help emailThese are the same for everyone, so a machine can send them.
- Invite a reply in email twoAsk a question. When someone answers, reply yourself.
- Keep the offer email personal for warm leadsIf someone replied or clicked a lot, send them a short note by hand.
- Review the replies weeklyThey tell you what to fix in the automated emails.
Lesson 5.4 covers a related piece, replying fast to new leads: Reply to every new lead in five minutes.
How to decide for your business
Ask three questions.
- How many new people join in a month? If it is a handful, manual may be fine. If it is dozens, automation pays back sooner.
- Is the follow up mostly the same for everyone? If so, write it once. If every person needs something different, you may need a human.
- Do you actually follow up every time today? Be honest. If the answer is "when I remember", a sequence will beat your current system even if it is imperfect.
Questions people ask
Is a sequence worth it for a very small list?
It can be, if you will otherwise forget to follow up. For a handful of leads a month, writing by hand is also fine. The question is whether the follow up happens at all.
Will automated email feel cold?
It can. Write in your own voice, keep each email short and invite a reply, then answer the replies yourself.
Can I start manual and automate later?
Yes. Save the emails you write by hand. The ones that get good replies are the first drafts of your sequence.
Where to go next
If you decide to automate, Lesson 5.3, An email journey that keeps paying, shows you how to map five emails, write them in your voice and set the timing. You can also use the framework post to plan the five jobs first.