Drip Sequences Setup

This guide walks you through building your first automated drip sequence in GoHighLevel. By the end, you will have a multi-message email or SMS campaign that nurtures leads over time without manual intervention.

Prerequisites

Before building your first drip sequence, prepare these components:

Verified email domain with DKIM and SPF records (for email drips) under Settings > Email Services
A2P 10DLC registration approved (for SMS drips) under Settings > Phone Numbers > Trust Center
Contact entry point defined (form submission, tag addition, or pipeline stage change)
Message sequence planned with timing and content for each message (3 to 7 messages recommended)
Goal event identified (appointment booked, opportunity won, purchase completed)

Plan Your Sequence Structure

Before opening the workflow builder, map out your sequence on paper or in a document. Define:

Entry trigger: What event starts the sequence?

Form submitted (lead magnet download, webinar registration)
Tag added (new-lead, trial-started, webinar-attended)
Opportunity stage changed (moved to “Qualified” stage)
Appointment status changed (booking confirmed)

Message sequence: What does each message say and when does it send?

Message 1: Welcome and set expectations (immediate)
Message 2: Educational content or case study (2 days later)
Message 3: Check-in question or engagement prompt (4 days later)
Message 4: Direct call-to-action or offer (7 days later)

Goal event: When should the sequence stop?

Appointment booked
Opportunity won
Specific tag added (customer, trial-ended, unsubscribed)

Create Your Drip Workflow

Navigate to Automation > Workflows and click Create Workflow. Choose Start from Scratch for full control, or browse the recipe library and select Email Drip Sequence or SMS Follow-up Sequence for a pre-built starting point.

Give your workflow a descriptive name like “Webinar Follow-up Sequence” or “New Lead Nurture - 14 Days.” Click Create to open the workflow builder.

Set Up the Entry Trigger

Click Add Trigger at the top of the canvas. Choose the trigger that matches your entry point:

Form Submitted: Select this trigger, then filter by Form is and choose your specific form from the dropdown.

Tag Added: Select this trigger, then filter by Tag and choose the tag that marks contacts for this sequence (for example, “new-lead” or “webinar-registered”).

Opportunity Stage Changed: Select this trigger, then filter by Pipeline and Stage to target contacts who move to a specific pipeline stage.

Configure any additional filters to refine your audience:

Exclude contacts with DND enabled
Exclude contacts who already have a specific tag (for example, “customer”)
Include only contacts from specific lead sources or with specific custom field values

Click Save Trigger. The trigger block displays your configuration.

Add Your First Message

Below the trigger, click the + icon and select Send Email (for email drips) or Send SMS (for SMS drips).

For email drips:

Enter a descriptive internal name (for example, “Welcome Email - Day 0”)
Write your subject line (keep it under 50 characters)
Choose Select Template to use a saved template, or Create Email to build from scratch
Compose your message with a warm greeting, clear value proposition, and next steps
Insert personalization tokens like {{contact.first_name}} for personalization
Include a clear call-to-action button or link
Click Save

For SMS drips:

Enter a descriptive internal name (for example, “Welcome Text - Day 0”)
Compose your message (keep it under 160 characters for one segment)
Personalize with {{contact.first_name}} and identify your business
Include a clear offer or question
Add opt-out language if it is the first contact or 90+ days since last message
Click Save

Add Wait Steps Between Messages

After your first message action, click the + icon and select Wait. Configure the wait duration:

Wait for: Select Delay for time-based waits
Delay Amount: Enter the number (for example, 2)
Delay Unit: Select Days (or Hours for shorter sequences)

Click Save. The wait step now shows “Wait 2 days” in the workflow.

Add Additional Messages and Waits

Repeat the message-wait pattern for each subsequent message in your sequence:

Click + after the wait step
Add Send Email or Send SMS
Compose the next message in your sequence
Click + after the message
Add another Wait step with your next delay interval
Continue until your sequence is complete

Most effective drip sequences have 3 to 7 messages total. Longer sequences work for structured courses or onboarding programs, but watch for diminishing returns after 7 messages in standard nurture campaigns.

