$ man cadence

Cadence

The timing between touches in a sequence. Day 0, day 3, day 7. How long you wait before the next email.

by Shawn Tenam

Too fast feels spammy. Too slow loses momentum. The right cadence balances persistence with patience. Most tools default to day 2, day 4, day 6 — which feels robotic. Real humans don't follow up 48 hours apart on the dot.

I default to 3-day gaps for email sequences. Email 1, wait 3 days, email 2, wait 4-5 days, email 3. Not symmetrical. Not immediate. Feels more like someone actually checking back in versus an automated drip. When it's multi-channel (LinkedIn + email), I stagger them — LinkedIn message day 1, email day 3, LinkedIn follow-up day 6.