Automated marketing is a set of rules that send the right message when a contact does something, or fails to: fills a form, books a call, goes quiet, pays an invoice. Set up well, it means no enquiry is forgotten, no past client is left to drift, and your team only talks to people who are ready to talk. This article explains which sequences a company of 10 to 250 people should build first, in what order, and how to start them from a recipe in Automation on the levelpartner.ai platform.
The four sequences that matter
Almost every firm with flat revenue has the same gaps. Fill these four before you build anything else.
- New enquiry follow-up. An instant reply, then a short series that pushes towards a booked call.
- Booked call support. Confirmation, reminders and a short prompt that tells the prospect what to prepare.
- Lost and stalled leads. A slower series for people who did not buy, spaced over months.
- Past client reactivation. Periodic, useful contact with people who bought before and could buy again.
Each sequence answers a moment where revenue leaks. The first catches speed, the second protects attendance, the third recovers the maybes, and the fourth turns your client list back into a pipeline.
Before you start
- Clean contacts with an owner assigned and a lifecycle tag (lead, client, past client).
- A sales pipeline in Opportunities whose stages match how you actually sell.
- An authenticated sending domain and, for SMS, a registered business number.
- Recorded consent for every channel you plan to use, especially SMS and WhatsApp.
- A calendar with a booking link for each person who takes first calls.
How to set it up
- Write the new enquiry sequence first: an instant email with the owner's booking link, then three shorter follow-ups.
- Navigate to Automation.
- Click Create Workflow, then Select a Recipe.
- Select the recipe Email Drip Sequence.
- Add the trigger Form Submitted: click Add filter, choose Form is, select your enquiry form, then Save.
- Edit each email action's subject, message content and attachments, then click Save Action.
- Click Publish, then click Save.
- Enrol one test contact and read every email before real enquiries reach it.
- Plan the booked call, stalled lead and reactivation sequences the same way, one at a time.
How the sequences connect
Each sequence should end by handing the contact to the next one. An enquiry that never books finishes in the stalled lead series. A prospect who books leaves the enquiry sequence immediately, because a goal step or condition removes them. A client who pays moves into onboarding and later into reactivation.
This handover is where most setups fail. Contacts end up in three workflows at once and receive a reminder, a nurture email and a reactivation offer on the same day. Use tags and exit conditions so a contact is only ever in one marketing sequence at a time. Workflow automation examples shows several handover patterns in practice.
Say the firm receives 120 enquiries a month and partners reply when they have time, often after two days. With the enquiry workflow live, every enquiry would get a reply within a minute and three follow-ups over a week. If booked calls moved from 35 to 55 a month, that would be 20 extra conversations. A stalled lead series recovering six more from older enquiries would bring the gain to 26. The figures show the sum; they do not forecast yours.
What it replaces and the weekly time
Automated marketing replaces manual follow-up lists, reminder phone calls, the occasional newsletter someone remembers to send, and the reactivation campaign that gets planned every January and never happens. It also replaces the separate email tool that never knew who was a client.
Once built, expect about two hours a week: reviewing replies, checking which sequences produce booked calls, and improving one message at a time. The initial build of all four sequences is a project of a few weeks, mostly spent writing the messages. Automated copywriting can shorten that.
The mistake most people make
They automate volume rather than response. A weekly newsletter to every contact is easy to automate and rarely moves revenue. A text sent to an enquiry within a minute is harder to set up and moves revenue directly. Start with the sequences closest to money.
Write every automated message as if one named person is sending it to one contact. Sign it from the owner, keep it short, and ask one question. Messages that look like campaigns get treated like campaigns.
When not to use it
Do not put your largest accounts into generic sequences. A mortgage broker's referral partners or an agency's top five clients need personal contact, and an automated nudge can feel careless. Do not automate a sequence you have never run by hand either. If you do not know which follow-up works, automation will only repeat the guess faster.
Across agencies, consultants, mortgage brokers and real estate firms, the pattern is the same: automate the predictable, keep the personal personal.
Troubleshooting
Contacts receive messages after they have booked. The workflow lacks an exit condition. Add a goal or condition that removes contacts once an appointment exists.
Nobody receives the texts. Consent or number registration is missing. Check the contact's SMS consent and confirm the sending number's registration is complete.
Emails land in spam. The sending domain is not authenticated, or the content is image-heavy. Authenticate the domain and send plainer messages.
Workflows run twice for one contact. The workflow allows re-entry. Check its re-entry settings so a contact enters once unless you need otherwise, as covered in marketing automation best practices.
Frequently asked questions
Which sequence should we build first?
New enquiry follow-up. It sits closest to revenue and shows results within weeks. Reactivation comes second for most firms with a large past client list.
How many messages should a follow-up sequence send?
Enough to get a clear answer, rarely more than five or six over two weeks for new enquiries. Stalled leads can hear from you monthly for much longer.
Can automated marketing use SMS as well as email?
Yes, where you have consent. Short texts work well for speed and reminders; email suits longer, useful content.
Do we need a separate marketing automation tool?
Not on the platform. Workflows, email, SMS and the CRM are already one system, which is why exit conditions and handovers work.