Add a Drip Action for List Pacing

If you are sending to a large list (500+ contacts), add a Drip action before your first Send Email or Send SMS action. This controls how quickly contacts move through the sequence and prevents sending infrastructure overload.

Click the + icon between your trigger and first message. Select Drip from the actions list. Configure these settings:

Batch Size: Number of contacts processed per batch. For email sequences, 200 to 500 works well. For SMS sequences, start with 100.

Drip Interval: Time between batches. Set to 30 minutes to 1 hour for most email drips. Set to 10 to 15 minutes for SMS drips.

Click Save. The Drip action gates how quickly contacts reach your sending steps, protecting your sender reputation and preventing carrier throttling.

Set Up Goal-Based Exit

Every drip sequence should stop when the contact achieves the desired outcome. Add a Goal event at the end of your sequence (or at key conversion points throughout).

Click the + icon at the point where you want to check for goal completion. Select Goal from the actions list. Configure the goal condition:

Goal Type: Choose the condition that represents success

Contact has tag: Select a tag like “customer” or “trial-started”
Opportunity status is: Select Won or a specific won stage
Appointment status: Select Confirmed or Completed

Exit behavior: When a contact meets the goal condition, they skip all remaining steps between their current position and the goal, then exit the sequence.

Click Save. The goal block displays your exit condition.

Add Conditional Branching (Optional)

For advanced sequences, add If/Else branches to create different paths based on engagement.

Click the + icon where you want to add a branch. Select If/Else from the actions list. Configure the condition:

Check engagement: If contact opened email, proceed to next message. If no open, send SMS instead.

Check tags: If contact has “booked-appointment” tag, skip nurture sequence. Otherwise, continue nurturing.

Check custom fields: If contact’s industry is “Real Estate,” send industry-specific content. Otherwise, send generic content.

Build separate action paths under the If and Else branches. Both paths can rejoin later or end independently.

Publish Your Workflow

Review your complete sequence from trigger to goal. Verify:

Trigger filters are configured correctly
Wait intervals match your planned timing
Message content is complete with personalization tokens
Goal exit is set to prevent over-messaging after conversion
Drip action is configured for large lists

Click Publish at the top of the workflow builder. A confirmation dialog appears. Click Publish again to activate the workflow.

Click Save to preserve your changes. Your drip sequence is now live and will automatically enroll contacts who meet your trigger criteria.

Test Your Setup

Before enrolling real leads, test the complete sequence:

Create a test contact:

Navigate to Contacts and add a new contact with your email or phone number
Use a different email/phone than your main account to simulate a real contact

Trigger the workflow:

Perform the trigger action (submit the form, add the tag, or move to the pipeline stage)
Verify the contact enters the workflow (check Workflows tab on contact record)

Monitor workflow execution:

Watch for the first message to arrive immediately
Note that wait steps pause as configured (you can temporarily reduce wait times to 1 minute for testing)
Verify each subsequent message arrives after the correct delay
Confirm personalization tokens render correctly
Test the goal exit by adding the conversion tag or completing the goal action

Check workflow activity:

Navigate to Automation > Workflows and open your workflow
Click the Activity or History tab
Review execution logs to confirm all actions completed successfully

Test Your Setup Checklist

Verify these success indicators:

Workflow status shows Active or Published
Test contact entered the workflow after trigger action
First message delivered immediately with correct content
Wait steps pause for the configured duration
Subsequent messages send at the correct intervals
Personalization tokens display contact data correctly
Goal exit stops the sequence when condition is met
Drip action paces delivery for large lists (if configured)
No error messages appear in workflow execution logs

Next Steps

Once your first drip sequence is live, optimize and expand:

Monitor performance metrics (open rates, click rates, goal completion rates) in the workflow analytics
Create variations of your sequence for A/B testing different message timing and content
Build additional sequences for different audience segments or campaign types
Combine email and SMS in multi-channel drip sequences for maximum reach
Add Trigger Links to track click engagement and fire additional automations
Explore If/Else Branching to create personalized paths based on contact behavior
Learn about Goal Events to set multiple exit points throughout your sequence
Review Deliverability Tools to ensure your email drips reach the inbox