If you’re drowning in leads but only a trickle ever become customers, you’re not alone. Most businesses throw leads into an email list and hope for the best. That doesn’t work. If you want higher conversion rates, you need a practical, automated lead nurturing system that saves you time and actually moves people down the funnel. This guide is for marketers, founders, or anyone who’s tired of watching good leads go cold.
I’ll walk you through setting up an automated lead nurturing workflow in Koala (not the animal, the software), what’s worth your time, and what to skip. No hype—just clear steps.
1. Know What You Actually Want to Automate
Before you even log in to Koala, get clear about your goal. Automation is only helpful if it’s doing something useful for you. Otherwise, you’re just making spaghetti with more steps.
Ask yourself: - Are you trying to re-engage cold leads? - Do you want to qualify new signups before handing them to sales? - Is the goal to educate, or to nudge toward a demo or purchase?
Pro tip: Write out your ideal customer journey in 4-6 steps, from “just signed up” to “ready to buy.” That’s the backbone of your workflow. If you can’t map this out in under 10 minutes, you’re overthinking it.
2. Segment Your Leads (Don’t Skip This)
Automated workflows only work if your messaging fits the person. If you send the same emails to everyone, you’ll just train people to ignore you.
Practical ways to segment in Koala: - Source (where did the lead come from—webinar, ebook, ad, etc.) - Demographics (company size, industry, role) - Behavior (clicked a link, visited pricing page, downloaded something)
How to set this up: - Import your leads with as much data as you have. - Set up tags or custom fields in Koala for the above segments. - If your list is a mess, start simple: separate new signups from everyone else.
What to ignore:
Don’t waste hours building 20 segments if you only have 100 leads. Start broad. Get more granular as you grow.
3. Map Out Your Nurture Sequence
Now, you need to decide what messages to send and when. The mistake most people make? Writing too many emails or making the sequence too complex.
A simple, effective nurture sequence usually looks like: 1. Welcome email – Thanks for signing up, here’s what to expect. 2. Value email – Useful resource or tip, no pitch. 3. Soft ask – Invite to a webinar, case study, or free consult. 4. Social proof – Share a customer story or testimonial. 5. Direct ask – Book a demo, start a free trial, or talk to sales.
Spacing matters:
1–2 days between emails works for most B2B. For B2C, a bit faster is fine.
Pro tip:
Write these emails before you build the workflow. If you can’t come up with a reason for a message, cut it.
4. Build the Workflow in Koala
Here’s where you roll up your sleeves. Koala’s workflow builder is visual and pretty straightforward, but don’t get lost in the options.
Step-by-step:
1. Create a new workflow.
2. Choose your trigger:
- New lead added
- Lead downloads a resource
- Lead hits a certain score (if you’re using lead scoring)
3. Add your emails in order.
- Drag in “Send Email” steps.
- Copy your pre-written emails into each step.
- Set delays between emails (e.g., wait 1 day).
4. Add simple logic.
- Example: If someone clicks a link in email #2, send them a different follow-up.
- Don’t overcomplicate it—if/then branches are powerful, but you can always add more later.
5. Set exit conditions.
- If a lead books a demo, automatically remove them from the nurture sequence.
- This avoids awkward “Book a demo!” emails after they already did.
What to skip:
- Don’t build 50 branches right away. You’ll just create a mess that’s hard to maintain.
- Avoid fancy features you don’t need, like automated SMS, unless you already know your audience wants it.
5. Add Lead Scoring (Optional, But Useful)
Lead scoring helps you figure out who’s actually interested and who’s just window shopping. Koala can assign scores based on actions (opens, clicks, page visits).
How to set it up: - Assign points for meaningful actions: - +5 for opening an email - +10 for clicking a link - +20 for visiting the pricing page - Set a threshold (e.g., 30 points) to trigger a handoff to sales or a more direct pitch.
Honest take:
Lead scoring is helpful if you have lots of leads and a sales team. If you’re a solo founder with 50 leads a month, this might be overkill.
6. Test the Workflow Before Launching
Don’t trust automation blindly. Send test leads through your workflow.
Check for: - Typos and broken links - Wrong names or missing personalization (the “Hi FirstName” problem) - Emails going out too fast or too slow
Pro tip:
Send yourself every email. If you wouldn’t read it, no one else will.
7. Measure What Matters and Iterate
After you launch, track the basics: - Open rates (are your subjects any good?) - Click rates (is the content actually interesting?) - Conversion rates (are people doing what you want?)
What to ignore:
Don’t obsess over tiny differences in open rate. Focus on the last step—are more leads becoming customers? That’s the only number that matters.
If things aren’t working: - Try shorter sequences. - Tighten up your copy. - Segment more (or less). - Change your call-to-action.
What Actually Works (and What Doesn’t)
Works: - Short, clear nurture sequences tailored to the lead’s stage. - Personalization (real, not just “Hi {FirstName}”). - Timely follow-ups—don’t wait a week between touchpoints.
Doesn’t work: - Over-automating. If your workflow diagram looks like a spiderweb, you’ve gone too far. - Generic content. People can smell a template from a mile away. - Ignoring your data. If nobody’s clicking, change what you’re sending.
Keep It Simple, Fix What’s Broken, and Iterate
Automating lead nurture in Koala isn’t magic. It’s just a way to make sure good leads don’t fall through the cracks. Start simple, get your basics working, and only add complexity when you actually need it. The best workflows are the ones you can explain on a whiteboard in 30 seconds.
Remember: You don’t need to be a marketing automation wizard. You just need a system that gets you more conversations with the right people. Start now, tweak as you go, and don’t let perfect get in the way of better.