How to Backfill an Email Sequence in Bento

Have you ever wanted to add new emails to an existing email sequence in Bento, but your subscribers have already finished the sequence? It can be frustrating when you have great new content to share, but your subscribers won't receive it because they've already completed the sequence.

Don't worry, there's a simple solution!

Adding a Far-Future Email

If you're just getting started with Bento, here's a cool trick to avoid this issue altogether: Add an email at the end of your sequence with a send date way, way, way in the future. For example, set the send date to 27 years from now. Unless you expect your customers to stick around for nearly three decades (which would be awesome!), that date will essentially never arrive. This keeps your subscribers active in the sequence, allowing them to receive any new emails you add.

Using a Workflow to Backfill

But what if you've already got a bunch of subscribers who have finished your sequence, and you want them to receive the new emails you've added? You can use a Bento workflow to make it happen!

Here's how:

1. Create a new workflow and save it right away (I like having the sidebar view).
2. Add an event to the workflow and name it something like "Backfill Job" (no rules needed, as no event will trigger it).
3. Add an Add Sequence action to the board, connect it to the event, and select the sequence you want to backfill.

That's it! Your backfill workflow is ready to go.

Running the Backfill

To run the backfill, head up to the command area in Bento and follow these steps:

1. Click on Segment and then Run.
2. Choose the segment of your audience you want to backfill (e.g., a specific subscriber or a group).
3. Select the Backfill Job event as the starting point for the workflow.
4. Click Run to start the backfill process.

Bento will create a background job and process the backfill within a few minutes. Your selected subscribers will be re-added to the email sequence and pick up where they left off. If they've already received the first email but not the second, they'll get the second email next, and so on.

Wrapping Up

Backfilling an email sequence in Bento is a breeze once you know how to do it. By using a simple workflow and a one-off job, you can easily add subscribers back into a sequence, ensuring they receive all the awesome content you've created. So go ahead and update those sequences with confidence, knowing that your subscribers won't miss a thing!

And as always, ping us in Discord if you have any questions!

Happy emailing!