Automation
By Maildesk Team ·
Build an Email Sequence
Write the series of timed emails that an automation delivers — subjects, content, delays, and ordering.
In Maildesk, automated email is split into two halves:
- An email sequence is the content — the series of emails and the delays between them.
- An automation is the delivery — the rules for who gets enrolled and when they exit.
This guide covers the first half. Once your sequence exists, set up an automation to deliver it.
Step 1: Create the sequence
- Navigate to Automations > Email Sequences.
- Create a new sequence.
Step 2: Write your first email
The editor pane has everything for one email:
- Subject — with the merge-tag picker, so
{{firstName}}works here like everywhere else. - Body — the full rich-text editor, same as campaigns.
- Published toggle — only published emails are sent. Keep an email unpublished while it’s still a draft and the sequence will skip it.
- Send After — a number plus a unit (minutes, hours, or days). This is the delay after the previous step, not after enrollment.
The first email in a sequence sends immediately when a contact is enrolled.
Step 3: Add more emails and shape the timeline
The Sequence Timeline panel shows your whole series at a glance — the first step marked “Immediately”, each later step marked “After N days” (or hours/minutes).
- Drag and drop emails to reorder them.
- Adjust each email’s Send After delay to control pacing.
Save the sequence when you’re done. You can come back and edit any email later.
A proven 4-email welcome shape
If you’re not sure what to write, this structure works for almost everyone:
| # | Timing | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Immediately | Welcome — deliver what they signed up for, set expectations |
| 2 | After 2 days | Your story — why you do this, what makes you different |
| 3 | After 3 days | Your best content — the 2–3 things new readers must see |
| 4 | After 4 days | A soft ask — reply to this email, follow you, or try the product |
Tips
- One idea per email. If an email has two topics, it’s two emails.
- Short beats long early in a relationship — the first emails earn the right to send longer ones.
- Personalize with merge tags, at minimum
{{firstName}}in the subject or greeting.
Next: Set up your first automation to put this sequence to work.
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