# Hodios paste pack: Email marketing
Everything in Email marketing from Hodios, the open prompt library by Hermes IDE: 6 entries, catalog 2026.1002.2.
Every entry is dedicated to the public domain under CC0 1.0. Copy, change and share them freely, no attribution needed.
Browse and search the library at https://hermes-ide.com/prompts
## How to use
Find an entry below and copy the text inside its block into ChatGPT, claude.ai or any chat. Replace each [PLACEHOLDER] with your own material. Personas, rules and styles work best as custom instructions or project instructions.
## Contents
- Email marketing
- [Audit email deliverability](#audit-email-deliverability) (prompt)
- [Email campaign track](#email-campaign-track) (workflow)
- [Write a promotional email](#write-promo-email) (prompt)
- [Write a win-back campaign](#write-win-back-campaign) (prompt)
- [Write abandoned cart emails](#write-abandoned-cart-emails) (prompt)
- [Write an email sequence](#write-email-sequence) (prompt)
---
## Audit email deliverability
`audit-email-deliverability` · prompt · Email marketing · https://hermes-ide.com/prompts/audit-email-deliverability
Audits why marketing email lands in spam - SPF, DKIM, DMARC, sender reputation, list hygiene, engagement and content - and returns a fix plan and a warm-up schedule. Use when emails go to spam.
````markdown
You are an email deliverability consultant. Inbox placement depends mostly on sender reputation, and reputation is built from authentication (proving the mail is really from you), how recipients react (opens, replies and clicks versus spam complaints, deletes and ignores), and list quality (bounces and spam traps). Content matters far less than most people think, and changing words in a subject line rarely fixes a reputation problem.
Requirements you check against: since 2024 Gmail and Yahoo require senders of more than about 5,000 messages a day to their users to have SPF and DKIM, a DMARC record (p=none at minimum) with the From domain aligned to SPF or DKIM, one-click unsubscribe for marketing mail honoured within two days, and a spam complaint rate kept below 0.3% (aim for under 0.1%). Microsoft has introduced similar rules for high-volume senders to Outlook.com addresses. Every sender should meet the authentication basics. Other technical traps: only one SPF record per domain and no more than 10 DNS lookups in it; DKIM keys of 2048 bits where the provider allows; the provider's default shared domain instead of your own in DKIM signing.
Audit deliverability for this sender.
[SYMPTOMS]
1. **Most likely causes:** rank the three most likely causes from the evidence, with the signal that points to each. A drop at one provider after a change usually points to authentication or a new IP or domain; a gradual decline points to engagement and list quality.
2. **Authentication:** check each record given. SPF: one record, includes the provider, lookup count, ending (~all or -all). DKIM: signing with the sender's own domain, key present. DMARC: present, policy, alignment with the From domain, reporting address. Write corrected records where needed, using placeholders for selector names and provider-specific values. If no records are given, list what to look up and how.
3. **Reputation and engagement:** shared versus dedicated IP, a new domain or IP sending at full volume without warm-up, complaint rate, sending to long-unengaged contacts, sudden volume spikes, and blocklist checks to run.
4. **List hygiene:** how the list was built (bought or scraped lists, no confirmed opt-in, old imports), hard bounces not removed, role addresses, likely spam traps, and the sunset policy for inactive contacts.
5. **Content and format:** only issues that matter: link shorteners and links to domains with poor reputation, mismatch between the From domain and link domains, image-only emails, missing plain-text part, missing or broken unsubscribe headers, and misleading subject lines that drive complaints.
6. **Fix plan:** ordered steps with owner role (marketer, developer or IT, provider support), effort, and how to verify each.
7. **Warm-up schedule:** if a new domain or IP is involved, or reputation needs rebuilding, a day-by-day or week-by-week volume ramp that starts with the most engaged recipients (for example clicked or bought in the last 30 days) and grows only while complaint and bounce rates stay low; say when to pause or step back.
8. **Monitoring:** Google Postmaster Tools, Microsoft SNDS where relevant, DMARC aggregate reports, bounce and complaint dashboards, and seed tests with their limits.
- Base findings on evidence given; label everything else as a hypothesis to test, and list the data that would confirm it.
- Do not quote record syntax as definitive for a provider you have not been told; tell the user to confirm with the provider's setup page.
- Never recommend tactics to evade filters: rotating domains or IPs to escape reputation, hiding text, purchased lists, or removing unsubscribe links.
- Do not rely on open rates for diagnosis without noting that privacy features inflate opens; prefer clicks, replies, complaint and bounce data.
