Email Marketing Automation Strategy: How, Why + Examples

If you run any kind of email marketing campaign, you’ll eventually need an email marketing automation strategy. Automation is essential for managing key aspects of email marketing like onboarding, segmentation, personalization, and nurturing leads.

Don't worry if you don't know where to begin. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know about email marketing automation and how to create an effective automated email strategy.

We'll cover the basics and benefits of email marketing automation, and offer examples of automated emails your business could be sending. We’ll also share some tips for using AI to improve your automation game.

Let's begin.

What Is Email Marketing Automation?

Take a look at your inbox right now. Sure, there might be some junk, but you'll also find a few valuable emails that catch your eye: a welcome message from the store where you just created an account, a reminder about the items left in your cart, and a special discount from your favorite brand.

Chances are, those emails weren't typed up and sent by a person that morning. They were automated!

Here's a simple breakdown of what email automation entails:

• Workflow: The series of automated emails you set up, like a welcome series or abandoned cart reminders.
• Triggers: The action that prompts an email to be sent, such as signing up for an account or leaving items in a cart.
• Messaging: The actual email content, which can be personalized based on the recipient.

For example, you can create a workflow that automatically sends a discount to customers who abandon their cart. You can also create one that delivers five educational emails over two weeks when someone signs up for a free trial.

The best email marketing platforms have automation tools built in. The software allows you to map out the entire subscriber journey and set up a sequence of emails to send when someone takes (or doesn't take) an action.

This eliminates the need to manually trigger every single message one by one. Once your automation is set up, your email marketing software handles the process so you can focus on important business goals.

How Email Marketing Automation Works

Email marketing automation starts by integrating your email list and other customer data into a software platform. This creates a central database where you can access subscriber details.

Next, you design emails and set up triggers to determine when each one is sent out automatically. The software makes it easy to build these sequences using a drag-and-drop workflow builder. You create the emails once, set the automation rules, and the software takes care of the rest.

The Key Benefits of Email Marketing Automation

Automation requires an initial investment of time and money. You'll need to purchase email marketing software and spend time setting up workflows. However, the long-term benefits for your business are undeniable. Let’s explore some key reasons why implementing automation is worth it.

Save Time

The most obvious benefit of email automation is that it allows you to "set it and forget it." You write an email once, and the software takes care of sending it to new subscribers or customers. Automation eliminates tedious manual tasks, which frees you up to focus on high-level strategy and other business priorities.

Let's say you want to send new subscribers a personalized welcome email. Without automation, you would have to monitor sign-ups daily and then manually trigger each message.

That's feasible with a small list but highly time-consuming if you have a longer list of subscribers. What's more, you risk missing people if you don't stay on top of it.

With automation, you create the welcome email once with rules to send automatically whenever someone joins your list. The system handles everything else, whether it's five or 500 people. This saves you hours upon hours over the course of a campaign.

Personalize Subscriber Interactions

Email marketing automation simplifies personalization at scale. Data shows that personalized content performs better, with up to 90% of consumers finding customized content appealing. Additionally, personalized emails deliver transaction rates that are six times higher.

Leveraging customer data like name, location, purchase history, interests, and more allows you to tailor content to their needs. However, doing this manually for hundreds or thousands of subscribers is so time-consuming that it's basically impossible.

Automation platforms make it easy to incorporate dynamic content and create customized journeys. You can even set up personalized recommendation workflows based on previous purchases with just a few clicks. The result is a more relevant, engaging experience for your audience.

Easily Scale Campaigns

Email marketing automation also enables you to scale campaigns with ease.

As your business grows, adding more subscribers shouldn't mean more work. Automation gives you the capacity to handle more people without adding headcount or bandwidth. Even if you sell dozens more products or offer new services, you can easily tweak workflows instead of starting from scratch.

This may mean upgrading your email marketing software plan at some point, but this is still much less expensive than hiring new employees.

Reduce Unsubscribe Rates

All the benefits we've discussed ultimately enhance the subscriber experience. Email automation campaigns are the third most effective email marketing strategy after subscriber segmentation and message personalization.

Automation helps you send the right message to the right person at the right moment in their customer journey. That means subscribers stay engaged and look forward to your emails instead of deleting them.

