We are all about making things easier here at kurateit.wpengine.com. So, after getting frustrated with creating our own automated email series, we decided to write this how-to series that will walk you through a step-by-step setup of several different tools you need to build your email list and start your automated email campaign with WordPress and Emma.
This guide will walk you through setting up the Gravity Forms – Emma integration and ensuring that your automated emails are triggered when a user signs up on your website.
EMMA SIDE
I’ve found that the best way to set-up an automation workflow with Gravity Forms and Emma is to start by building the automation workflow in Emma.
1. Create a New Automation Workflow
In your Emma Dashboard, click the Automation tab, then click the “Create a New Workflow” button. Name it something that you’ll remember (subscribers won’t see the name).
2. Choose Your Group
Choose the group you’re going to send automated emails to (Note: You can select multiple groups or you can select all groups if you so desire).
3. Setting up a Trigger Event
After you’ve chosen your group, it’s time to setup what Emma calls a trigger event (i.e. when someone does X it will trigger Y). Click “Choose your trigger event” then select “Email signup” as your trigger type.
Click “Next” and make sure “All” is selected as your signup source (This is THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP for the Gravity forms integration). Click “Next” then “Confirm”.
4. Setup Emails and Timing
Next you need to choose the emails you want to send and the timing you will send them in. In this example, we’ll include a series of 3 emails. The first will be a welcome email sent immediately after someone signs up and the next two will be sent over the next two days.
Choose your first email and customize the Subject Line, From Name and From Email, then set the timing to “immediately”
Click “+ email” and select the next email you want to send. We want this one to be sent 1 day after the initial email:
Repeat the last step for each day you want to send an email.
GRAVITY FORMS SIDE
Now that your automated workflow is setup in Emma, well switch over your WordPress site to make the connection between Gravity Forms and Emma.
1. Install the Emma add-on
Make sure you have the Emma add-on for Gravity Forms installed on your WordPress site. The integration can be found under the add-on’s sub-tab under the Forms primary tab.
2. Configure the Integration
Setup the integration by adding your Account ID, Public API Key, and Private API Key to the Emma settings tab within Gravity Forms Settings (if you haven’t set up an API key for Emma, or if you can’t remember where it is, click here)
3. Choose your Form
After you’ve connected to your Emma account, choose the form you want to connect to Emma. On the individual form page, select Emma from the Form Settings drop down.
4. Create a New Feed
5. Customize Your Feed
Customize your feed. Note: End users won’t see any of this stuff, so name it descriptively. Here is a brief explanation of each option:
- Feed Name: Unique name of the feed you are creating
- Emma Group: Choose the same group that your automation workflow is based on (see Emma Side – step 3).
- Email Address: Select the Gravity Forms field that will collect emails. Typically something like “Email” or “Your Email”
- Custom Fields: In this section, you can map any of you Gravity Forms fields to your Emma account (i.e. if you are collecting your subscribers’ first names, select “first name” from the Emma dropdown (left side) and choose the corresponding Gravity Forms field).
- Conditional Logic: You can enable conditional logic if you want to limit the subscribers transferred to Emma (most of the time this goes unused).
- Options: Enabling Double Opt-in will send a confirmation email to your subscribers that will require them to click a link within the email to opt-in to your group.
6. Update Your Feed Settings
And that’s it; you’re good to go! Test out your form to make sure that you’re getting your automated email when you subscribe (Note: there is often a slight delay between filling out the form and receiving the first email, no more than a few minutes).