Send a follow-up sequence after someone signs up
Build an automation that watches a list and sends three emails over a week. The full walkthrough, including the two things that catch everyone out.
- automations
- forms
An automation is a sequence that runs by itself, one person at a time. Someone joins a list, and from that moment they walk through whatever you built: an email now, a wait, another email, another wait.
Automations need the Creator plan or higher. They live under Emails, on the Automations tab.
Before you start, make sure you have read How lead capture works. The connection between your form and this sequence is not obvious, and getting it wrong is the single most common reason a sequence sends nothing.
Create the automation
Emails, then Automations, then New automation. You can also start from the Lead magnet template, which lays out the shape for you.
Give it a name you will recognise in six months. The name is private, your subscribers never see it.
Set the trigger to Joined a list
Click the trigger at the top of the canvas. In the group called Leads and audiences, choose Joined a list.
Then pick which list. This must be the same list your form adds people to. If those two do not match, nothing will ever happen, and nothing will warn you.
Leave "Where they came from" on Any source unless you specifically want to treat signups from different places differently.
Add your first email
Press the + below the trigger and choose Send email.
In the panel on the right, press New email. That creates a real email and opens the editor. Write it, then come back to the automation.
You can also press "Or reuse an existing email" to pick one you already wrote. Note that this picker only offers drafts, not emails you have already broadcast.
Add a wait
Press + again and choose Wait. Set how long, then what time of day to send when the wait is over.
Check the timezone. It defaults to UTC, which for most people is not their own clock. A coach in Denver who types 9:00 AM without changing it is scheduling for three in the morning.
Repeat for emails two and three
Email, wait, email. A common shape is: something useful immediately, something useful three days later, and an invitation to join on day seven.
Press Save when the shape is right. Saving does not send anything.
Turn it on
The switch at the top right says Turn on. If it is greyed out, hover it and the tooltip tells you exactly what is unfinished, usually a step with no email attached.
Editing it later
You can change a running automation. People who are already partway through finish on the version they started, and your changes apply to everyone who enters afterwards. The panel says as much when you save.
There is an Activity page beside the builder showing who is currently in the journey and which step they are on. That is the first place to look if something seems wrong.
Common questions
I turned it on and nobody is getting anything.
Check three things, in this order. One: does your form actually add people to a list? Two: is it the same list the trigger is watching? Three: did anyone join the list after you switched the automation on? That last one is usually the answer.
My subscribers got two emails at once.
Your form probably has a confirmation email set, and your automation starts with an immediate send. Both fire within a minute of each other. Pick one: either the form sends the welcome, or the automation does.
Can a sequence start when someone gets a tag?
No. Tags cannot start an automation. Only lists can. An automation can add a tag mid-sequence, and check for one in a branch, but the starting gun is always a list.
How often does it check?
Every minute. So an email set to send immediately arrives within about a minute, not instantly.
What happens if I downgrade below Creator?
Every live automation is switched back to draft. The sequences themselves are kept, and you can switch them on again after upgrading, but the time in between is not replayed.