Set Up Automated Email and Text Message Follow-ups

Set up automated email and text message campaigns to nurture prospective families over time. Boost your enrollment rates by ensuring consistent follow-up without spending your precious time doing it manually.

What You'll Learn

  • Create automated email follow-ups when parents submit a form
  • Create automated text message follow-ups when parents submit a form

Create Automated Email Follow-ups for Form Submissions

Automated email follow-ups transform how you nurture prospective families. Think of this as your virtual assistant, handling responses seamlessly so you can focus on running your childcare program.

Here's how to set it up:

  1. Navigate to Automations.
  2. Click Create Automation > Select a Recipe.
  3. Select the recipe Email Drip Sequence.
  4. Add the trigger Form Submitted:
    • Click Add filter
    • Choose Form is
    • Select the relevant form (like your tour request or enrollment inquiry form)
    • Click Save
  5. Edit the email actions by customizing the subject line, message content, attachments, and other details. Then click Save Action.
  6. Click Publish.
  7. Click Save.

[SCREENSHOT: Automation builder showing Form Submitted trigger with filter for a tour request form, connected to a series of email actions in sequence]

Pro Tip: Start with 3-4 emails spread over 2 weeks. A welcome email immediately, a follow-up after 3 days, a program highlights email after 7 days, and a final invitation to schedule a tour after 14 days works well for most childcare programs.

Learn More:

  • Automation Action – Send Email
  • Automation Trigger – Form Submitted
  • Getting Started With Automations

Create Automated Text Message Follow-ups for Form Submissions

Sending text message follow-ups alongside your emails greatly enhances your communication effectiveness. With texts typically opened within minutes, this approach ensures you're always top-of-mind with prospective families.

Here's how to set it up:

  1. Navigate to Automations.
  2. Click Create Automation > Start from scratch.
  3. Add the trigger Form Submitted:
    • Click Add filter
    • Choose Form is
    • Select the desired form
    • Click Save
  4. Add the Wait/Delay action:
    • Set the wait time (for example, 1 day after form submission)
    • Click Save Action
  5. Add the Send Text Message action:
    • Write your message clearly and briefly (most effective texts are under 160 characters)
    • Click Save Action
  6. Repeat steps 4-5 to add additional text messages at different intervals.
  7. Click Publish.
  8. Click Save.

[SCREENSHOT: Automation builder showing Form Submitted trigger, followed by a Wait action set to 1 day, then a Send Text Message action with sample childcare message content]

Pro Tip: Keep your text messages conversational and action-oriented. Something like "Hi [First Name]! Thanks for your interest in [Your Center Name]. I'd love to show you around. When works best for a quick tour?" performs better than formal language.
Important: If you're sending to 100+ families at once, add a Batch action before your Send Text Message action. Set your batch size to 100 and choose to drip every 1 day. This ensures deliverability and prevents your messages from being flagged as spam.

[SCREENSHOT: Automation showing Batch action configured with batch size of 100 and interval of 1 day, positioned before the Send Text Message action]

Learn More:

  • Automation Action – Send Text Message
  • A List of Automation Actions

What's Next?

Great job setting up your automated follow-ups! Now that your prospective families will receive consistent communication, consider exploring additional automation actions to further streamline your enrollment process.