Email automation in 2025: Complete guide + examples & steps

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Email automation involves using preset rules to send messages automatically. You can also tailor messages based on specific actions taken by customers or actions they neglect to take. Although it’s mistakenly only seen as a time-saving strategy, automating emails has more benefits. 

It can improve customer engagement, build trust among customers, and increase revenue by delivering messages at the right time. 

In 2025, marketers are leveraging the power of this intelligent system to handle routine communications. Our recent report reveals that automated emails generate 42% of email-driven sales while representing a small portion of total sends.

In this article, we’ll talk in detail about what email automation is, why it’s a must-have for your business, and how to automate email marketing for outstanding ROI.

What is email automation?

The biggest value of email automation is the ability to deliver relevant emails to the right people at the right time. Key components of email automation include:

• Triggers: Specific actions or events that kickstart an automated email process, such as a customer signing up, making a purchase, or abandoning a cart
• Workflows: Structured sequences of automated emails that guide users through a journey, such as onboarding or post-purchase engagement
• Personalization: The use of customer data to tailor email content to individual recipients based on their interests, behaviors, and past interactions

The illustration below showcases an email automation workflow for an abandoned cart. When a cart is abandoned, it triggers a sequence that checks the cart value and then sends either an SMS with a discount offer or an email reminder, both aimed at encouraging a purchase:

Common types of email automation campaigns

We’ve put together a list of email automation campaigns that most marketing teams use. They include: 

• Order confirmation emails: Sent immediately after a purchase, these emails confirm order details and reassure customers that the purchase has been received
• Shipping confirmation emails: Notify customers when their order has been shipped, including tracking information, so customers can monitor the shipment themselves
• Birthday greeting emails: Sent on or near the customer’s birthday, this includes a personalized greeting or special discount
• Abandoned cart notifications: Remind customers who left items in their cart to return and complete their purchase
• Welcome emails for new subscribers: Introduce new subscribers to the brand and highlight products or services
• Cross-sell and upsell emails: Suggest related or higher-value items based on a customer’s recent purchase or browsing behavior

Automated emails vs. bulk emails vs. drip campaigns

Email automation sends emails based on specific triggers or actions, like signing up for a newsletter or abandoning a shopping cart. Bulk email campaigns involve sending the same message to a large group of people at once, like a promotional offer to all your subscribers.

Drip campaigns send a series of pre-written emails to subscribers over time, often used to nurture leads or onboard new users.

The main difference is in timing and targeting — automation is triggered by actions, bulk is sent to everyone at once, and drip is scheduled over time.

Feature	Email automation	Bulk emails	Drip campaigns
Definition	Triggered by user actions	Mass emails to a large audience	Pre-scheduled series over time
Personalization	High, tailored to individuals	Low, one-size-fits-all	Moderate, based on segment or timing
Trigger-based	Yes, based on actions	No, sent manually	Yes, scheduled over time
Purpose	Nurture leads, engage users	Make a broad announcement	Educate or guide users
Use cases	Welcome, cart reminders	Newsletters, promotions	Onboarding, lead nurturing
Frequency	Automated, user-triggered	Single or periodic send	Automated, timed sequence
Engagement	High, due to relevance	Moderate, content-dependent	Consistent engagement over time

Benefits of email automation

Setting up automated email sequences lets you focus on strategic tasks while your email system handles routine communications. The automation tool will work around the clock to ensure your messages reach clients at the right time. 

Here are several advantages to automating your emails:

Create a better customer experience

With automated emails, you can elevate your interactions with customers. Instead of plain notifications, you can get to know your customers better. Most automation triggers are payment or deadline-related. However, you can add personalized onboarding sequences, special rewards, and timely reminders that genuinely help users. 

By tailoring these messages, you can build stronger relationships with customers. As a result, you can increase website traffic and conversion rate.

Improve email list segmentation

Email automation allows you to segment your audience based on their behavior, interests, and engagement levels. With this information, you can send highly targeted automated emails to the right people at the right time.

A prime automated email example here is when a user browses a product category but doesn’t purchase. You can send them a personalized follow-up email featuring related items they might like or exclusive discounts to encourage a purchase. 

Increasing the relevance of your emails helps you achieve higher engagement metrics across open rates, click-through rates, and conversions.

Increase customer retention

Email automation is a great way to rejuvenate the bond with subscribers who haven’t opened your emails or bought from you in a while. This is done with automated win-back emails, messages designed to entice passive recipients to re-engage.

Build great relationships with customers

“Hey, we remember you — here’s a discount for an upcoming sale!” 

Businesses have data about their subscribers in CRMs, so they can make automated emails super relevant. Many businesses do that well: compared to campaign emails, automated emails caused a jump in open rates from 25.2% to 42.1%, click rates from 1.5% to 5.4%, and nearly four times higher conversion rates. 

