The easiest way to learn email automation is to build one real sequence from start to finish. This guide follows a fictional small guesthouse on the south coast that wants to welcome newsletter subscribers and turn them into guests. The same steps work for a retailer in Speightstown, an accountancy practice in Warrens or a charity in St. Philip.
Before you start: three decisions
- The goal. Our guesthouse wants a direct booking within 30 days of sign-up.
- The trigger. Someone subscribes through the website form.
- The audience. Mostly overseas visitors, with some Barbadians planning a staycation.
Step 1: Collect subscribers with consent
Create a subscription form with an unticked box: “Send me offers and island news from Sea Grape Guesthouse. I can unsubscribe at any time.” Add a “Where do you live?” field so you can tell residents from overseas contacts. This meets the Data Protection Act 2019 requirement that consent be clear, informed and affirmative, and it tells you who is who.
Step 2: Choose the trigger
In Mailpro, create a new automation and choose “subscription to a list” as the trigger. Other common triggers include a date (birthday, arrival date), a link click, a tag, or a form submission.
Step 3: Write the sequence
| When | Message | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Immediately | Welcome and thank you, with three photos of the property and the beach | Confirm the subscription and set expectations |
| Day 3 | “Your guide to the south coast”: Oistins on Friday night, snorkelling spots, getting around by ZR van and bus | Be useful and build trust |
| Day 7 | What’s on in the coming months, such as Crop Over, Holetown Festival or the Independence season, depending on the date | Give a reason to travel |
| Day 14 | Direct-booking offer with a clear button | Convert |
| Day 28 | Short reminder that the offer ends soon | Final nudge |
Keep each email short and mobile-friendly. Start from one of the 600+ templates so the series looks consistent.
Step 4: Add conditions and branches
If a subscriber clicks the booking button, tag them “interested” and stop the offer reminders. If they live in Barbados, send the staycation version of the day-14 offer instead. Mailpro’s automation actions handle tags, waits, list moves and branching.
Step 5: Consider SMS for the final nudge
If the subscriber also gave a mobile number and agreed to texts, a short SMS on day 28 can work better than a fourth email. Store numbers in +1 246 format for locals and full international format for overseas contacts.
Step 6: Set the timing
Barbados uses Atlantic Standard Time (UTC−4) all year. If most subscribers are in the UK, set sending hours for their mornings; for North America, remember the time difference changes when the US and Canada move to daylight saving.
Step 7: Test, then switch it on
Subscribe with your own address and phone and check every email and link on a mobile. Confirm the unsubscribe link works and stops the sequence. Then activate.
Other sequences worth building next
- Pre-arrival: triggered by the arrival date field, with transfer details, weather for the season and restaurant booking links.
- Post-stay: a thank-you, a short survey and a returning-guest code sent a few months later, as the northern winter approaches.
- Birthday: a greeting with a small offer, by email or SMS.
- Re-engagement: for subscribers who haven’t opened in six months, with a clear option to stay or leave.
Mistakes to avoid
- Enrolling contacts who never opted in to marketing. Under the Data Protection Act 2019, automation doesn’t change the need for a lawful basis.
- Forgetting to stop promotional steps once someone has booked or bought.
- Leaving dated content, such as last year’s Crop Over dates, in an evergreen sequence.
- Sending every step at the same hour regardless of the subscriber’s time zone.
Step 8: Review after a month
Check opens and clicks per step, as described in automated email statistics. Rewrite the weakest email first. More automation ideas are on the automated email marketing in Barbados page. For the principles behind it, see our guide to automatic emails.