Your first cold email went out. Now what? Some people opened it, some clicked your link, most did nothing. Sending all of them the same follow-up wastes the signal you already have. A visual campaign builder fixes that by letting you draw the sequence as a flow, with each step and each branch on screen, instead of juggling a spreadsheet of dates.
This guide walks you through building one today, from a blank canvas to a tested sequence.
What the builder actually does
A visual builder shows your campaign as connected blocks. Each block is either an email or a wait. Between them sit branches that check what the recipient did with the previous email.
In GetClient, the flow builder supports these pieces:
- Email steps, written in a plain or boxed layout
- Delays set in days, hours and minutes
- Branches: If Opened, If NOT Opened, If Clicked, If NOT Clicked
Branches are yes or no. They check whether something happened, not how many times. Plan around that: "opened at least once" is the question you can ask.
Step 1: Sketch the flow on paper first
Before touching the builder, write down three things:
- The one action you want. A reply, a call booked, a visit to a page.
- How many touches you will send. A rule of thumb many senders use is three to five emails total. More than that starts to feel like pestering.
- What changes based on behavior. Someone who clicked your pricing link needs a different nudge than someone who never opened.
A simple starting shape:
| Step | Wait | Condition | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | none | everyone | Intro |
| 2 | 3 days | If NOT Opened | Short resend, new subject |
| 2 | 3 days | If Opened | Follow-up with one useful idea |
| 3 | 4 days | If Clicked (from step 2) | Direct ask for a quick call |
| 3 | 4 days | If NOT Clicked | Final short note |
Keep the first version small. You can add branches once you see how people respond.
Step 2: Get a clean list into the campaign
The flow is only as good as the addresses in it. Bounces hurt your sender reputation and skew your open data.
- Pull leads from a source that fits your niche. Our Google Maps scraper guide covers searching by keyword and city.
- Run email verification before sending.
- Remove duplicates, generic addresses you do not want, and businesses outside your service area. The lead list cleaning checklist walks through this.
In GetClient your saved leads sit in My Leads folders, and you can import a CSV from anywhere with custom fields. Because the list and campaign live in the same tool, you pick the folder directly instead of exporting and re-uploading.
Step 3: Write the emails with working merge tags
Personalization makes a cold email read like it was meant for one business. Use merge tags written exactly like this:
{{params.name}}for the business name{{params.firstname}}for the contact's first name{{params.website}}{{params.city}}{{params.category}}
Only this exact form gets filled in when sending. A tag like {name} or {{firstname}} will show up literally in someone's inbox.
Tips for each email:
- Intro: one observation about their business, one sentence on what you do, one easy question.
- Resend to non-openers: same core message, new subject line. They likely never saw the first.
- Follow-up to openers: add something new, like a quick idea for their {{params.category}} business in {{params.city}}.
- Clicked branch: they showed interest. Be direct and suggest a short call.
If you want ready-made wording, the cold email templates for restaurants are easy to adapt to other local niches.
Step 4: Set delays and sending rules
Delays sit between steps. Days work for most follow-ups. Hours and minutes help when you are testing or want a quick second touch.
Then set the guardrails:
- Send-day limits by weekday. Cap how many emails go out each day per account, and skip weekends if your prospects do not work them.
- Scheduling. Send during your prospects' working hours. If your list spans regions, read time zones in cold email.
- Sending accounts. Connect your own Gmail accounts or any SMTP account. Spreading volume across accounts keeps each one at a modest daily pace.
Step 5: Preview every step before launch
Use the per-step preview to check each email as a real recipient will see it. Look for:
- Merge tags filled with real values, not blanks
- Leads missing a first name: write a fallback greeting that still reads well, or filter those leads out
- Links that work
- The unsubscribe link present
GetClient adds a one-click unsubscribe link with a signed URL per recipient, and unsubscribed addresses are skipped automatically in future sends. Sender rules and privacy laws differ by country, so check what applies to you. This is not legal advice.
Step 6: Launch, watch, then adjust
Start with a small batch. After a few days, open the campaign analytics and ask:
- Are opens low? Test subject lines on the resend branch.
- Opens fine but no clicks or replies? The body or offer needs work.
- Replies coming in? Answer them fast. The Inbox collects replies from connected accounts in one place; see managing replies in one inbox.
A note on open tracking: some email apps load images automatically or block them, so open data is approximate. Treat If Opened branches as a useful hint, and lean on clicks and replies for stronger signals.
Change one thing at a time so you know what made the difference. When the flow works, duplicate it for the next niche or city.
You can try this with the 100 free credits new accounts get, no card needed. Plans are on the pricing page.