How to Activate Your Users Using Email Marketing

Users signing up and ghosting is a very common sight. Most users don’t ghost you because your product is bad; they ghost you because they never figured out how to use your product or they just forgot about you. So, your users remain unactivated.

The good news? You don’t have to leave activation to chance. With the right email workflows, you can proactively guide new users toward their first “aha!” moment and bring stalled users back into motion. Let’s walk through how to do this.

Why use emails for user activation

Email is your best lever for user activation because it gives you a direct line to your users. Unlike ads or social posts that fight for attention, emails land in inboxes where users are already primed to engage.

With the right triggers, you can send onboarding tips, feature highlights, or reminders exactly when users need them. This shortens the time to value and nudges them to take the next step.

How to activate your users using Mailmodo

For new users

1. From the left sidebar, go to Journeys and click Create Journey.

2. You can either:

• Choose a pre-built journey flow (such as post-demo feature guides or onboarding for self-serve features).

• Or select Start from Scratch to build your own sequence.

3. If starting from scratch:

• Go to API & Integration → API Webhook.

• Define your trigger to decide when users should enter the journey.

4. Create your activation flow. For example:

• Day 0: Welcome email + what to do next

• Day 1: Step-by-step setup instructions

• Day 3: Feature spotlight or quick win

• Day 5: Tips, support resources, or community links

5. Activate the journey. Once live, every new user will automatically enter this flow and get nudged toward activation with no extra effort from you.

For users who signed up but didn’t activate

1. Go to Journeys → Create Journey.

2. Set your trigger by selecting a previously created segment or creating a new one.

3. Build your reactivation sequence:

• Email 1: Reminder — “Still stuck? Let’s get you started.”

• Email 2: Educational content, FAQs, or video walkthroughs

• Email 3: Light incentive — credits, feature unlocks, or time-sensitive offer

• Email 4: AMP form to ask for feedback or obstacles

4. Activate the journey. Now inactive users will automatically receive these emails and be nudged back into action.

Conclusion

Onboarding is just the starting line. Activation is the race that actually matters.

With Mailmodo, you can build email journeys that guide new users toward product value — and re-engage the ones who’ve gone quiet.

The result? Higher activation rates, better retention, and a product people actually use.