Objective

Learn to build automated marketing systems that nurture leads at scale while maintaining personalization and relevance.

Instructions

1. Select Your Automation Scenario

Choose one focus area:

Option A: New lead nurture (TOFU → MOFU)

Option B: Trial user onboarding and activation

Option C: Dormant lead re-engagement

Option D: Customer expansion/upsell

Your selection: _

2. Define Workflow Objectives

Primary Goal:

What do you want prospects to do by the end of this workflow?

Example: "Convert trial users to paying customers"

Your goal: _

Success Metrics:

• Conversion rate: ___% (from entry to goal completion)
• Engagement rate: ___% (open/click rates)
• Time to conversion: ___ days
• Secondary conversions: ___

3. Identify Trigger Events

What starts this automation?

Common triggers:

• Form submission (download, demo request)
• Trial signup
• Specific page visit (pricing, feature page)
• Email action (opened, clicked link)
• Behavioral milestone (used feature X)
• Time-based (30 days inactive)
• Lead score threshold (crossed 50 points)
• Status change (became MQL)

Your trigger: _

Trigger criteria:

Be specific about what conditions must be met:

-

---

-

---

4. Map the Workflow Steps

Basic structure:

Trigger Event
     ↓
[Wait / Condition Check]
     ↓
Action 1 (email, task, score change)
     ↓
[Wait / Branch based on behavior]
     ↓
Action 2
     ↓
[Continue...]
     ↓
Goal / Exit

Detailed Workflow:

Step 1: Entry

• Trigger: _
• Who enters: _

Step 2: [Wait/Action]

• Wait: ___ [minutes/hours/days]
• Action: _
• Channel: [Email / SMS / In-app / Task / Score change]
• Content: _

Step 3: [Decision Point]

• Condition: If [behavior], then [branch A], else [branch B]
• Branch A: _
• Branch B: _

Step 4-6: [Continue pattern]

Step X: Exit

• Success exit: [Goal achieved - remove from workflow]
• Alternative exit: [Criteria for stopping early]

5. Design Email Content

For each email in your workflow:

Email 1:

• Subject line: _
• Preview text: _
• From name: _ (use human name, not company)
• Timing: Immediately / [X hours/days after trigger]
• Purpose: [Thank/Educate/Nurture/Convert]
• Body structure:
  • Opening: _
  • Value/Content: _
  • Call-to-action: _
  • Signature: _

Personalization:

• Use: [First name] [Company name] [Industry] [Other]
• Dynamic content: [If industry = X, show section Y]

Example Email:

Subject: First Name, here's your Asset Name

Hi First Name,

Thanks for downloading our [Asset]. I noticed you're at Company 
— we've helped similar companies in Industry achieve [specific outcome].

Here are 3 quick tips to get the most from the guide:
1. [Tip related to their likely pain point]
2. [Tip that introduces your solution subtly]
3. [Tip that adds extra value]

Want to see how Company could [achieve outcome]? 
→ [Book a 15-min demo]

Best,
[Your Name]
[Title]

P.S. [Soft CTA or additional resource]

Your Email 1: [Draft it]

Email 2: [Continue for 3-5 emails]

6. Add Conditional Logic (If/Then Branches)

Automation power comes from responding to behavior:

Decision Point 1:

• Condition: If contact [opened Email 1], then...
• Branch A (Engaged): Send Email 2A with deeper content, shorter wait
• Branch B (Not opened): Wait 2 more days, send Email 2B with different subject line

Decision Point 2:

• Condition: If contact [clicked CTA in Email 2], then...
• Branch A (High intent): Alert sales team, add to "hot leads" list, send personalized demo invite
• Branch B (Clicked but not CTA): Continue nurture sequence
• Branch C (No click): One more attempt, then pause workflow

Your conditional logic:

Map 2-3 decision points in your workflow:

1.

---

2.

---

3.

---

7. Implement Lead Scoring

Assign points for behaviors throughout the workflow:

Scoring rules:

Action	Points	Rationale
Opened email	+2	Showing interest
Clicked link	+5	Engaged with content
Visited pricing page	+15	High buying intent
Attended webinar	+20	Invested time
Downloaded case study	+10	Researching solutions
Requested demo	+30	Ready for sales
30 days inactive	-10	Cooling off

Score thresholds:

• 0-20 points: Cold lead (stay in nurture)
• 21-49 points: Warm lead (increase frequency)
• 50+ points: Hot lead / MQL (alert sales)

Your scoring model:

Define 5-7 scoring rules for your workflow:

1.

---

2.

---

3.

---

MQL threshold: ___ points

What happens at threshold:

-

---

8. Set Wait Times Between Steps

Timing matters:

Best practices:

• First email: Immediate or within 5 minutes (while interest is hot)
• Follow-up emails: 2-3 days apart for cold leads, 1-2 days for engaged
• After demo/trial: Same day thank you, day 3 check-in, day 7 deeper content
• Re-engagement: Weekly or biweekly (don't bombard)

Your timing:

Step	Wait Before Action	Rationale
Email 1	Immediate	Strike while hot
Email 2	3 days	Give time to engage
Email 3	2 days if opened Email 2, else 4 days	Reward engagement
Email 4	5 days	Spacing out
Email 5	7 days	Final touch

9. Plan Exit Criteria

Success exits (stop workflow):

• ✅ Achieved goal (became customer, booked demo, etc.)
• ✅ Moved to different workflow (trial started, MQL handed to sales)

Failure/pause exits:

• ❌ Unsubscribed from emails
• ❌ Marked as closed-lost by sales
• ❌ Score dropped below threshold
• ❌ End of sequence reached with no engagement

Re-entry rules:

• Can they enter this workflow again? [Yes/No]
• If yes, under what conditions? _

Your exit criteria:

Success:

1.

