The Lifecycle Email Audit

List every automated email you send, see each audience's weekly marketing load, check unsubscribe and consent basics, and find the sequence to build next.

Excel + Google Sheets · Free

What this resource helps you do

List every automated email you send, see the marketing load each audience gets in a week, check each marketing sequence for its unsubscribe and consent basics, and find the sequence to build next.

Get the audit from AAJ's free marketing templates library.

What the Lifecycle Email Audit does

The Lifecycle Email Audit helps you list every automated email you send, see how many marketing emails each audience gets in a week, check each marketing sequence for its unsubscribe and consent basics, and find the lifecycle sequence to build next.

What is inside

Sequences, Send load and Coverage sheets, plus an Example Co. (fictional) sheet with live formulas.
AAJ's rule of thumb, not a benchmark: more than 3 marketing emails a week to the same person and something has to go. Transactional email is shown but not counted.
Three compliance columns per marketing sequence, each with a note naming the rule's source, and a Check column.

How to use it

List every sequence. Include receipts and password resets, set their type to transactional, and split mixed sequences.
Answer the compliance columns. Unsubscribe link and postal address, the one-click unsubscribe header for bulk senders, and the consent basis for EU and UK recipients.
Read the send load. Type each audience once, spelled as on the Sequences sheet.
Find the gap. Choose product-led or sales-led and mark the moments you already cover.
Write the missing sequence. Use the free email-lifecycle-sequence skill, then check the send load again before it goes live.

Who it is for

Founders and first marketers at seed to Series B startups with more than a couple of automated sequences, especially product-led companies with a free trial. The compliance columns are orientation, not legal advice: check legal consequences with your counsel.

The worked example uses Example Co., a fictional company; its figures are illustrative. The template is free in exchange for an email address.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many marketing emails a week is too many?

AAJ's rule of thumb, not a benchmark: more than 3 marketing emails a week to the same person and something has to go. The Send load sheet adds up live marketing sequences per audience and compares them with that rule; you can change it.

Do receipts and password resets count?

Not toward the marketing load. The audit shows transactional email for context and does not count it. Split a mixed sequence into a marketing row and a transactional row so its marketing emails are counted.

What does every marketing email need?

The FTC's CAN-SPAM guide asks for a valid physical postal address and a clear way to opt out in every commercial email, with opt-outs honored within 10 business days. Gmail also requires one-click unsubscribe from senders of 5,000 or more messages a day to personal Gmail accounts. This is orientation, not legal advice; check how the rules apply to you with counsel.

Which lifecycle sequence should I build first?

The Coverage sheet lists eight lifecycle moments and names the first gap, in a build order for product-led or sales-led startups. Both orders are AAJ's judgment, not a benchmark; reorder them if your business differs.

Is the template free, and what format is it?

Free, in exchange for an email address. It is an Excel .xlsx that opens in Excel and Google Sheets, with no macros.