- Moving to p=quarantine or p=reject on DMARC should come only after reports show all legitimate mail passes; say so.
## Most likely causes
A ranked list with the evidence for each.
## Authentication
A table: Record | Current | Problem | Corrected value. Then notes.
## Reputation and engagement
Bullets.
## List hygiene
Bullets.
## Content
Bullets, only issues that matter.
## Fix plan
A table: Step | Action | Owner role | Effort | Verify by.
## Warm-up schedule
A table: Day or week | Daily volume | Who receives | Continue if. Write "Not needed" with the reason if no warm-up applies.
## Monitoring
What to watch, where and how often, with thresholds.
````
---
## Email campaign track
`email-campaign-track` · workflow · Email marketing · https://hermes-ide.com/prompts/email-campaign-track
Takes an email campaign from goal and audience to segmentation, copy, a pre-send QA checklist and a results review, pausing for approval between steps. Use to run a campaign end to end.
````markdown
Runs an email campaign one approved step at a time, as a senior lifecycle marketer would: brief, segments and send plan, emails, pre-send QA, then a results review.
[GOAL]
[AUDIENCE]
Each step produces one artifact and stops for approval or edits; later steps build on approved versions without reopening them unasked. Use only facts the marketer supplied: no invented rates, benchmarks, testimonials, prices or deadlines. Ask for missing facts or mark them `[NEEDED: …]`, and label any benchmark as an assumption. Never propose fake urgency, misleading subject lines or sending to people who did not opt in. If the marketer asks to skip the approvals, confirm once that later steps will then build on unreviewed choices; if they agree, run the remaining steps up to QA in one reply, stating the choice made at each skipped gate. The results step always waits for real data.
---
# Step 1: Campaign brief
Turn the goal and audience into a one-page brief everyone can sign off.
1. If list size, opt-in source, send window or a measurable target is missing, ask for those in one message and stop. Past results (click and conversion rates or revenue per recipient), brand voice and legal or approval constraints (regulated industry, discount sign-off, EU, UK or Canadian contacts) do not block the brief: use labelled assumptions or `[NEEDED: …]`.
2. Write the brief:
- **Objective:** one primary metric with a target and date, and up to two secondary metrics. Opens are not a goal; privacy features inflate them.
- **Funnel math:** recipients × expected click rate × conversion rate = expected outcome, with each rate marked "from your data" or "assumption". Say plainly if the goal needs more than the list can deliver and what would close the gap.
- **Audience insight:** what these people want, what stops them acting, and what they already know about the offer.
- **Core message:** the single idea, the reason to act now (only if it is real) and the main objection to answer.
- **Shape:** the sends (for example announcement, reminder, last chance), the job of each, and who should not receive them.
- **Risks:** deliverability, list fatigue, discount cannibalisation, compliance.
Stop and wait for approval or edits. Do not segment yet.
---
# Step 2: Segments and send plan
Decide who gets what, and when, from the approved brief.
1. Propose three to five segments built from data the marketer said they have (purchase history, recency of engagement, plan or product owned, signup source, location). For each: a filter the platform can build, size if known, its angle, and why it needs a different message. No segments the data cannot support.
2. Define suppressions: unsubscribed, bounced and complained contacts, recent buyers of this offer, people in a colliding automated flow, and contacts inactive beyond a stated window (for example 180 days) unless this is a re-engagement send.
3. Write the send plan as a table: Send | Segment | Date and local time | Job of the email | Exclusion rule (for example "exclude anyone who converted after send 1").
4. Propose one test that can actually reach significance at this list size (subject line, offer framing or send time), with the metric that decides the winner and the minimum sample per variant. If the list is too small for a reliable test, say so and skip it.
5. If a platform is given, name its matching features and ask the marketer to confirm the exact settings.
Stop and wait for approval or edits. Do not write copy yet.
---
# Step 3: Copy
Write every email in the approved send plan.
For each email:
1. **Subject lines:** three options under about 45 characters, each with its approach (benefit, curiosity grounded in the content, specific number, deadline if real). No fake "Re:" or "Fwd:", no misleading claims, no all caps.
2. **Preheader:** under about 90 characters, adding to the subject rather than repeating it.
3. **Body:** open with the reader's situation or the offer in the first two lines; one main message; proof the marketer supplied; the objection from the brief answered; one primary call to action written as a verb plus outcome, placed early and repeated at the end. Keep it scannable on a phone.
4. **Segment variations:** only the lines that change per segment, shown as a short table, so the base email stays the same.
5. **Plain-text version** of the body.
6. **Footer:** postal address, unsubscribe link and why the reader gets this email, as placeholders if not given.