This results in lower unsubscribe rates over time, which can help you retain subscribers longer.

How to Set up an Email Marketing Automation Strategy

Now that you learned the benefits of email automation, it's time to teach you how you can create your own automation strategy.

There's no need to be worried because it's not as complicated as it sounds. With the right amount of planning and using the right tools, you'll have automated emails driving results for you in no time.

Here are the steps to get started:

Choose an Email Marketing Platform

You need an email service provider (ESP) or marketing platform that supports automation. The good news is that most tools on the market today have robust automation capabilities built in.

There are some things to take into consideration when comparing options:

• Number of contacts: Some tools charge based on list size, so consider how many subscribers you have (and plan to have in the future).

• Features: Do you need visual workflow builders? Pre-made templates? Reporting and analytics?

• Integrations: Will the tool connect to the rest of your marketing stack, like your CRM or ecommerce platform?

The best tools offer excellent automation features out of the box. You can see how the top email marketing software stacks up with our email marketing platform comparison tool.

Set Goals for Email Marketing Automation

Like any marketing initiative, you want to set SMART goals to guide your workflows:

Example email automation goals might be:

• Increase repeat purchases by 15% in 6 months
• Recover 20% of abandoned cart revenue in Q3
• Generate 50 new free trial sign-ups per month

Map the Customer Journey

Next, map out the typical customer journey to identify key triggers for your workflows. Outline the average path someone takes from initial awareness to becoming a loyal customer. This is part of lifecycle marketing, which involves guiding customers through various stages:

• Awareness: Learning about your brand for the first time
• Engagement: Interacting with your content and website
• Consideration: Researching products and services
• Purchase: Buying something for the first time
• Support: Reaching out for help or guidance
• Loyalty: Making repeated purchases and becoming an advocate for your brand

Where is there friction that could be reduced with a well-timed email? Where could you provide something valuable to your customers? For instance, if you notice many people adding items to their cart but not completing the purchase, that’s an ideal opportunity for an abandoned cart reminder.

Segment Your Audience

Another vital step is dividing contacts into segments to personalize content. Email segmentation can improve clickthrough rates by up to 50% and open rates by 30%.

Some common ways to split your list include:

• Demographic data
• Purchase history
• Engagement metrics
• Buyer persona

Your email marketing platform should allow you to create segments with just a few clicks by applying filters. Then you can target automations to specific groups based on behaviors. For example, you could send a nurturing workflow to cold leads and a different one to your warmest advocates.

Create Engaging Content

All the targeting in the world won't matter if your email content falls flat. Compelling email copy and design are crucial for any campaign, whether automated or not.

When designing your workflows, invest as much effort in creating the emails as you would for manually sent campaigns. Follow these core best practices:

• Clear, benefit-driven subject lines
• Relevant, personalized content
• Simple layouts with ample white space
• Effective calls-to-action

Use your knowledge of the subscriber's lifecycle stage and segment to inform your content. Write emails that speak directly to customers based on their past interactions and future potential.

Personalize Messaging

In addition to segment-specific content, take personalization a step further within the emails themselves. Small tweaks, like including someone's first name or referencing a past purchase, can make automated emails feel personal and one-to-one.

Most email platforms make it easy to add personalization tokens to your message. For example, you might write "Hey {FirstName}!" and the software will automatically insert each recipient's name.

Beyond basic contact info, use behavioral data to tailor email content. Show different product recommendations or promo codes based on someone's browsing or purchase history.

The more you can customize, the better. However, avoid going overboard - no one wants an email that feels creepy or invasive. Aim for a natural, helpful level of personalization that resonates with your audience.

Set up Your Workflows

Once you've covered the strategic basics, it's time to set up workflows in your email marketing software. While the process varies by platform, most email automation tools feature a visual editor.

These tools typically include an intuitive drag-and-drop builder. You can easily set up automation by choosing "if this" and "then that" options, so emails are sent automatically based on subscriber actions (or inactions). As you create each email, you'll specify the trigger, schedule, and any personalization details. This allows for a streamlined process that makes sure your emails are timely and relevant.

