Email automation: welcome series and drip campaigns that run themselves
Pick a trigger, add emails and waits, and switch it on. Hemero sends each email at the right moment to everyone who enters, without you lifting a finger.
What email automation means in Hemero
An automation is a flow that starts when something happens to a contact and then runs a list of steps, top to bottom. The classic example is a welcome email series: someone joins your list, gets a welcome email straight away, a second email two days later and a third a few days after that. A series of emails spaced out over time like this is also called a drip campaign.
Automations are not only for sending. They can also wait, move people between lists and unsubscribe them, so you can keep your lists tidy without doing it by hand.
Triggers and steps you can use
Trigger: Joins a list
#triggerStarts when a contact is added to the list you pick, from a form, an import (when you enable automations for it), an integration or by hand.
Trigger: Submits a form
#triggerStarts when someone completes one of your signup forms. With double opt-in, it starts once they confirm.
Trigger: Contact is created
#triggerStarts for every new contact added by a form, an import (when enabled), an integration or by hand.
Trigger: Opens a campaign, Clicks in a campaign
#triggerStarts when a contact opens or clicks in a campaign you pick. Automated opens and clicks from security scanners are ignored.
Step: Send email
#stepSends one of your templates with the subject you write. Merge tags such as the first name work in the subject.
Step: Wait
#stepPauses the flow for a number of minutes, hours or days, from 1 up to 365.
Steps: Add to list, Remove from list, Unsubscribe
#stepMoves the contact between lists, or marks them as unsubscribed and ends the flow.
How to set up a welcome email series
Write the emails
In Templates, design one template per email, for example a welcome, a how-to and an offer. The email editor works the same for automations as for campaigns.
Create the automation
Open Automations and click New automation. Give it a name.
Choose the trigger
Under Trigger, pick the Event. For a welcome series that is usually Joins a list or Submits a form; then choose which list or form.
Add the steps
Under Steps click Add step. Add Send email and choose a template and a subject, add Wait and set 2 days, then add the next Send email. Steps run from top to bottom, and you can reorder them with the arrows.
Check what's missing
If something is incomplete, the Before you can activate box lists it: a missing template, list, form or campaign, or no steps at all.
Activate it
Click Activate. From then on every contact who matches the trigger enters the flow. You can Pause and Resume it at any time, and edits apply to new enrollments and to steps that haven't run yet.
Watch it work
The detail page counts Enrolled, In progress, Completed and Emails sent. The Enrollments tab shows where each contact is and when their next step runs, and the Emails tab lists every email sent.
Rules that protect your list
Each contact runs a flow once, unless you tick Allow re-enrolling contacts who already completed the flow. A contact who unsubscribes, bounces or is on your suppression list is skipped by every Send email step, silently, so a drip never reaches someone who opted out.
Imports only start automations if you tick Enroll in automations, which is off by default so a bulk upload doesn't blast welcome emails to people who joined years ago. You can also enroll a single contact by hand from the automation's page once it is active.
Automations send forever, so they have their own safeguard: if bounces or spam complaints climb too high over a rolling 30 days, the automation pauses itself and tells you why. More on this in deliverability.
What it costs
Automations are included in every plan with no limit on how many you create. Each Send email step uses one email from your allowance for each contact who receives it, the same as a campaign. Starter is $19 a month for 25,000 emails; see pricing.
Honest limits
Straight lines only
Steps run in order. There is no if/else branching and no waiting for a specific date, only the five triggers above and the five steps.
A verified domain is needed
Send email steps go out from your verified domains. While a new domain is warming up or you reach a daily limit, emails wait and resume automatically the next day.
Opens are an estimate
Because some email apps open emails automatically, a trigger based on opens can fire for people who never read the email. Clicks are a stronger signal.
Questions
How do I set up a welcome email series?
Create a template for each email, then make a new automation with the trigger Joins a list or Submits a form. Add a Send email step, a Wait step of a day or two, and the next Send email, then click Activate.
What is a drip campaign?
A drip campaign is a series of emails sent one after another with pauses in between, so people get a little at a time instead of everything at once. In Hemero you build one as an automation with Send email and Wait steps.
Can an automation start when someone clicks a link?
Yes. Choose the trigger Clicks in a campaign and pick the campaign. Clicks from automated security scanners don't count, only from people.
Will people who unsubscribed still get my automation emails?
No. Send email steps skip anyone who is unsubscribed or on your suppression list, and an Unsubscribe step marks the contact as unsubscribed and ends the flow.
Can I edit an automation that is already running?
Yes. Changes apply to new enrollments and to steps that haven't run yet. Contacts already past a step don't repeat it.
What happens if my emails bounce a lot?
The automation pauses itself and shows the reason, so a poor list can't damage your sending reputation. You can fix the list and resume it.
Ready to put your follow-up on autopilot? Create an account, write a welcome email and switch the automation on.