While social media platforms excel at engagement and brand awareness, they generally lag behind email marketing in direct conversion metrics. The ROI difference alone isn’t the only metric that proves how email marketing outperforms social media:

• The clickthrough rate (CTR) for social media platforms is 0.2%-0.5%. Compare this to the 1.7% for scheduled emails and 5.7% for behavior-based (automated) emails
• The conversion rate for social media is 0.02%-0.04%, while email is 0.07% for scheduled campaigns and 1.99% for automated messages

Boost performance metrics

Automated emails outperform campaigns. In 2023, automated emails had 42.1% open rates, 5.4% click rates, and 1.9% conversion rates.

They generate nearly four times better conversions than campaigns. While only one in 20 campaign email clicks lead to purchases, automated emails convert one in three clicks, increasing to one in two for welcome and cart abandonment emails.

Now, to summarize the benefits: if email marketing is your best bet for growth, then sending automated emails accelerates this process.

How to automate emails effectively

Automating emails can be highly effective, but it has to be done right. Here’s a step-by-step guide for establishing email automation for your campaigns: 

1. Install an email marketing tool
2. Set up IP pools (if applicable)
3. Build and segment an email list
4. Set up an automation trigger
5. Create email campaigns 
6. Monitor and tweak your campaigns
7. Avoid over-automation 
8. Test and optimize

Automating email sending is easy, thanks to email marketing platforms. The idea is simple: create a campaign and set up a trigger (a predefined event) that will activate automated sending when the event happens.

Let’s consider email automation. It’s a campaign where the trigger is an act such as signing up for a newsletter — a must-have email automation for ecommerce stores.

Here’s how to automate email sending with a welcome email automation flow:

1. Install an email marketing tool

To start, you’ll need easy-to-use email automation software (like Omnisend).

2. Set up IP pools (if applicable)

An IP pool is a collection of IP addresses used by multiple senders to distribute email traffic, ensuring high deliverability and maintaining a strong sender reputation.

If you send from a reputable ESP, this step may not be applicable to you. For example, Omnisend already maintains a strong focus on email deliverability.

3. Build and segment an email list

You’ll need a list of subscribers to send automated emails to — it can be built organically with signup forms. Segmenting your list is crucial for sending targeted, relevant emails. Some key ways to segment include:

• Behavioral segmentation: Group subscribers based on their actions, such as past purchases, browsing history, email engagement, and more
• Demographic segmentation: Divide your list based on age, gender, location, income, and more
• Psychographic segmentation: Segment by interests, values, attitudes, and lifestyle
• Occasion-based segmentation: Group subscribers who buy during certain holidays, seasons, or events

4. Set up an automation trigger

A trigger is an event or condition that will activate the automated campaign (this includes a newsletter signup, an abandoned cart, a subscriber’s birthday, a lack of engagement for X days, etc.)

5. Create email campaigns 

Design your automated emails with engaging elements:

• Craft compelling subject lines that entice opens
• Write clear, concise copy that communicates your message effectively
• Use eye-catching images and visuals to break up text and draw attention
• Include prominent calls to action (CTAs) that encourage clicks
• Incorporate your brand logo, colors, and style for consistency and recognition
• Personalize your emails with the subscriber’s name, recommendations, and other relevant details
• Optimize for mobile devices, as 50%-60% of emails are opened on smartphones

6. Monitor and tweak your campaigns

Make sure to regularly review your email performance metrics and make any necessary adjustments to your automation to optimize them.

7. Avoid over-automation 

Start by creating one automation and gradually add more as you gain experience.

8. Test and optimize

Platforms like Omnisend offer a wide range of powerful features to improve your email automation:

• Omnichannel workflows: Combine multiple channels like email, SMS, and web push notifications in a single workflow
• Pre-built workflows: Set up your automation workflows quickly with pre-built messages, subject lines, and workflow settings
• Automation splits: Tailor special offers and incentives for multiple personalized messaging paths within a single workflow
• A/B split testing: Test different channels, incentives, or subject lines to see what drives the most conversions
• Built-in message reports: Track sales and engagement data to optimize workflows without leaving the Automation Editor

Tutorial on how to automate emails like a PRO

Here’s a quick overview of a welcome email automation setup if you prefer to learn with videos:

Having learned how to send automated emails, let’s look at ideas on how your business can implement them effectively.

Email automation ideas for different industries

With email automation, businesses in any industry can engage their audience in a timely, relevant manner. This allows them to add value and build loyalty among their audience. 

