Email Sequence
Also known as: Email Cadence, Drip Campaign, Automated Email Workflow
A scheduled series of automated emails sent to a contact based on triggers, timing, or behavior to move them toward a defined outcome.
Definition
An email sequence is a pre-built series of emails sent automatically to a contact in a set order, with delays and branching logic between sends. Each email has a job — introduce, educate, nudge, ask for the meeting, recover the cart — and the sequence runs until the contact converts, replies, or exits.
Operators build sequences inside marketing automation or outbound tools, then enroll contacts manually, via list import, or by trigger (form fill, lifecycle stage change, inactivity). The platform handles send timing, suppression, reply detection, and exit conditions so your team isn't sending one-off emails by hand.
An email sequence is narrower than a broader 'email campaign,' which can include one-time broadcasts. It's also distinct from a drip — drips typically run on fixed time intervals regardless of behavior, while modern sequences branch based on opens, clicks, replies, and CRM data.
Why It Matters
Sequences let a small team behave like a large one. A 4-person SDR pod can keep thousands of contacts warm with personalized touches because the platform handles cadence, and reps only step in when a lead replies or hits a high-intent signal. That leverage is the difference between a pipeline that compounds and one that depends on whoever remembered to follow up.
Without sequences, follow-up is inconsistent. Leads go cold after the first touch, trial users churn without onboarding nudges, and renewals slip because nobody pinged the buyer 60 days out. Worse, the touches that do happen aren't measurable — you can't A/B test something that lives in a rep's sent folder.
Examples in Practice
A B2B SaaS sales team builds a 7-step outbound sequence for VP-of-Ops personas: day 1 intro, day 3 case study, day 6 short video, day 9 break-up email, with branching that pulls anyone who clicks the case study into a higher-priority cadence for the AE.
An ecommerce brand runs a 5-email post-purchase sequence: order confirmation, shipping update, usage tips on day 7, a review request on day 14, and a cross-sell on day 21 — all suppressed if the customer files a support ticket.
A 30-person agency uses a renewal sequence that fires 90 days before contract end: a value-recap email from the account lead, a benchmark report at 60 days, and a renewal-options email at 30 days, with the sequence auto-exiting the moment the client books a renewal call.