# Nurture

> Engage consented audiences at scale with multi-step nurture campaigns, built for warm leads, customers, and opted-in subscribers.

Source: https://docs.graph8.com/engage/nurture/

Nurture campaigns engage audiences who have already opted in: newsletter subscribers, trial signups, customers, and event attendees. Unlike outbound sequences (which prospect to cold leads), nurture is built for ongoing engagement with people who already know you.

## Nurture vs. Sequencer

Both run multi-step automation, but they're built for different jobs:

| Capability | Sequencer | Nurture |
|------------|-----------|---------|
| **Audience type** | Cold prospects (outbound) | Consented contacts (inbound, opted-in) |
| **Use case** | New business prospecting | Lifecycle engagement, retention, upsell |
| **Compliance posture** | Cold outreach rules apply | Marketing consent already on file |
| **Pacing** | Aggressive: speed-to-lead | Considered: long-cycle drip |
| **Volume** | High volume per day | Steady cadence over weeks/months |
| **Channels** | All: email, LinkedIn, phone, SMS, WhatsApp | All: same step types as Sequencer |
| **Mailbox strategy** | Rotation across many mailboxes | Pinned to a brand mailbox |

If you're sending to people who haven't asked to hear from you, use **Sequencer**. If you're following up with people who opted in, use **Nurture**.

## Common Use Cases

| Audience | Nurture Goal |
|----------|-------------|
| **Newsletter subscribers** | Convert to product trials |
| **Trial signups** | Drive activation and conversion to paid |
| **Webinar registrants** | Follow-up content and meeting CTAs |
| **Closed-lost deals** | Stay top-of-mind for re-engagement |
| **Customer onboarding** | Step-by-step product education |
| **Customer expansion** | Cross-sell, upsell, feature adoption |
| **Event attendees** | Post-event content and next-step CTAs |

## Building a Nurture Campaign

1. Go to **Engage → Nurture**
2. Click **Create Nurture Campaign**
3. Walk through the four tabs: **Meta → Contacts → Steps → Review**
4. Click **Launch** to activate

### Meta Tab

The first tab captures the campaign's identity and configuration:

| Field | Description |
|-------|-------------|
| **Name** | Internal name for the campaign |
| **Description** | What this nurture is for (used in reporting) |
| **Schedule** | Sending window: when steps are allowed to execute |
| **Pinned mailbox** | A single mailbox to send all emails from (preserves brand consistency) |
| **Pinned phone number** | A single number for SMS and calls |
| **Studio campaign** | Optional link to a Studio campaign for messaging context |
| **Finish on reply** | Stop the nurture for a contact when they reply |
| **Send in same thread** | Keep all email steps in one thread |

> **Tip:**
> Nurture campaigns work best with a pinned mailbox tied to a recognizable sender: a person's name (`sarah@yourcompany.com`) or a branded address (`hello@yourcompany.com`). Rotation hurts brand recognition for warm audiences.

A nurture campaign uses exactly one pinned mailbox, and that mailbox can send up to **500 emails per day**. Because nurture audiences have already opted in, the pinned mailbox is exempt from the cold outbound warmup ramp that applies to sequences.

### Contacts Tab

Pick which contact lists to enroll. Nurture supports the same list selection as Sequencer:

- Select one or multiple contact lists
- Filter by attributes (job title, company size, custom fields)
- Use signals (visited pricing page, opened last campaign) to gate enrollment

Audiences should be lists of opted-in contacts. Use [Audience syncs →](https://docs.graph8.com/data/managing-lists/) to keep the audience updated automatically.

### Steps Tab

Add nurture steps. The Steps tab uses the same builder as the Sequencer, so every step type, content mode, and condition available in sequences is available here. See [Sequencer → Steps](https://docs.graph8.com/engage/sequencer/) for the full step reference.

Common nurture-specific patterns:

| Pattern | Description |
|---------|-------------|
| **Long wait intervals** | 5–14 days between steps for warm audiences |
| **Single-channel email cadence** | Most nurtures stay on email to preserve a consistent sender voice |
| **Branch on engagement** | Send different content to openers vs. non-openers |
| **AI-personalized content** | Use AI Instructions so each send references the contact's role and recent activity |

### Review Tab

Final pre-launch check. Shows:

- Total contacts to enroll
- Step count and total nurture duration
- Selected mailbox and phone number
- Schedule and timezone
- Any validation warnings (missing required fields, invalid templates)

Click **Launch** to start the campaign.

