Newsletters
Automation
Automation workflows react to subscriber events — joining a list, clicking a link, making a purchase — and run a flow of emails, tags, and data changes you design on a visual canvas. This guide covers where automation lives, every trigger and action family, and how to structure a reliable workflow.
In this guide you will:
- create an automation via an Advanced newsletter campaign
- choose an entry trigger and wire up actions and conditions
- use waits, webhooks, and branching without common pitfalls
Where automation lives
Automation is part of the newsletter system. Create one via Newsletter → Create Campaign → Advanced Campaign; the campaign then walks Automation → Subscribers → Launch, with the workflow builder as the first step. The builder header holds the workflow name, Save, a Saved Workflows loader, the status badge (ACTIVE or PAUSED), and a fullscreen toggle.
Timed email series don't need the canvas: a Basic campaign in Drip Sequencemode is a simpler way to send "Day 0 → Day 3 → Day 7" emails to every new subscriber. Reach for a workflow when you need triggers, branching, or non-email actions. See Newsletters.
Entry triggers
Every workflow starts from one entry point, chosen from grouped triggers:
| Group | Triggers |
|---|---|
| Subscriber activity | Joins a list, Leaves a list, Subscriber created, Subscriber confirmed (double opt-in), Subscriber updated, Becomes inactive |
| Email engagement | Opens email, Clicks link, Replies to email, Email bounces |
| Tags | Tag added, Tag removed |
| Forms & integrations | Form submitted (Tally, Airtable), Data synced (Google Sheets, Notion), Webhook received, Integration event |
| Purchases & payments | Makes purchase, Subscription started / cancelled / renewed, Payment failed, Refund issued |
| Data & scoring | Field changes, Field becomes set, Score changes, Score reaches threshold, Enters scoring tier (Cold / Warm / Hot) |
Purchase and form triggers only fire if the corresponding integration is connected.
Actions
Action nodes do the work as a subscriber moves through the flow:
- Send Email — opens the email editor modal (subject with token insertion, preheader, and a choice of the rich-text or drag-and-drop editor).
- Add Tag / Remove Tag and Add to List / Remove from List.
- Add to Sequence / Remove from Sequence — enroll in or pull out of a drip sequence.
- Update Custom Field and Update Score.
- Wait — pause the flow for a duration.
- Webhook — POST the event to an external URL, the bridge to systems outside Mailneo.
- Internal Notification, Unsubscribe, and End Automation.
Conditions
Condition nodes split the flow into Yes/No branches: Has Tag / Doesn't Have Tag, Custom Field comparisons, Score Value, In List, Email Opened, Link Clicked, Has Purchased, In Sequence, and Completed Sequence. Chain conditions to build multi-way logic; give both branches somewhere to go so no path dead-ends silently.
Building on the canvas
- Pick the entry trigger.
- Add nodes from the palette and connect them; click any node to configure it in the settings panel.
- Name the workflow (it starts as "Untitled Workflow") and Save.
- Continue to the campaign's Subscribers and Launch steps to choose the audience and activate.
A worked example: welcome flow
- Entry: Joins a list
- Action: Send Email — the welcome
- Wait: 2 days
- Condition: Email Opened?
- Yes → Send Email — the getting-started guide → End
- No → Wait 3 days → Send Email — a gentle nudge → End
On double opt-in lists, prefer the Subscriber confirmedtrigger over "Joins a list" for welcome flows — unconfirmed subscribers are excluded from newsletter sends, and confirmation is the moment consent is actually proven.