Email sequence to sell an online course: 12 emails to copy
The emails that sell a video course, one by one: welcome, launch and post-purchase. What to send, when to send it and Gmail's rules on spam and unsubscribes.
Most creators' courses sell through email. Not because email is magic, but because it is the only channel where you reach everyone who's interested, when you choose, with no algorithm in between.
This guide sets out a twelve-email sequence to adapt to your course: the first four welcome new subscribers, the next seven carry the launch and the last one welcomes buyers. For each email you'll find its purpose, timing and a subject line idea.
What does a course sales email sequence look like?
It's a series of scheduled emails, each with a different job, that moves the reader from "I just found you" to "I'm buying the course". In particular, welcome emails build trust; launch emails answer doubts and create a deadline; post-purchase emails get the student off to a good start.
| Sells the course | Automated | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Welcome and resource delivery | No | Yes |
| 2. Your story and what you teach | No | Yes |
| 3. One more practical tip | No | Yes |
| 4. A student's result | Partly | Yes |
| 5. Cart open | Yes | No |
| 6. Frequently asked questions | Yes | No |
| 7. A student story in depth | Yes | No |
| 8. Inside the curriculum | Yes | No |
| 9. Who this course is not for | Yes | No |
| 10. Last day | Yes | No |
| 11. Final hours | Yes | No |
| 12. Welcome to the course | No | Yes |
Our editorial framework. Emails 1-4 trigger on sign-up; 5-11 are written for each launch; 12 triggers on purchase.
What goes in the welcome emails?
Welcome emails introduce you and get the next email opened. They trigger automatically on sign-up, usually after someone downloads a free resource like those in lead magnet ideas for creators.
Email 1, immediately: welcome and delivery. Deliver what you promised, at the top and easy to find. Then two lines: who you are, what they'll receive and how often. Subject: "Here's your checklist (and what comes next)".
Email 2, day 2: your story. Why you teach this, what you got wrong at first, what you figured out. Keep it short and concrete; in other words, it builds a connection, not a résumé.
Email 3, day 4: a practical tip. One more small win, linked to the free resource. Anyone who applies it has a second proof that your method works.
Email 4, day 7: a student's result. A true story, with the person's permission: where they started, what they did, what they achieved. End with one line saying the course exists and when it reopens.
Which emails go out during the launch?
During the launch, emails answer, one by one, the reasons people don't buy. The cart is usually open for 5-7 days; the full launch calendar is in how to launch an online course.
Email 5, day 1: cart open. What the course is, who it's for, what's included, the price and when enrolment closes. One button, repeated at the bottom. Subject: "[Course name] is open".
Email 6, day 2: FAQ. Collect the questions that came in after opening and answer them: time needed, how long access lasts, invoices, refunds.
Email 7, day 3: a student story. A testimonial told as a short case study, not a one-line quote. How to collect them properly is in testimonials and reviews for online courses.
Email 8, day 4: inside the curriculum. Show one module in detail, with a screenshot or short video clip. In fact, undecided people often just want to see what it looks like.
Email 9, day 5: who it's not for. Telling people who shouldn't buy increases trust among those who should, and reduces refunds.
Email 10, last day, morning: the deadline. What happens at close, when it reopens (if you know), a recap of the offer.
Email 11, last day, a few hours before: final hours. Short: three lines and a button. In fact, it's often one of the best-selling emails, because it reaches people who put off deciding.
An example: the "who it's not for" email
Here's what email 9 might look like for a wedding photography course. Subject: "This course isn't for everyone". The body has three short paragraphs. The first says who it's for: photographers who already own a camera and have shot at least one event. The second says who it isn't for: people looking for basic camera settings, or those who only want to shoot landscapes, for example, because the course spends no time on either. The third invites anyone still unsure to reply with a question, and links to the sales page. That's it. As a result, the right people feel the course was made for them, while the wrong people leave before buying and asking for a refund. In other words, saying no in public is one of the most persuasive things a sales email can do.
What about after purchase?
Email 12, right after purchase: welcome to the course. How to log in, which lesson to start with, where to ask questions, what to do if something doesn't work. Students who start well finish more often, and those who finish are the next to talk about it.
In the following days you can add an encouragement email after week one and a feedback request halfway through. Before promoting another course to past buyers, check the consent rules where they live: some EU countries, such as Italy, allow emailing your own customers about similar products if they were informed and can object.
