How to Run an Email Campaign Targeting RIA Firms by Location and AUM in 2026

You built a hyper‑targeted list of RIA firms by location and AUM using Origami. Now put that list to work. Origami’s built‑in email sequencer—included on all paid plans—lets you send multi‑touch sequences without ever leaving the platform. No CSV exports, no syncing with another tool. Here’s your step‑by‑step guide to running a lean, results‑driven email campaign that speaks directly to advisory firm decision‑makers in 2026.

If you haven’t built your list yet, start with our companion guide on how to build a list of RIA Firms by Location and AUM first. Once you’ve got your list loaded, come back here.

Step 1: Build the List in Origami (Recap)

The quality of your email campaign starts before the first subject line. Inside Origami, you describe your ideal prospect with a single prompt—and the AI agent does the heavy lifting. For this campaign, your prompt would look something like this:

“Find registered investment advisory firms in San Francisco and New York with over $200M AUM. Include partners, portfolio managers, and operations heads. Give me verified names, work emails, direct phone numbers, and company details.”

Origami returns a list of contacts that matches your criteria: full names, validated emails, job titles, company names, AUM figures, and locations. You’ll know exactly who you’re emailing before you hit send.

If you want to test the waters first, Origami offers a free plan with 1,000 credits—no credit card required. That’s enough to build a small, targeted list and see the data quality firsthand. To unlock the sequencer and run multi‑step campaigns, you’ll need a paid plan (starts at $29/month). You only pay for the credits used to enrich leads; the email sequencer itself carries no separate sending fees.

Step 2: Refine and Qualify Your RIA List

Having a list isn’t the same as having a qualified list. RIAs vary wildly in service models, growth stage, and decision‑making structures. Before you write a single email, spend 20 minutes stripping away anyone who won’t convert.

Segment by AUM tiers. A $50M solo advisor has different priorities than a $2B multi‑partner firm. In Origami’s list view, sort by whatever enriched AUM data you have. Create rough buckets:

• $100M–$300M: Growth‑stage firms. Decision‑makers are often the founder/CEO. Pain points revolve around scaling operations, hiring, and compliance without losing the personal touch.
• $300M–$1B: Established shops with a mix of senior partners and functional leads (COO, CCO). They’re evaluating technology that can streamline client reporting and reduce overhead.
• $1B+: Institutional practices. Buying cycles are longer, but budgets exist for tools that demonstrably improve efficiency or margins.

Filter by role. Remove gatekeepers—no admin assistants, no generic “info@” addresses. Keep people with titles like CEO, President, Managing Partner, Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Director of Operations, or Head of Advisor Services. These are the individuals who feel the pain of manual processes and have budget authority.

Service model matters. Some RIAs are fee‑only, others are hybrid or commission‑based. If your product is geared toward pure fiduciary shops, eliminate dual‑registered or insurance‑affiliated firms right away. Origami often enriches firm descriptions and regulatory data, so you can scan and weed out mismatches.

Check for recent growth signals. In 2026, RIAs that are hiring, opening new offices, or acquiring other books of business are ideal targets—they’re already investing in infrastructure. Look for those signals in enriched firm details or even a quick LinkedIn scan. If Origami surfaces recent news or tech‑stack data, use it to prioritize.

What “qualified” looks like for this audience: You want to end up with 50–200 contacts who:

• Run or heavily influence operations in a fee‑based RIA
• Have an AUM range that aligns with your solution’s sweet spot
• Are based in the metros you can serve or sell to
• Show signs of growth (or aging tech that needs replacing)

Remove everything else. A clean list is the single biggest variable in email deliverability and reply rates.

Step 3: Create the Email Sequence

With a qualified list, you now have two paths to writing the actual emails inside Origami.

Option 1: Paste Your Own Templates

If you already have messages you trust—or you want to use the proven copy below—you can write a 3‑touch sequence, paste the templates directly into Origami’s sequencer, set your delays (e.g., Day 1, Day 3, Day 7), and hit “Launch.” The sequencer will handle the rest.

Option 2: Let the Agent Write It

Alternatively, you can ask Origami’s AI agent to generate a personalized 3‑day email sequence for all your leads automatically. The agent reads each lead’s profile data—title, company name, AUM, location—and crafts messages that feel custom. This is a massive time‑saver if you’re testing a new market and don’t want to write from scratch.

To get a template that actually works, I’ve put together a 3‑touch sequence you can steal outright. It’s designed for RIAs, uses the merge fields Origami populates from enriched data, and stays short enough to be read on a phone. Swap in your value prop, but keep the structure—it’s been field‑tested across multiple AUM brackets.