---

2.

---

Early exit:

1.

---

2.

---

10. Create Workflow Diagram

Visualize your complete workflow:

Example diagram:

┌─────────────────┐
│  Trigger Event  │
│ (Form download) │
└────────┬────────┘
         ↓
    [Immediate]
         ↓
┌─────────────────┐
│    Email 1      │
│  (Thank you +   │
│   resources)    │
└────────┬────────┘
         ↓
    [Wait 3 days]
         ↓
    ┌────┴────┐
    │ Opened? │
    └─┬─────┬─┘
     YES    NO
      ↓      ↓
  ┌─────┐ ┌──────┐
  │Email│ │Email │
  │ 2A  │ │ 2B   │
  │(Deep│ │(New  │
  │conte│ │subje │
  │nt)  │ │ct)   │
  └──┬──┘ └───┬──┘
     ↓        ↓
  [Wait]  [Wait]
     ↓        ↓
  ┌────────────┐
  │  Clicked   │
  │ pricing?   │
  └─┬────────┬─┘
   YES       NO
    ↓         ↓
  ┌───┐   ┌─────┐
  │MQL│   │Email│
  │→  │   │  3  │
  │Sale│   └──┬──┘
  └───┘      ↓
          [Continue]

Your workflow diagram:

[Draw or describe your complete flow]

11. Build Measurement Plan

Workflow performance metrics:

Volume metrics:

• Entries: ___ per week
• Active contacts: ___ at any time
• Completions: ___ per week
• Exits: ___ per week

Engagement metrics:

• Average email open rate: ___%
• Average click rate: ___%
• Emails per conversion: ___
• Time in workflow: ___ days

Conversion metrics:

• Entry → Goal: ___%
• Entry → MQL: ___%
• MQL → SQL: ___%
• Cost per conversion: $___

By email:

Email	Send	Open %	Click %	Conv %
Email 1	100	45%	12%	2%
Email 2A	45	50%	15%	5%
Email 2B	55	35%	8%	1%
Email 3	75	40%	10%	3%

Optimization plan:

• Test subject lines on Email 1 (A/B test)
• Try different wait times between Email 2 and 3
• Adjust scoring thresholds based on SQL conversion rate
• Review monthly and refine

12. Technical Implementation Checklist

Before launching:

☐ Workflow mapped in automation tool (HubSpot/Marketo/etc.)

☐ All emails written and approved

☐ Personalization tokens tested (First Name populates correctly)

☐ Links working and tracked

☐ Exit criteria configured

☐ Lead scoring rules implemented

☐ CRM integration tested (score updates sync)

☐ Sales alerts configured (for MQL threshold)

☐ Unsubscribe link in all emails

☐ Mobile-responsive templates

☐ Test contacts run through workflow

☐ Analytics/reporting dashboard set up

☐ Team trained on monitoring and optimization

Post-launch:

☐ Week 1: Daily monitoring for errors

☐ Week 2: Check initial metrics vs. targets

☐ Week 4: First optimization pass (tweak timing, content)

☐ Month 2: A/B test best-performing emails

☐ Quarter 1: Full analysis and major updates

Deliverable

Create a Marketing Automation Workflow Document (3-5 pages) including:

1. Workflow Overview (1 page)
   • Goal and success metrics
   • Trigger and entry criteria
   • High-level flow description
2. Detailed Workflow (2-3 pages)
   • Step-by-step sequence with timing
   • Complete email copy for all messages
   • Conditional logic and branches
   • Lead scoring rules
   • Exit criteria
3. Visual Workflow Diagram (1 page)
   • Flowchart showing all paths
   • Decision points highlighted
4. Measurement Plan (1 page)
   • KPIs to track
   • Target benchmarks
   • Optimization schedule

Example: Trial Onboarding Workflow

Goal: Convert trial users to paid customers (30% conversion)

Trigger: User signs up for 14-day free trial

Flow:

• Day 0: Welcome email + quick start guide
• Day 1: Check if they logged in
  • Yes → In-app tip on key feature
  • No → Reminder email with setup video
• Day 3: Case study relevant to their industry
• Day 5: Check usage level
  • High → Upsell email from AE
  • Low → Help email from support
• Day 7: Webinar invite
• Day 10: Pricing reminder + discount offer
• Day 12: Urgent: Trial ending soon
• Day 14: Final day conversion push

Result: 30% trial-to-paid, 50% engagement rate

Outcome

You'll have:

• Scalable nurture that runs automatically 24/7
• Personalized experience that responds to individual behavior
• Higher conversion through timely, relevant touches
• Sales alignment via automated lead scoring and alerts
• Data-driven optimization through clear metrics

Marketing automation multiplies your team's effectiveness – instead of manually following up with each lead, the system handles it intelligently while you focus on strategy and high-value activities.