Manual email campaigns require constant attention. Sequences run automatically, delivering the right message at the right time based on subscriber behavior. A well-designed sequence can nurture leads, onboard customers, and recover abandoned carts while you focus on other work.
Access the Visual Sequence Builder at Email & Automation > Sequences or /marketing-automation/sequences/. From the Sequences list, click any sequence to open its detail view, then select "Edit Flow" to enter the builder.
Choose "Custom" as your sequence type. You'll enter the builder with a blank canvas and one trigger node. Add steps by clicking the toolbar buttons or using the left sidebar.
Left Sidebar: Steps List Shows all steps in your sequence in order. Click any step to jump to it on the canvas. The bottom panel shows self-classification links (see Advanced Features).
Center Canvas: Flow Visualization Your sequence displays as connected nodes. Drag to pan, scroll to zoom. Lines show the flow from one step to the next. Branch points split into multiple paths.
Right Sidebar: Properties Panel Select any node to see its configuration options. Email subject lines, delay durations, and condition settings appear here.
Step Types (Add Step):
Undo/Redo: Standard undo history (Ctrl+Z, Ctrl+Shift+Z)
Send Via: Choose your email platform (Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Resend, Mailgun, or Auto-detect)
Save Status: Shows "Saved" when all changes are persisted. Auto-saves as you work.
Review & Activate: Exit the builder and review sequence before activation.
Every sequence starts with a trigger that determines when subscribers enter.
Core Triggers:
Trial Lifecycle (for SaaS products):
Subscription Events (Stripe integration):
Select the trigger node to configure:
Manual: No configuration needed. You'll add subscribers manually from the subscriber list.
Subscriber Added: Choose which list triggers this sequence. Leave blank to trigger for any list.
Tag Added: Enter the tag name that triggers enrollment. Supports multiple tags (any match triggers).
Date-Based: Set the target date or anniversary. For recurring dates (birthdays), subscribers enroll annually.
Purchase: Connect to Shopify or WooCommerce. Optionally filter by product, collection, or order value.
Click any step type in the toolbar. The new step appears on the canvas. Drag it to position. Connect it to other steps by clicking the connector circle on the previous step and dragging to the new step's input.
Subject Line: Enter your subject line in the properties panel. Use personalization tokens like {{first_name}} or {{company}}.
Preview Text: The snippet shown after the subject line in inbox previews. Write a compelling hook.
AI Content Generation: Enable "Use AI Content" to auto-generate email body from your prompt. ILLIXIS uses your brand voice settings and sequence context to write the email.
AI Prompt: Tell the AI what this email should accomplish. Examples:
Manual Content: Disable AI generation to write your own HTML email. Use the HTML editor in the properties panel.
Brand Voice Integration: If you've configured brand voice settings (in Tenant Settings), all AI-generated emails automatically match your brand's tone, vocabulary, and style. The first time you create a sequence, ILLIXIS personalizes all steps with your brand voice in about 30 seconds. A banner at the top tracks this enrichment process.
Delay Duration: Enter a number and choose the unit: minutes, hours, days, or weeks.
Common Delays:
Time of Day: Optionally specify when to send after the delay expires. For example, a 1-day delay with "Send at 9:00 AM" waits until the next morning at 9:00 AM in the subscriber's timezone.
Condition steps split the flow into two paths: one if the condition is true, one if false.
Condition Types:
Example: Check if they opened Email #2. If yes, send a follow-up with next steps. If no, send a re-engagement reminder.
Setting Up Conditions:
Split subscribers into two groups to test different approaches.
Split Ratio: Choose the split percentage. Default is 50/50, but you can use 80/20 for safer testing.
What to Test:
Statistical Significance: The sequence detail page tracks performance for each variant. After at least 10 subscribers go through each path, ILLIXIS highlights the winner based on open rate and click rate.
Winner Selection: Once a clear winner emerges, you can update the split ratio to send 100% through the winning path or edit the losing variant to match the winner's approach.
Add Tag: Applies a tag to subscribers when they reach this step. Use tags to:
Remove Tag: Removes a tag from subscribers. Useful for:
Goals mark conversion points in your sequence. Track how many subscribers reach this step and use goals to measure sequence effectiveness.
Goal Types:
Goal Tracking: The sequence analytics dashboard shows goal completion rate and time-to-goal for subscribers who reach it.