## Personal vs. Organization

The nurture list view has two tabs:

| Tab | Shows |
|-----|-------|
| **Personal** | Nurtures you created |
| **Organization** | Every nurture in your org |

Filtering by tab makes it easier to find your own campaigns in larger orgs.

## Statuses

Nurture campaigns share the Sequencer's status model:

| Status | Meaning |
|--------|---------|
| **Drafted** | Created but not started |
| **Scheduling** | Processing contacts |
| **Live** | Actively running |
| **Paused** | Stopped; can resume |
| **Waiting** | Paused, will resume when new contacts arrive |
| **Completed** | All contacts finished |
| **Terminated** | Permanently stopped |

Controls match the Sequencer: **Start**, **Pause / Resume**, **Terminate**, **Duplicate**.

## Adding Contacts to a Live Campaign

Nurtures often run continuously. To add new contacts to an active nurture:

1. Open the nurture
2. Click **Add Contacts**
3. Select a list or upload contacts
4. New contacts enter at the first step automatically

If you enable **Wait for new contacts** in Meta settings, the nurture stays in `Waiting` status when no contacts are queued and resumes when new ones arrive.

## Reports

Each nurture tracks:

| Metric | What It Shows |
|--------|---------------|
| **Enrolled** | Total contacts added to the nurture |
| **Active** | Currently progressing through steps |
| **Completed** | Finished all steps |
| **Replied** | Contacts who replied (sequence stops if finish-on-reply is on) |
| **Per-step performance** | Send, open, click, reply rates per step |
| **Engagement trend** | Daily reply rate over time |
| **Conversion funnel** | Drop-off rate at each step |

## Compliance

Because nurture targets opted-in audiences, compliance posture is different from cold outbound:

- **Unsubscribe links** are required on every email step
- **List hygiene**: automatically suppress unsubscribes, hard bounces, and complaints
- **Consent tracking**: record the source of consent on each contact (form submission, double opt-in, customer agreement)
- **Regional rules**: GDPR, CASL, CAN-SPAM compliance flows differently for marketing vs. transactional content

Configure unsubscribe behavior at **Settings → Compliance**.

## Best Practices

- **Pin a mailbox**: warm audiences should hear from a consistent sender, not a rotating pool
- **Keep cadence reasonable**: for warm audiences, 1 email every 3–7 days is typical; daily is too much
- **Segment audiences**: separate nurtures for trial users, customers, and lost deals work better than one giant nurture
- **Use AI Instructions** for personalization: the AI uses Studio context plus contact data, so each email feels written for the recipient
- **Monitor unsubscribes**: a spike means cadence is too high or content isn't relevant

## Troubleshooting

| Issue | Fix |
|-------|-----|
| Nurture stuck in Scheduling | Wait 5 minutes; large lists take time to enroll. If stuck >1 hour, check the audience list isn't empty |
| Contacts not advancing | Check the step's wait interval and the schedule's sending window; contacts pause until both align |
| Unsubscribe rate is high | Lower send frequency, segment audience more narrowly, review content relevance |
| Replies not stopping the campaign | Verify **Finish on reply** is enabled in Meta tab |
| Pinned mailbox at send cap | Reduce daily volume or split the audience across multiple nurtures with different pinned mailboxes |

## Related

- [Sequencer →](https://docs.graph8.com/engage/sequencer/): Cold outbound prospecting (use this for non-consented audiences)
- [Newsletter →](https://docs.graph8.com/engage/newsletter/): One-shot broadcast emails (no multi-step automation)
- [Inbox →](https://docs.graph8.com/engage/inbox/): Manage replies from nurture campaigns
- [Managing Lists →](https://docs.graph8.com/data/managing-lists/): Build audiences for nurture
- [Studio Campaigns →](https://docs.graph8.com/studio/campaigns/): Generate nurture content with AI