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cadence-design skill

/plugins/email-sequence-orchestration/skills/cadence-design

This skill helps design scalable email cadences by aligning goals, timing signals, and channel mix to boost engagement and reduce fatigue.

npx playbooks add skill gtmagents/gtm-agents --skill cadence-design

Review the files below or copy the command above to add this skill to your agents.

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SKILL.md

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---
name: cadence-design
description: Use when spacing, sequencing, and pacing multi-touch email programs.
---

# Email Cadence Design Skill

## When to Use
- Planning nurture, onboarding, or expansion sequences with multiple branches.
- Auditing send frequency to reduce fatigue and unsubscribes.
- Coordinating cross-channel touches (email, in-app, SMS, sales assist).

## Framework
1. **Goal Alignment** – map KPIs per stage (activation, education, expansion, retention).
2. **Signal-Based Timing** – trigger on behavior (opens, clicks, product events), not fixed delays.
3. **Frequency Guardrails** – define daily/weekly send caps per persona + lifecycle stage.
4. **Channel Mix** – pair emails with supporting channels; document ownership and SLAs.
5. **Recovery Paths** – add detours for inactivity, hard bounces, or sales handoffs.

## Templates
- Cadence matrix (day, trigger, message purpose, CTA, channel).
- Fatigue model calculator (touches vs engagement trend).
- Suppression logic checklist (recent send, opportunity stage, consent).

## Tips
- Front-load value but leave whitespace before high-ask CTAs.
- Reuse proven send windows per persona while testing incrementally.
- Share cadence plan with SDR/CSM teams to prevent overlap.

---

Overview

This skill helps design, audit, and optimize multi-touch email cadences for nurture, onboarding, expansion, and retention programs. It provides a practical framework, templates, and calculators to balance timing, frequency, and channel coordination so programs drive KPI outcomes without causing fatigue.

How this skill works

The skill inspects program goals, persona profiles, and historical engagement signals to recommend timing and sequencing. It applies guardrails for daily/weekly send caps, suggests signal-based triggers (opens, clicks, product events), and generates cadence matrices and suppression rules. It also maps cross-channel ownership and recovery paths for inactivity or deliverability issues.

When to use it

Planning multi-step nurture, onboarding, or expansion sequences with branching logic
Auditing send frequency to reduce unsubscribes and engagement decay
Coordinating email with SMS, in-app messages, and sales outreach
Defining handoffs and SLAs between marketing and SDR/CSM teams
Designing suppression and recovery paths for bounces, inactivity, or lost consent

Best practices

Start with clear KPI alignment per stage (activation, education, expansion, retention)
Use behavior-based triggers instead of fixed delays to improve relevance
Set persona- and lifecycle-specific frequency guardrails to prevent overload
Front-load value in early touches and leave whitespace before high-ask CTAs
Document channel mix, ownership, and SLAs to avoid overlap and conflicting sends
Build recovery detours for inactivity, hard bounces, and sales handoffs

Example use cases

Create a 30-day onboarding sequence that triggers based on product events and email opens
Audit a lead-nurture program to identify fatigue signals and reduce weekly sends
Design a cross-channel expansion cadence pairing email content with targeted in-app prompts
Produce a suppression checklist and recovery path for contacts who stop engaging
Align marketing sends with SDR outreach to remove duplicate touches during opportunity stages

FAQ

How do I choose between fixed delays and signal-based triggers?

Prefer signal-based triggers for relevance; use short fixed delays only when a predictable wait is needed (e.g., trial end reminders).

What frequency caps should I set?

Set caps by persona and lifecycle stage—start conservatively (1–3 sends/week) and adjust using engagement and unsubscribe trends.

How do I prevent cross-team overlap?

Document a cadence matrix, assign channel ownership and SLAs, and share plans with SDR/CSM teams to enforce suppression windows.