Immediately removes subscribers from the sequence when they reach this step. Use exits to:
Call external APIs or services as part of your sequence. Examples:
Webhook Configuration:
Subscriber Data: Use placeholders in your webhook body:
{{email}}{{first_name}}{{last_name}}{{tags}}{{custom_fields}}Send text messages via Twilio. SMS steps work like email steps but with character limits.
SMS Content: Write your message (160 characters recommended for single SMS). Use personalization tokens.
Twilio Configuration: Set up Twilio credentials in Settings > Integrations > SMS. Once configured, SMS steps become available.
Multi-Channel Strategy: Combine email and SMS steps for critical moments. Example: Send reminder email 3 days before event, follow with SMS 1 day before.
When you enable "Use AI Content" on an email step:
Click the sparkle icon next to any email step to preview AI-generated content without activating the sequence. The preview modal shows the full email as subscribers will see it.
Regenerating Content: Click "Regenerate" to get a new version. Each regeneration creates a fresh email based on your prompt and brand voice.
The first time you create a sequence (or when you update brand voice settings), ILLIXIS personalizes all email steps with your brand voice. This enrichment process:
What Gets Enriched:
After AI generation, you can:
Self-classification links let subscribers self-segment by clicking links in your emails. This replaces traditional forms and surveys with one-click qualification.
{{classification:abc123}})In the Sequence Builder:
Lead Qualification: "Which best describes you?
Each link moves them to a different stage and tags them accordingly.
Feature Interest: "What do you want to learn more about?
Routes them into different nurture sequences based on interest.
Intent Signals: "{{classification:ready}} I'm ready to schedule a demo" "{{classification:not-now}} Not right now, keep sending tips"
Separates hot leads from those who need more nurturing.
ILLIXIS can send your sequence emails through Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Resend, or Mailgun. You choose the platform in the top toolbar.
Auto-detect (Recommended): ILLIXIS checks which platforms you've connected and routes emails to the best available option. Priority order:
Manual Selection: Choose a specific platform to force all emails through that service. Useful if you want Klaviyo for marketing sequences but Resend for transactional.
Klaviyo:
Mailchimp:
Resend:
Mailgun:
Before activating, review:
What Happens Next:
Click "Pause" on the sequence detail page to halt the sequence. New enrollments are blocked, and currently enrolled subscribers stop receiving further emails at their next scheduled step — the executor short-circuits any enrollment whose sequence is not in active status. To resume, click "Activate"; enrollments pick up where they left off.
The sequence detail page has an "Ends At" field next to Email Platform. Set a date/time and any in-flight enrollment will stop receiving emails the moment that timestamp passes — regardless of where the subscriber is in the drip. Distinct from Pause: Ends At is an automated, date-anchored cutoff (no operator action needed when the time comes); Pause is a manual reversible halt. Leave Ends At blank for sequences with no scheduled cutover. Common use: a launch broadcast supersedes a pre-launch nurture sequence at a specific time — set Ends At to that time and the drip stops cleanly even if enrollments are mid-flight.
From the sequence detail page, click "Send Test." Enter your email address to receive a preview of each email step. Test sends use real content but don't enroll you in the sequence.
What to Check:
Create a test subscriber with a dedicated email address. Manually enroll them in the sequence. Watch their progression through the flow and verify each step triggers correctly.
Testing Conditions: To test branching:
From the sequence detail page, click "View All Enrollments" to see everyone currently in the sequence and their progress.
Enrollment Statuses:
Click "Enroll Subscribers" from the sequence detail page. Select subscribers from your list or import via CSV. They'll enter at the trigger step immediately.
Bulk Enrollment: Upload a CSV with email addresses. ILLIXIS matches them to existing subscribers or creates new ones. All enroll simultaneously.
Select a subscriber from the enrollments list and click "Remove from Sequence." They stop receiving future emails but keep any tags or data from steps already completed.
Access from the sequence detail page. Metrics include:
Enrollment Metrics:
Email Performance:
A/B Test Results: If your sequence includes A/B splits, see performance comparison for each variant. ILLIXIS highlights the winning variant based on statistical significance.
Time-Based Metrics:
Click any step in the analytics dashboard to see:
Sequential (Default): Each subscriber moves through steps based on their enrollment time. Someone enrolling Monday gets Email 1 on Monday, Email 2 two days later on Wednesday.