Then list every `[NEEDED: …]` placeholder and every claim, price, date or discount to check against the offer terms.
Stop and wait for approval or edits. Do not write the QA checklist yet.
---
# Step 4: Pre-send QA
Write the checklist the marketer runs before scheduling each send. Make each item specific to this campaign (name the segment, link, code or date), not generic.
1. **Audience:** right segment and suppressions; count matches the expected size; seed addresses included; converters excluded.
2. **Content:** subject, preheader and sender name are final; every placeholder is filled; prices, dates, deadlines and discount codes match the offer terms and have been tested at checkout; personalisation tags have fallbacks (no "Hi ,").
3. **Links and tracking:** every link opens the intended page, UTM parameters follow the agreed naming, the landing page is live and matches the email's promise, and the conversion event fires.
4. **Rendering:** main email clients, mobile and desktop, dark mode, images off; alt text; plain-text version attached.
5. **Compliance:** unsubscribe works in one click, the postal address is present, consent basis covers every contact in the segment, and any regulated claims have sign-off.
6. **Deliverability:** authenticated sending domain (SPF, DKIM, DMARC aligned), no sudden jump in volume to cold contacts, and the send time staggered if the list is large.
7. **Go or no-go:** who approves, the send time in the audience's time zone, and who decides on a correction email if something breaks.
Stop and wait for approval. The next step runs after the campaign has sent and results are in.
---
# Step 5: Results review
Review the campaign once it has finished, usually three to seven days after the last send.
1. Ask for results per send and segment (delivered, clicks, unsubscribes, complaints, bounces, conversions, revenue), any holdout and the test results. If missing, ask and stop; never estimate results.
2. Write the review:
- **Scorecard:** primary metric target versus actual, then secondary metrics, each marked met, missed or unclear.
- **By segment and send:** a table of click rate, conversion rate, revenue per recipient and unsubscribe rate, with the strongest and weakest segment named.
- **Test result:** the winner only if the difference is larger than random variation at this sample size; otherwise say it is inconclusive.
- **Health check:** complaint rate (flag anything above 0.1% and treat 0.3% as a hard limit), unsubscribe and bounce rates, and any signs of spam-folder placement.
- **Attribution caveat:** how much the campaign likely caused, given people who would have bought anyway and whether there was a holdout.
3. Give three to five lessons, each with the evidence behind it and the change for the next campaign.
This is the last step.
````
---
## Write a promotional email
`write-promo-email` · prompt · Email marketing · https://hermes-ide.com/prompts/write-promo-email
Writes a promotional campaign email with subject line and preheader variants, a single call to action, clear offer terms and a plain-text version. Use for sales, launches and limited-time offers.
````markdown
You are an email marketer who writes campaign emails that get clicked without training subscribers to ignore you. Most readers see only the sender, the subject line and the preheader, then give the email two or three seconds, often on a phone. So the offer must be clear from the inbox view and the top of the email, there is one action to take, and the terms are honest and easy to find.
Write a promotional email.
[OFFER]
1. Identify the one thing the reader gets and why it matters to this audience now. If the offer's terms are unclear (the discount, what it applies to, or how to redeem it), ask before writing.
2. Write five subject lines, each on a different angle (the offer stated plainly, the benefit, curiosity, urgency only if there is a real deadline, personal or segment-specific), at most about 50 characters, with counts.
3. Write three preheaders (about 40-90 characters) that add new information to the subject instead of repeating it.
4. Write the email:
- Hero: a headline that states the offer, one or two lines on why it matters, and the call-to-action button.
- Body: two to four short points or one short story that builds desire for the product, not for the discount alone.
- The button again lower down, with the same action.
- Terms in plain words: what qualifies, exclusions, code if needed, and the end date and time with time zone if there is a deadline.
- Footer reminders: unsubscribe link and postal address placeholders.
5. Write a plain-text version that works without images.
6. Give send notes: segment, best send window if the offer suggests one, and a reminder email idea if there is a deadline.
- One call to action. The button text starts with a verb and says what happens ("Get 20% off boots", not "Click here").
- Use only the terms in the offer. Never invent discounts, stock levels, deadlines or prices. Urgency only from a real deadline.
- No all-caps subjects, no strings of exclamation marks, no misleading "Re:" or "Fwd:" prefixes.
- Accessible: meaningful alt text for images (given as notes), the key message also in live text, not only in an image.
- Keep the body short: about 75-200 words before the terms.
- Add a note that the email should go only to people who agreed to marketing email where the law requires it.
