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Welcome a New Subscriber with a Series

Send a series of emails to a new subscriber over the first week after sign-up. Step 1 immediately, step 2 after 24 hours, step 3 after 72 hours. Different content per step.

Who this is for​

Marketers running newsletter, product, or SaaS onboarding sequences.

The Mailtarget surface​

ComponentUsed for
Email Automation (/v1/automations)The series logic
Mailtarget CDPSubscriber data, label triggers
Email MarketingPer-step campaigns or templates
FormsCapture sign-up at the source

Execution​

Step 1: Capture the sign-up​

Either through a Mailtarget form on your site (sign-up creates a contact), or via API call from your application on user registration. Either way, the contact lands in the Contact Book with a label like newsletter or product_signup.

curl https://api.mailtarget.co/v1/contacts \
  -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $MAILTARGET_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "email":     "user@example.com",
    "firstName": "Alice",
    "labels":    ["newsletter"],
    "fields":    { "signup_source": "homepage_form" }
  }'

Step 2: Build the automation​

In the dashboard:

  1. Open Email Automation, create a flow.
  2. Trigger: contact gains label newsletter.
  3. Add Step 1: Send Email with welcome content. No delay.
  4. Add Delay: 24 hours.
  5. Add Step 2: Send Email with onboarding tips.
  6. Add Delay: 48 hours (so step 3 fires at the 72-hour mark).
  7. Add Step 3: Send Email with a soft CTA (book a call, browse products, read top blog post).
  8. Add Action: Finish.

Each step references a campaign or template. Pre-build the templates so the flow references them by ID.

Step 3: Verify the trigger​

Add yourself with a test label, watch the flow fire across 72 hours. Or use the dashboard test mode to simulate immediately.

Common mistakes​

SymptomCauseFix
Series fires multiple times for one contactTrigger condition too broad (matches each label change)Scope trigger to "label first added", not "label present"
Step 2 never firesContact unsubscribed between steps. Series stops by designConfirm via webhook events; do not auto-resubscribe
Open rate drops sharply step 1 to step 2Step 2 subject or sender shiftKeep from and tone consistent across the series
Series content staleTemplates referenced by ID, ID points at retired templateAudit template references quarterly

Outcome to track​

  • Step 1 open rate above 50 percent (welcome moment is highest engagement).
  • Series completion rate (contacts who receive all 3) above 80 percent.
  • Unsubscribe rate during series below 2 percent. Higher means content mismatch.
  • Conversion to active engagement (open or click on a non-welcome campaign within 14 days) above 30 percent.