Set up an auto responder

An auto responder is a sequence of emails that goes out on its own. You pick a list to watch, write the emails, and set how long to wait before each one. Anyone who joins that list starts at the beginning and works through the sequence on their own schedule.

Before you start

You need a list for the auto responder to watch. If you haven't made one, do that first: there's nothing to trigger on otherwise.

You also need the same sender setup that campaigns require, and activation is blocked until it's done:

• Your business name
• Your physical mailing address
• A verified reply-to address

See Add your business name and mailing address and Set up and verify your reply-to address.

Build it

1. Go to Auto Responders and create a new one. Name it something your team will recognize.
2. Choose the trigger list. Joining that list is what enrolls someone.
3. Add your first email: subject and content.
4. Set its wait. Send immediately on joining, or hold for a set amount of time.
5. Add more steps the same way. Each one waits its own interval after the previous email.

Every step needs a subject and some content. Activation will tell you which step is missing what.

Activate it

Switch it on and enrollment begins. From that point, anyone joining the trigger list is enrolled and starts at step one.

The trigger list is locked once you activate. You can change it freely while the auto responder is still a draft, but not afterward, because people are already partway through the sequence and moving the goalposts would strand them.

Editing a running series

You can keep editing the emails themselves while it runs. Someone who already received step two won't get it again if you rewrite it; they carry on from where they are.

Archiving one hides it and exits everyone currently enrolled. Their history stays intact.

Related: Deliverability 101 applies to automated email exactly as it does to campaigns. A sequence that runs for months to a stale list does more damage than a one-off send.