Build the 4-Email Sequence: Duolingo's Streak-Breakers

Marketing Academy · Field Work●Email & Lifecycle

MiniBuild the Asset· 30 minutes

Duolingo

Objective: Given a dormant learner segment, draft the 4-email win-back sequence, value, incentive, preference center, sunset, in the correct order with correct day spacing and no early discount.

You're a lifecycle marketer at Duolingo assigned a segment of 40,000 learners who broke a 30+ day streak and haven't opened the app in 95 days.

Write the subject line and one-paragraph body direction for each of the 4 emails in the sequence, then justify why each email sits where it does in the order.

Before you start

What you'll need

Free path (everything below is enough to finish)

Google Sheets

FreeDraft and sequence the 4 emails before building them in an ESP

Free, no account friction, easy to review day-spacing at a glance

Paid upgrades (optional, faster/deeper)

Klaviyo Flows(optional)

FreemiumBuild the drafted sequence as a live triggered automation with day-delay branching

Handles the multi-day delays and the 'engaged at any point' branch logic the lesson's flowchart describes

No access? Keep the sequence in Google Sheets and send manually to a small segment

The process

2 steps

Step 01 of 02

Sequencing escalation without leading with a discount

The lesson's Step 3 gives each of the 4 emails a specific job, and email 1 leads with value, never an offer, because leading with a discount trains subscribers to ignore regular sends to extract a deal.

Email 1 goes out Day 0 to learners who broke a streak. Do you open with '20% off Super Duolingo' or with what they've missed?

Google Sheets— A draft tab listing the 4 emails as rows, columns for day, subject line, and body direction.

Procedure

List the 4 emails as rows: Day 0, Day 7, Day 14, Day 21
Write Email 1 (Day 0) as a value reminder only, no offer, e.g. new course content or a streak-repair nudge
Write Email 2 (Day 7) as the first incentive, a streak freeze or bonus XP, only after Email 1 got no response

Sample output

Day 0: 'Your Spanish streak is waiting.' Body: highlight 2 new stories added since they left, no offer.
Day 7: 'Come back, we saved your spot (+ a free streak freeze).' Body: first incentive, tied to their actual lapse reason.

Healthy

Email 1 has zero discount language; the first incentive appears no earlier than Email 2, after the value-led touch already ran.

Unhealthy

Email 1 opens with '50% off Plus', training the learner to wait out every regular send for a coupon.

What this means

Order is not cosmetic, it is the mechanism, a value-first open protects the discount's power for the emails that actually need it.

So what do I do about it?

Symptom	Action	Effort
Email 1 draft already has a percentage-off headline	Rewrite Email 1 around a value reminder, move any offer to Email 2's draft	5 min

YouYou can do this yourself, no engineering access required.

Step 02 of 02

The sunset email requires an explicit removal statement

The lesson's Step 3, Email 4 (Day 21) is the sunset email: it must explicitly state the subscriber is being removed unless they click to stay, sent from a real person's name, not the brand.

Email 4 goes out Day 21. Does the copy say 'we miss you' again, or does it say what actually happens if they don't click?

Google Sheets— Same draft tab, the Day 21 row.

Procedure

Write Email 4's subject as a real person, not the brand, e.g. 'Priya from Duolingo'
State plainly in the first line that inactive learners are being moved off marketing sends
Add a single one-click 'Keep me subscribed' button as the only CTA

Sample output

From: Priya at Duolingo
Subject: We're removing you from these emails
Body: 'You haven't opened an email from us in a while, so unless you click below, this is the last one you'll get.' [Keep me subscribed]

Healthy

The email states the removal explicitly and uses a personal sender name.

Unhealthy

Email 4 repeats 'we miss you, come back!' with no statement that non-response means removal.

What this means

The sunset framing works because it's specific and real, not because it's polite.

So what do I do about it?

Symptom	Action	Effort
Email 4 draft reads like Email 1 with a new subject line	Add the explicit removal statement and switch the sender name to a real person	5 min

YouYou can do this yourself, no engineering access required.

Final deliverable

A 4-row sequence draft (Day 0/7/14/21) with subject line and body direction per email, correctly ordered value-first to sunset.

See a reference example

Sample output

Zomato, dormant-user win-back draft (excerpt)

Day 0: 'Your favorite biryani spot added 3 new dishes.' No offer.
Day 7: 'Free delivery on your next order, just for you.' First incentive.
Day 14: 'Want fewer emails instead? Tell us here.' Preference center.
Day 21: From 'Ankit at Zomato', 'We're removing you unless you click below.' Sunset.

Success criteria

You're done when you can:

Email 1 contains no discount or incentive language
Email 4 explicitly states removal and uses a personal sender name
Day spacing matches 0/7/14/21