How to Create an Email Automation

Email Automations in Poptin let you build smart, behavior-driven email flows that run on autopilot. Once set up, contacts automatically enter the flow when they meet your defined trigger and receive the right emails at the right time, without any manual effort on your end.

This guide walks you through how to create an automation from scratch. For deeper details on specific triggers and actions, follow the links throughout this guide.

1. From your Poptin dashboard, go to the left sidebar and click on Automations under the Email section. This is your Automations home page. From here you can view all existing automations, check activity logs, and create new ones.

2. Click Start From Scratch in the top right corner of the page. Enter a name for your automation in the dialog box and click on Create Automation to open the automation canvas.

3. Once you're on the canvas, you'll see a Trigger option at the top. Click on it to open the trigger selection panel. The trigger is the starting point of your automation as it defines who enters the flow and when. Contacts who meet the trigger conditions will automatically begin their journey.

Triggers are organized into four categories:

• Contacts Activity - Based on what a contact does, such as subscribing, filling out a form, or being added to a list.

• Web Activity - Based on how contacts interact with your website, such as visiting a specific page.

• Campaign Activity - Based on email engagement, such as opening or clicking a previous campaign email.

• Poptin Activity - Based on Poptin engagement, such as Popup View, Popup Converted etc.

• Date - Based on a specific date stored in the contact's profile, such as a birthday or subscription anniversary.

Not sure which trigger to use? For a full breakdown of all available triggers, see: How Automation Triggers Work

4. With your trigger set, click the + button below the trigger node to start adding steps to your flow.

Each step you add is called an Action. There are four actions available:

• Send an Email - Sends an automated email to the contact at this point in the flow. You can set the subject line, sender name, pretext, and design the email using Poptin's drag-and-drop editor or an existing template.

• Time Delay - Adds a waiting period before the next step fires. You can set a fixed duration (e.g., wait 3 days) or pause until a specific day and time (e.g., next Monday at 9:00 AM).

• Conditional Split - Splits your flow into two paths Yes and No based on a condition you define. Contacts who meet the condition go down the Yes path; all others follow the No path. This lets you personalize the journey based on contact data, email activity, or website behavior.

• Operation - Performs an update on a contact's record at this point in the flow. You can update contact properties, add or remove tags, or change a contact's subscription status.

For a full breakdown of all actions, see: Email Automation Actions

5. When you add a Send an Email action to your flow, you'll be prompted to set up the email details and design the email itself.

You'll need to fill in:

• Email Name - An internal label for this email (not visible to contacts)
• From Name - The sender name your contacts will see in their inbox
• From Email - Your connected sending address
• Email Subject - Supports personalization tags like {CONTACT_FIRST_NAME}
• Pretext - A short preview line shown below the subject in most email clients

Once the details are set, choose how to design your email:

• Choose an existing draft email template - Select from your saved templates in the library

• Start from scratch - Build a simple text-only email, or use the drag-and-drop editor to design from the ground up

Learn more about the email editor here.

6. Once your flow is complete, click Save & Close in the top right corner of the canvas.

To activate your automation, toggle the switch from OFF to ON before saving. Once active, any contact who meets your trigger criteria will automatically enter the flow.

Common Use Cases

Not sure where to start? Here are some popular automation scenarios to get you inspired:

• How to send a welcome email to new contacts

• How to send birthday or anniversary emails

• How to follow up based on email interactions

• How to tag or update contacts based on Poptin or website activity

Updated on: 02/06/2026