Automated emails are built once and then run for months. That makes the set-up worth doing carefully: a mistake in a one-off campaign affects one send, but a mistake in an automation repeats every day until someone notices. This guide covers the main types, with UK examples, and then the set-up steps in Mailpro.
Nine workflows worth considering
1. Welcome email
Triggered by a new subscription. A Bristol coffee roaster sends a welcome with brewing tips and a first-order code. Send it within minutes, while interest is highest.
2. Link-click follow-up
Triggered when a subscriber clicks a specific link. If someone clicks “wedding venues” in a hotel newsletter, a follow-up with the wedding brochure a day later is relevant rather than intrusive. Mailpro supports this with automations on link clicks.
3. Timed sequence
A series of emails over days or weeks, such as a five-part “getting started” course for new software users, or an onboarding series for new charity volunteers.
4. Post-purchase thank-you
A thank-you with care instructions, delivery information or a request for a review. This is often a service message, but adding offers turns it into marketing under PECR.
5. Birthday or anniversary
Triggered by a date field. A restaurant chain offers a free dessert in the birthday month; a membership body thanks people on their joining anniversary.
6. Re-engagement
Triggered after a long period without opens or clicks. Offer something useful, then ask whether they want to stay subscribed. Remove those who don’t respond, which protects your sender reputation.
7. Regular content
An automated digest of your latest blog posts or listings, useful for estate agents with new properties each week.
8. Feedback request
A short survey a week after a stay, a course or a purchase. Mailpro’s online surveys plug straight into this.
9. Renewal reminder
Triggered a set number of days before an expiry date: annual memberships, insurance policies, MOT due dates for a garage, or season tickets.
Setting it up in Mailpro
- Prepare the list and fields. Make sure the data your trigger needs exists, such as a date of birth or renewal date in a custom field.
- Check permission. Promotional automations should only reach contacts who consented or fall under the soft opt-in. Service-only automations can reach all customers.
- Create the email. Design it with the editor or a template, and add personalisation with sensible fallbacks.
- Choose the trigger. Subscription, date, link click, tag or list change.
- Set timing. Add delays between steps and a fixed send hour in UK time, so nothing arrives overnight.
- Test. Run the automation on a test contact before switching it on, as described in the FAQ on testing an automation.
- Activate and monitor. Review the results after the first week.
Writing tips for emails that send themselves
- Avoid dates and seasons unless the automation only runs at that time of year. “This weekend” is wrong for every subscriber who joins on a Tuesday.
- Explain why the email arrived. “You’re receiving this because you joined our list on our website” reassures readers who have forgotten signing up.
- One purpose per email. A welcome email that also pushes three offers and a survey does none of them well.
- Use the same sender name as your regular newsletter, so subscribers recognise you.
A quick PECR checklist for automations
- Is this workflow promotional? If yes, does every contact it can reach have consent or a valid soft opt-in?
- Does every message identify your organisation and include an unsubscribe link?
- Does an unsubscribe stop all future steps immediately?
- If a charity, did the supporter give you their details directly, if you rely on the charitable purposes soft opt-in?
Keep an eye on it
Automations are easy to forget. Diary a quarterly review: are the offers still valid, do the links work, have prices changed? A Christmas-themed welcome email still running in March looks careless. Mailpro’s automation statistics show when a step starts to underperform.
For an overview of what automation can do for your organisation, see automated emails for UK businesses. If you are unsure whether a workflow counts as marketing, the UK email law guide explains PECR in plain English.