# Email Sequence — Multi-Touch Outreach Design

Design and draft multi-email sequences for cold outreach, nurture flows, follow-ups, and re-engagement campaigns.

## When This Skill Activates

Trigger phrases: "email sequence for [segment]", "drip campaign", "follow-up sequence", "nurture flow", "multi-touch outreach", "email cadence"

## Sequence Types

### 1. Cold Outreach Sequence (5 touches, 14 days)

| Touch | Day | Subject Strategy | Purpose |
|-------|-----|-----------------|---------|
| 1 | 0 | Research-based hook | Open the conversation |
| 2 | 3 | New angle/value | Add different perspective |
| 3 | 7 | Social proof | Build credibility |
| 4 | 10 | Question-based | Provoke thought |
| 5 | 14 | Breakup email | Final attempt with graceful close |

**Touch 1 — Initial Outreach:**
- Use draft-outreach skill for research-first personalization
- Lead with trigger event or specific insight
- Single clear CTA

**Touch 2 — Value Add:**
- Don't reference Touch 1 ("just following up" is banned)
- Share a relevant insight, article, or data point
- Different angle on the same value proposition

**Touch 3 — Social Proof:**
- Brief case study or metric
- "Companies like [similar company] achieved [result]"
- Restate CTA with slight variation

**Touch 4 — Question:**
- Ask a thought-provoking question about their business
- Position yourself as curious, not pushy
- Low-pressure CTA: "Would love your take on this"

**Touch 5 — Breakup:**
- Acknowledge you've been reaching out
- Offer value even if they're not interested now
- Clear close: "If timing isn't right, no worries at all"
- Leave the door open

### 2. Warm Follow-Up (after initial contact/meeting)

| Touch | Day | Purpose |
|-------|-----|---------|
| 1 | 0 | Thank you + recap + next steps |
| 2 | 3 | Share promised resource/info |
| 3 | 7 | Check-in with new value |
| 4 | 14 | Re-engage with update |

### 3. Re-Engagement (dormant leads)

| Touch | Day | Purpose |
|-------|-----|---------|
| 1 | 0 | "Things have changed" — new feature/update |
| 2 | 5 | Relevant industry news or insight |
| 3 | 12 | Direct ask with time constraint |

## Writing Rules for All Sequences

### Format
- **Plain text only** — no HTML, no markdown
- **Under 100 words** for follow-ups, under 150 for initial
- **Short paragraphs** — 2-3 sentences max
- **Mobile-friendly** — readable on a phone screen

### Subject Lines
- Under 50 characters
- No ALL CAPS, no excessive punctuation
- No spam triggers: "free", "act now", "limited time"
- Specific > clever: "re: your Q4 expansion" beats "Quick question"

### Tone Progression
- Touch 1: Professional, researched, specific
- Touch 2-3: Slightly more casual, value-focused
- Touch 4: Conversational, curious
- Touch 5: Respectful, honest, door-open

### Thread Management
- Touches 2-5 should be NEW emails (not replies to Touch 1)
- Each touch should work standalone — recipient may have missed earlier ones
- Vary send times: morning (Tue/Wed) for Touch 1, afternoon (Thu) for follow-ups

## Integration with Lead Pipeline

### Automated Execution
```python
# The sequence maps to multiple Pipeline.run() calls:
# Touch 1: Full pipeline with initial outreach
# Touch 2-5: Pipeline with skip_scrape=True, skip_enrich=True
#            using existing_leads with updated email_draft
```

### Composer Configuration per Touch
- Touch 1: `tone="professional"`, full personalization
- Touch 2-3: `tone="professional"`, shorter templates
- Touch 4: `tone="casual"`, question format
- Touch 5: `tone="formal"`, breakup template

### Tracking
- Each touch creates a `GDPRAuditEntry` with action="emailed"
- Track sequence position in lead notes
- Respect `CRMConfig.daily_send_limit` across all sequence touches
- Minimum `send_delay` between touches to same recipient

## Key Rules
- NEVER send follow-ups faster than the minimum gap (3 days)
- NEVER reference previous emails with "I emailed you last week"
- Each email must provide standalone value
- Always include unsubscribe mechanism (SMTP headers)
- Respect timezone — send during business hours
- Stop sequence immediately if recipient replies (positive or negative)
