Take Email Notifications to the Next Level with Scheduled Autoresponders
When autoresponder emails are directly linked to your entry data, you have far more flexible options available to you than when using a service like MailChimp alone. You are now just a click away from the Form Action Automation add-on for email and SMS notification scheduling.
Regular email notifications in Formidable Forms Pro can be triggered after the following conditions: Create, Save Draft, Update, or Delete. Email notifications are taken to a new level by allowing scheduling. The Form Action Automation add-on allows you to schedule emails based on dates that entries were created or updated. You can also base your scheduling on a future date field in your form.
Screenshot shows Formidable Forms Pro email notifications trigger options.
When this add-on is activated, the Automation option appears in the Form Action for Email Notification as shown below.
You can choose to "Ignore" or "Respect" the Formidable Forms Pro trigger action setting. If "Respect" is selected, the Automator will send out whatever it is told to send, in addition to the original email notification. If "Ignore" is selected, the original email notification won't be sent, but only the scheduled notifications.
Schedule SMS Text Notifications when Used with Twilio Add-on
Formidable Forms Automation add-on can be used in conjunction with the Twilio add-on to allow for scheduling of SMS texts. Possibilities abound for SMS text notifications, including appointment and service reminders and post creation notifications. See more about poll voting using Twilio.
How Autoresponders Can Work for You
One Formidable Forms Pro user recently let us know he wanted the ability to schedule out emails every two weeks for a trash removal service to remind customers when recycling day is. Perfect use for the Automation add-on!
Other possible uses include sending appointment reminders, onboarding emails, and weekly digest consolidated emails. Schedule automated invoice payment reminders until a payment is made. With something like invoice payment reminders, you may want repeat email notifications. Use automation to schedule repeats. You can control how many times it will repeat.
Check out these other potential uses:
- Trigger an email reminder around a deadline when a user creates a "to-do" with a deadline.
- Schedule an email after a determined length of time after a purchase (such as a 3 month reminder to change a furnace air filter after purchasing an air filter).
- Notifications to complete additional forms at scheduled intervals, such as with a medical trial study.
- Prescription refill notifications (i.e. veterinarian use).
- Send a user whose payment failed an email saying "Do you need help with Paypal?"
- Schedule notifications to let content submitters know the status of their posts (i.e post hasn't yet been published)
- ...And so much more.
New to Formidable add-ons? The Automation add-on is included with the Elite license package.
Hi - these instructions are vague. Please direct me to more succinct documentation. For instance: if I set up a "Reminder Message" to people that have signed up on my website form. They get an immediate response to their submission. AND I want them to get my reminder message on a date that is at a later date (April 26, 2022), around noon time. My current settings are:
"Ignore"....... Send this notification 12 hours After 'Giving Challenge Date' (set to April 26 in a hidden date field in the form. My intent is for people to get an email at Noon on April 26th.
1. Are these setting correct?
2. How can i test this?
Hi Candee, This is just a blog post designed to provide basic information about this process. For more detailed information, you'd want to check out our documentation on the topic here: https://formidableforms.com/knowledgebase/schedule-autoresponder/
If you need additional help, our support team is standing by and ready to help.
Adding SMS is surely a next level service for my clients. Trying to understand the pricing structure from Twilio is a bit of a challenge 🙂
So far, I've used email as an autoresponder and it has worked well.
A very valuable add-on, thanks for the post.
This is pretty cool and I'm already thinking of new ways of working and giving our customers a better service!