Here are some automated email examples for various industries: 

• Ecommerce: Personalized product recommendations, abandoned cart reminders, and post-purchase follow-ups to encourage repeat purchases and build customer loyalty
• Hospitality: Booking confirmations, sharing travel tips before check-in date, and requesting feedback after a guest’s stay to improve customer satisfaction, drive reviews, and identify areas for improvement
• Healthcare: Appointment reminders and providing wellness tips and follow-up care instructions to help patients stay informed and remain proactive about their health
• Education: Course reminders, assignment deadlines, and onboarding emails for new students to support learning and improve retention
• Non-profits: Donation confirmations, sharing impact updates, and sending reminders for recurring giving, keeping donors engaged and motivated

Email automation examples

To give you a good grasp of the most common types of automated emails, here are seven automation email examples that real businesses have sent to their subscribers: 

1. Automated order confirmation emails

The order confirmation email below from Trade Coffee demonstrates one of the best post-purchase communication practices. The prominent “Order Confirmed!” heading against a background of coffee beans immediately reassures the customer their purchase was successful. 

At the same time, the detailed breakdown shows the order details. It includes all costs, such as the subtotal, tax, shipping, and applied discount. This helps customers quickly see everything they’ve purchased on a single page.

The email also includes information like shipping address and payment method. They’ve also proactively informed the customer that they will receive an update when the order is shipped and out for delivery. 

Additionally, Trade Coffee has taken this email as an opportunity to provide value-added content. It included frequently asked questions and multiple customer service contact options:

2. Automated shipping confirmation emails

With its clear “SHIPMENT DELIVERED” opening line and friendly “Start the happy dance!” message, this shipping confirmation email from Laird Superfood is an excellent email automation example. 

It thoughtfully includes a troubleshooting section called “Haven’t received your package yet?” which highlights useful tips and customer support info. This proactive approach shows the brand’s dedication to helping its customers, thereby instilling trust among them. 

The email provides the complete order details, including the order number, shipping address, USPS tracking number, and a list of the shipped items. Its clean, well-organized layout also makes it easy for customers to quickly find all the shipping and delivery details they need:

3. Automated birthday greeting emails

A joyful “Let’s Celebrate You Today!” greeting and an eye-catching picture of its trademark cup adorned with birthday candles. These elements make this birthday email from Dutch Bros Coffee feel like an exclusive celebration for the recipient. 

The email has a lighthearted, carefree tone with expressions like “Birthdays should always be this rad.” It clearly offers an incentive to visit — a free birthday drink of any size at any of its Dutch Stand locations. 

The email uses simple language. It also notes important promo details, such as the 30-day expiration period and the customer’s current rewards point balance:

4. Automated abandoned cart notifications

With its clever headline, “Finish what you carted,” Bite reminds customers of their unfinished purchases. To encourage its audience to complete the purchase, the email prominently displays a picture of the abandoned item, along with a big “FINISH CHECKOUT” button. 

Navigation and social media links are also added at the bottom of the email. This makes it easy for customers to either finish their purchase or look at more products:

5. Automated welcome emails for new subscribers

Rhode introduces its skincare philosophy and brand to new subscribers in this welcome email. Its founder, Hailey Bieber, is featured using the product, so readers can see it in action 

The brand emblem describes Rhode as a skincare line that aims to provide dermatologist-approved, non-irritating products that strengthen the skin’s protective barrier while improving its natural radiance. This shows what sets the brand apart from its competitors. 

The founder’s letter lends an intimate touch to the email. At the same time, a call to action button urges readers to start a routine with the brand, promoting product engagement:

6. Automated cross-sell and upsell emails

Using the tagline “Keep It Classic” and the opening hook “Are you feeling see-through or all black?” to showcase the variety of colors available, PopSockets effectively promotes its MagSafe product range.

The email doesn’t directly reference the customer’s prior purchase. Instead, it highlights the full ecosystem of MagSafe-compatible products, combining various grip styles and cases to drive more revenue. 

With its minimalistic layout and straightforward “Shop Now” button, this supplementary product line is easy for clients to peruse. Additionally, the use of gradient backgrounds and monochrome product photographs gives the site an air of refined luxury:

Popular email automation tools

Choosing the right email automation software is essential for businesses looking to streamline their email marketing efforts, engage customers, and drive results. The right platform can help automate tasks, segment audiences, and personalize messages. This ultimately leads to increased engagement and conversions. 

Your chosen email automation platform should align with your team’s technical expertise, budget constraints, and scalability needs. You should also look for features like integration, analytics, and reliable customer support when making your decision.

Several industry-leading platforms offer powerful automation features, each catering to different business needs.

For instance, Omnisend specializes in ecommerce email automation with advanced segmentation and cross-channel capabilities. Meanwhile, Mailchimp provides user-friendly automation tools suitable for businesses of all sizes.

HubSpot offers comprehensive marketing automation as part of its CRM platform. Klaviyo excels in data-driven ecommerce automation. 

Lastly, for enterprise-level solutions, Salesforce Marketing Cloud provides extensive customization options.

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