Sending stages as a thread
When sending a sequence with multiple stages, you can choose to send each stage as an independent email or as a reply to the previous stage.
To send as a new, independent email, set the Send email as a reply toggle to No in the Stage Settings panel of your second (or subsequent) stage. This means the email will appear as a brand-new message in your recipient’s inbox.
To send as a reply, set the Send email as a reply toggle to Yes in the Stage Settings panel of your second (or subsequent) stage.
When you send sequence stages as a reply, emails will appear as an email thread in your recipient’s inbox. This will also add “Re:” to the subject line.
When your recipient replies to the email, their response will appear above the body of all the emails sent in the sequence. Gmail will trim this content when recipients compose their reply, but you can expand it by clicking the three dots at the bottom of the compose window.
Subject lines in sequences
When you create a sequence, you can decide whether each email in the sequence is a reply to the previous email or whether each email will arrive as a separate email with a unique subject line.
Sending a follow-up stage as a reply
If you want the follow-up stage of your sequence sent as a reply to the previous email, with the same subject line, set the Send email as a reply toggle to Yes. The stage won't have a subject field. Instead, it shows Reply to previous email in the stage list and the note “Replies use each recipient's previous email subject.”
Each follow-up uses the subject of the email that the recipient received in the previous stage, with “Re:” added. For example, if Stage 1 was sent with the subject “Your growth,” Stage 2 is sent as “Re: Your growth.”
This also works when the subject is different for each recipient, such as when you personalize it for a recipient or type it when completing a Manual Email task.
Sending a follow-up stage as a separate message
If you want the follow-up stage of your sequence sent as a separate email with a different subject line, set the Send email as a reply toggle to No. In the example below, the Subject field is blank, and you can add a new subject. This email will not be threaded with the previous email(s) in your sequence.
Sending a sequence from the compose window in Gmail
When you add a recipient to a sequence from Gmail using the Sequences menu (top bar), each stage of the sequence will have the same subject line configured in the sequence.
For more help with Sequences, check out our Sequences overview.
FAQ
Can I use a different subject line for each recipient?
Yes. Follow-ups sent as a reply use the subject each recipient received in the previous stage, so you only need to set it on the email that starts the thread. You can do this in a few ways:
Manual Email stage: Leave the subject blank in the stage, then write it for each recipient when you complete the email task.
Variables: Add a custom variable to the subject line, such as
{{topic}}, and fill it in for each recipient when you add them (for example, from a CSV column). See Mixmax Sequence variables.Review & Personalize: If the first stage is an automated email, edit its subject for each recipient before you activate them. See How to personalize Sequences.
Why can't I edit the subject line of a follow-up stage?
When Send email as a reply is set to Yes, the stage uses the previous email's subject, so there's no subject field to edit. To write a new subject, set the toggle to No. Keep in mind that the email will no longer be threaded with the previous emails.
If you still can't edit the subject line, check whether recipients have already completed the earlier stages of the sequence.