Email sequences: follow-ups that run themselves
Set up a chain of emails that each new person gets in order, timed from the day they join, so welcomes and follow-ups never slip.
A sequence is a drip: a chain of emails that runs on its own. Each person gets step 1, then each next step after its delay, timed from when *they* joined, not from a calendar date.
People join when you enroll them, or automatically when they get a tag, fill in a form or are added as a contact. Nothing sends until you press Activate, and you can Pause at any time. Everyone keeps their place.
Why it helps
- Every new subscriber gets your welcome series on time, even when you're busy or away.
- Follow-ups stop slipping through the cracks, because each step goes out on its own delay.
- You can pause a sequence, skip a step or take one person out without starting over.
How to use it
- Create the sequence. In Grow → Email marketing, open Sequences and press New sequence. Give it a name; nothing sends until you activate it.
- Write the steps. Under Emails (drip chain), add each email to Timeline steps. Set its Send timing delay in days and hours, then write it yourself or use Write with Nova.
- Choose how people join. In Trigger, pick Manual only, When a tag is added, When a form is submitted or When a new contact is added, then press Save trigger.
- Enroll people yourself. Open Enrolled subscribers and press Enroll subscribers to add everyone with a tag, everyone in a segment, or a list of addresses.
- Activate it. Press Activate. Enrolled people get each email as it comes due; the queue runs by itself every minute.
- Watch and adjust. See who is where under Enrolled subscribers. Press Pause to stop all sending, or set one step to Paused (skipped) to leave it out.
Make the most of it
- Nova can draft a whole welcome series from one brief: try Finally write the welcome sequence.
- Pair a sequence with a sign-up form: choose it under Enroll in a sequence, and every new sign-up starts on step 1.
- Use an automation to take people out when they buy, so customers stop getting sales emails.
- Once people are part-way through, edit any step, add steps at the end or remove them from the end. To skip a step in the middle, pause it rather than deleting it.
- Triggers only catch people from the moment they're on. To include your existing list, enroll them by tag.
Hand it over in one click
- Finally write the welcome sequence I keep putting off — Nova
- Win back the subscribers who stopped opening — Nova
Questions
Do I need a paid plan?
To activate one, yes. Sequences send while you're away, so they need the paid plan. You can build and write them on the free plan. See Plans and runs.
What happens if someone unsubscribes?
They leave the sequence and get no more of its emails. Every step carries a one-click unsubscribe, and anyone who unsubscribes, bounces or complains goes on your do-not-mail list.
Can I enroll people before the sequence is live?
Yes. People enrolled into a draft or paused sequence wait in it and start when you press Activate.
How is this different from a campaign with follow-ups?
A campaign's follow-ups go to everyone on the same dates. A sequence times each step from when each person joins, so someone who signs up next month still gets step 1 first.