Autoresponders Overview

What This Feature Does

Autoresponders automatically send a series of pre-scheduled emails to contacts without any manual intervention. Once you build your email sequence and assign it to contacts, the system handles all the follow-up automatically—sending each email at the exact timing you specified.

Each autoresponder consists of email steps scheduled at specific intervals: Day 0 (immediate), Day 1 (24 hours later), Day 3 (72 hours later), and so on. You control exactly which emails send when, creating consistent follow-up sequences that nurture relationships over time.

Autoresponders work independently for each contact—if you add someone to a campaign on Monday and another person on Friday, they each receive emails on their own schedule based on when they entered the sequence.

Why It Matters

Consistent email follow-up is critical for nurturing leads and maintaining client relationships, but manual follow-up is time-consuming and prone to errors. Autoresponders eliminate the burden of remembering who needs what email when, ensuring every contact receives timely communication without any work from you.

Build your email sequence once, then let it run automatically for every contact who enters it. Whether you're nurturing new leads, onboarding clients, or staying in touch with past customers, autoresponders handle the repetitive work so you can focus on conversations and closings.

💡 Set up your autoresponder once and it works forever—automatically following up with every new contact without any additional effort.

Watch & Learn

🎥 Video: Autoresponder Overview

How It Works

Building an Autoresponder

Create your sequence by adding email steps at scheduled intervals. Each step includes:

  • Timing - When the email sends (Day 0, Day 1, Day 3, Week 2, etc.)
  • Email Template - Which pre-written email to send
  • Scheduling Format - Days, Weeks, Months, or Years from the start

All timing calculates from when the contact enters the autoresponder, not from the previous email. If you schedule emails on Day 0, Day 3, and Day 7, a contact added on Monday receives emails on Monday, Thursday, and the following Monday—regardless of when previous emails sent.


Three Ways to Trigger Autoresponders

Landing Pages (Automatic) Connect an autoresponder to any landing page form. When someone submits their information, they automatically enter the email sequence immediately.

Individual Contact (Manual) Open any contact record, click the Actions menu, select "Assign to Autoresponder," and choose which campaign to start. Perfect for adding one person at a time.

Multiple Contacts (Manual Bulk) Use Advanced Search or Contact List to select multiple contacts, add them to Group Actions, then assign the autoresponder. Ideal for adding entire segments to a nurture campaign.


Monitoring Active Autoresponders

From the Autoresponders list, you can see:

  • How many contacts are currently in each campaign
  • How many contacts have completed each campaign
  • Campaign duration and number of email steps

Click the numbers to view exactly which contacts are active or have completed the sequence.

On individual contact records, the Autoresponder tab shows:

  • Which campaigns they're currently in
  • How many emails they've received (Sent)
  • How many emails are still pending (Pending)
  • Complete history of all autoresponder activity

Completion Assistant

When someone finishes an autoresponder sequence, the Completion Assistant can automatically:

  • Start another autoresponder campaign
  • Assign a to-do plan for manual follow-up
  • Apply a category or tag
  • Add a note to their record
  • Notify team members
  • Assign flags

This creates seamless transitions between campaigns or from automated follow-up to personal outreach.


Managing Autoresponders

Editing Active Campaigns You can edit email template content anytime without affecting the autoresponder—just don't change the template name. Changes to the autoresponder sequence itself (adding steps, changing timing) only apply to contacts who enter after your edits.

Stopping Campaigns Stop an autoresponder for all contacts using "Stop Campaign" in the edit screen. Stop it for individual contacts by going to their contact record, clicking the Autoresponder tab, and deleting the active campaign.

Opt-Outs If someone opts out of email mid-sequence, the system automatically stops all pending autoresponder emails immediately. They won't receive any further messages from any campaign.

Questions and Answers

Q: What's the difference between Autoresponders and Workflows?

A: Autoresponders are designed specifically for email-only drip campaigns—simple, straightforward sequences of emails sent on a schedule. Workflows handle complex multi-channel automation including emails, texts, tasks, conditional logic, and contact record updates. If you only need scheduled email follow-up, use Autoresponders. If you need sophisticated automation with multiple action types, use Workflows.


Q: Can I edit an autoresponder while contacts are currently in it?

A: You can edit the content of email templates used in the autoresponder anytime (as long as you don't rename the template). Changes to the autoresponder sequence itself (timing, adding/removing steps) only affect contacts who enter after your changes. Active contacts continue with the original sequence they started.


Q: How do I test an autoresponder before using it with real contacts?

A: Add yourself as a test contact in your database, then assign the autoresponder to yourself. You'll receive the emails on the scheduled timeline, letting you verify content and timing. Remove yourself from the campaign when testing is complete.


Q: What happens if someone completes an autoresponder?

A: They simply exit the campaign. If you've set up the Completion Assistant, any configured actions (starting another autoresponder, assigning tasks, etc.) execute automatically. Otherwise, they remain in your database with no active autoresponder.


Q: Can I see which emails someone has received from an autoresponder?

A: Yes. Open their contact record and click the Autoresponder tab. The "Sent" number shows how many emails they've received. Click it to see which specific emails went out and when.


Q: How far in advance are autoresponder emails scheduled?

A: The system calculates and schedules each email when the contact enters the campaign. All emails in the sequence are queued immediately based on your timing settings.


Q: Can someone be in multiple autoresponders at the same time?

A: Yes. Contacts can be enrolled in multiple autoresponder campaigns simultaneously, receiving emails from each sequence on their respective schedules.


Q: What if I need to change the timing of an autoresponder mid-campaign?

A: Timing changes only affect new contacts. Contacts already in the campaign continue on the original schedule. If you need everyone on a new schedule, you'll need to stop the old campaign and start a new one with updated timing.


Q: Can autoresponders send from different team members?

A: Email template settings control who emails send from. The autoresponder itself doesn't change the sender—it simply triggers the template, which includes sender information.


Q: How do I know if someone opted out during an autoresponder?

A: Check their contact record's Autoresponder tab. Stopped campaigns appear in the history. You can also check their email opt-in status to confirm they've unsubscribed.


Q: Can I manually move someone to a different step in an autoresponder?

A: No. Autoresponders run on a fixed schedule from the start date. If someone needs different timing, remove them from the current campaign and add them to a new one, or use the Completion Assistant to transition them to a different sequence.


Q: What's the maximum number of steps an autoresponder can have?

A: There's no strict limit, but best practice suggests keeping campaigns focused and manageable. Most effective autoresponders range from 3-10 emails over several weeks or months.

Guide Type: Feature Overview

Estimated Time: 6 minutes








Video Transcript:

Autoresponders allow you to instantly send an email to someone who leaves their email address on one of your Landing Pages. 

Autoresponders also allow you to set up a sequence of emails. You can send these emails to any segment of your database.

Find Autoresponders under ‘Automation’.

Here are the Autoresponders I have built and they’re ready to go. 

In an Autoresponder, you tell the system which email to send, and then how long to wait until the next email goes out.

Once it is built it may look something like this. 

To build an Autoresponder Campaign, first, write the emails that will be included in the campaign. Then build your campaign. 

Once you have your Autoresponders built, you can use them in three different ways. 

First when someone puts their email address on one of your Landing Pages, that will trigger the Autoresponder. 

Second, you can manually add an individual contact to a campaign, like this.

The third way is to manually assign a group of contacts to a campaign. We do that here, in Group Actions.

A quick way to see the contacts that are on your Autoresponders is to go to the Autoresponder list.

Here we see how many people are currently on these Autoresponders.

And here we see the number that have completed this Autoresponder.

To see the contacts, just click on the number.