email-sequence
Applies to automated flows for known contacts, not cold outreach. Produces a buildable spec, not just copy.
Trigger on behaviour, not on a clock
A fixed drip sends the same day-three email to someone who logged in twice yesterday and someone who has never logged in at all. Both get the wrong message, and the engaged one gets taught to ignore you.
Start from the core action and its natural frequency: the single behaviour that delivers value, and how often a satisfied person would do it. A "we miss you" email on day three to a monthly-frequency product is noise. Every trigger, delay, and exit condition keys off that frequency.
One email, one job
Each email does exactly one thing and asks for exactly one thing. The instinct to bundle — a tip, a case study, a webinar, and an upgrade nudge in one send — is what makes sequences feel like newsletters and perform like them.
Write the job of each touch before writing a word of copy. If two adjacent emails have the same job, one of them shouldn't exist.