Automation Sequences

Trigger Event → Wait Period → Send Email → Condition Check → Next Action

Example:
User subscribes → Wait 1 min → Send welcome email → Did they open?
  ├── Yes → Wait 1 day → Send educational email
  └── No → Wait 2 days → Resend with new subject line

Welcome Sequence (5 emails over 14 days):

Day 0: Welcome + Lead Magnet Delivery
  ├── Trigger: New subscriber
  ├── Subject: "Welcome! Here's your [resource]"
  ├── Goal: Deliver value immediately
  └── CTA: Download the resource

Day 1: Introduction + Best Content
  ├── Trigger: 24 hours after Email 1
  ├── Subject: "The post that started it all"
  ├── Goal: Build connection, share your story
  └── CTA: Read your most popular blog post

Day 3: Educational Value
  ├── Trigger: 48 hours after Email 2
  ├── Subject: "[Specific technique] in 5 minutes"
  ├── Goal: Demonstrate expertise
  └── CTA: Try the technique yourself

Day 7: Social Proof + Community
  ├── Trigger: 4 days after Email 3
  ├── Subject: "What 500+ developers learned this month"
  ├── Goal: Build trust through social proof
  └── CTA: Join the community (Discord/Twitter)

Day 14: Soft Pitch
  ├── Trigger: 7 days after Email 4
  ├── Subject: "Ready for the next step?"
  ├── Goal: Introduce paid offering naturally
  └── CTA: Check out the course/product

ConvertKit/Mailchimp Setup:

1. Create a new Visual Automation
2. Set trigger: "Subscribes to a form"
3. Add each email with delay steps:

[Trigger: New Subscriber]
        │
        ▼
[Send Email 1: Welcome]
        │
        ▼
[Wait 1 day]
        │
        ▼
[Send Email 2: Introduction]
        │
        ▼
[Wait 2 days]
        │
        ▼
[Send Email 3: Educational]
        │
        ▼
[Wait 4 days]
        │
        ▼
[Send Email 4: Social Proof]
        │
        ▼
[Wait 7 days]
        │
        ▼
[Send Email 5: Soft Pitch]
        │
        ▼
[Add tag: "completed-welcome-sequence"]

Nurture Sequence Pattern (repeating monthly):

Week 1: Educational content
  "Here's how to [solve common problem]"
  Pure value, no selling

Week 2: Case study or story
  "How [person] achieved [result] with [approach]"
  Indirect social proof

Week 3: Tool or resource
  "The [tool] that changed my workflow"
  Practical recommendation

Week 4: Curated roundup + soft CTA
  "Best of this month + what's coming next"
  Link to course/product at the bottom

Launch Sequence (7 emails over 10 days):

Pre-Launch Phase:
  Day -7: Seed email
    "I've been working on something..."
    Build anticipation, no details yet

  Day -3: Behind the scenes
    "A sneak peek at what's inside"
    Share specifics, screenshots, curriculum

  Day -1: Announcement
    "It's almost here. Here's the full details"
    Full breakdown of what's included

Launch Phase:
  Day 0: Launch email
    "[Product] is LIVE"
    Clear CTA to buy/enroll + early bird pricing

  Day 2: Social proof
    "Here's what early students are saying"
    Testimonials and results

  Day 5: FAQ / Objection handling
    "Your questions, answered"
    Address common concerns

  Day 7: Last chance
    "Doors close tonight at midnight"
    Urgency + recap of benefits

Launch Email Performance Benchmarks:
─────────────────────────────────────
Email          │ Open Rate │ Click Rate │ Conversions
───────────────┼───────────┼────────────┼────────────
Seed           │ 35%       │ 2%         │ —
Sneak Peek     │ 30%       │ 5%         │ —
Announcement   │ 40%       │ 8%         │ 5%
Launch         │ 45%       │ 12%        │ 30%
Social Proof   │ 30%       │ 6%         │ 15%
FAQ            │ 25%       │ 4%         │ 10%
Last Chance    │ 40%       │ 15%        │ 40%

Re-engagement Sequence (3 emails over 14 days):
Trigger: No email opened in 90 days

Email 1: "Are you still there?"
  ├── Delay: Immediately
  ├── Subject: "I noticed you've been quiet"
  ├── Content: Ask if they still want to hear from you
  └── CTA: "Yes, keep sending" button

  [Wait 5 days]
  [Check: Did they click?]
  ├── Yes → Move back to active list, end sequence
  └── No → Continue to Email 2

Email 2: Best content recap
  ├── Subject: "In case you missed these"
  ├── Content: Links to your 3 best recent posts
  └── CTA: "Check out what you missed"

  [Wait 7 days]
  [Check: Did they open?]
  ├── Yes → Move back to active list, end sequence
  └── No → Continue to Email 3

Email 3: Last chance
  ├── Subject: "Should I remove you from the list?"
  ├── Content: No hard feelings, one last chance
  └── CTA: "Keep me subscribed" button

  [Wait 3 days]
  [Check: Did they click?]
  ├── Yes → Keep on list
  └── No → Unsubscribe and remove

Use conditions to personalize the journey:

[Subscriber joins]
      │
      ▼
[Check tag: "developer" or "designer"?]
      │
  ┌───┴───┐
  ▼       ▼
[Dev     [Design
 Path]    Path]
  │       │
  ▼       ▼
[Send    [Send
 React    Figma
 tips]    tips]

Condition Types:
─────────────────────────────────────
Tag-based     │ Has tag "completed-course-react"
Behavior      │ Opened email in last 7 days
Purchase      │ Has purchased "Pro Plan"
Field-based   │ Custom field "role" = "designer"
Link click    │ Clicked link in Email 2
Date-based    │ Subscribed more than 30 days ago
Score-based   │ Engagement score > 50

Automation Dashboard:
──────────────────────────────────────────────────
Sequence            │ Emails │ Avg Open │ Avg Click │ Completion
────────────────────┼────────┼──────────┼───────────┼───────────
Welcome             │ 5      │ 52%      │ 8%        │ 78%
Nurture (monthly)   │ 4      │ 28%      │ 3%        │ 65%
Launch              │ 7      │ 35%      │ 9%        │ 82%
Re-engagement       │ 3      │ 15%      │ 5%        │ 45%
──────────────────────────────────────────────────

Key Metrics per Automation:
- Completion rate: % of subscribers who receive all emails
- Revenue attributed: Sales tracked to specific sequences
- Drop-off point: Which email loses the most subscribers
- Time to conversion: Days from first email to purchase

1. Start simple
   Build the welcome sequence first. Add complexity later.

2. One goal per sequence
   Welcome = build trust. Launch = drive sales. Don't mix.

3. Test before activating
   Send test emails to yourself. Check links. Check mobile.

4. Monitor weekly
   Check for emails with unusually low open/click rates.

5. Update quarterly
   Refresh content, update links, review performance.

6. Respect the subscriber
   Don't send more than 1 automated + 1 broadcast per week.
   Suppress subscribers in a launch sequence from broadcasts.