What’s better than sending relevant, perfectly timed emails to users who interact with your service? Doing it on auto-pilot with email sequence software.
The days of manually tracking user actions or behavior to send appropriate messages are long gone. With email sequences, you automatically nurture your audience in real time based on set triggers.
New sign-ups, newsletter subscriptions, abandoned carts—you name it: they all set off the right messages at the right time without manual prompting.
The question now is, which email sequence software do you use? With countless options vying for your attention today, making the right choice is tricky at best. That’s where we come in.
This article cuts through the noise to clarify what email sequence software does, which features to prioritize during your search, and our top picks from today's options.
What is an Email Sequence?
Email sequences are automated emails sent to specific audience segments based on preset triggers or time intervals. Typical examples include welcome emails, birthday wishes, seasonal offers, abandoned cart reminders, etc.
Once set up, email sequences help you nurture leads, onboard new customers, connect with your audience, and re-engage inactive users—all without constant manual effort. Here’s an example of a welcome email sequence from Semrush Academy:
What is Email Sequence Software?
Email sequence software is the engine that powers these automated email journeys. It helps you craft a series of targeted messages and set rules for when and how they're delivered.
How does it work? You design the sequence, set the rules or timeframes, and let the software handle the rest.
The beauty of email sequence software is its ability to personalize communication at scale. Every customer receives tailored content that's relevant to their specific stage in the customer journey.
Essential Features of Top Email Sequence Tools
When selecting email sequence software, it's crucial to focus on features that align with your business goals and streamline your marketing efforts.
Here are six key features to keep in mind:
- Customizable Email Templates: You want a library of professionally designed templates that are easily customizable to match your brand voice and visual identity. The best tools allow you to create and save your own templates to ensure consistency across campaigns.
- Advanced Segmentation and Personalization: A decent email sequence software lets you divide your audience based on criteria like demographics, behavior, purchase history, and engagement levels. It then helps you personalize your emails with dynamic content to increase engagement and conversions. This way, you deliver targeted messages to the right audience.
- Automation and Trigger-Based Sending: Opt for a solution that automatically sends emails based on specific user actions or time intervals. This should include features like welcome series, abandoned cart reminders, and re-engagement campaigns.
- A/B Testing Capabilities: You want software that lets you test different elements of your emails—like subject lines, send times, and design—to see which works best. It should provide actionable insights to help you continually optimize your campaigns.
- Analytics and Reporting: Analytics help you track key metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates. Look for customizable dashboards and the ability to generate detailed reports. Advanced features might include predictive analytics to forecast campaign performance.
- Integrations: Select a tool that integrates seamlessly with your existing tech stack, including your CRM, e-commerce platform, and other marketing tools. This ensures smooth data flow and allows you to create a unified view of your customers across all touchpoints.
Top 6 Email Sequence Software for Sales Engagement
These six email sequence software options are the cream of the crop—each offering unique features to elevate your email marketing game.
Let's see how each streamlines the sales engagement process and what makes them worth considering.
Instantly.ai
G2 Rating: 4.9/5 ⭐ from 2,805 reviews
Instantly.ai is a top-rated sales engagement platform designed to optimize every aspect of the sales journey. But Instantly particularly shines when it comes to email sequences. Its email outreach solution seamlessly blends automation with a personal touch.
Thanks to Instantly’s smart dynamic email sequencing, you can set up your email sequence to adapt to recipient behavior, ensuring each prospect receives the most relevant content at the perfect time.
What’s more, Instantly’s AI-powered personalization features go beyond simple name insertion to help you craft messages that feel genuinely human and tailored to each recipient. The outcome? Higher engagement and more meaningful connections.
But that’s not all. Instantly’s email warmup feature is a game-changer for deliverability. By gradually increasing your sending volume and building a positive sender reputation, Instantly ensures your messages land in inboxes for more replies and better conversions.
The cherry on top? Instantly is one of the most user-friendly email outreach tools around. Just ask our 10,000+ customers who praise Instantly for its ease of use. Try it out for free today!