Some trigger events to use include:

• Subscriber joins your email list
• Customer views a specific product or category page
• Shopper abandons their cart or checkout
• The buyer makes their first purchase
• The customer leaves a positive review or high NPS score

Analyze Performance

Finally, you'll want to continually analyze how your automations are performing to optimize them. Most email marketing software platforms have built-in analytics and reports to help you identify email marketing KPIs like open, click, and conversion rates. You can also conduct a complete email marketing audit to uncover opportunities.

Use this data to tweak your automation, promote top-performing emails, try new subject lines, or adjust segments. Testing and optimization are crucial to maximizing the value of your workflows.

Read: 12 Marketing Automation Best Practices to Implement in 2025

Key Email Marketing Automation Examples

Email marketing automation workflows can vary widely depending on your business needs. However, some common workflows consistently deliver excellent results across the board.

In this section, we'll explore some of the most popular examples to inspire your own email strategy. Let's see these powerful features in action!

Welcome Series

You know that awkward feeling when you arrive somewhere new, and no one greets you or makes you feel welcome? Don’t let that happen to your email subscribers!

This workflow is triggered when someone first joins your email list. It's your chance to make a stellar first impression, set expectations, and start building a relationship with your brand.

A typical welcome series includes three to five emails spaced out over the first few days or weeks after someone signs up. You might include:

• A personalized hello and introduction to your brand story
• An overview of what types of content subscribers can expect from your emails
• Links to your best blog posts, products, or other resources
• A special offer or discount code to encourage that first purchase

Welcome emails get four times more opens and five times more clicks than regular campaigns, so it's well worth putting effort into this automation. Hook new subscribers while you have their attention!

Welcome Series Example

Here’s what a three-email welcome flow could include:

Email #1: Thanks for Joining!

• Timing: Sent immediately upon joining your mailing list.
• Content: Provides an overview of the brand, provides additional information about the company and its products.

Email #2: Getting Started

• Timing: Sent within one week of joining.
• Content: Offers tips on how to use the product or navigate the site, provides discount codes, and requests feedback.

Email #3: We're Here to Help!

• Timing: Within the second week after joining.
• Content: Shares final tips and content to get started, emphasizes customer support availability.

Abandoned Cart Series

Have you ever put somethin in your online shopping cart, then changed your mind and left the website? In many cases, you probably received an email reminding you about the sneakers you forgot to purchase. This is an example of an abandoned cart email series.

Up to 70% of online shoppers abandon their carts - that adds up to a lot of lost revenue! That's why abandoned cart automations are so crucial. These timely reminders help recover some of that lost revenue.

Triggers occur when someone adds an item to their cart but doesn't complete the checkout within a defined timeframe. Here’s what you might include in your abandoned cart emails:

• A direct reminder of the items left behind
• A limited-time offer or discount code (e.g., 10% off, free shipping)
• Product reviews or user-generated content to build trust
• Related or "you may also like" product recommendations

Due to the sensitive nature of impulse purchases, you want your emails to be timely without overwhelming the customer. Don’t wait two months to remind them about items in their cart, but also avoid bombarding them with emails every five minutes.

Abandoned Cart Series Example

A standard two-email flow includes:

Email #1: Cart Reminder

• Timing: Sent 24 hours after items are abandoned.
• Content: Highlights the products left behind.

Email #2: Last Chance Discount!

• Timing: Sent 48 hours later if no action has been taken.
• Content: Includes a 10-20% off coupon code to encourage the purchase.

Lead Nurturing Series

Not everyone who joins your email list is ready to buy right away. Lead nurturing aims to build relationships by providing valuable information to prospects. Instead of bombarding them with promotions, focus on educating them.

The goal is to warm up cold leads by demonstrating how you can solve their relevant challenges. This makes them more receptive when you eventually promote your products.

Triggers can vary based on lead activity and lifecycle stage. You can send new content when they open other emails, visit key site pages, or reach certain milestones. The content of these emails will depend on your audience and offer, but often includes:

• Helpful blog posts or whitepapers related to your product
• Case studies or customer success stories
• Invitations to webinars or other educational events
• Free trials or product demos

Lead Nurturing Example

A small business lawyer could create a nurturing track for startups with tips on the following:

Email #1: Choosing a Business Structure

Email #2: Trademark Basics

Email #3: Writing an Operating Agreement

Email #4: Startup Funding Options

By dripping helpful content throughout the trial period, this lawyer keeps subscribers engaged and showcases expertise. That way, if potential clients are ready to move ahead, you know which business will be top of mind!

