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Create your first automation in Connect

This guide walks you through building your first automation in Connect from scratch using a simple, real example: sending a welcome email when a new contact joins your database. By the end, you'll have a working automation enabled in your account and you'll know how to build more from the same pattern. 

If you haven't yet, read How automations work in Connect first so the building blocks make sense.

📹 Prefer to watch? Here's a short video walkthrough of the same steps below.

 

Before you start

  • You'll need access to Connect for your venue
  • Have an email template ready to use as your welcome email. If you don't have one, you can create one in the Templates section before starting, or save and come back to it
  • Your venue needs to be sending contact data into Connect (usually via a POS or me&u Order & Pay integration) for the Purchase Added trigger to fire. If you're not sure, check with the Support team
     

Topics

The example we'll build

We'll create a simple automation with two blocks:

  1. A trigger that fires whenever a new contact is added to your database
  2. An action that sends them a welcome email

That's a complete, working automation. Once you've built this one, the same pattern (trigger plus action) underpins almost every automation you'll ever set up.

 

Build your welcome automation

Follow these steps from the Automations tab in Connect.

  1. Click the + icon at the top right of the Automations list

  2. On the Let us guide you screen, click Blank automation under Blank canvas. This opens an empty automation canvas

  3. At the bottom of the canvas, give your automation a name (for example, Welcome new contacts) and add a short description so your future self knows what it does

  4. In the right-hand panel, click Triggers

  5. Find Contact Added in the trigger list and drag it onto the trigger box on the canvas

  6. In the pop-up, leave the timing as at any time so the automation runs whenever a new contact joins. Click Save

  7. In the right-hand panel, click Actions

  8. Drag the Email action onto the canvas, directly below your trigger

  9. In the email pop-up, set the following:

    • Subject line: write something like "🍔 You're in,{contact.firstName|mate}!" You can personalise it with the contact's first name if you like
    • From email and From name: enter the address and name you want the email to come from
    • Frequency: a contact can only ever be added once, so leaving this on Always send is safe for this example. For automations triggered by repeatable events (like Contact Updated or Purchase Added), you'd want to set a stricter frequency so the same contact doesn't get the same message over and over
    • Template: click Select template and choose the welcome email template you want to send
    • Campaign folder: pick or create a folder so this email's sends are grouped together for reporting
  10. Click Save
  11. At the bottom of the canvas, click Save and Close to save the whole automation

💡 Tip, even though frequency doesn't matter much for a welcome email, it's worth getting into the habit of setting one. For most other automations, leaving frequency on Always send is the most common cause of guests receiving the same message repeatedly.

 

Your automation is now saved but it's still disabled. To turn it on, find it in the Automations list, click the Edit on the right, and select Enabled. The green icon confirms that your Automation is live! 

 

Test that it's working before going live

Before you let the automation send to real contacts, it's worth doing a quick test:

  1. Add a new test contact in your database using an email address you can check (your own works well)
  2. The Contact Added trigger will fire as soon as you save the new contact
  3. Check your inbox for the welcome email

If you don't receive the email, the Manage and troubleshoot your automations article has a checklist of common reasons (enabled status, trigger configuration, frequency settings).

💡 Tip, for a safer testing approach that doesn't risk emailing real contacts, see the Testing an automation before going live section in Manage and troubleshoot your automations.

 

What you can add next

Once your simple welcome automation is working, you can extend it without rebuilding from scratch:

  • Send a follow-up later, drag an Add delay action between your trigger and your email to wait a set time before sending. Useful if you want to send a series of welcome emails over the contact's first few days
  • Send different emails to different contacts, add a Criteria block to branch the automation. For example, send one welcome email to contacts who signed up at a specific venue and a different one to the rest. See Choosing criteria for your automation
  • Tag the contact, add a Set Contact Field action to apply a tag (like New sign-up) so you can target them in future campaigns
  • Notify your team, add a Notify via Email action to alert a staff member when certain types of contacts are added (for example, contacts who selected a specific interest on sign-up)

For more ready-made patterns to copy and adapt (welcomes, birthdays, win-backs, feedback requests, Google review prompts, and more), browse the How-to guides folder.

 

FAQs

Do I have to use Blank canvas, or can I start from a template? You can do either. Connect includes a few template automations (Happy birthday, Welcome new subscribers, Reward your loyal customers) that you can start from and customise. Blank canvas is the right choice when you want full control or when you're building something the templates don't cover.

Will the automation send the email instantly when a contact is added? Yes, unless you add an Add delay action between the trigger and the email. Without a delay, the email is queued for sending as soon as the trigger fires.

What happens if my contact has unsubscribed? The email will not be sent to unsubscribed contacts by default. If this is a transactional message that you need to send regardless (like a booking confirmation), you can toggle Ignore opt-out status on the email action, but only do this for genuinely transactional content.

Can I edit the automation after it's running? Yes. You can edit triggers, actions, settings, and email content at any time. Contacts already mid-flow in the automation will continue based on the original setup until they finish.

How do I know the trigger fired for the right contact? The Automations list shows how many times each automation has been triggered. To see who specifically went through it, the contact's profile shows their automation history.

Related articles

You've now got a working automation in Connect. The same pattern works for thank-you messages, birthday emails, feedback requests, staff notifications, and almost anything else you want to automate.

Any questions? Reach out to us via email at support@meandu.com