Build a welcome automation that runs on its own

Greet every new contact with a short sequence of emails, set up once in six steps.

Automations3 min read

A welcome sequence is the automation most worth setting up first. It reaches people when they've just shown interest, and once it's running it needs nothing from you. This guide builds a simple three-email sequence with the Welcome trigger.

When a welcome automation runs#

The Welcome trigger starts when a brand-new contact is added: one you add by hand on the Contacts page, or a subscriber who comes in from a connected Shopify store or the WordPress plugin. Each contact goes through it once.

Note

Contacts brought in through a bulk import (CSV or copy and paste) don't start a welcome automation. That's useful: importing an old list won't suddenly send a welcome email to everyone on it.

Plan the sequence first#

Sketch the emails before you open the editor. A simple, useful pattern:

Email	Delay	What it says
1. Welcome	Straight away	Thanks for joining, what to expect from you, and one helpful link.
2. Get started	2 days	The most useful thing a new contact can do next.
3. Say hello	5 days	A little about the people behind the business, and an invitation to reply.

Keep each email short with a single purpose. Three good emails beat six that repeat each other.

Build it in six steps#

Open Automations and create a new one. The editor walks you through:

1
Name & Description
Something you'll recognise later, such as "Welcome: new subscribers".
2
Select Trigger
Choose Welcome.
3
Build Email Sequence
Add the three emails. Each one has a delay in minutes, hours, days or weeks, counted from the step before it. Design each email in the email builder.
4
Exit Conditions
Decide when someone should leave early. Purchase made takes them out as soon as they buy, if you've connected a store.
5
Select Recipients
Choose who the automation applies to.
6
Configure Settings
Check everything, then activate it.

Check it before you rely on it#

Once the automation is active, add yourself as a new contact on the Contacts page and watch the first email arrive. Read it on your phone as well as your computer.
Make sure each email has a clear sender and a reply-to that someone reads. New contacts often reply to a welcome email.

Tip

Write the first email so it would still make sense if someone joined months from now. Avoid dates, "this week's" offers and anything that will go stale.

How it behaves once it's live#

Automations are draft, active, paused or archived. You can pause one and pick it up again later.
Contacts who unsubscribe are never emailed, and bounced, complained, invalid and suppressed contacts don't start the sequence.
Automations keep sending when you reach your plan's email limit, so welcome and order emails aren't missed. Those emails still count towards your usage.

Where to go next#

Once your welcome sequence is running, the same editor offers other triggers that work on their own: Birthday (from a birthday custom field you can import), Anniversary, Custom date, Re-engagement, Win-back and Segment qualification, which starts when a contact comes to match a segment's rules. With Shopify or WordPress connected, store triggers such as Purchase and Abandoned cart become available too.