One of the biggest mistakes ethical brands make with their automated email flows - and how to solve it

After an intense summer in London and the UK, I arrived in Palermo a month ago and knew I needed to press the “pause” button.

If I were to keep my “busyness as usual”, I would’ve been right on track to burnout city, the worst possible destination for nomads and non-nomads alike.

One of the things I like about Palermo, aside from the sensational gelato and being a few minutes walk away from clear seawater at all times, is the slow pace of life here.

The older I get, the easier it feels to slow down, not feel guilty for it, and shed the misguided preconceptions I grew up with of “productivity” and “worthiness” and how both are tied to one another.

So I embraced the slow life and focused on getting the basics right - 

Daily movement. Eating well. Sleeping enough hours (still working on that part). Finding and being in community. Practicing gratitude. Returning to healthy routines.

And fortunately, I had the huge privilege to take a step back from business this past month and regroup.

That intentional pause was crucial. 

What does Sicilian life have to do with our newsletter’s topic today, you may ask?

The answer is - everything, but more specifically, it’s about knowing when to pause to serve a bigger purpose.

It's especially true when automated email sequences are coming into play.

Here's the thing, I’ve consulted all sorts of brands - from solopreneurs to scale-ups to a company on the Financial Times’ “America’s fastest-growing companies” list, and they all make the same mistake - 

They all want to avoid antagonizing subscribers by sending them too many emails. But they also run multiple automated flows in tandem and end up… you guessed it - overwhelming subscribers with too many emails.

I’m not talking about flows that continue one another in a chronically logical order (for example, freebie flow > sales sequence). I’m talking about having flows that serve different audiences, entry points, or intent levels, and are not supposed to run simultaneously - unless it's a conscious decision.

Here’s a concrete example from a VIP Day I had this week, and how their new emails will support their goals of increasing revenue:

A prospect fills out a contact form, inquiring about a company’s services. 

Which email will they get next?

Well, a “thank you for your inquiry” is a no-brainer. But what’s next depends on the company’s internal process.

In this specific case, the inquiry moves to the sales department, where a sales rep will try to call and follow up.

This company also wants to increase newsletter signups (with explicit consent), so they’ll be adding a checkbox to this form with the option to be added to the email list. 

If the prospect wants to be added to the email list through this form, from an email marketing perspective, it would make sense to send them a welcome sequence, right?

Nope! 

Remember, email doesn't live in a silo. That company has a process that works for them and prioritizes the sales department in that particular touchpoint - the marketing emails need to support it.

Sending new subscribers a welcome sequence at that stage will only do two things - overwhelm them and confuse them. 

Instead, only when the sales department finishes its part, the prospect will become an active subscriber and get regular newsletters. 

Now, let's make things a little more interesting -

What if someone chooses to download a freebie from another page of the company’s website, and submits an inquiry on the same visit?

Of course, they will get the first email with the freebie they asked for. After that initial email, we will most likely place a filter in the Email Service Provider that says “If an open inquiry exists in our system - pause/end the freebie automation”.

Someone who fills out an inquiry form is ready for a different treatment. Selling them on getting in touch with the sales department through the automated sequence while the sales department gets in touch will only alienate them both as subscribers and potential customers.

The same logic applies to every business with multiple automated sequences or entry points.

So what do you do to make sense of it all (aside from talking with me)?

1. If you’re the kind of person who processes those things visually, like me, I can recommend free tools like Miro and Whimsical. I use them to visualize how email funnels will look like and build mindmaps, but also where they “sit” in the email ecosystem.

2. If a visual representation isn’t your thing, whenever you add a new automated sequence, simply ask yourself the following questions: 

   1. How does this sequence support the bigger picture?

   2. At which points do I need to pause/tag/untag/include/exclude subscribers from other sequences or segments, if they enter this new one?

   3. Am I okay with a subscriber going through several automated flows at the same time and getting multiple emails (maybe per day) because they chose to? Or is there a hierarchy of messaging/touchpoints that I want to consider?

3. Test the heck out of your flows. Imitate your subscriber’s inbox experience by subscribing to the new flow you’re adding to the mix and see what happens before you activate that flow.

Automated email sequences can work wonders, and in your sleep, but they need to make sense for your goals and for your subscribers (and where they’re at in the journey with you).

It requires some thought and taking strategic action, but it’s oh-so worth it.