Four automated sales sequences to inform, nurture, convert, and keep customers

Everyone's inbox is a mess right now. If you're not getting the engagement or sales you expected from your email list, it's probably not that your subscribers are ignoring you. They're just buried under a pile of emails from everyone else trying to get their attention too.

And I'll tell you what won't fix that: sending one or two emails and hoping for the best.

If you actually want to cut through the noise, earn trust, and turn subscribers into paying customers, you need automated email sequences that deliver real value and guide people from sign-up all the way through to purchase (and beyond). I'm talking about four specific sequences that cover every stage of the journey.

Automated sales sequence 1: top of funnel (TOFU)

The top of the funnel is where everyone enters your email automation. And the most common TOFU stage is, you guessed it, the welcome sequence. This sequence needs to do three things well:

Deliver value
Build trust
Create excitement around your offerings

I won't go deep here because I've already written a full breakdown of welcome sequence essentials. But the key point is that a good welcome sequence is more than a friendly "hello." It's a tool to kickstart action and lead to better relationships and more sales.

Assuming you've read my previous content about welcome sequences (and you really should, I lay out the six emails I recommend you include), it's time to move to the middle of funnel.

Automated sales sequence 2: middle of funnel (MOFU)

At this point, you've sent six emails as part of your welcome/TOFU sequence. Your subscribers should be more familiar with you and your brand by now and, if they haven't already, are starting to consider your products or services as potential solutions to their problems.

This sequence is all about nurturing. But what do I mean by nurturing?

In my book, nurturing means making your subscriber understand you've been in their shoes, that you've come out the other side, and that you have remedies for what ails them.

For the MOFU nurturing sequence, I recommend four emails:

Address their challenges and provide useful resources
Introduce your digital product as a solution to those challenges
Highlight what your subscriber actually gets out of it and share success stories or testimonials from satisfied customers
Offer a limited-time incentive to drive action

In emails 1-3, you're finding common ground with potential customers, empathizing with their struggles, and offering them a solution that others have used before (and that's worked).

Email 4 is one I like to include in case you've made a great connection and they're ready to buy. They might not be at this point, but there's no reason to make them wait until the bottom of the funnel if they're already in purchase mode.

Either way, these four emails are important for moving subscribers from awareness (TOFU) to consideration (MOFU). Next up is the final stage of the customer journey.

Automated sales sequence 3: bottom of funnel (BOFU)

Your subscriber has made it to the bottom of the funnel (lovingly referred to as BOFU). This is where it's all about closing the sale.

I always recommend three emails to seal the deal with subscribers who haven't purchased yet:

Overcome objections and reinforce value
Use social proof and offer strong guarantees
A final call to action with urgency and compelling reasons to buy

Besides clearly conveying your message, the most important part of these emails is your call to action. Make sure what you're asking subscribers to do is easy and straightforward, especially in that final email.

Any unnecessary friction here will tank your conversion rates, so take this sequence seriously.

When done well, this sequence becomes your automated sales machine, putting money in your pocket every hour of the day. But just because you got the customer doesn't mean the journey is over. It's actually just beginning.

Automated sales sequence 4: post-purchase sequence

Maybe you've heard of this one, maybe you haven't, but the post-purchase sequence is one of the most important automations you can set up for your digital business.

Think about it: you used a lot of emails to convey your value, build trust, and position your product as the answer to your customer's problem. This sequence helps you nurture that purchase and create even deeper relationships, turning customers into loyal advocates and fans.

In my experience, a solid post-purchase sequence includes at least five emails:

Welcome your customer and provide access to the product
Deliver any relevant onboarding resources and quick-start guides so they get the most out of their purchase
Encourage community engagement and sharing their success stories (you can use these as testimonials further up the funnel)
Offer exclusive bonuses to enhance the experience and promote repeat purchases
Provide ongoing support and value for long-term loyalty (this is where fans are made)

You can add as many emails to this sequence as you want. A lot of people put their customers into an evergreen automation at this point. That's another article entirely, but if you're just starting out, these five post-purchase emails are a great way to round out the purchasing experience.

Build your sales machine

Automated sales sequences are a great way to bring customers into your world, share your value, build trust, and create relationships that turn subscribers into lifelong fans.

Yes, these automations take some time to set up initially. But once they're in place, they run night and day to build rapport and goodwill with your audience. I've seen businesses completely change their sales and customer relationships just by getting these four sequences in place.

You can always expand on them and add more emails if your product calls for it. But if you only set up these four sequences, you'll be lightyears ahead of most creators selling digital products.