Shaun Whynacht explains why sequencing matters in marketing automation using dominoes as a metaphor. A trigger like a website opt-in starts a chain of actions: tagging, confirmation email, then conditional branches based on whether they download. The biggest mistake: forgetting to remove contacts from old sequences when they enter new ones, creating overlapping messages and confusion.
Chapters
How many people played with dominoes as a kid? And if you still play with them, I'm not going to judge. Today, I want to talk to you about sequencing and how important sequencing is in automation that you build. Now, think back to setting up those dominoes. You set one, then the next and the next, with the goal that when you push one, it hits the next, the next, and it fires in sequence. And then if you get really advanced, maybe you're going to break it out to a Y or to multiple fingers that are going to then keep going. This is how we look at automation. When an action is taken, there should be a series of events that happen. Let's take a, a real example. Maybe you have an opt-in on your website for a free report. Well, somebody comes there and you want them to fill out that form. Filling out that form is the trigger. The actions or the sequential dominoes that should happen after that could be tagging the record as downloaded that free resource, sending them a confirmation email that says, hey, thank you for requesting this free resource. Here it is. Now, from there, that's very basic. That's a simple, basic 2-step sequence. They take an action, they get what they need, but you're going to want to go a bit further. Because now they've expressed interest in whatever topic or subject that resource was in. So now you're going to want to nurture them a bit further, but there are some things that you may need to consider. What if you send them that free resource and they don't download it? Well, in that case, you could have that sequence continue on waiting for them to actually click the PDF link in the email to download it. If they don't, you can send a follow-up the next day. Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Jones, I noticed that you didn't download the resource. Um, here are some other things that are in there. Now the copy is a whole different ballgame and we'll get into that in another episode. But the idea behind this is if they take action or don't take action, there's one of those fingers in the road because the automation can then look at things based off of their action. Now, if they download it, great, they're getting that resource. Now you want to take them and advance them further. You want to then go into a nurture to try to lead them towards a product or service or offer that you have that is a paid offer. And then they're in a nurture sequence. Now, here's one thing that a lot of people don't consider when they add something to their automation is what dominoes are falling behind that offer. So meaning if you are sending somebody through a nurture sequence that is trying to get them to opt in to this free resource, you know, maybe they attended a webinar and your next thing in your sequence is I'd like them to get my free guide. So I'm going to have this nurture sequence that's trying to get them to do that. Well, now you go and build that nurture sequence, but what you forget to do is put an element in your automation that tells the system to remove them from that nurture sequence that was happening behind. Because if you don't, what's going to happen is they're going to go over to your free guide. They're going to opt in and get it. And maybe the next day or a couple of days, another email is going to come out to still try to get them to opt in for it. And what they're going to say is, hey, wait a minute, I already did that. I already opted in. So now there's a disjointed communication path in your customer journey. So the lesson in this is think through what it is that you want to have happen. It's logical thinking that you need to think of in the way of those dominoes falling. Once you do that, you will be able to build out your automation with purpose and intent.