How do you keep emails out of spam?
Set up your domain, make unsubscribing easy and only email people who asked to hear from you. Google's sender guidelines ask all senders to use SPF or DKIM and keep the spam complaint rate below 0.3%. Senders of about 5,000 or more messages a day to personal Gmail accounts must have SPF, DKIM and DMARC, offer one-click unsubscribe on marketing messages and, per Google's FAQ, honour unsubscribe requests within 48 hours.
- Messages a day: above this you're a bulk sender
- 5,000
- Hours to process an unsubscribe request
- 48
- Spam complaints per 1,000 emails: the limit not to reach
- 3
Moreover, since November 2025 Google has been ramping up enforcement, with temporary and permanent rejections for non-compliant messages. Newsletter platforms handle most of the technical side, but the sending domain is yours: check it's configured.
An honest launch trick
In the first launch email, add a "not interested in this course" link: people who click it skip the rest of the launch emails but stay on your newsletter. It cuts unsubscribes and spam complaints, and tells you how many people aren't interested.
How do you measure whether the sequence works?
Look at clicks to the sales page and sales per email, not opens. Mailchimp warns that Apple Mail Privacy Protection affects open rates, and Google notes in its sender guidelines that it doesn't track opens. As a reference, Mailchimp reports an average click rate of 3.02% for education and training (December 2023 data): a vendor figure, useful only as a rough guide.
Compare one launch with the next, changing one thing at a time: the opening subject line, the order of emails, the story you chose. For metrics in general, see creator metrics that matter.
Which mistakes should you avoid?
- Only emailing during launches. If your list only hears from you when you sell, launch emails feel like ads.
- Identical emails. If every email says "the course is open", people stop reading.
- Fake urgency. Resetting countdowns and invented "last spots" ruin trust.
- Forgetting buyers. Remove purchasers from launch emails as soon as they buy.
- No easy unsubscribe. It's required, and hiding it brings more spam complaints.
Key terms. A sequence is a series of scheduled emails with a set order and purpose. One-click unsubscribe lets people leave a list with no extra steps. Spam complaint rate is the share of recipients who report an email as unwanted.
How we checked. We read Google's email sender guidelines and FAQ, the Italian data protection authority's 2013 marketing guidelines (soft spam) and Mailchimp's benchmarks page. The twelve emails are our editorial framework, not the result of a study: we found no independent data on conversion rates for creator launch emails, so we only cite Mailchimp's vendor averages. Contact: hi@heytea.app. Editorial note: we check every figure against the sources listed below and correct mistakes openly.
Frequently asked questions
How many emails does it take to sell an online course?
A complete sequence has about twelve: four welcome emails for new subscribers, seven during the launch (from cart open to the final hour) and one or more after purchase. The number matters less than the content: every email should bring something new, whether an answer to a doubt, a story or a course detail.
How often should I email during a launch?
During cart-open week it is normal to email almost daily, and twice on the last day. Outside launches, one email a week is a sustainable rhythm for most creators. Always offer a way to skip launch emails while staying on the newsletter.
What should a sales email subject line say?
Something clear and specific that says what's inside: 'Enrolment closes tonight at 11pm' works better than vague or alarmist lines. Avoid misleading subjects such as fake 'Re:' or false urgency: they get one open and a spam complaint the next time.
Do sales emails end up in spam?
They can, if your domain isn't authenticated or too many recipients report them. Google asks senders who email Gmail at volume to authenticate with SPF, DKIM and DMARC, offer one-click unsubscribe and keep spam complaints below 0.3%, ideally below 0.1%.
Can I email past buyers about a new course?
It depends on where they live. In the EU some countries allow emailing your own customers about similar products without fresh consent, as long as they were informed and can object at any time; Italy calls this the 'soft spam' exception. Rules differ by country, so when in doubt, ask your adviser.
Sources
- Google, "Email sender guidelines". Accessed 18 October 2026. support.google.com
- Google, "Email sender guidelines FAQ". Accessed 18 October 2026. support.google.com
- Garante per la protezione dei dati personali (Italian data protection authority), "Linee guida in materia di attività promozionale e contrasto allo spam", 4 July 2013, section 2.7. In Italian. Accessed 18 October 2026. garanteprivacy.it
- Mailchimp, "Email Marketing Benchmarks", data last updated December 2023. Vendor source. Accessed 18 October 2026. mailchimp.com