# How to build email sequences

> Send a series of emails to each contact, timed from when they join, add contacts from lists, segments, or automations, and follow each email's results.

Product: Kelune CRM Cloud (hosted by us). Page: https://kelunecrm.com/docs/cloud/email-campaigns/email-sequences

A sequence is a series of emails that each contact gets on their own schedule, counted from the day they join, such as a welcome series of five emails over two weeks. Contacts can join at any time, and each one starts at the first email.

> **Note:**
>
> You need the permission to create and edit sequences, and to edit contacts to add people to one. Owner, Admin, Manager, and Agent have both by default. Each plan limits the number of sequences and emails per sequence; see [How to check plans, usage, and billing](https://kelunecrm.com/docs/cloud/getting-started/plans-and-usage).

## Create a sequence

1. Click **Email sequences** in the sidebar.
2. Click **New sequence**.
3. Enter a **Name** and, if you like, a **Description**.
4. Click **Create and edit**.

![The Email sequences page with each sequence, its status, emails, active and completed contacts and rates](https://kelunecrm.com/images/docs/cloud/email-campaigns/email-sequences/email-sequences.webp)

The sequence starts as a draft with no emails.

## Add the emails

1. Click **Add the first email**, or **Add an email** for the next ones.
2. On **Content**, write the email, or click **Templates** to start from one.
3. Click **Next**.
4. Enter the **Email subject** and **Preview text**.
5. Under **Timing**, set **Send after**: how long after joining the contact gets this email.
6. Click **Next**, check the **Review** step, then click **Add email**.

![The Subject & timing step with the subject, preview text, send after, sending window and days](https://kelunecrm.com/images/docs/cloud/email-campaigns/email-sequences/timing.webp)

| Timing option | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **Send after** | Minutes, hours, days, or weeks after the contact joined. 0 sends it right away |
| **Send only between** | A time window, in each contact's time zone (or the workspace's when it is not known). An email due outside it waits for the window |
| **Send only on** | The days of the week emails may go out. Leave all unchecked to send on any day |

Every wait is counted from when the contact joined, not from the previous email. For a welcome series, use 0 days, 3 days, 7 days, and so on.

![A sequence's Emails tab with five emails, each with its wait time, sent count, open rate and click rate](https://kelunecrm.com/images/docs/cloud/email-campaigns/email-sequences/sequence.webp)

To change a wait, click the wait time on the email's card. Changes apply to contacts already in the sequence from their next email.

## Activate the sequence

1. Turn on the switch at the top of the sequence.
2. Confirm.

Every email needs a subject and content first. Emails go out through the workspace's default sender; to use another, open **More options** and click **Sender**.

## Add contacts

1. Click **Add contacts** at the top of the sequence.
2. Under **Choose contacts**, pick **By lists, tags and segments**, or **Pick contacts** to choose up to 500 by hand.
3. Choose the lists, tags, or segments, and any to exclude.
4. Click **Add contacts**.

![The Add contacts drawer with the target and exclude lists, tags and segments](https://kelunecrm.com/images/docs/cloud/email-campaigns/email-sequences/add-contacts.webp)

Only active contacts with an email address are added, and contacts already in the sequence are skipped. Turn on **Restart contacts who finished or were removed** to start those again from the first email.

Adding by list or segment adds the contacts in it now. To add every new contact as they arrive, use an automation with the **Add to sequence** action. See [How to use triggers, delays, and actions](https://kelunecrm.com/docs/cloud/marketing-automation/triggers-delays-actions).

You can also add contacts from the **Contacts** page (select them, then **Add to sequence** under bulk actions) or from a contact's **Sequences** tab.

## Follow the contacts

The **Contacts** tab lists everyone in the sequence with their **Status**, the **Last email** they got, and the **Next email** and when it is due.

| Status | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| **Active** | Still getting emails |
| **Completed** | Got the last email |
| **Canceled** | Left the sequence. The reason is shown, such as **Unsubscribed**, **Email bounced**, or **Removed by a member** |

A contact who unsubscribes, bounces, or marks an email as spam leaves every sequence they are in. To take someone out by hand, select them and click **Remove from sequence**. Click **Restart** on a finished contact to send them every email again.

To see one email's results, open the menu on its card (the three dots) and click **Report**. It shows sent, delivered, open, click, bounce, and unsubscribe figures, and clicks per link.

## Pause the sequence

Turn off the switch at the top. No emails go out while it is paused, and contacts keep their place. When you turn it back on, emails that fell due go out within a minute.

## Common questions

**I added an email at the end. Do contacts who finished get it?** Not by themselves. Open **More options** and click **Continue finished** to send them the new emails, with the same gap.

**A contact shows "Waiting".** Their next email could not go out yet, for example because they have not confirmed a double opt-in. It is tried again every hour.

**Does a sequence stop when someone replies?** No. Replies go to your reply-to address. Remove the contact by hand, or with an automation.

## Where to go next

- [How to build your first automation](https://kelunecrm.com/docs/cloud/marketing-automation/first-automation)
- [How to build segments](https://kelunecrm.com/docs/cloud/contacts/segments)
- [How to read email logs and reports](https://kelunecrm.com/docs/cloud/email-campaigns/email-logs-and-reports)