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
- Go to Engage → Nurture
- Click Create Nurture Campaign
- Walk through the four tabs: Meta → Contacts → Steps → Review
- 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 |
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 → 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 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:
- Open the nurture
- Click Add Contacts
- Select a list or upload contacts
- 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 → — Cold outbound prospecting (use this for non-consented audiences)
- Newsletter → — One-shot broadcast emails (no multi-step automation)
- Inbox → — Manage replies from nurture campaigns
- Managing Lists → — Build audiences for nurture
- Studio Campaigns → — Generate nurture content with AI