Structure · Sequence / Cadence Design

Build a 14-Day Cold Outbound Sequence

Design a 14-day, multi-touch cold email cadence tailored to your agency's ICP and offer.

foundermanagerIntermediate⏱ 2-3 hours
When to use
Use this when you're launching a new cold outbound campaign for your agency and need to architect the cadence skeleton before writing copy. It's ideal when entering a new ICP, testing a new offer, or rebuilding a stale Apollo/Instantly sequence. Run it once per ICP-offer combo so each list has a purpose-built cadence.
The prompt
You are a B2B outbound strategist who has built cold email cadences for 50+ digital marketing agencies in Apollo, Outreach, and Instantly.
Agency: [AGENCY_NAME] — [SERVICES] | ICP: [ICP_DESC] | Offer / hook: [OFFER] | Trigger to start cadence: [TRIGGER] | Sequence tool: [SEQUENCE_TOOL] | Sender reputation tier: [WARMUP_STATUS]
Design a 14-day cold outbound email cadence (email-only) that maximizes positive reply rate without burning the domain.

- 5-6 touches total across 14 calendar days, weighted earlier in the window
- No two touches on consecutive business days; skip weekends
- Mix touch types: intro, value-add (case study / insight), pattern-interrupt, soft breakup, final breakup
- Stop conditions: any reply, OOO auto-reply (pause 5 days), unsubscribe, bounce
- Each touch must have a single, distinct goal — never repeat the prior touch's angle

Return a numbered table with columns: Touch # | Day | Channel | Touch Type | Goal | Subject Line Angle | Notes. Below the table, list stop conditions and a 2-line rationale for the spacing choice.
Variables
  • [AGENCY_NAME] — Your agency's name
  • [SERVICES] — Core services you sell (e.g., SEO, paid social, web design)
  • [ICP_DESC] — Ideal customer profile — vertical, size, role
  • [OFFER] — The hook or offer driving the campaign (audit, teardown, free strategy call)
  • [TRIGGER] — Event that triggers a contact into the sequence (list import, intent signal, job change)
  • [SEQUENCE_TOOL] — Apollo, Outreach, Instantly, Smartlead, etc.
  • [WARMUP_STATUS] — Domain warmup status — new, warming, fully warm
Example input
Agency: NorthLoop Digital — SEO + content for B2B SaaS | ICP: Series A/B SaaS, 50-200 employees, VP Marketing or Head of Demand | Offer: Free SEO opportunity teardown (Loom video) | Trigger: Apollo list of VPs at companies that just raised | Tool: Instantly | Warmup: fully warm
Example output
Touch # | Day | Channel | Touch Type | Goal | Subject Line Angle | Notes
1 | Day 1 (Tue) | Email | Intro | Establish relevance via funding trigger | Congrats on the Series B — quick SEO note | Reference recent raise; one-line CTA to the Loom
2 | Day 3 (Thu) | Email | Value-add | Drop a specific keyword gap | Saw [competitor] outranking you on [term] | Include 1 screenshot, no ask
3 | Day 7 (Mon) | Email | Pattern interrupt | Re-open with question | Quick Q on your '26 SEO plan | Single-line email, ask for the right contact
4 | Day 10 (Thu) | Email | Case study | Build credibility | How [similar SaaS] added $1.2M pipeline from SEO | 2-line story + Loom link
5 | Day 14 (Mon) | Email | Soft breakup | Surface objections | Bad timing? | One-sentence ask

Stop conditions: any reply, OOO (pause 5d), unsub, bounce.
Rationale: Front-loaded touches capture trigger freshness while Thursday/Monday sends avoid inbox clutter and protect sender reputation.
Pro tips
  • Run a separate cadence per ICP — never share one 14-day flow across verticals.
  • Cap daily sending at 30-40 per inbox even on a warm domain; scale with more inboxes, not more volume.
  • Pair this cadence skeleton with the copy prompts in the OPTIMIZE stage — keep structure and copy as separate artifacts.
Works with
ClaudeChatGPTGemini
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