Sequences, steps, channels and message composition

Overview

A sequence is the blueprint of your cadence. It is made of steps in order, each with a wait, a channel and content. When you publish the sequence, the platform takes a snapshot (version) of the steps: enrollments already running keep the version they started on, so editing a sequence never disrupts anyone already mid-cadence.

This article covers how to structure the sequence, configure each step, choose the sending channel, and compose the message with variables and WhatsApp templates.

Prerequisites

• The Follow-ups module enabled and permission to create sequences.
• A valid outbound channel (for example, a WhatsApp inbox, email or SMS).
• To use custom variables, the contact's custom attributes configured.
• To send outside WhatsApp's 24h window: an approved template (HSM) on the inbox.

Step by step

1. In the Follow-ups module, create a new sequence and give it a clear name.
2. Set the cadence target (contact, conversation, CRM deal, appointment or charge).
3. Add the first step: choose the wait, the channel and write the message.
4. Add the following steps, adjusting each one's wait relative to the previous send.
5. Use the variable picker to insert contact/conversation data into the message.
6. Review everything and click Publish to activate the sequence.

Settings & options

Steps and waits

Each step has a wait before it is sent, counted from the previous send. The wait can be in minutes, hours, days or business days. Business days and quiet hours are adjusted by the time zone set in the module's settings.

Channels

The channel defines how the step sends:

Content type and composition

• Content type: text, template or rich content.
• Compose mode: static (you write the text), AI assisted (the AI drafts and a human approves) or AI full (the AI composes and sends). See the AI with human approval article.

Variables (personalization)

Write personalized messages with variables (for example, the contact's first name, the agent's name, conversation data and custom attributes). Variables are resolved on the server, at send time — you only insert the placeholder via the variable picker.

Preview and test send

Before publishing, check the step's copy right in the editor:

• Select a conversation in the search picker — it lists recent conversations when you open it, and you can search by number, contact name, email or phone. Only conversations from the inboxes you have access to are listed.
• Preview: shows the rendered message. With a conversation selected, variables resolve with that contact's real data; with no selection, they come out blank.
• Send test: actually sends the message to the selected conversation. It is a one-off send — it creates no enrollment, does not advance the cadence and does not count in reports.

Action button (inside the window)

Each step can carry an optional native button on its own message — it does not become a second message. Fill in the label and the link; both accept variables, so the link can be personalized per contact.

• WhatsApp Cloud renders a real link button; WhatsApp Web renders a native button; the API channel receives the button structured in the payload.
• On channels with no native button (email, SMS) what ships is the link you wrote in the body — so keep the link in the text whenever it is essential.
• Label and link are required together: with only one of them filled the step will not save, because a half-filled button makes WhatsApp reject the whole message. Clear both fields to send no button at all.
• Outside the 24h window the button is not used: there the message is an approved template, and the link travels in the template's own URL button (below).

WhatsApp templates (24h window)

If the step is WhatsApp and the contact is outside the 24h window (WhatsApp Cloud), only an approved template (HSM) can be sent. On the step, pick the template and map its parameters with variables. If the template has a link button, fill in the button value right there: it is saved with the step and used on send. Inside the window (or on WhatsApp Web, which has no window), free text is sent normally.

Message templates and sequence templates

• Message templates: reusable text that speeds up step creation.
• Sequence templates: ready-made cadences by niche; applying one also creates the custom attributes that cadence uses.

Use cases

• Billing cadence: step 1 immediate, step 2 after 1 day, step 3 after 3 days, all on WhatsApp.
• Welcome: 3 emails over a week, using the contact's first name.
• Reactivation: 2 touches in the same conversation with 2 and 5 days of wait.

Tips, limits & best practices

• Space steps out well: waits that are too short feel like spam.
• For WhatsApp, always keep an approved fallback template on steps that may fall outside the window.
• Test variables with a real contact before publishing so they don't render blank.
• Publish again after any edit — only the published version applies to new enrollments.

Troubleshooting

• The message went out with a blank variable: the contact didn't have that data — pick a variable with a value or provide default text.
• The WhatsApp step failed outside the window: the step was missing an approved template (HSM).
• The template's link button had no destination: open the step and fill in the link-button value — it is saved with the step and must be filled in for the button to lead anywhere.
• I edited the sequence and nothing changed: old enrollments keep the old version; publish and new enrollments will use the new one.

See also

• Follow-ups and cadences overview
• Enrollment: manual, automation, event and inactivity
• Cadence funnel and exit rules
• AI with human approval