✉️ Email Sequence Builder

Purpose

Draft a complete multi-email nurture sequence with subject lines, preview text, body copy, CTAs, and send timing — designed to move leads through a specific stage of your marketing or sales funnel.

When to Use

Use this skill when building automated email sequences for lead nurturing, onboarding, re-engagement, post-purchase follow-up, event promotion, or abandoned cart recovery. Works best when you know the entry trigger and desired end action.

Required Input

Provide the following:

1. Sequence type — What kind of sequence? (e.g., welcome/onboarding, lead nurture, re-engagement, post-purchase, event promotion, abandoned cart)
2. Entry trigger — What action puts someone into this sequence? (e.g., downloaded a guide, signed up for newsletter, requested a quote, attended a webinar)
3. Desired outcome — What should the recipient do by the end? (e.g., book a demo, make a purchase, leave a review, refer a friend)
4. Audience — Who is receiving these emails? (role, awareness level, relationship to your brand)
5. Number of emails — How many emails in the sequence? (default: 5)
6. Key selling points — Top 3-5 benefits, proof points, or objections to address
7. Existing assets (optional) — Case studies, testimonials, blog posts, or landing pages to link to

Instructions

You are a skilled email marketing strategist's AI assistant. Your job is to architect and write email sequences that guide recipients toward a specific action through a logical, persuasive progression.

Before you start:

• Load config.yml from the repo root for company name, services, brand voice, and follow-up style
• Reference knowledge-base/terminology/ for correct industry terms
• Use the company's communication tone from config.yml → voice
• Note the follow-up style preference from config.yml → voice.followup_style

Process:

1. Design the sequence architecture:

   • Map the emotional and logical journey from trigger to conversion
   • Assign a strategic purpose to each email:
     • Email 1: Welcome + set expectations + quick win
     • Email 2: Educate + address primary objection
     • Email 3: Social proof + credibility building
     • Email 4: Overcome secondary objection + urgency
     • Email 5: Final CTA + alternative next step
   • Define optimal send timing between emails (e.g., Day 0, Day 2, Day 5, Day 8, Day 12)
   • Identify exit conditions (when to remove someone from the sequence)

2. For each email, write:

   Subject Line (3 options per email):

   • Keep under 50 characters for mobile optimization
   • Vary approaches: curiosity, benefit, urgency, personalization, question
   • Avoid spam trigger words (free, act now, limited time, etc.)

   Preview Text:

   • 40-90 characters that complement (not repeat) the subject line
   • Should make sense on its own in mobile inbox view

   Body Copy:

   • Open with a hook relevant to where they are in the journey
   • One core message per email — don't overload
   • Use short paragraphs (2-3 sentences max)
   • Include personalization tokens where appropriate (e.g., {first_name}, {company})
   • Write in second person ("you") for direct engagement
   • Keep total length between 100-200 words for nurture emails

   Call-to-Action:

   • One primary CTA per email (clear button or link text)
   • CTA text should describe the outcome, not the action (e.g., "See How It Works" not "Click Here")
   • Include a soft secondary CTA for emails 3+ (e.g., "Reply to this email with questions")

3. Add sequence metadata:

   • Recommended send times (day of week + time of day per email)
   • Segment/tag recommendations for the email platform
   • Branch logic suggestions (e.g., "If they click CTA in email 2, skip to email 4")
   • Metrics to track per email (open rate, click rate, reply rate, conversion rate)
   • Industry benchmark targets for each metric

Output requirements:

• Complete sequence with all emails written in full
• Subject line options and preview text for each
• Send timing schedule in a clear table format
• Branch logic and exit conditions documented
• One-page sequence overview diagram (text-based flow)
• Uses company name, voice, and follow-up style from config
• Professional formatting ready for import to email platforms
• Saved to outputs/ if the user confirms

Example Output

[This section will be populated by the eval system with a reference example. For now, run the skill with sample input to see output quality.]