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COLD EMAIL AGENT · CAMPAIGNS · MANAGING CAMPAIGNS

Sequences

Where you write, edit, and test the actual emails your campaign sends. How steps and variants work, what to put in them, and what to do when one isn't landing.

The Sequences tab is where the actual content of your campaign lives — the first email, the follow-ups, the wording, the personalization. You can edit anything here while the campaign is running. Edits only affect emails that haven't been sent yet, so a recipient never gets a half-edited version.

Steps are emails

A sequence is just an ordered list of emails. Each email is a step:

  • Step 1 is your first email — the most important one. If it doesn't land, no follow-up will rescue it.
  • Step 2 is the first follow-up. The default sequence is one follow-up, so most campaigns start out with two steps total.
  • Step 3 is a second follow-up. Add it once a campaign is genuinely working — meaning Step 1 is producing replies — to squeeze a bit more out of leads that didn't reply the first time.

Don't go past 3 steps. More than two follow-ups starts to look like spam and increases the risk that an inbox gets flagged. Two follow-ups is the practical ceiling.

What you see on each step card

Each step shows:

  • The step number and timing — e.g. "Step 2, sent 2 days after Step 1"
  • Variants — alternative versions of the same step (more on these below)
  • Performance — the same numbers you see on the Analytics tab:
    • Emails sent
    • Positive replies
    • Reply rate
    • Booked calls
    • Booked call rate

Variants — testing different versions of the same email

Each step can have more than one version, called a variant. The platform splits sends across the variants and lets you compare which one gets more replies.

You'd add variants when you want to test a different angle, a different subject line, or a different opener — without running two whole campaigns in parallel.

How many variants per step: 2–3 is usually right. More than that splits your sends too thin to learn from. See Variants and A/B testing for the full reasoning.

AI-generated campaigns can draft more variants than you'd choose manually. Treat those as options to review. Before launch, disable or remove anything you would not be happy sending.

Don't expect replies to spread evenly across variants. Often only one or two variants of three will actually land — the others fizzle. That's the whole reason you test multiple: to find the one that works. Reply distribution skewed toward a single variant isn't a problem; it's the signal you're looking for.

Adding a variant

Click Add Variant inside a step. You can write from scratch or duplicate an existing variant and tweak it — duplicating is usually faster.

Editing a variant

Click into a variant to open the editor. Edit the subject and body.

Hit Save before you click to another variant. Variant edits do not auto-save. If you switch to a different variant without saving, your changes are lost. This trips people up — get into the habit of clicking Save every time.

Why a variant might be disabled

If AI campaign management is on and Optimize email variants is set to Run automatically, the agent can disable a variant it judges to be underperforming. If the action is set to Ask first, it asks for approval before disabling anything. You can re-enable a variant manually, but check the AI Agent tab first so you understand the reasoning.

When you want to retire a variant manually

Disable, don't delete. Disabling stops new sends going through that variant but keeps the historical data attached. Deleting wipes the analytics — you lose the record of what didn't work, which is itself useful information for future campaigns.

Personalization — making each email feel individual

The AI writes openers tuned to your audience, but the real lift comes from personalization variables — placeholders that get filled in for each recipient when the email sends.

The common variables

VariableWhat it fills in
{{firstName}}The recipient's first name
{{lastName}}The recipient's last name
{{companyName}}The recipient's company name
{{industry}}The recipient's industry
{{jobTitle}}The recipient's job title — see the warning below

Full list of supported variables on the Personalization concept page.

Inserting a variable

Click the Variables button ({ } icon) in the editor toolbar and pick from the menu. The button guarantees the exact spelling — variables are case-sensitive, so {{firstname}} (lowercase) or {{FirstName}} (capitalised) won't work.

Be careful with {{jobTitle}}

Job titles in the underlying data aren't cleaned up — they come through as the lead has them written on LinkedIn. "VP of Product and Growth" or "Senior Director, GTM Strategy & Operations" doesn't always slot into a sentence cleanly:

Hi Sarah, I noticed you're the VP of Product and Growth at Acme. Most VP of Product and Growths I work with…

Use it sparingly. If you do use it, build the sentence around it carefully so an awkward title doesn't break the flow.

Don't overdo it

An email that reads "Hi {{firstName}}, I noticed {{companyName}} in {{industry}}. Based on your role as {{jobTitle}}…" sounds like a templated mail-merge, not a human writing one email at a time. 2–4 variables per email is the sweet spot. Use {{firstName}} in the greeting, maybe one more later, let the AI's natural language handle the rest.

Custom variables — your own data alongside the standard fields

Any column on a CSV upload that doesn't match a standard field can be used as a custom variable. Map it during the CSV upload flow, name it whatever you want, and reference it in the sequence with {{your_variable_name}}.

This is the way to add data the standard variables don't cover — a recent news mention, a specific opener hook, a podcast they were on, a stat about their company.

To enrich an existing AI-Lead-Search campaign with custom variables:

  1. Open the campaign's Leads tab and click Export CSV.
  2. Add the new column(s) to the exported file (the data you want to personalise on).
  3. Delete the leads from the campaign (you don't have to delete the campaign — just the leads, so you keep the analytics for what worked).
  4. Re-upload the enriched CSV through Import Leads, mapping the new columns as custom variables.
  5. Add the new variable(s) to your sequence copy.