A recruiting network, for example, could create a nurturing track for hiring managers with the following tips and resources:

Email #1: Building an Effective Job Description

• Content: A detailed blog post with tips and examples for creating job descriptions that attract top talent.

Email #2: Strategies for Sourcing Top Talent

• Content: A downloadable template for organizing and tracking sourcing strategies.

Email #3: Conducting Comprehensive Interviews

• Content: A comprehensive guide on best practices for interviewing candidates to ensure a great fit.

Email #4: Onboarding Best Practices for New Hires

• Content: An invitation to attend a webinar on mastering onboarding techniques to integrate new hires smoothly and effectively.

By providing a mix of content, including a blog post, template, guide, and webinar invitation, you'll keep subscribers engaged and showcase your expertise. When hiring managers are ready to make their next hire, your company will be the first resource they consider.

Discount Emails

Everyone perks up when they hear "limited-time discount!" Strategically timed promotions can spike sales or help liquidate old inventory.

The emails themselves are straightforward. They highlight current deals and provide relevant links or coupon codes. You can send discount emails as one-off blasts or incorporate them into larger workflows. For instance, you might send a series of teaser emails leading up to a big seasonal sale, such as Black Friday.

Here are some ideas for discount workflows:

• Early access to a big sale for email subscribers only
• Limited-time promo codes for specific products or categories
• Personalized birthday or anniversary discounts
• Abandoned cart promotions to sweeten the deal

Just be careful not to overdo it with the discounts, or you risk training customers to always wait for a promo. Keep discounts feeling unique and surprising to maintain their effectiveness.

Discount Automation Example

Amazon is the master when it comes to building hype for sales events. For weeks leading up to Prime Day, they deploy a series of emails highlighting upcoming deals and exclusive early access offers for Prime members.

Each message contains different enticing discounts on popular products. Subject lines drive urgency with "Prime Day Starts in X Days!" and countdowns.

The result is a highly anticipated tidal wave of orders when the big day finally arrives.

Upsell/Cross-Sell Workflows

The goal of upsells and cross-sells is to increase order value by suggesting relevant products when someone makes a purchase. Statistics have shown that effective upselling can raise customer lifetime value (CLV) by at least 20%.

Triggers for these workflows include order confirmation or even just viewing a particular item or category.

The email content generally displays complementary products the customer may also like based on their initial selection. For example, the design tool Canva is available for free, but uses email to try to convert free users to its premium paid features.

Tips for success include:

• Careful targeting to promote only relevant items
• Personalization based on past purchases and browsing history
• A/B testing different product suggestions

Upsell Automation Example

Suppose that a SaaS company with a freemium model wants to upsell subscribers. They create a two-part workflow for customers who have used the free plan for 30+ days:

Email #1: Get More Features by Upgrading! The email then explains key capabilities exclusive to paid tiers.

Email #2: Special Discount for Valued Customers! 20% off the first year of the premium plan.

This workflow taps into potential customers who are already using the product and may be well-positioned to pay for more functionality.

An Automated Email Marketing Strategy with AI

In recent years, AI in email marketing has been expanding possibilities for marketers. Many platforms now use machine learning for tasks like:

• Automated list segmentation
• Predicting engagement
• Personalizing content
• Writing subject lines
• A/B testing
• Aiding in email design

Chatbots even allow for customized two-way conversations at scale to handle common questions. The benefits of AI include saving time, optimizing performance, and gathering insights that are not possible manually.

AI tools vary between email marketing software platforms. If AI functionality is important to you, include investigating this functionality to your list when researching options for email software

Ready to Start Automating Your Email Strategy?

Including automation in your email marketing strategy is non-negotiable these days. In fact, it's a key part of just about any email marketing success story. The leading platforms make workflows intuitive and accessible so anyone can leverage them.

With some upfront planning and testing, you can put your email list on track to enjoy significant growth in critical metrics like open rate, click rate, and conversions.

If you want to compare email marketing software options to select the one for you, try our email software best picks page and exclusive comparison tool. Let us guide you to the right solution!