Top Features
- User-friendly interface
- Smart dynamic email sequencing
- AI assistant for automated personalization features
- Email warmup for superior deliverability
- Unibox to bring all interactions under one roof
- Unlimited seats for all team members on a single subscription
- Integration with other Instantly CRM and a lead database with 160+ million verified contacts
Pricing Plans
Instantly offers a free trial along with flexible monthly and yearly pricing plans starting at $30/month as shown below:
Klenty
G2 Rating: 4.6/5 ⭐ from 374 reviews
Klenty is a sales engagement platform that specializes in automating personalized outreach across multiple channels. It's particularly well-suited for B2B sales teams looking to streamline their prospecting process.
Top Features
- Coordinate team outreach via multiple channels
- Personalize and automate email sequences based on intent
- Automatically import prospects with seamless CRM integration
- Synchronise team collaboration with quality sales and engagement tools
Pricing Plans
Klenty offers a 14-day free trial along with flexible quarterly and yearly pricing plans. The yearly paid pricing plans are as follows:
- Startup: $50 per user/month billed annually
- Growth: $70 per user/month billed annually
- Pro: $100 per user/month billed annually
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
Drip
G2 Rating: 4.4/5 ⭐ from 460 reviews
Drip is an e-commerce-focused email marketing platform that excels in creating personalized customer journeys. It's ideal for online retailers looking to nurture leads and drive sales through targeted email campaigns.
Top Features
- Streamline workflows with ecommerce integrations
- Refine email sequences using real-time, data-based segmentation
- Personalize email sequences using customer action-based triggers
- Design and automate email sequences across multiple channels via a visual workflow builder
Pricing Plans
Drip offers a 14-day free trial along with flexible monthly pricing plans. The monthly paid pricing plan starts at $39/month and goes up to $1,999/month. Custom pricing is also available for higher-order operations.
Outreach
G2 Rating: 4.3/5 ⭐ from 3,410 reviews
Outreach is a comprehensive sales engagement platform that goes beyond email sequencing. It's designed for larger sales teams looking for an all-in-one solution to manage their entire sales process.
Top Features
- Engage multiple stakeholders in a single email sequence and automate follow-ups
- Assess email sequence engagements using AI-driven analytics
- Monitor audience availability to adjust email sequence delivery
- Identify high-engagement email sequences via A/B testing
Pricing Plans
Outreach.io offers a demo to prospects along with custom pricing plans based on team size and needs.
ActiveCampaign
G2 Rating: 4.5/5 ⭐ from 13,292 reviews
ActiveCampaign is a versatile marketing automation platform that combines email marketing with CRM and sales automation. It's great for businesses looking for a holistic approach to customer engagement.
Top Features
- Automate customer segmentation to deliver dynamic content
- Track and manage leads through the sales process with built-in CRM
- Monitor engagement across multiple channels with data-driven analytics
- Design highly personalized email sequences to strengthen engagement
Pricing Plans
ActiveCampaign offers a 14-day free trial along with flexible monthly pricing plans. The monthly paid pricing plans are as follows:
- Starter: Starting at $15/month
- Plus: Starting at $49/month
- Pro: Starting at $79/month
- Enterprise: Starting at $145/month
Mailshake
G2 Rating: 4.7/5 ⭐ from 263 reviews
Mailshake is a simple but effective email outreach tool designed for sales teams and marketers. It's particularly useful for those focused on cold email campaigns and lead generation.
Top Features
- Deliver email outreach in minutes with automated follow-up, using templates
- Filter prospects by location, role, or company with a data finder
- Customize email sequence cadence to fit audience availability
- Monitor and analyze ongoing engagement with A/B testing
Pricing Plans
Mailshake offers flexible monthly and yearly pricing plans. The monthly paid pricing plans are as follows:
- Starter: $29 per user/month
- Email Outreach: $59 per user/month
- Sales Engagement: $99 per user/month
Key Takeaways
An email sequence is a series of automated emails sent to a target audience based on customer activity. But what exactly handles this automation? Email sequence software.
To recap:
- When shopping for email sequence software, prioritize features like email templates, segmentation, personalization, automation, trigger-based sending, and A/B testing.
- A few of the top email sequence software to consider today include Instantly.ai, Klenty, Drip, Outreach, ActiveCampaign, and Mailshake.
When it comes to all things email sequence, Instantly is the partner you want in your corner. Sign up for a free Instantly trial today!