You're effectively re-importing the same people with extra data attached.

{{sendingAccountName}} and {{sendingAccountFirstName}}

These are sender-side variables — they fill in from the display name on the sending inbox itself, not from the lead's data. Useful in signatures so each inbox signs off with its own name.

If you want a different name in the email than the inbox uses, you have two options:

  • Use a hardcoded name in the copy. Just type the name you want directly into the email — Best, James instead of Best, {{sendingAccountFirstName}}. The variable isn't required; it only fills in if you put it there.
  • Or change the inbox's display name in Email Accounts. Click the inbox, edit First/Last name, save.

Most people just hardcode the name in the copy. It's the fastest fix.

Preview — fill in the blanks yourself for now

Click Preview in the editor to see what the email looks like with variables filled in.

Right now the preview doesn't pull real lead data — it shows your sequence with the variable placeholders still visible, so you can sanity-check the structure and spot typos. Filling in real test data manually (typing Sarah where you'd expect {{firstName}} to render) is how you check it reads naturally.

A live-data preview that pulls from the campaign's actual leads is on the way — until then, fill in the blanks.

Hyperlinks — be careful

The editor doesn't have a rich-text link tool — there's no "highlight text, click link, paste URL" workflow. If you want to include a URL, you paste the URL itself into the email body as plain text.

The bigger rule: never put a link in Step 1. First emails with links are far more likely to get flagged as spam by Gmail and Outlook. If your first email lands in spam, no follow-up reaches the inbox either.

Once Step 1 has landed clean, links are fine in follow-up emails — Steps 2 and 3 — because you've already proved you're a real sender. Use the follow-up to share the link to a podcast clip, a case study, a calendar booking page, or whatever the angle is.

Keep it to one link per follow-up. Multiple links in a single email still trip spam filters.

Editing a campaign that's already running

Editing a live campaign is fully supported. The Sequences tab is live at all times. Useful edits:

  • Tweak a subject line on a winning variant if you've found something that's reliably getting replies and want to lean into it.
  • Disable a variant that's clearly underperforming so future sends only use the better ones. Don't delete it — keep the historical data.
  • Add a Step 3 if your campaign is performing well at Steps 1 and 2 and you want to squeeze more replies from the leads who haven't replied yet.

What not to do: don't add follow-up steps to fix an underperforming campaign. If Step 1 isn't getting replies, more follow-ups won't fix that — they'll just send more emails to people who never opened the first one. Address Step 1 (the copy, the targeting, the offer) before adding length.

Edits apply to future sends only. Emails already in flight aren't updated, so you'll see a mix of old and new for a few days after an edit.

You'll know your sequence is working when…

  • Step 1 has at least one variant producing positive replies at or above your Healthy PRR threshold.
  • Your variables fill in with real values when emails go out — no {{firstName}} showing up as raw text in sent emails.
  • The Preview reads naturally when you fill in the blanks with sample names and companies.
  • Reply rate and positive replies on each step's card move upward as the campaign matures.

If something's not right

A variable shows as raw {{firstName}} instead of a name

Two possible causes:

  1. The lead data doesn't have that field. Open a lead in the Leads tab and check whether firstName is filled in. If it's blank for many leads, your CSV import either didn't include it or didn't map it correctly.
  2. A typo in the variable name. {{first_name}} (underscore) and {{FirstName}} (capital) won't work. Use the Variables button instead of typing the variable by hand.

Related: Why does jobTitle show in preview but go blank in the sent email.

"Unknown variables detected" warning

You've used a variable name the platform doesn't recognise. Click the Variables button to see the valid list, replace the bad variable, save. See What does 'unknown variables detected' mean.

My edits aren't saving

You're switching variants without clicking Save first. Variants don't auto-save between switches. Save, then move on.

The AI's first draft is generic

The targeting given to the AI was probably too vague. Open Options, sharpen the audience description, then duplicate the campaign — that triggers a fresh AI-generated sequence based on the better description. You can't regenerate in place; only a new campaign gets a fresh draft.

I want to duplicate my whole campaign

Use the Duplicate option on the three-dots menu on the Campaigns list. That creates a fresh Draft with the same sequence, settings, and leads. Make edits, then finish the draft with Create Campaign.

On this page

Steps are emailsWhat you see on each step cardVariants — testing different versions of the same emailAdding a variantEditing a variantWhy a variant might be disabledWhen you want to retire a variant manuallyPersonalization — making each email feel individualThe common variablesInserting a variableBe careful with {{jobTitle}}Don't overdo itCustom variables — your own data alongside the standard fields{{sendingAccountName}} and {{sendingAccountFirstName}}Preview — fill in the blanks yourself for nowHyperlinks — be carefulEditing a campaign that's already runningYou'll know your sequence is working when…If something's not rightA variable shows as raw {{firstName}} instead of a name"Unknown variables detected" warningMy edits aren't savingThe AI's first draft is genericI want to duplicate my whole campaignRelated