A monkey can copy another person's email / sms flow and perhaps have success. There are many, many articles and videos talking about specific Klaviyo email flows, SMSBump flows, etc. And they are often a great starting point.
However, I want to look deeper. If you understand the underlying principles behind why something works, you can apply it successfully across any landscape — regardless of customer preferences, shifting trends, competitive pressures, or the brand itself.
What is it, which if I understood it, would allow me to build an unlimited amount of highly effective, creative, engaging, high converting email / sms flows?
It is this:
A customer buys because they trust that you will fulfill their needs, and that if they don't buy now, they will ultimately suffer for it.
The degree to which this is satisfied in an email/sms flow is the degree to which the flow will be effective. Every single flow that fails, fails because this principle was not understood. This is the source of results.
Of course, not every email or every flow needs to encapsulate each and every facet of this truth.
In the welcome flow, a first email may give a limited time discount.
A day later, a second email may introduce a popular product with UGC reviews.
Two days later, a third email may introduce the founders.
A day later, a fourth email may remind the customer the discount is expiring.
And so on.
The exact email flow can be tailored to fit the specific manifestation of brand, competitive environment and so on, as long as this central premise is kept in mind: how are you building trust that you will fulfill their needs? How are you creating urgency for them to make a purchase decision?
This is a central truth in ecommerce that continues to come up again and again. If one understands it deeply, he will be able to create custom, highly effective communication flows forever.