Market Emails — Sequence Writer
Produce full, send-ready email sequences. Every email has a purpose, every sequence has a goal, every send has a metric target.
Sequence Types
| Type |
Goal |
Length |
Cadence |
| Welcome |
Activate new signups |
5–7 emails |
Day 0, 1, 3, 5, 7, (10, 14) |
| Nurture |
Convert warm leads to buyers |
6–8 emails |
Every 2–3 days |
| Launch |
Drive sales for a new product |
5–7 emails |
14 days: tease → reveal → proof → urgency → cart close |
| Cold outreach |
Start B2B conversations |
4–6 touches |
Day 0, 3, 7, 14, 21, 30 |
| Cart abandon |
Recover lost revenue |
3 emails |
1h, 24h, 72h |
| Re-engagement |
Wake inactive subscribers |
3–4 emails |
Every 3–4 days |
| Onboarding |
Drive product activation |
5–6 emails |
Triggered on signup + milestones |
Benchmarks (2024+)
| Metric |
B2B |
B2C |
E-com |
| Open rate |
25–35% |
20–30% |
18–25% |
| Click rate |
2–5% |
2–4% |
2–5% |
| Reply rate (cold) |
3–10% |
— |
— |
| Unsubscribe |
<0.5% |
<0.5% |
<0.5% |
| Cart recovery |
— |
— |
10–25% |
Subject line failure = open rate < benchmark. CTA failure = click rate < benchmark. Offer failure = conversion below expected.
Subject Line Formulas
| Formula |
Pattern |
Example |
| Curiosity |
Tease without revealing |
"The reporting mistake we all made" |
| Specificity |
Number + outcome |
"How Jamie cut reports from 8h to 20min" |
| Personal |
First name + context |
"{{first_name}}, a quick question" |
| Contrarian |
Challenge common belief |
"Stop A/B testing your headlines" |
| Question |
Prompt self-reflection |
"Is your funnel actually a funnel?" |
| Urgency |
Real deadline |
"Last day for the 2025 rate" |
| Social proof |
Show outcome |
"5,000 teams use this now" |
| Fear of missing out |
What others know |
"What growth teams are doing in Q2" |
| Pattern interrupt |
Unexpected framing |
"Ignore this if you're already ranking" |
| Plain text-style |
No marketing gloss |
"quick question about acme" |
Always ship 3 subject line variants per email so the client can A/B test.
Pre-flight
- Load
BRAND-VOICE.md if present; match tone.
- Confirm the goal, audience, and product/offer.
- Confirm cadence and sending platform (affects formatting — Mailchimp vs SendGrid vs HubSpot all render differently).
- Ask for a "from" name and reply-to — it matters more than people think.
Email Anatomy
Every email includes:
- From name (real human preferred over "Acme Team")
- Subject line (3 variants)
- Preview text (40–90 chars, complements subject)
- Body (plain-text-friendly when possible)
- Primary CTA (1 per email; secondary only in nurture/launch)
- PS (often the second most-read line in the email)
Body structures
| Position |
Function |
| Opening line |
Hook — curiosity, relevance, story start. Never "Hi {{name}}, I hope this email finds you well." |
| Setup |
Context — why this matters to them, what they'll get |
| Payoff |
The actual value — insight, offer, story, proof |
| CTA |
Clear next step, value-driven, linked once or twice max |
| Signature |
Real name, human |
| PS |
Restate value, add urgency, or surface a secondary offer |
Compliance (do not skip)
- CAN-SPAM (US): physical address, unsubscribe link, truthful headers, honor unsubs in 10 days
- GDPR (EU): explicit consent, unsubscribe, data purpose disclosed
- CASL (Canada): express consent for cold outreach; implied consent only in narrow cases
- Cold outreach specifically: include why you're reaching out, who you are, and an easy opt-out
Every sequence output must include a compliance note stating which regions it's cleared for.
Output Format
## [Sequence Type] Email Sequence — [Brand]
**Goal:** [activation / conversion / recovery / etc]
**Audience:** [describe]
**Cadence:** [days between sends]
**Expected metrics:** [open / click / convert targets]
**Compliance:** [CAN-SPAM / GDPR / CASL cleared]
---
### Email 1: [Purpose] — Send: [Day X]
**From:** [Name]
**Subject A:** "[subject]"
**Subject B:** "[subject]"
**Subject C:** "[subject]"
**Preview:** "[40–90 char preview text]"
[Full body]
[Sign-off]
[Name]
PS: [PS line]
**Why this email:** [1-sentence rationale]
---
### Email 2: ...
Cold Outreach (special case)
Cold emails need extra care. Use this structure for every touch:
- Touch 1 (Day 0): Personal observation + specific problem + light CTA ("worth a quick chat?")
- Touch 2 (Day 3): Value drop — share an insight or resource, no ask
- Touch 3 (Day 7): Social proof — similar company outcome
- Touch 4 (Day 14): Direct ask with clear offer
- Touch 5 (Day 21): Breakup — "should I close the loop?"
- Touch 6 (Day 30, optional): New hook, different angle
Never send a 500-word first email. Cold outreach above 120 words dies.
Quality Bar
- Read every email aloud. If it sounds like a template, rewrite.
- Personalization tokens are not personalization. A real observation is.
- Never promise a discount you can't deliver. Never fake scarcity.
- If the user can't point to a real outcome or proof, the sequence will fail no matter how good the copy is — say so.
