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A sequence is Topo’s unit of outreach for a single contact. When a lead is approved and enrolled in a campaign, Topo creates a sequence for that person — a planned series of messages and tasks that follows the campaign’s sequence template. Every contact gets their own sequence instance, so each journey is tracked individually and personalization is applied at the contact level.

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Sequence templates vs. sequences

It helps to understand the distinction between these two concepts:

Sequence template

The reusable playbook shared across a campaign. It defines the steps, their order, their timing, the sending schedule, and the daily lead target. You edit the template; the change applies to all future sequences created from it.

Sequence (instance)

A copy of the template created for one specific contact when they’re enrolled. Topo personalizes the message content for that person at the moment of enrollment and tracks each step independently.

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Step types

A sequence template can include four types of steps:
Automated emails sent from your connected email account. Each email step has a configurable delay from the previous step (e.g., “send 3 days after step 1”) and a message template that Topo personalizes using the contact’s data and any AI variables you’ve defined.Email steps support full threading — follow-up emails appear as replies in the same thread, so the conversation looks natural in the recipient’s inbox.
Direct messages sent to a contact you’re already connected with on LinkedIn. LinkedIn message steps require that a connection exists before the step runs. If no connection exists at execution time, Topo can skip or delay the step depending on your template settings.
A connection request sent to the contact on LinkedIn, optionally accompanied by a personalized note. Use invitation steps early in a sequence to build the relationship before a direct message step later in the flow.
Tasks assigned to you (or a teammate) that require a human action — a phone call, a handwritten note, or a manual email outside of automation. When a sequence reaches a manual step, Topo creates a task in your task queue and pauses the sequence until that task is marked complete.Manual steps are useful for high-touch moments in your outreach where a personal touch matters more than automation.

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Sequence statuses

Each sequence instance has a status that tells you exactly where it stands:
StatusMeaning
ActiveThe sequence is progressing normally. Steps are being sent according to the schedule.
Waiting for userThe sequence has reached a manual step. A task has been created and the sequence won’t advance until you complete or skip the task.
Waiting for leadThe sequence is paused pending a condition on the contact — for example, waiting for a LinkedIn connection to be accepted before the next step can run.
SucceededThe contact replied with positive intent (interested, meeting booked, referral). The sequence is finished.
CompletedAll steps in the sequence have been executed and the sequence has reached its natural end without a positive reply.
Stopped earlyThe sequence was manually stopped before all steps were sent, or was ended automatically due to a campaign change.
FailedThe sequence ended due to an error — for example, an email bounced hard, a contact unsubscribed, or a sending account became unavailable.

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How AI personalizes messages

Topo personalizes each outgoing message using a combination of:
  • Contact data — first name, job title, company, LinkedIn headline, and recent activity
  • Company context — industry, size, tech stack, news mentions, and funding history
  • AI variables — custom fields you define in the template (see below)
  • Organizational context — your company’s ICP, value proposition, and competitor landscape
When a sequence is created for a contact, Topo generates personalized content for each step. You can preview and edit the personalized copy in the sequence drawer before it sends.

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AI variables

AI variables are reusable personalization building blocks you define once in a template and apply across all sequences. For example: 
{{personalized_opener}} 
→ "I noticed [Company] recently launched a new product line — congrats on the momentum."

{{pain_point_relevance}}
→ "Given your team's focus on reducing churn, I thought our retention toolkit might be a good fit."
AI variables are generated fresh for each contact at enrollment time, using the contact’s specific profile and your organizational context. You can define and manage AI variables in the template editor.

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Stopping sequences early

You can stop an individual sequence from the contact’s sequence drawer at any time. This ends the sequence for that contact and moves it to Stopped early status. No further steps will send, but any manual tasks already in your queue remain until you dismiss them. To hold outreach for a contact temporarily without stopping their sequence entirely, complete or skip any pending manual task and let the sequence naturally advance — or pause the whole campaign, which suspends all active sequences within it until the campaign is resumed.
Pausing a campaign suspends all active sequences within it. Sequences resume from their next scheduled step once the campaign is set back to Running. This is the recommended approach when you need to pause outreach for your entire audience rather than a single contact.

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Building a sequence template

1

Open Sequence Templates

From the left navigation, go to Sequence Templates (or open a campaign and click Edit template from the Settings tab).
2

Add your first step

Click Add step and choose the step type. For most outbound campaigns, start with an email step.
3

Write the message template

Enter your message using Topo’s template editor. Use {{first_name}}, {{company}}, and any AI variables you’ve defined to personalize content. The preview panel shows a sample render using a dummy contact.
4

Set the delay

For each step after the first, set a delay from the previous step — for example, “wait 3 business days”. Steps respect your campaign’s sending schedule and timezone.
5

Repeat for each step

Add as many steps as you need. Most effective sequences have 4–7 steps across a 2–3 week window.
6

Configure the schedule

Under Schedule settings, choose the days and hours during which steps should execute, and set the daily leads target for new enrollments.
A strong starting sequence for cold outreach: Email → LinkedIn invitation (day 3) → Follow-up email (day 7) → LinkedIn message (day 10) → Final email (day 14). This gives you two channels of contact before you let the sequence close out naturally.

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Sequence template settings

SettingDescription
Daily leads targetMaximum new contacts to enroll per day
Lead approval modeAutopilot or manual review for new leads
Sending scheduleDays and hours outreach is permitted
TimezoneTimezone used for scheduling
LinkedIn behaviorWhat to do if no LinkedIn connection exists when a LinkedIn step runs
Sender identityThe name and job title to use when sending (useful for persona-based outreach)