Automailer is a feature that puts scheduled emails on autopilot. Instead of manually crafting and sending each email, Automailer will handle the process for you! This makes it easier to stay in touch with your audience without the effort, time and cost associated with maintaining your email list.
Before you enable and adjust Automailer settings, you'll need to enable and set up Grow if you haven’t already.
Turn On Global Automailer Sending
Global Automailer Sending will act as your "On and Off" switch. You can also think of it as a way to "pause" if you ever need to stop sending Automailer emails.
Enable Global Automailer Sending can be found by navigating to Grow Publisher Portal > Automailer > Automailer Settings:
When you toggle this on, you'll get a notice to "Enable Automailer List For All Forms".
We recommend enabling Automailer on all forms to ensure that all of your Subscribers will receive Automailer emails regardless of what form they may have used to Subscribe (this includes subscribers that signed up via Exclusive Content, Print Pass, and/or Subscribe Action Pack if you have that enabled!)
If you can't decide whether or not to enable Automailer for all forms, you can choose the "Keep Existing Settings" option for now (we'll circle back to discuss it later in this article!).
Choose your Automailer Frequency
Setting your Automailer Frequency determines the number of emails Automailer sends to your subscribers. By default, Automailer sends emails weekly (every 7 days). You can also change the frequency to send emails biweekly (every 14 days) or monthly (every 30 days).
Your frequency can help determine the ratio of new posts to Recommended Content featured in your Automailer emails. For example, if your Automailer frequency is set to biweekly and you've published 5 new posts in the last 14 days, the Automailer email will include those 5 new posts and fill the 1-3 remaining slots with Recommended Content.
Set the Automailer Appearance
- Upload your site's logo
- Choose a link color that matches your branding
- Adjust the sender of your Automailer email
- Add the email address your readers will reply to
Mailing Address
Add your mailing address. A physical address is required in order for Automailer to run on your site:
Preview Email
Use this button to preview what your Automailer emails will look like:
Be sure to click "Save Changes" after making adjustments to your Automailer settings!
What's Next?
Once you've made it through the Automailer Controls and you have the basics set up, you'll now want to circle back to whether or not you Enabled Automailer Sending on All Forms or chose to Keep Existing Settings:
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Enable Automailer List For All Forms - This option will apply Automailer globally to all of your forms. You’re all set! Automailer emails will now send to all subscribers of those forms. You can check in on your insights here.
- If you want to send Automailer emails to your ENTIRE email list (including subscribers NOT collected through Grow Subscribe forms), click here.
- Keep Existing Settings - follow the Next Steps below.
Next Steps
If you selected "Keep Existing Settings", Automailer will only apply to the forms you manually enable it for. This ensures that Automailer will only send for the forms you designate, and can give you extra time to select which forms you'd like to include (or time to create more forms, if you'd like!).
Once Automailer is enabled on a specific form, when someone subscribes to that form, they'll be added to the Automailer list automatically.
You can enable this on all of your forms or just some of your forms, whatever suits your business best!
You'll find this by navigating to Subscribe > Forms > Manage Form > Automailer List:
How do I send Automailer emails to my existing mailing list?
If you have enabled Automailer for all forms, any subscriber that you collected via a Grow Subscribe form (Spotlight, Manual Placement, Action Pack, etc) will begin to receive Automailer emails.
You can import your existing subscribers (including subscribers not collected via a Grow form) to Automailer to ensure they'll receive your Automailer emails and can continue to hear from you on a regular basis.
When you upload your subscribers, Grow will begin sending Automailer emails as soon as you Automailer is enabled, so you may want to manually send an email via your ESP to let subscribers know they'll be hearing from you again if it has been awhile.
Note: Subscribers outside of the United States will be sent a double opt-in email to confirm they would like to receive your Automailer emails. You can see an example of that email here!