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Sequences

Exits

Tags that take people out of a sequence, and why an exit is not an opt-out.

An exit is a tag that takes someone out of a sequence when it is added to them. The common case is a pitch: when a reader buys, they get the tag for what they bought, and the sales mails stop. An exit can also send people on to another sequence, so the buyer moves straight into onboarding.

Add an exit

  1. Open the sequence from Mail > Sequences.
  2. In The whole flow, under Tags that pull people out, choose a tag in Add an exit tag.
  3. In Then, leave They just leave, or pick a sequence to move them to.
  4. Click Add exit.

The exit shows as a chip with where it leads. Click the chip's remove button to take the exit away.

What happens next

When the tag is added to someone who is in the sequence, they stop getting its mails at once. If the exit names another sequence and that sequence is live, they enter it, under the usual rules for joining. If it is paused, nobody is added, then or later.

Someone who already holds an exit tag cannot enter the sequence at all.

An exit is not an opt-out

An exit is your automation deciding someone is done. An opt-out is the person saying they want no more. Kōlea keeps the two apart:

  • An exit records nothing as the person's choice. It writes no unsubscribe and changes nothing about their consent.
  • Your newsletter and every other sequence carry on for them as before.
  • An exit stops this sequence only. The person can still join other sequences.

An opt-out is different. When someone leaves a sequence from its footer link or their preference page, that is their choice, it is kept, and nobody can add them back. Only they can rejoin.

Remove at their request, beside a person under People, is for when someone asks you to take them out. It is their opt-out, recorded as theirs. Use an exit when the reason is yours.

Endings that always apply

Always ends it in the flow panel lists what ends a sequence for someone whatever its settings:

  • Leaving this sequence from the preference page or the footer link.
  • Unsubscribing from everything.
  • A hard bounce or a spam complaint.

Unsubscribing from the newsletter is not on that list. It does not pull anyone out of a sequence.

Things to know

  • A tag cannot be both the sequence's trigger tag and one of its exit tags.
  • A sequence cannot exit into itself.
  • An exit only acts on people who are in the sequence. Someone who already finished it is not moved anywhere when they get the tag.