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How to create a great automated email series

An automated email series is a sequence of emails that are automatically sent to people based on a trigger event, like downloading a PDF, joining an email list or signing up for a service.

Here are the steps to creating a highly effective automated email series:

1. Pick the right email marketing software

You can integrate forms from third-party software companies into your website, or you can ask a web developer to write the software for you.

Many of the automated email-sending companies offer a free service, which is ideal if you’re still growing your subscriber base.

Examples of these software companies are Cognito Forms, Constant Contact, SendinBlue, MailChimp, AWeber and Active Campaigns.

2. Segment your list

When people give you their email addresses, you may want to add those addresses to different lists. For example:

Buyer’s agents could ask subscribers to identify themselves as owner-occupiers or investors when they first subscribe and divide them into mailing lists accordingly
Accountants could divide their lists based on the results of a short survey that small business owners won’t mind answering, like:
My business sells a product / offers a service / both
Number of employees: Just me / 1-10 / 10+
A credit repair agency could add the emails to a ‘potential customer’ marketing list and keep it separate from their ‘existing customer’ marketing list

You could also ask people to provide their full names and email addresses so you can personalise your emails.

3. Choose a trigger event

Each email series should have a unique trigger event:

Buyer’s agents could send welcome notices to new newsletter subscribers
Credit repair agencies could send a series of emails about credit reports and credit scores to those clicking a ‘learn more’ button on their website
Financial advisers could can send an invitation to register for an investing webinar they’re hosting to those clicking a ‘learn more’ button on their website
Accountants could send a download link to their latest ebook on maximising small business profits to those filling in a short survey

4. Map out your entire email series

Draft an outline for every email series. For example, based on the examples in step 3:

The buyer’s agents would send only one email (because the subscriber will start receiving their newsletters)
The credit repair agency might send one email every day for a week
The financial adviser might send one email with the invitation, and a follow-up email a few days later reminding people to register for the event if they hadn’t
The accountant might send one email with the download link, and another email three days later asking if they had any questions

5. Write the automated email series

When you write the emails, the content should:

When you write the emails, the content should:
Focus on the reader by answering questions they may have, rather than selling your service
Be well-written so you appear professional
Include a call-to-action, which is an invitation to the readers to learn more (this is your chance to promote your service)
Include an unsubscribe option

6. Monitor and improve the series

Once your email campaigns are live, don’t forget to check their performance. Most email software can show you statistics on the emails like:

How many people opened them
Which specific people opened them
If the emails were forwarded to other parties

You could also check your performance based on the responses you get from the call-to-action. If people are unsubscribing, you can look for a problem like: