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Email automation lets you send sequences of emails triggered by contact actions without manual intervention. You define the trigger, timing, content, and exit conditions once, then the system handles the rest. AutoSend supports three trigger types:
  • New contact is added to a list or segment
  • Contact property matches with a specific condition
  • Contact property changes from → to a new value

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Common Use Cases

  • Onboarding sequences for new users or customers on different plans
  • Lead nurturing campaigns for prospects at different stages
  • Re-engagement campaigns for inactive contacts
  • Educational drip campaigns that deliver value over time
  • Event-based sequences triggered by signup, download, or purchase
  • Product adoption sequences guiding users through features
  • Renewal or upgrade campaigns for subscription-based products

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Prerequisites

Before creating an automation, make sure you have the following ready based on your trigger type:
  • For list/segment triggers: Create a contact list or segment that represents your trigger condition.
  • For property-based triggers: Ensure your contacts have the relevant custom fields set up. The automation will evaluate these properties to determine when to trigger.

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How to Create an Email Automation

1

Create Your Automation

Under Marketing Emails in the sidebar, select Automations and click New Automation.An untitled automation will be created. Give it a descriptive name that clearly identifies its purpose, such as “Pro Plan Onboarding” or “Welcome Series.”
2

Set Your Trigger

Click on the Trigger card to configure what starts your automation. AutoSend offers three trigger types:

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New contact is added to

Select a contact list or segment. When a contact joins this list or segment, they automatically enter the automation.Example: Create a segment called “Pro Plan Members” with the custom field plan: pro. When a user purchases a Pro plan and enters this segment, the automation triggers.
Trigger: New contact is added to a list or segment
Only new contacts added after activation will enter this automation. Existing contacts won’t receive these emails.

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Contact property matches with

Select a list to scope the contacts, then define a property condition. The automation triggers when a contact in that list matches your condition(s).
  1. Choose a contact property from the dropdown (e.g., verified)
  2. Select an operator (e.g., equals)
  3. Enter the value to match (e.g., true)
  4. Click Add to include additional conditions if needed
Example: Set verified equals true on the “All Contacts” list. Any contact whose verified property becomes true will enter the automation.
Trigger: Contact property matches with a condition
Only new contacts added after activation and matching the condition(s) will enter this automation. Existing contacts won’t receive these emails.

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Contact property changes from → to

Select a list to scope the contacts, then define one or more property transitions. The automation triggers when a contact’s property changes from one specific value to another.
  1. Choose a contact property from the dropdown (e.g., published)
  2. Set the from value (e.g., unpublished) and to value (e.g., published)
  3. Click Add to include additional property change conditions
  4. Use AND / OR logic to combine multiple conditions
Example: Trigger when published changes from unpublished to published in the “All Contacts” list. Perfect for sending a congratulatory email when a user publishes their first project.
Trigger: Contact property changes from one value to another
3

Add Emails to Your Automation

  1. Click Add Email to create your first email in the sequence
  2. Set the Wait For timing to determine when this email should be sent:
    • By default, the timing is set to 0 seconds (immediately)
    • Adjust the timing based on your email strategy (e.g., 30 mins, 6 hours, 3 days)
  3. Design your email content, subject line, and preview text and select the sender
  4. Repeat to add more emails to your sequence
Add emails to your automation sequence
You can add up to 10 emails in a single automation. Plan your sequence thoughtfully to deliver value without overwhelming your contacts.
4

Automation Settings

Configure the following settings for your automation:
  • Automation name: Give your automation a descriptive name (e.g., “Onboarding Automation”).
  • Unsubscribe group: Select an appropriate unsubscribe group. Automations are treated as marketing emails and are required to include an unsubscribe link for compliance with email regulations.
  • Tracking: Toggle tracking for:
    • Open rate: An invisible image is appended to HTML emails to track if they have been opened.
    • Clicks: AutoSend tracks clicks by rewriting links in your email. When clicked, they pass through an AutoSend server before redirecting to the original URL.
Automation settings: name, unsubscribe group, and tracking options
5

Activate Your Automation

Once you’ve configured all settings and added your emails:
  1. Review your automation flow to ensure everything is correct
  2. Send test emails to verify content and personalization
  3. Click Activate to make your automation live
Activate your automation
Your automation is now active and will begin triggering for contacts who meet the trigger conditions.
6

Exit Condition

The automation ends automatically once all emails have been sent or the contact no longer meets the entry criteria. There’s nothing to configure here. This is handled by default.

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Best Practices

Start with clear goals. Define what you want each automation to achieve, whether it’s onboarding, nurturing, conversion, or retention. Map the contact journey. Plan the logical flow of emails from the contact’s perspective. What information do they need first? What actions do you want them to take? Choose the right trigger type. Use list/segment triggers for broad audience entry, property matching for condition-based targeting, and property changes for reacting to specific transitions. Time your emails strategically. Balance staying top-of-mind with avoiding inbox fatigue. Consider your audience’s behavior patterns and industry norms. Test before activating. Send test emails to yourself, verify all links work, and ensure personalization tokens display correctly. Understand exit conditions. Any contact that no longer meets the trigger criteria will be automatically removed from the automation. Contacts who unsubscribe will also be removed and will not receive further emails. Avoid automation overlap. Be mindful of contacts who might qualify for multiple automations. Structure your triggers to prevent overwhelming contacts with too many simultaneous emails.

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Troubleshooting

  • Verify the automation is in Active state, not Draft or Paused.
  • Check that contacts are actually joining your trigger list or segment.
  • Ensure your list or segment criteria are correctly configured.
  • For property-based triggers, confirm the contact property exists and has the expected values.
  • Contacts uploaded via CSV won’t trigger automations. Only contacts updated/added via API or from the dashboard will be enrolled in automations.
  • Verify the contact property name matches exactly (property names are case-sensitive).
  • For “matches with” triggers, check that the property value matches the condition you set.
  • For “changes from → to” triggers, ensure the contact’s property actually transitions between the specified values. Setting a value for the first time does not count as a change.
  • Check that the contact belongs to the list you selected for the trigger.
  • Review your Wait For settings between each email.
  • Remember that timing starts from when the contact enters the automation, not from a specific time of day.
  • Check if they were removed from the trigger list/segment, or if their contact property no longer matches the trigger condition, or if the property changed away from the expected value.
  • Verify the automation hasn’t been paused.
  • Confirm they haven’t unsubscribed from these emails.