Broadcast Mode: All enrolled subscribers receive each step at the same time. Use this for event-based sequences where everyone needs the same timeline (e.g., webinar registration).
Setting Broadcast Mode: Available in sequence settings (not currently in UI; contact support to enable).
Use liquid template syntax for advanced personalization:
```
{% if subscriber.purchase_count > 0 %}
Thanks for being a customer!
{% else %}
Ready to make your first purchase?
{% endif %}
```
Available Variables:
subscriber.emailsubscriber.first_namesubscriber.last_namesubscriber.tagssubscriber.custom_fields.*subscriber.purchase_countsubscriber.last_purchase_dateSequences can trigger based on pipeline stage changes. When a lead moves to "Demo Scheduled," trigger a pre-demo preparation sequence. When they move to "Customer," start onboarding.
Configuring Pipeline Triggers:
Trigger sequences based on custom events sent from your application or via Zapier.
Event Payload:
POST to /api/v1/events/ with:
```json
{
"event_type": "trial_started",
"subscriber_email": "user@example.com",
"event_data": {
"plan": "professional",
"trial_end_date": "2024-03-15"
}
}
```
ILLIXIS matches the subscriber and enrolls them in sequences triggered by that event type.
ILLIXIS includes templates for common sequences:
Welcome Series (3 emails):
Nurture Series (5 emails):
Trial Onboarding (7 emails over 14 days):
Re-engagement (3 emails):
Build a sequence you want to reuse. From the sequence detail page, click "Save as Template." Your template appears in the template library when creating new sequences.
Template Variables: Mark certain fields as variables (e.g., {{PRODUCT_NAME}} or {{EVENT_DATE}}) so you're prompted to fill them when creating from the template.
Check sequence status: Must be "Active" for emails to send.
Verify trigger: Ensure subscribers are actually enrolling. Check enrollments list.
Platform connection: Confirm Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Resend, or Mailgun is connected in Settings > Integrations.
Email platform selection: If set to a specific platform, verify that platform is properly configured.
Trigger configuration: Review trigger settings. Tag triggers require exact tag name match (case-sensitive).
Subscriber eligibility: Subscribers can only be in a sequence once. If they completed it previously, they won't re-enroll unless you manually add them.
Sequence conflicts: If a subscriber is in another sequence with the same trigger, check enrollment rules to see which takes priority.
Condition configuration: Check that condition type matches the data you're checking. For example, "Email Opened" requires the email's step ID.
Timing: Conditions check when the subscriber reaches the condition step. If they haven't performed the action yet, they'll take the "No" path.
Data availability: Some conditions require integrations (e.g., "Purchase Made" needs Shopify connected).
Brand voice not applied: If emails feel generic, verify brand voice settings in Tenant Settings. Wait for enrichment to complete (yellow banner at top).
Content doesn't match prompt: Make your AI prompt more specific. Instead of "introduce the product," try "introduce the product's key benefit of saving time, with a friendly conversational tone and a customer example."
Regeneration doesn't change much: AI is working from the same prompt. Edit your prompt for different results.
Open rate low (<15%): Subject lines may need work. Test different approaches with A/B splits. Check send time.
Click rate low (<2%): Email content may not have clear CTA or compelling offer. Verify links are working.
High exit rate at one step: Review that step's content. Subscribers are disengaging at that point. Consider testing a different approach.
Link not clickable: Verify you copied the placeholder exactly, including the double curly braces: {{classification:abc123}}
Click doesn't move lead: Check that the target pipeline stage exists and is spelled correctly.
Link expired: Classification links expire after 30 days for security. Check creation date.
Always A/B test subject lines. Test:
Run at least 10 subscribers through each variant before declaring a winner.
Too fast: Subscribers feel spammed. Minimum 1 day between emails unless you have a good reason (e.g., urgency around an event).
Too slow: Momentum dies. For sales sequences, 2-3 days is ideal. For educational nurture, 5-7 days works.
Always provide clear exit points:
Use tags and conditions to personalize:
70% of emails are opened on mobile. Keep:
CAN-SPAM / GDPR:
Double Opt-In: Consider requiring confirmation before enrolling subscribers in sequences. Reduces spam complaints and improves engagement.
Once your sequence is running:
The Visual Sequence Builder gives you the power to automate your entire email marketing program. Start with one simple welcome sequence, then expand as you see results.
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