Start with a welcome flow, then add an abandoned cart flow if you sell online, then a nurture sequence for people who are not ready to buy, and finally a re-engagement flow for people who have gone quiet. That order follows the amount of effort and the likely payoff: the earliest flows reach people at the moment of highest interest. Each flow is a trigger, a wait, a message and a rule for when to stop.
What a workflow actually is
An email workflow has four parts:
- Trigger: the event that starts it, such as joining a list or abandoning a cart.
- Timing: how long to wait before each message.
- Content: one clear message with one clear action.
- Exit rule: what ends the flow, such as a purchase, a reply or an unsubscribe.
Most mistakes happen in the exit rules. A customer who has already bought should not receive “still thinking about it?” The same logic applies to the broader automation thinking in how AI automation can improve business operations.
The four flows worth building first
1. Welcome flow
Trigger: a person subscribes or creates an account. Purpose: confirm what they will receive, deliver anything promised, and show your most useful content or product. Suggested shape: a first message immediately, a second a few days later introducing your best resource or offer, and a short third that asks one question or invites a reply.
Keep the first email focused on what the person signed up for. If they joined for a checklist, deliver it at once.
2. Abandoned cart flow
Trigger: a shopper adds items to a cart and does not complete checkout. Requirements: your store must connect to the email platform. Mailchimp’s help page says you need a connected, supported store (or a custom API integration) and that the abandoned cart trigger cannot be combined with another trigger in the same flow. You set a wait time in hours, days or weeks and can filter who enters (Mailchimp).
Mailchimp’s classic abandoned cart series defaults to three emails, sent one hour, one day and three days after abandonment. Contacts who gave an address at your store but did not opt in to marketing only receive the first email in the series (Mailchimp). Treat those as platform defaults you can change, not a rule for every shop.
Practical tips: show what was in the cart, make returning easy, answer likely objections (delivery, returns, sizing) and avoid discounting by default. Teaching customers to abandon carts for a coupon is a real risk.
3. Nurture flow
Trigger: a person downloads something, requests information, or joins a list but has not bought. Purpose: build trust until they are ready. A service business might send a short series on how to choose a provider, common mistakes and what the process looks like. Suggested shape: three to five emails spaced a few days apart, each useful on its own, ending with a clear invitation to talk. Pair it with a landing page that matches the promise, see landing pages that turn campaign traffic into enquiries.
4. Re-engagement flow
Trigger: no opens or clicks for a period you choose (for example, six months). Purpose: ask whether they still want to hear from you, and remove those who do not respond. Suggested shape: one or two messages with a clear “stay on the list” action, then removal or suppression. A smaller, engaged list is easier to manage than a large, silent one.
Quick comparison
| Flow | Starts when | Best for | Typical risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Welcome | Someone subscribes | Every business with a list | Promising more than you deliver |
| Abandoned cart | Cart left unpaid | Online shops | Over-discounting, duplicate emails |
| Nurture | Interest without purchase | Considered purchases, services | Too many emails, no clear next step |
| Re-engagement | Quiet for a set period | Older or large lists | Sending to people who never agreed |
Consent and unsubscribing
Marketing email in Australia is subject to the Spam Act 2003, which deals with consent, sender identification and unsubscribe. This article does not set out the rules in detail: read the ACMA’s current guidance and take advice if you are unsure. As a design principle, every promotional message in a flow should give an easy way to opt out, and your system should stop the whole sequence when someone does.
Mailchimp’s own help page shows a related platform behaviour: in an abandoned cart flow, additional send steps reach only subscribed contacts, while others move through the flow without receiving messages at those steps (Mailchimp). Check how your own platform treats unsubscribed or non-opted-in contacts before you build.
Build and test checklist
- Send test emails to yourself through the full flow, including the exit.
- Check that no contact can be in two overlapping flows by mistake. Mailchimp’s classic guidance warns to disable any outside abandoned-cart automations to avoid duplicate emails.
- Make sure links go to the right pages and mobile layouts work.
- Review results after a few weeks: opens matter less than clicks and the enquiries or sales that follow.
- Revisit copy every quarter. Flows are easy to forget once they run.
For the website side of the same job, see what makes a modern business website convert.
Where Radiance Impact fits
Radiance Impact’s Digital Technology & AI Solutions division builds business websites, landing pages and workflow automation, and offers ready-made automation kits. To plan which flows suit your business, see /technology or the free automation checklist, and contact us at /contact.
Sources
- Create an abandoned cart marketing automation flow, Mailchimp Help
- Create a classic abandoned cart series, Mailchimp Help
