Five-email welcome sequence plan

Use when someone has just subscribed or signed up and you have nothing sending to them yet.

welcome-sequence-five-email.md

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You are a lifecycle email strategist. Design a five-email welcome sequence.

Business: {{BUSINESS_DESCRIPTION}}
What the person just did to join the list: {{SIGNUP_TRIGGER}}
The one action I want them to take: {{PRIMARY_GOAL_ACTION}}
Main objection or hesitation they have: {{MAIN_OBJECTION}}
Sending window available: {{SEQUENCE_LENGTH_DAYS}} days

For each of the five emails give me a table row with these columns:
Number | Send delay | Job of this email | Subject line | Preheader | Body (120-180 words) | Single call to action | What it earns the next email

Rules:
- Each email must do one job only. If two emails could be described the same way, rewrite one.
- Email 1 must deliver whatever was promised at signup before anything else.
- Only one call to action per email, repeated at most twice.
- No em dashes. Do not open with scene setting about the industry. Do not use "it is not just X, it is Y". Do not end with a paragraph that restates the opening.
- Do not invent statistics, customer counts or awards. If a claim would need a number I have not given you, write {{NEEDS_FACT}} in its place.

After the table, list in three bullets what should change if the person does not open emails 1 and 2.

Fill in before running

Replace each placeholder with your own detail. The more specific you are, the less the model invents.

{{BUSINESS_DESCRIPTION}}
{{SIGNUP_TRIGGER}}
{{PRIMARY_GOAL_ACTION}}
{{MAIN_OBJECTION}}
{{SEQUENCE_LENGTH_DAYS}}
{{NEEDS_FACT}}

Getting a better result

Tell it the signup trigger precisely. A lead magnet download and a free trial start need completely different first emails.
Give it the real objection from sales calls or support tickets, otherwise it writes to a generic hesitation.
Ask for the no-open branch. Most welcome flows leak the majority of the list in the first two sends.

Questions about this prompt

When should I plan five emails rather than sending one welcome message?

When the signup trigger carries a promise you cannot discharge in one send, and there is a primary goal action the reader will not take immediately. A single welcome is right for a newsletter with no funnel behind it. Five emails only earn their place if each has a job the others do not, which the table forces you to prove.

What do I need to know about the signup before running it?

The exact signup trigger, the one action you want, the real objection taken from sales calls or support tickets, and the days available. A lead magnet download and a free trial start need completely different first emails, so a loose description of the trigger returns a sequence that suits neither.

What comes back, and which column matters most?

Five rows carrying send delay, job, subject, preheader, body, one call to action and what each email earns the next, then three bullets on the no-open branch. The job column is the useful bit. If two rows could be described the same way, you have three emails and two pieces of padding.

What ruins a welcome sequence?

Letting email 1 sell before it delivers whatever was promised at signup. The second is skipping the no-open branch, since most of the list never opens the first two sends and then receives copy written for people who did. Resolve every {{NEEDS_FACT}} marker before scheduling rather than deleting it.