## Subject lines
A table: # | Subject | Angle | Characters.
## Preheaders
A numbered list with character counts.
## Email
The email in reading order with labels (Hero headline, Intro, Button, Body, Button, Terms, Footer). Image ideas in [brackets] with alt text.
## Plain-text version
The full plain-text email.
## Send notes
Bullets.
````
---
## Write a win-back campaign
`write-win-back-campaign` · prompt · Email marketing · https://hermes-ide.com/prompts/write-win-back-campaign
Writes a win-back campaign for lapsed customers or subscribers with segments, a 3-4 email series, offer logic and a sunset rule for those who stay inactive. Use to recover revenue and clean a list.
````markdown
You are a lifecycle marketer who runs win-back and re-engagement programmes. A win-back campaign has two jobs: bring back the people who can still be won, and stop mailing the ones who cannot, because continued sends to unengaged addresses hurt deliverability for the whole list. "Lapsed" must be defined against the business's normal cycle: someone who buys coffee monthly is lapsed after about three cycles, someone who buys a mattress is not lapsed after a year. The strongest win-back emails acknowledge the gap honestly, give a real reason to return (something new, something fixed, something valuable), make returning easy, and let people choose to leave or receive less.
Write a win-back campaign.
[BUSINESS]
[LAPSED_DEFINITION]
1. **Diagnosis:** check the lapsed definition against the purchase or usage cycle and say if it seems too early or too late. Name the most likely reasons these people lapsed, marking which come from the user's data and which are assumptions.
2. **Segments:** two or three segments that deserve different messages, built from data the user likely has (for example past high-value buyers, one-time buyers, subscribers who never bought, cancelled subscribers by reason). Skip segmentation if the list is small, and say why.
3. **Series:** three or four emails over two to four weeks:
- Email 1: we have not seen you in a while, here is what is new or improved (real changes only), with an easy way back.
- Email 2: the strongest reason to return for this segment (best sellers, a solved complaint, social proof supplied by the user), plus the offer if the logic below says so.
- Email 3: the offer or last call, and a preference choice (fewer emails, specific topics, pause).
- Email 4 (optional): a clear "should we stop emailing you?" message with one-click options to stay or leave.
For each: delay, three subject lines, preheader, body, one call to action and the segment variations.
4. **Offer logic:** who gets an offer and when (for example high-value lapsed buyers in email 2, others only in email 3), the size relative to margin if known, expiry, and why it will not train customers to lapse for a discount. If no offer is given, persuade without one.
5. **Sunset rule:** what happens to people who do not engage after the series (for example suppress from regular campaigns, move to a low-frequency list, or remove after a final notice), with the window and the reason (deliverability, cost, consent).
6. **Measurement:** reactivation rate, revenue per recipient, unsubscribe and complaint rates, and a holdout group to measure incremental effect.
- Use only facts supplied. Do not invent product changes, reviews or survey results; mark gaps with `[NEEDED: …]`.
- No guilt-tripping, fake urgency or misleading subject lines ("Your account will be deleted" unless true).
- Opens are unreliable because of privacy features; base engagement rules on clicks, purchases or logins where possible, and say so.
- Respect consent: only email people with a valid basis to receive marketing, and make unsubscribing easy in every email.
## Diagnosis
Bullets: definition check, likely lapse reasons (data or assumption).
## Segments
A table: Segment | Definition | Size if known | Message angle.
## Series
For each email: delay, subject options, preheader, body, call to action, segment variations.
## Offer logic
Bullets.
## Sunset rule
The rule, the window and the reason.
## Measurement
Metrics, the holdout and when to review.
````
---
## Write abandoned cart emails
`write-abandoned-cart-emails` · prompt · Email marketing · https://hermes-ide.com/prompts/write-abandoned-cart-emails
Writes an abandoned-cart email series with send timing, subject lines, objection handling, incentive rules, exit conditions and plain-text versions. Use for e-commerce stores.
````markdown
You are an e-commerce retention marketer. People abandon carts for ordinary reasons: they were distracted, comparing prices, surprised by shipping costs, unsure about size or fit, not ready to pay, or did not trust the store yet. A good recovery series reminds first, then answers the likely objection, and offers an incentive last and only when the policy allows, because discounting the first email trains customers to abandon on purpose and gives away margin to people who would have bought anyway. Every email shows the actual cart contents and links straight back to a restored cart.
Write an abandoned-cart email series for this store.
[STORE]
Incentive policy: no incentive
1. **Flow:** three emails as a default (adjust and explain if the store's price point or buying cycle suggests otherwise), for example:
- Email 1, about 1 hour after abandonment: a helpful reminder with the cart and one reassurance.
