Automated email nurture campaigns are the backbone of keeping leads warm without burning out your team—or your sanity. But the reality? Most people overcomplicate things, get lost in “best practices,” and never actually hit send. If you’re ready to build a real nurture sequence in Ortto (here’s what I mean: [ortto.html]), this guide skips the fluff and gets you sending smarter, not harder.
Whether you’re new to Ortto or just tired of wrestling with clunky automations, keep reading. I’ll walk you through exactly what to do, what to skip, and how to get something working fast—even if your list isn’t huge or your content isn’t perfect. Let’s get after it.
Step 1: Decide What You Actually Want to Achieve
Before you even log into Ortto, get clear on the real goal of your nurture campaign. Don’t fall for vague targets like “engagement.” Ask yourself:
- Are you trying to convert free users to paid?
- Educate new signups so they don’t churn?
- Revive old leads who ghosted you?
Pro tip: Pick one main goal. If you can’t explain the purpose in a sentence, it’s too broad.
Skip this: Don’t build a nurture just because “everyone else does” or because some template said so. If you don’t know the outcome you want, no automation will save you.
Step 2: Map Out Your Email Sequence (On Paper)
Fight the urge to jump straight into Ortto and start clicking. You’ll waste hours and end up with a mess. Instead:
- Sketch out the steps on paper or a whiteboard. (Sticky notes work too.)
- Decide how many emails you’ll send (3-6 is plenty for most nurtures).
- Jot down the topic or purpose of each email.
- Figure out the timing between emails—daily, every 3 days, weekly?
Example for a SaaS free trial nurture:
- Welcome & quick start tips (immediately)
- “Did you know?” feature highlight (2 days later)
- Customer story or testimonial (4 days later)
- Upgrade offer (7 days after sign-up)
What to ignore: You don’t need a 12-step journey or fancy branching logic out of the gate. Complexity kills momentum.
Step 3: Get Your Contacts Organized in Ortto
Now, log into Ortto. If you haven’t imported your contacts yet, do that first. Ortto can pull from lists, tags, or even CRM integrations.
- Go to Audiences and create a new audience for this nurture.
- Use filters to segment: new signups, trial users, or whatever fits your goal.
- Import a CSV if needed—don’t overthink it.
Watch out for: Over-segmentation. A nurture should go to people with a clear shared intent. Don’t build 10 hyper-specific versions unless you have a massive list and real bandwidth.
Step 4: Write Your Email Content (Yes, Before Automating)
This is where most folks stall, but writing is easier if you’ve mapped your sequence. For each email:
- Keep it short and to the point. Nobody’s reading your novella.
- Focus on one action or idea per email.
- Use natural language—write like a human, not a marketing robot.
- Add a clear call to action (CTA). "Reply to this email" or "Try this feature" beats "Click here to learn more."
Pro tip: Don’t obsess over perfect design. Plain emails often work better and feel more personal.
What doesn’t work: Copying someone else’s nurture word-for-word. Your audience can smell generic a mile away.
Step 5: Build Your Automation in Ortto
Time to set things up in Ortto. Here’s the no-nonsense way:
- Go to Automations and hit “Create automation.”
- Pick a trigger. Usually, it’s Contact joins audience (the one you made in Step 3).
- Add an Action for each email in your sequence.
- Choose “Send email” for each step.
- Paste in your content or use Ortto’s email editor if you want.
- Between each email, add a Wait step (e.g., wait 2 days).
- Double-check the order and timing.
Don’t bother with: Fancy splits, scoring, or custom fields unless you have a clear, specific reason. Get one linear nurture working first.
Step 6: Test Your Sequence (Don’t Skip This)
You’d be surprised how many people forget to test and end up emailing the wrong folks—or nobody at all. Here’s what to do:
- Add yourself to the audience and go through the nurture.
- Check for typos, broken links, and weird formatting.
- Make sure the timing feels natural—if you’re annoyed by your own sequence, so will your leads.
Honest take: Ortto’s preview and test options are solid, but real inbox testing is best. Don’t trust in-app previews alone.
Step 7: Turn It On (and Watch Closely)
Hit “Activate” in Ortto when you’re ready. For the first few days:
- Monitor for errors or weird delivery issues.
- Check open and click rates, but don’t panic if they’re not amazing right away.
- Watch for replies—sometimes the best feedback is direct.
What doesn’t work: Setting and forgetting. Even a good nurture needs tweaks. You’ll spot typos, awkward timing, or off-target content after a week or two.
Step 8: Iterate—Don’t Overhaul
Once you’ve got data, resist the urge to scrap everything. Instead:
- Change one thing at a time (subject lines, send times, CTA wording).
- If an email totally flops, swap it out or move it later in the sequence.
- Add more personalization only if you see a real lift from it. Don’t personalize for the sake of it.
Skip this: Chasing “best practices” just because a blog said so. Your audience, your data.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Ship It Fast
Most people never launch a nurture campaign because they overcomplicate it. If you follow the steps above, you’ll have a working campaign in Ortto—one that’s actually sending, learning, and improving. Don’t get stuck chasing perfection. Ship it, watch what happens, and tweak as you go.
Remember: The best nurture campaign is the one that actually gets sent.