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Full 3‑Touch Email Sequence for RIA Firms

Touch 1 — Day 1 (Initial Cold Email)

Subject: “growth at ” Preview: “a quick thought on scaling without adding headcount”

Hi ,

I noticed manages over $ in assets from your office. Most RIAs at that scale hit a wall with manual client reporting, compliance tracking, and operational sprawl.

We help firms like yours automate the heavy lifting—so advisors spend more time with clients, and you stop burning weekends on spreadsheets. No new headcount required.

Worth a 15‑minute look? Happy to show you how it works for RIAs in the range.

Best,

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Touch 2 — Day 3 (Follow‑Up From a Different Angle)

Subject: “how other RIAs are handling this” Preview: “two approaches I’ve seen work at $200M+ firms”

Hi ,

Haven’t heard back, so I’ll keep this brief.

Spoke with a $300M RIA in last month that was spending 10+ hours a week on quarterly billing and performance reports. After moving to automation, they reclaimed that time for client relationships—and cut compliance review from days to hours.

I’m not sure if faces the same bottleneck, but if it does, a 15‑minute screen share might spark ideas. Let me know.

Cheers,

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Touch 3 — Day 7 (Breakup)

Subject: “closing the loop, ” Preview: “fully understand if timing isn’t right”

Hi ,

I’m sure your inbox is a war zone, so I’ll leave you alone after this.

If making operations more scalable without hiring extra staff becomes a priority for down the road, here’s my calendar: [link].

If now’s not the right time, no worries—I won’t reach out again. Wishing you a strong 2026.

Best,

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A few notes on using these templates:

• Replace the value proposition with whatever you actually sell. The structure works because it starts with a specific observation, teases a relevant result, and closes with low‑friction access.
• Personalize beyond merge fields wherever you can. If Origami enriched the contact with their tech stack or recent news, drop a one‑line reference in the first email. “Saw you’re using Tamarac—our integration is a natural fit” goes a long way.
• Keep total email body under 100 words. Decision‑makers at RIAs read on mobile between meetings.

Step 4: Send the Sequence Directly from Origami

Here’s where Origami stands apart. You don’t export contacts to a separate ESP, you don’t plug into a third‑party sequencer, and you don’t juggle CSV files. Once you’ve finalized your templates and set your delays, you launch the campaign right from the same dashboard where you built the list.

One platform from list‑building to outreach. The email sequencer lives inside Origami. You select the refined list, attach the sequence (either your pasted templates or the AI‑generated ones), define the cadence (e.g., Day 1, Day 3, Day 7), and click launch. Every touch goes out automatically.

Built‑in tracking and prospect context. As replies start coming in, you’ll see opens, clicks, and responses without opening another tool. Even better, while looking at a contact’s activity, you can still see their enriched profile—title, company, AUM, tools used. That means when someone replies, you instantly remember why you reached out and can continue the conversation intelligently.

Automatic un‑enrollment. If a lead replies—even with a simple “not interested”—the sequencer pulls them out of the remaining steps. You’ll never send a breakup message after someone already booked a meeting. That alone saves embarrassment and preserves sender reputation.

Sending is free—you pay only for enrichment. Origami’s sequencer runs on all paid plans with no extra sending costs. You’re only paying for the credits used to find and enrich the leads in the first place. So you can test different sequences, tweak subject lines, and split audiences without worrying about a per‑email bill.

What response rates to expect. After running dozens of campaigns targeting RIAs by location and AUM, I’ve seen well‑segmented lists and personalized sequences deliver a 5–10% reply rate and a 2–3% booked meeting rate on the first sequence. If you’re below that, double‑check your subject line and the first line of the email. A small messaging tweak often doubles replies. If results still lag, go back to the list: are the AUM brackets right? Are you emailing the decision‑maker or a gatekeeper? Refine, re‑launch, and measure again.

When to Iterate on Messaging vs. Iterate on the List

In 2026, RIA professionals are drowning in generic outreach. If your campaign isn’t performing after two launches, ask yourself:

• Low open rate (<40%)? The subject line isn’t grabbing attention. Try shorter, more specific subjects that hint at a local observation or a number (e.g., “3 ideas for a $400M RIA in ”).
• Opens but no replies? The body isn’t landing. Shorten it, add a concrete result (e.g., “saved 8 hours/week”), or shift the tone to be more consultative.
• Replies but no meetings? Your offer might be too broad. Make the call‑to‑action hyper‑specific: “15 minutes to see how we cut quarterly report generation from 12 hours to 2.”
• Low open rate across many lists? Your email domain may have a reputation issue, or the contacts aren’t truly verified. Origami validates emails at the enrichment stage, so deliverability starts strong, but always check your setup.