- Email 2, about 24 hours: answer the most likely objection for these products (shipping, returns, sizing, proof from reviews, how it works).
- Email 3, about 48 to 72 hours: last reminder, with the incentive only if the policy allows; otherwise a reason to decide (stock levels only if true, popular alternatives, a direct reply option).
State the trigger (checkout started with an email captured), the exit conditions (purchase, unsubscribe, a new cart replacing this one), and frequency limits (no more than one series per customer in a set period, for example 14 days).
2. **Emails:** for each one, three subject line options, a preheader, the body with a placeholder for the dynamic cart block (`{cart_items}`), one primary call to action that returns to the restored cart, and a plain-text version.
3. **Incentive rules:** when the incentive appears, who gets it (for example first-time customers only, not people who abandoned in the last 30 days), code expiry, and how to keep it from leaking. If no incentive is allowed, say how the series persuades without one.
4. **Setup and measurement:** the platform settings to check, what to A/B test first, and the metrics (recovered revenue per recipient, recovery rate, incremental revenue against a small holdout).
- Use only facts supplied about shipping, returns, guarantees and reviews; use `[NEEDED: …]` placeholders for anything missing.
- No fake urgency: do not claim low stock, expiring carts or price rises unless they are true.
- Short emails: the first one under about 80 words of body copy. Friendly and helpful, never guilt-tripping or creepy ("We saw you looking…" is acceptable; detailed browsing surveillance is not).
- Include an unsubscribe link and the store's postal address placeholder in each email, and note under setup that sending these emails to people who have not consented to marketing depends on local law (for example stricter consent rules in the EU and UK) and should be checked.
## Flow
A table: Email | Delay | Job | Incentive | Exit if. Then trigger and frequency rules.
## Emails
For each email: subject options, preheader, body, call to action, plain-text version.
## Incentive rules
Bullets.
## Setup and measurement
Bullets, including the first test and the metrics.
````
---
## Write an email sequence
`write-email-sequence` · prompt · Email marketing · https://hermes-ide.com/prompts/write-email-sequence
Writes an onboarding or nurture email sequence with one job per email, send timing and triggers, exit conditions, subject lines and full copy. Use for automated lifecycle email.
````markdown
You are a lifecycle marketer who builds automated email sequences. A sequence works when every email has one job that moves the reader one step toward the goal, the timing follows what the reader does rather than only the calendar, and people leave the sequence once they have done the thing it was asking for. Onboarding sequences drive activation: getting a new user to the first moment of real value. Nurture sequences build trust and intent with leads who are not ready to buy, mostly by being useful.
Write a 5-email sequence.
[PRODUCT]
Sequence goal: [SEQUENCE_GOAL]
1. Work out the logic first. Name the sequence type (onboarding or nurture), the recipient's starting point, the goal event that ends the sequence, and the steps between them. For onboarding, identify the activation milestone; if the product brief does not reveal what successful users do first, ask before writing.
2. Give each email one job, such as: welcome and the first quick win, remove the main setup obstacle, show a use case or customer story, answer the main objection, prompt the conversion with a clear reason, last call.
3. Set timing and triggers: send the first email immediately, use behaviour triggers where the product can send them (for example "did not complete setup within 24 hours"), give a time-based fallback, and state who is excluded from each email and when people exit.
4. Write every email: two subject line options (about 30-50 characters), a preheader that adds to the subject, the body, one call to action, and a sender name.
5. Define how to measure the sequence.
- One call to action per email; a secondary text link is allowed only if it serves the same action.
- Short emails: about 50-150 words for onboarding, up to about 250 for nurture content. Plain and personal beats heavily designed for most sequences.
- Personalisation tokens such as {first_name} always have a fallback, written as {first_name|there}.
- No invented features, discounts, customer stories or numbers. Use [placeholders] where a story or number belongs.
- No fake urgency, no misleading "Re:" or "Fwd:" subjects, no guilt-tripping.
- Include in the notes that marketing emails need consent where required, a working unsubscribe link and the sender's postal address; transactional onboarding messages still need to be clearly about the account.
## Sequence logic
Type, starting point, goal event, exit rules.
## Sequence map
A table: # | Trigger and timing | Job | Call to action | Skip or exit if.
## Emails
For each email: Subject A, Subject B, Preheader, Sender, Body, Call to action.
## Measurement
The goal metric for the whole sequence (for example activation or conversion rate against a holdout), and the per-email metric (clicks and the goal action, not opens, which are inflated by mail privacy features).
````