# How do I write an email sequence for a campaign?

> Open a campaign's Sequence tab, pick a template or start blank, add Email and Wait steps, and edit. A step-by-step guide to writing your sequence.

Source: https://warmerly.com/docs/help/email-sequences

A sequence is the series of emails a lead receives, with waits in between. You write it on the campaign's **Sequence** tab (or on step 2 of the new-campaign wizard). Pick a template or start blank, add **Email** and **Wait** steps, and edit the copy. There is no Save button: every change saves by itself about a second after you stop typing, and a small status line shows "Saving" and then "Saved".

## Steps

1. Open **Campaigns**, click your campaign, then open the **Sequence** tab.
2. If the sequence is empty you see **Start your sequence**. Choose one of the templates: **Three-step cold intro**, **Two-touch follow-up**, **LinkedIn then email** or **Single send**. You can also **Copy from an existing campaign** and pick one of your other campaigns. Every step stays editable afterwards.
3. Edit each email's **subject** and **body**. Write plain text. Warmerly turns it into a simple email for you.
4. Use **Insert variable** on a field to put a tag such as `{{firstName}}` where your cursor is. The full list is in [Merge tags and custom variables](https://warmerly.com/docs/help/merge-tags).
5. Set each **Wait** step. It reads "Wait 3 days before the next step". The shortcut chips are 1d, 3d and 1w, and you can change the unit to hours.
6. Click **Preview** on an email step to see it rendered for a real lead (see below).
7. Launch from the campaign page when the sequence and the rest of the campaign are ready. See [How do I launch my first campaign?](https://warmerly.com/docs/help/launch-first-campaign).

## What Warmerly adds for you

You write the message. On sending, Warmerly adds:

- Your **mailbox signature**, if the mailbox has one set. The signature is HTML, so it is left out when the campaign is set to send plain text only.
- An **unsubscribe line** in the footer. It is a link on your own tracking domain when the mailbox has a verified one with working HTTPS. Without one, the line asks the recipient to reply "unsubscribe" instead. See [Unsubscribe links](https://warmerly.com/docs/help/unsubscribe-links) and [Custom tracking domain](https://warmerly.com/docs/guides/custom-tracking-domain).
- Open and click tracking, only if you turned them on in the campaign's **Settings** tab. See [Open and click tracking](https://warmerly.com/docs/help/open-and-click-tracking).

Sign off with `{{senderFirstName}}` rather than typing a name. A campaign can send from several mailboxes in rotation, and a typed name will disagree with the From name as soon as a second mailbox is added.

## Simple and Branching modes

The sequence editor has two modes. **Simple** is a plain ordered list: add, reorder with the arrows, delete. **Branching** is a drag-and-drop canvas that adds a **Condition** step. A condition splits the path on what the lead did: opened, clicked, replied, or a timeout when none of those happen in the wait time you set.

- The Simple and Branching switch appears once the sequence has at least three steps, or whenever the sequence already branches.
- A sequence that contains a condition cannot be edited in Simple mode. The editor shows a notice telling you to switch to **Branching** instead of quietly flattening your branches.
- Opened and clicked branches only fire if tracking recorded the open or click. With open tracking off (the default for new campaigns) an "opened" branch never triggers.

Sequences can also include LinkedIn steps. This page covers email steps.

## Preview an email before it sends

Each email step has a **Preview** control. It saves your sequence first, then renders that step for a lead with the lead's own name, company and variables filled in, and with the sending mailbox's details. You can search your audience and preview a specific lead, which is how you check the one with no first name or the odd company name.

The preview also lists any tags that came out empty for that lead. That matters because a blank tag leaves a sentence that still reads like a sentence ("Hi , saw that is hiring").

If the step uses `{{ai_opener}}`, previewing writes a real opener and can use an AI credit. See [AI personalisation with the AI opener](https://warmerly.com/docs/help/ai-opener).

## Editing a campaign that is already running

You can edit a live sequence. Leads already partway through keep their place, and changes apply to the steps they have not reached yet.

You cannot delete a step that leads are currently waiting on. The editor refuses, puts the step back and shows a message. Remove it later, once those leads have moved past it. Pausing the campaign does not free the step. Rewording a step is always fine.

## Common problems

**A tag shows a warning saying it "isn't a variable".** The tag does not match a built-in tag or a custom variable on your leads. It would send as blank text. Check the spelling, because tags are case sensitive. See [Merge tags and custom variables](https://warmerly.com/docs/help/merge-tags).

**"Launch now" is blocked with a merge tag error.** Same cause. The launch check refuses a tag that exists on none of your leads. Fix it on the Sequence tab.

**I deleted a step and it came back.** Leads are waiting on it. See the section above.

**My email looks different from what I typed.** Line breaks become paragraphs and the signature and unsubscribe footer are added at the end. Use **Preview** to see the final result.

## Related

- [Merge tags and custom variables](https://warmerly.com/docs/help/merge-tags)
- [A/B testing subject lines and email copy](https://warmerly.com/docs/help/ab-test-email-copy)
- [What stops a sequence for a lead](https://warmerly.com/docs/help/what-stops-a-sequence)
- [Why does my campaign send fewer emails than my daily limit?](https://warmerly.com/docs/help/campaign-sending-schedule)

## More in Campaigns & inbox

- [What merge tags and custom variables can I use in my emails?](https://warmerly.com/docs/help/merge-tags): Built-in tags are email, firstName, lastName, companyName and the sender tags. Any other column you import…
- [How do I personalise every email with the AI opener?](https://warmerly.com/docs/help/ai-opener): Put the aiopener tag at the top of your email. Warmerly writes a one or two sentence opening line per lead…
- [How do I A/B test a subject line or email in a campaign?](https://warmerly.com/docs/help/ab-test-email-copy): On an email step, click Test another version of this email. Warmerly sends up to four versions in rotation…