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Campaign Types

Lifecycle Email

Emails tailored to where customers are in their journey from new user to loyal advocate.

Definition

Lifecycle emails are messages designed for specific stages of the customer journey. New users get onboarding content. Active users get feature education. At-risk users get re-engagement campaigns. Loyal customers get referral requests. Each stage calls for different messaging because customer needs and mindsets change as they mature.

Why It Matters

One-size-fits-all email does not work. A new signup needs activation help, not upsell pitches. A power user needs advanced tips, not basic onboarding. Lifecycle email recognizes these differences and delivers the right message at the right time. This relevance dramatically improves engagement and business outcomes.

How It Works

Map your customer journey into stages: new users, activated users, regular users, power users, at-risk users, churned users. Define triggers that move users between stages based on behavior and time. Create email sequences for each stage. Use automation to send contextually appropriate messages based on where each user sits.

Best Practices

  • 1Define stages based on behavior, not just time since signup
  • 2Create distinct email strategies for each lifecycle stage
  • 3Automate stage transitions based on real-time behavior
  • 4Regularly review stage definitions as your product evolves
  • 5Measure metrics separately by lifecycle stage
  • 6Do not overlap multiple lifecycle sequences on the same user
  • 7Personalize content within each stage based on user attributes

Lifecycle Automation

Build lifecycle sequences that automatically move users between stages based on behavior. Each stage can have its own email strategy.

Learn More

Frequently Asked Questions

Start simple with 4-5 stages: new, activated, engaged, at-risk, churned. You can add nuance later (like distinguishing power users or expansion-ready accounts). Too many stages create complexity without proportional benefit.

Base it on measurable behavior. New users have not activated yet. Activated users completed key actions. Engaged users are active regularly. At-risk users have declining activity. Use your product analytics to define thresholds for each stage.

Drip campaigns are time-based sequences (day 1, day 3, day 7). Lifecycle campaigns are behavior-based and stage-driven. A user might skip to the engaged stage in 2 days or remain in the new stage for weeks. Lifecycle adapts to reality instead of assuming fixed timelines.