1---2name: market-emails3description: Generate email sequences (welcome, nurture, launch, cold outreach, cart abandon, re-engagement, onboarding) with subject line variants, cadence, and metrics benchmarks. Invoke whenever the user says "email sequence", "welcome series", "nurture", "cold outreach", "win-back", or runs `/market emails <type>`. Matches BRAND-VOICE.md if present.4---56# Market Emails — Sequence Writer78Produce full, send-ready email sequences. Every email has a purpose, every sequence has a goal, every send has a metric target.910## Sequence Types1112| Type | Goal | Length | Cadence |13|---|---|---|---|14| **Welcome** | Activate new signups | 5–7 emails | Day 0, 1, 3, 5, 7, (10, 14) |15| **Nurture** | Convert warm leads to buyers | 6–8 emails | Every 2–3 days |16| **Launch** | Drive sales for a new product | 5–7 emails | 14 days: tease → reveal → proof → urgency → cart close |17| **Cold outreach** | Start B2B conversations | 4–6 touches | Day 0, 3, 7, 14, 21, 30 |18| **Cart abandon** | Recover lost revenue | 3 emails | 1h, 24h, 72h |19| **Re-engagement** | Wake inactive subscribers | 3–4 emails | Every 3–4 days |20| **Onboarding** | Drive product activation | 5–6 emails | Triggered on signup + milestones |2122## Benchmarks (2024+)2324| Metric | B2B | B2C | E-com |25|---|---|---|---|26| Open rate | 25–35% | 20–30% | 18–25% |27| Click rate | 2–5% | 2–4% | 2–5% |28| Reply rate (cold) | 3–10% | — | — |29| Unsubscribe | <0.5% | <0.5% | <0.5% |30| Cart recovery | — | — | 10–25% |3132Subject line failure = open rate < benchmark. CTA failure = click rate < benchmark. Offer failure = conversion below expected.3334## Subject Line Formulas3536| Formula | Pattern | Example |37|---|---|---|38| **Curiosity** | Tease without revealing | "The reporting mistake we all made" |39| **Specificity** | Number + outcome | "How Jamie cut reports from 8h to 20min" |40| **Personal** | First name + context | "{{first_name}}, a quick question" |41| **Contrarian** | Challenge common belief | "Stop A/B testing your headlines" |42| **Question** | Prompt self-reflection | "Is your funnel actually a funnel?" |43| **Urgency** | Real deadline | "Last day for the 2025 rate" |44| **Social proof** | Show outcome | "5,000 teams use this now" |45| **Fear of missing out** | What others know | "What growth teams are doing in Q2" |46| **Pattern interrupt** | Unexpected framing | "Ignore this if you're already ranking" |47| **Plain text-style** | No marketing gloss | "quick question about acme" |4849**Always ship 3 subject line variants per email** so the client can A/B test.5051## Pre-flight52531. Load `BRAND-VOICE.md` if present; match tone.542. Confirm the goal, audience, and product/offer.553. Confirm cadence and sending platform (affects formatting — Mailchimp vs SendGrid vs HubSpot all render differently).564. Ask for a "from" name and reply-to — it matters more than people think.5758## Email Anatomy5960Every email includes:61- **From name** (real human preferred over "Acme Team")62- **Subject line** (3 variants)63- **Preview text** (40–90 chars, complements subject)64- **Body** (plain-text-friendly when possible)65- **Primary CTA** (1 per email; secondary only in nurture/launch)66- **PS** (often the second most-read line in the email)6768## Body structures6970| Position | Function |71|---|---|72| Opening line | Hook — curiosity, relevance, story start. Never "Hi {{name}}, I hope this email finds you well." |73| Setup | Context — why this matters to them, what they'll get |74| Payoff | The actual value — insight, offer, story, proof |75| CTA | Clear next step, value-driven, linked once or twice max |76| Signature | Real name, human |77| PS | Restate value, add urgency, or surface a secondary offer |7879## Compliance (do not skip)8081- **CAN-SPAM (US):** physical address, unsubscribe link, truthful headers, honor unsubs in 10 days82- **GDPR (EU):** explicit consent, unsubscribe, data purpose disclosed83- **CASL (Canada):** express consent for cold outreach; implied consent only in narrow cases84- **Cold outreach specifically:** include why you're reaching out, who you are, and an easy opt-out8586Every sequence output must include a compliance note stating which regions it's cleared for.8788## Output Format8990```markdown91## [Sequence Type] Email Sequence — [Brand]9293**Goal:** [activation / conversion / recovery / etc]94**Audience:** [describe]95**Cadence:** [days between sends]96**Expected metrics:** [open / click / convert targets]97**Compliance:** [CAN-SPAM / GDPR / CASL cleared]9899---100101### Email 1: [Purpose] — Send: [Day X]102**From:** [Name]103**Subject A:** "[subject]"104**Subject B:** "[subject]"105**Subject C:** "[subject]"106**Preview:** "[40–90 char preview text]"107108[Full body]109110[Sign-off]111[Name]112113PS: [PS line]114115**Why this email:** [1-sentence rationale]116117---118119### Email 2: ...120```121122## Cold Outreach (special case)123124Cold emails need extra care. Use this structure for every touch:125126- **Touch 1 (Day 0):** Personal observation + specific problem + light CTA ("worth a quick chat?")127- **Touch 2 (Day 3):** Value drop — share an insight or resource, no ask128- **Touch 3 (Day 7):** Social proof — similar company outcome129- **Touch 4 (Day 14):** Direct ask with clear offer130- **Touch 5 (Day 21):** Breakup — "should I close the loop?"131- **Touch 6 (Day 30, optional):** New hook, different angle132133Never send a 500-word first email. Cold outreach above 120 words dies.134135## Quality Bar136137- Read every email aloud. If it sounds like a template, rewrite.138- Personalization tokens are not personalization. A real observation is.139- Never promise a discount you can't deliver. Never fake scarcity.140- If the user can't point to a real outcome or proof, the sequence will fail no matter how good the copy is — say so.
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